Difficult to tell the point you are trying to make as the sentence is incomplete. However, I think I get it. Do you think the officer was trying to make it the centerpiece of the case (felony hit and run wasn't good enough?) or that he was trying to make sure everyone knew that he had taken it off the ground and placed it in the billfold ?
The officer then says in the report that the drugs were found in the suspects front pocket. Odd.
Not odd if you factor in the following:
1. The bag was found in his pocket during the search on the ground. It was layed down like the other items seen on the ground.
2. It was light enough to blow away. Maybe it already had blown behind the perp and wasn't laying close to the other items.
3. The officer is reporting the truth on where it was originally found and made sure those on scene, including the perp, saw him place it in the billfold.
And it's odd that the officer wasn't recording the 'arrest' at all and didn't hit the record button until the after had picked up the items.
Maybe the 'arrest' part was over and he had turned it off. That part of the video may be what was shown in court. Maybe he forgot to turn it on when he got out of the police car in excitement of a high speed chase with a hit and run. Maybe when he started holding up the bag and explaining why he was putting it in the billfold, the other officer told him he needed to turn his BC on.
BUT... if you were told those things, the media would have no DIRTY LAUNDRY to sell. No one would read further if they told the whole truth about the incident.
Who knows, maybe you are right and a rookie cop thought if he planted cocaine on a felony hit and run suspect that he would get promoted to detective. In LA, where drugs are rampant and commonplace.
