Posted on 05/17/2011 5:32:39 AM PDT by Red Badger
ASHEVILLE, N.C. An enzyme found in cheese triggered false drug test results that led Buncombe County deputies to think a man with 91 pounds of tortilla dough was actually carrying that much cocaine, the sheriff said.
Antonio Hernandez spent four days in jail in Asheville earlier this month before tests by a state lab came back showing he was carrying food instead of drugs.
A deputy stopped Hernandez on May 1 and found what turned out to be a mix of cheese, shrimp and tortilla and tamale dough in his truck. A portable kit used by deputies changed colors, indicating the mixture was illegal drugs.
Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan said he didn't know until this case that some foods, like cheese, can give false positives on field drug tests. He plans to have his officers talk to the company that makes the tests.
"What we are going to do now is check with the manufacturers and find out what they have found can cause false positives and put that into the training with our officers," Duncan told the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Officials at the state lab said they have seen false positive drug test results from food before, but it is rare.
Hernandez's arrest angered Latino groups, who said he was targeted because of his race. He came to the United States in 1985 to harvest grapes and strawberries and became a legal resident four years later. He currently works for a carpet cleaning company in Carson, Calif., and was taking vacation to drive across the country and see his sister in Johnson City, Tenn., for the first time in nearly a decade.
But Hernandez missed a turn and ended up in Asheville. He told the newspaper through an interpreter that he saw steam coming from his truck and pulled over. A deputy approached, and Hernandez thought the officer wanted him to move and drove away with his hazard lights on. Officers thought he was trying to flee, and punctured his tires.
The sheriff's office is writing Hernandez a $400 check to cover the food he lost when deputies thought it was drugs. But Hernandez said that isn't enough to also cover other expenses like the impound fee for his truck.
"That doesn't pay economically for what I lost," he said. "That doesn't pay for my tires."
You continue to say stupid things.
You previously stated as a matter of fact that the arrestee had done nothing wrong.
Do you still make this claim, or don’t you?
He didn't do anything wrong that I can see warranting spending 4 days in jail for.
Deal with it.
No hablo english?
You are changing your story but not admitting to having done so.
Before your claim was that the arrestee had done nothing wrong.
Now you backhandedly admit that what you said previously was false, that the driver had in fact broken the law, and you want to pretend that you were and are merely complaining about the amount of time the guy spent in jail for what he did.
You can save yourself a lot of trouble and embarrassment if you just post more carefully to begin with and thus say fewer false and stupid things, and then show more integrity in those instances where you do screw up and post garbage.
Look for mexicans driving around with huge amounts of cheese in the trunk.
Good grief. If you eat the enzyme does your blood test get screwed up or is it just the field tests that are messed up?
you know like the alcohol mouthwash or halitosis screwing up breathalyzer results?
Honest, officer, all I had was a cheeseburger..............
I agree with, “And here’s a pro-tip: when the cops start asking you if you have anything illegal and ask you if you don’t mind them taking a little peek, tell them NO. They will bitch, attempt to browbeat you, and tell you that if you’re innocent then you have nothing to hide.”
If you continue to refuse they will call in a canine unit then tell you the dog indicates that you are carrying XXXX (whatever the officer has some of). You will be arrested, booked and charged. Ask the officer if he objects to you calling your attorney before you give him permission to ‘look around’.
Or, be polite, even jovial, suggest the officer grant you permission to do a quick look-around his house before you allow him to search the vehicle.
Use your head and don’t be rude or offensive.
Right. Further, why would anyone bring sourdough from San Francisco.../s
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