> Did not know it was a crime not to have ID on your person if not in a situation that requires [it] … <
I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on TV. But it’s my understanding that the United States is not a “papers, please” country. If you’re driving a car, then yes. You’re supposed to provide a driver’s license, car registration, and proof of insurance.
Otherwise, you are never required to carry ID. And you are never required to identify yourself, unless you arrested for some other reason. In other words, failure to ID is a secondary offense.
Not that most cops care. You’ll get illegally arrested. Wanna sue? The cops don’t care. The city pays, not them.
I think what happened here is he was smoking in an unauthorized location(breaking the law) and was asked for his id for a citation and then failed to give ID. That is when the officer stated he was going down to the station so he could be identified.