Flew out to Los Angeles on a one way ticket to retrieve a buddy who fell on bad times and needed help getting himself, his dog, and some suitcases back to Indiana. Picked up a rental car and took turns driving on Interstate 40. I was napping and woke up to find we were being pulled over. My friend said he had no idea why: eventually we learned that the trooper claimed that as my friend followed other drivers into the left lane to safely pass the stopped police vehicle, that he did not use his left turn signal and that he was following too closely. He is adamant that he did use his signal-- my opinion is that even if he did not, since he succeeded in safely passing the police vehicle and didn't rear-end the slowing traffic in front of him, then no harm no foul. Incidentally, my buddy does not drive in excess of the posted speed limit, so speed was not a factor.
I didn't hear the officer, but apparently he tells my friend to get out of the vehicle. In a few minutes, the officer comes to my windows, asks if the car is rented under my name (yes) and to see the rental agreement and my driver's license. I comply. He asks a few questions about where we are going, why such a long drive, what's in Bloomington, Indiana, etc. Then he leaves for a while, presumably running the paperwork.
He comes back and states "I need to get to the bottom of what is going on here. Do you have illegal drugs in the car? Crack? Coke? Marihuana? Methamphetaminses? Meth? (no, no, no, ...) Do you have any weapons in the car? (No). Do I have your consent to search the vehicle." I was stunned, and began something like "Well, I'd need to know why you wanted to search..." and he cut me off and said "That was a 'yes' or 'no' question." So I said "no."
He then said, "well I need you to get the dog out of the vehicle because I'm going to run around the vehicle with a police dog to make sure you aren't transporting drugs or weapons." I start to grab the dog but he said my buddy should get his own dog out of the car, but that I needed to get out. He patted me down and asked me to empty my pockets on the hood, which happened to contain my wallet, a $20 bill, and some napkins. He said to put my wallet and money back in my pocket. Then he told me to go stand in the ditch.
A few minutes later, my buddy brings the dog towards me. He asks "What's going on here?" but the cop quickly separates us by demanding he take his dog across the ditch.
Out comes a happy golden retriever, who eagerly pulls the trooper right past the car to a nearby speed limit sign to relieve himself. The trooper drags him back to the car, then, this is where things get really shady:
He jerks the leash at several points, yelling "find the drugs!" "find the guns!" and each time he jerks and yells, the dog jumps up. Then he comes back to us (the run-around-the-car process takes all of about 10 seconds) and says "My dog indicated you have drugs in the car so I now have probable cause to search the vehicle." Then he and his buddy don rubber gloves and began searching every place the dog "indicated" which conveniently includes the trunk, the back seats, the front seats, and the engine compartment!
Their search unfruitful, the trooper comes back to me and tells me to get back in the car. I comply, and a minute or so later, my friend and his dog join me. The officer asks if there is anything they need to do to restore the car to the way we want it to be. They had already re-packed suitcases and were actually pretty gentle about their search, so we said no.
I now regret ever saying anything besides my name, that I did not consent to a search, and to ask whether I was free to go. While it seems rude, I think it would have been better to leave my buddy standing alone on the highway, to meet me at the next exit, than to stick around and tolerate the inquisition that took place.
Not that it (should) matter too much, but my friend and I are both white males around 40 years old. He was wearing a gag Tee shirt with a funky 70s style handgun logo that said "Freeze Turkey" in reference to a comedy movie called Black Dynamite. I was a bit unshaven but well dressed and we both present a basically clean cut appearance. We were driving a brand new Dodge Charger. We examined the turn signals later, and it seems reasonable that the officer may have not seen the front signal, as it is recessed pretty far when viewed from an angle.
Thoughts? Opinions? Especially interested to hear advice about things I should have done differently.
I didn't hear the officer, but apparently he tells my friend to get out of the vehicle. In a few minutes, the officer comes to my windows, asks if the car is rented under my name (yes) and to see the rental agreement and my driver's license. I comply. He asks a few questions about where we are going, why such a long drive, what's in Bloomington, Indiana, etc. Then he leaves for a while, presumably running the paperwork.
He comes back and states "I need to get to the bottom of what is going on here. Do you have illegal drugs in the car? Crack? Coke? Marihuana? Methamphetaminses? Meth? (no, no, no, ...) Do you have any weapons in the car? (No). Do I have your consent to search the vehicle." I was stunned, and began something like "Well, I'd need to know why you wanted to search..." and he cut me off and said "That was a 'yes' or 'no' question." So I said "no."
He then said, "well I need you to get the dog out of the vehicle because I'm going to run around the vehicle with a police dog to make sure you aren't transporting drugs or weapons." I start to grab the dog but he said my buddy should get his own dog out of the car, but that I needed to get out. He patted me down and asked me to empty my pockets on the hood, which happened to contain my wallet, a $20 bill, and some napkins. He said to put my wallet and money back in my pocket. Then he told me to go stand in the ditch.
A few minutes later, my buddy brings the dog towards me. He asks "What's going on here?" but the cop quickly separates us by demanding he take his dog across the ditch.
Out comes a happy golden retriever, who eagerly pulls the trooper right past the car to a nearby speed limit sign to relieve himself. The trooper drags him back to the car, then, this is where things get really shady:
He jerks the leash at several points, yelling "find the drugs!" "find the guns!" and each time he jerks and yells, the dog jumps up. Then he comes back to us (the run-around-the-car process takes all of about 10 seconds) and says "My dog indicated you have drugs in the car so I now have probable cause to search the vehicle." Then he and his buddy don rubber gloves and began searching every place the dog "indicated" which conveniently includes the trunk, the back seats, the front seats, and the engine compartment!
Their search unfruitful, the trooper comes back to me and tells me to get back in the car. I comply, and a minute or so later, my friend and his dog join me. The officer asks if there is anything they need to do to restore the car to the way we want it to be. They had already re-packed suitcases and were actually pretty gentle about their search, so we said no.
I now regret ever saying anything besides my name, that I did not consent to a search, and to ask whether I was free to go. While it seems rude, I think it would have been better to leave my buddy standing alone on the highway, to meet me at the next exit, than to stick around and tolerate the inquisition that took place.
Not that it (should) matter too much, but my friend and I are both white males around 40 years old. He was wearing a gag Tee shirt with a funky 70s style handgun logo that said "Freeze Turkey" in reference to a comedy movie called Black Dynamite. I was a bit unshaven but well dressed and we both present a basically clean cut appearance. We were driving a brand new Dodge Charger. We examined the turn signals later, and it seems reasonable that the officer may have not seen the front signal, as it is recessed pretty far when viewed from an angle.
Thoughts? Opinions? Especially interested to hear advice about things I should have done differently.
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