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Posted on 12/29/2011 8:06:49 PM PST by bamahead
When Pompton Lakes police seized Darren Richardson’s car on a rainy September afternoon, they told him it was headed for an impound lot. When they returned it three weeks later, he says, the 2004 BMW belonged in a junk yard.
The instrument cluster and leather dashboard were gone. The caramel-colored seats were torn up. The gear shift was ripped out and stray wires hung limp everywhere. Geico, Richardson’s insurance company estimated the damage at $12,636.42 — more than he paid for the car — and declared the vehicle a "total loss."
According to police reports, the damage to the black BMW 325i came in the aftermath of a traffic stop during which officers detected a "strong odor of raw marijuana" inside the vehicle. Searching for a cache of drugs, members of three different police agencies and a detective from a federal drug task force spent two days tearing the car apart, the reports said.
So what did police find after their $12,000 search?
Absolutely nothing.
Richardson, 28, of the Haskell section of Wanaque, filed a notice of claim against the department last week, seeking damages for false arrest and malicious prosecution. He also said Geico may sue the department to recoup the cost of the claim it has already paid to Richardson.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
The standing army our Founders feared.
I’m amazed they didn’t “find” something.
Did they remove the rocker panels? I saw that in a movie.
Something stinks, alright...
He’s lucky they didn’t plant anything in the car. “Ham sandwiches” aren’t just a backup gun or knife to plant on an unarmed person the cop shot.
The French Connection. Then they put the car together again in a day or so!
Thanks. I wasn't sure.
I did see the DVD version of the French Connection and the director, Friedkin, did a good job of explaining the movie in the Special Features section.
Wait til they search the man’s house.
POT!!!!
ARGH, the scurge of society.
Did they check his home, jail his mom?
THE SMELL MUST OF COME FROM SOMEWHERE!
Did they interview his college roomates?
His ex-fiance....
His mom?
What a joke....
I’m glad to see the insurance company playing hardball on this. I hope they take it to the wall.
Talk back to the cops, they’ll fix your wagon. Pun intended.
The goal here is to confiscate and accumulate property. Not to stamp out the “demon weed”. Everyone knows it, nod, nod, wink, wink. Effin’ joke.
Forfeiture laws are a another big step in the slide towards a police state. And the Republicans are as deep in this as the Democrats.
That’s “scourge of society” and “MUST HAVE COME”.
I suppose you were smoking some bud out behind the school during English class.
So uhhh.... what did the police dog find?
Nothing?
So Mr Officer.. If the dogs nose found nothing, what makes you think your search would turn up anything?
uhhh huh..
Your honor. I rest my case.
Ok... This is what I get for not reading the rest of the story..
They where lipping off to the cops.
The dog hit in the trunk, and the dash.
Guy is an idiot for messing with the cops.
Cops over did the search. They should pay. Or seize some other dealers car and give it to him as a replacement.
Well, except for all the spare change they snagged from under the seats...
Depending on the series, an 04 BMW would make quite the catch. They could have used it undercover for a few years, then sold it as a seized vehicle at an online auction, for a great profit.
I can’t believe they didn’t plant a plant product. This was a drug deal gone real bad. And somewhere, there is an officer, whose “raw marijuana” sniffer, has been relieved from duty.
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