I am sharing a personal experience (that happened about 2 weeks ago) to create awareness.
I left my house to go to a 24/7 gas station, bc my son had sports practice in the very early AM (there is no gas station near by house open that early)
I got to the stoplight by the 24/7 gas station, but noticed some random dudes hanging out outside (probably just waiting out the rainstorm, but IDK). So I pulled into the dollar general parking lot across the street (to wait out the rainstorm & the guys to leave)..
I parked on the side of DG store, in front of their dumpster. That spot was the only spot that had a floodlight illuminating it + a security camera right above it. It is in full view of the main highway.
Just before leaving I got out & tossed a small cup into the dumpster. ( one of those foil peel lid apple juices kids get at school⌠it was punctured & leaking in my sons backpack)
When I went to leave the cop was at the intersection in front of the store & saw my reverse lights.
He pulled me over just after i exited the parking lot & asked what I was doing. I gave him my ID & told him the total truth, but he didnât believe me & accused me of âdumpster divingâ .. .. even though I legitimately was not.
He admitted that he never even saw me do anything except back up & leave the parking lot⌠yet not only did he accuse me of DD in person, he also said it over the police scanner (I listened to the broadcastify archive & he said he was âpretty sure this female is dumpster divingâ right before he put me in handcuffs)
He seemed annoyed & obv didnât believe me when I said I wasnât dumpster diving ( bc I was slightly âwet from the rainâ)
He then arrested me for âloitering /prowlingâ
I had to spend the night in jail.. simply for sitting in my car for 6 min, during a rainstorm. (which the officer never even saw me doingâŚ..he first saw me when my reverse lights came on as I was leaving)
There wasnât any âno parkingâ âno trespassingâ âno loiteringâ etc signs anywhere at the business.
The officer even falsely claimed on the arrest warrant affidavit that he âobservedâ me âloitering / prowling at dollar general from 240-249amâ - even though I left at 239am & he had pulled me over by 240am down the street.
The police report also said âthe gate to the dumpster was openâ ⌠insinuating that I had opened it (but it was wide open when I had got there, and i believe it always is)
The next day another officer went to DG & watched the security tape, which proved I was telling the truth. The video showed that I was only there for 6 min. They could even see that I was simply scrolling on my phone during that time, and only got out for less than 10 seconds.
Thank God I had parked under a (working) camera, which has provided the evidence to prove my innocence. I am now awaiting the solicitor generals office to get the case so they can drop the charge.
ANYWAY- my point of posting all this here is to WARN people (especially those in GA) the power that cops possess to potentially ruin your life, even if they just ASSUME you are dumpster diving.
While i am upset that I was arrested for just sitting in my car for a few min, I am more angry to know that some officers are so heartless they would choose to criminalize people that they assume are food insecure, without so much as a warning. Arresting a person that they suspect of just trying to find discarded food (& towing their car) shows their complete lack of any human compassion.
This has been a total nightmare that I wouldnât wish on anyone.
Stay safe yall đ
**some additional context:
I had never been arrested before (or even given so much as a trespass warning)âŚ
I am a 5 foot 2, super non-threatening female.
i was not under the influence of anything.
I was urine tested upon arrival at the jail, which was clean except my prescribed low dose ADHD meds. (I had to give permission for Walgreens to give them my script history)
They also towed my vehicle, and it looked like it had been searched.
I had to pay $250 to get it out of impound & $1320 to bail out (my husband paid the full amount instead of using a bail bondsman). I may have to hire an attorney if the SG office refuses to drop the charge for some bizarre reason (I donât qualify for a public defender & donât want to do diversion)
I was totally complaint with the officer, and gave him my ID when he asked. But he had already assumed I was breaking some law (that is designed to criminalize poverty) before he even pulled me over.
***Stock pic used for attention. I donât have a pic from my actual arrest yet (bc they refuse to release the body cam or dash cam footage)
Please tell me you will be filing a lawsuit!
Right now I am focusing on getting the charge dismissed / my mugshot removed.
Thankfully the SG office seems to be opened to doing so, but they are backed up on cases & are currently reviewing arrests that happened about 2 weeks before mine.
But once they review it & either dismiss it (or move forward with prosecution) I will be able to plan what to do next better
If the charge gets dismissed, will you get all of your money back that you had to spend for the tow, the bail etc!? That conduct is absolutely outrageous; if you can remotely afford it I would try all I can to sue their asses off and get compensated for that. Maybe the media in your area would be interested in your story too - make fire under those cops butts.
The bail, yes (except some small fee)
But not money spent on the tow / impound âšď¸
I definitely plan to try & hold them accountable in any way possible, but I am focusing on getting the charges dropped first.
You should not even have to pay that fee for their BS; that and the money for the tow should be deducted straight from this AH cops paycheck. Maybe if thatâs what actually happened and if in the US the police unions ironically werenât the only freaking unions with an insane amount of power, that cop would think twice next time before he is lying while conducting his job and before being a complete incompetent and AH drain of all of our tax money that pays him.
This makes me so pissed on your behalf - Iâm really sorry!
Thank you so much! đ
If you haven't yet, also file a complaint against the arresting officer with Internal Affairs. He lied in order to have a reason to arrest you, and you have photo evidence that it was a lie. The officer should be suspended.
I definitely am going to.
I plan to lay low / hold off on causing too many waves while the prosecutor (SG) office says they are working to review to my case in the backlog queue (they are still on arrests from Nov 19 right now, and mine was Dec 2)
I donât want them to feel like them dismissing the case could give me easier path to litigation.
Once the SG office makes their move (dismiss or file charges) then I will be able to start fighting back more against this corrupt police dept
Complaints to internal affairs, requests for bodycams and dashcams often have strict timelines.
Go ahead and consult with a civil right attorney. Let them advise you on the order and timing to perform each task.
OP, don't rely on self-help; you're not an attorney. A civil right attorney can assist you with your case; or put you in touch with a defense attorney so they can work together to get a good outcome for you.
For example, you may be able to get a probable cause hearing in front of a magistrate judge and petition the court to expunge or seal your records - the defense attorney may be able to get you an expedited hearing on this.
The only two things I would suggest you do other than get a civil rights attorney is to have a friend - don't do it yourself - drive thru the back and front parking lot of the dollar store and take pics of the entrance and exit, as well as the fence around the dumpster, the dumpster itself, and any signage. You don't want the store to post signage after the fact that might muddy the evidence.
The second thing you want to consider is buying a bodycam and dashcam of your own, especially since the cops may have put a target on your back. Dashcams that record are about $80 bucks and a bodycam is around $60 from Spamazon. I use one myself, as I have to deal with cops frequently in my job. I also DD and wear my bodycam to deal with cops and karens who don't understand what I'm doing is perfectly legal.
Just chiming in to encourage OP to do these things! It might be easier to just get the charge dropped and move on, but these things happen too often and the only way we can hope that police are held accountable is by holding them accountable ourselves (via attorneys). If not for you, hopefully so someone else can be spared an unpleasant and unlawful encounter
Getting some of the youtube lawyers involved would bring some unwanted transparency and attention.
We recently had that guy from New York reading in his car and a cop soliciting a trespass in order to illegally get his details. Now we gotta pay out a huge settlement because the cops are addicted to IDs.
ETA: it was also during a rainstorm and he was waiting for safer driving conditions.
I think thatâs a wise plan of action. Good Lord, I canât imagine going through what you did! Did you have to eat while in jail? Iâve heard the food is nasty.
Thanks!!
The food was SO bad!!
They brought breakfast around 6-7. It was some sort of weird cereal, this mushy bread cake that was sticky (in a bad way.. like wet/sticky cake), and a piece of âsausageâ.. which honestly looked like a dog turd that had been stepped on- both texture and color.
I MIGHT have tasted that cereal, but that bread and âsausageâ were just thrown on top of it & I wasnât that desperate yet. So I just drank the little milk (like a school lunch milk)
Then for lunch they brought a zip lock bag with 4 pieces of white bread & 2 slices of bologna in it. But the bologna was like super red, and smelt suspect. I ate a single piece of the bread bc i was SO hungry, but somehow they even made white bread gross (like almost bitter tasting in a way.. edible, but barely). There were a couple cookies thrown in the ziplock, and they were ok (but super sweet).
I had assumed I was going to have to be in like a cell w/ bars. But when I got there they checked me in, cut the strings on my hoodie & sweatpants, took my vitals/med history, drug tested me, and had me go into one of those TSA type xray machines.
Then after all that they moved me into a big room with a bunch of plastic chairs in rows.. 2 big groups of chairs, with an aisle in between the groups (like a wedding audience set up)
They put men on one side / women on the other, and we werenât allowed to talk to the opposing gender. It was sort of like being in a ER waiting room in a way, just waiting in agony for your name to be called.
Every few hours they would move us into âholding cellsâ that along the walls of that huge holding room - which were like jail cells with stone doors w/a glass window (no bars).
It was like a concrete room with a concrete bench & a metal toilet.
They would put like 5-6 of us (all same gender) in these rooms for like an hour at a time (for shift change & for meal times)
The first time I was in there was terrible bc a lady that got a DUI was throwing up all over the floor & it smelt so bad. Thankfully I was able to cover my nose with my hoodie, which helped some.
The other women there were actually really, really nice. That part surprised me the most. I was scared as I was being taken back to the holding area, having no idea what to expect. But so many of the other girls were so sweet, talked me through the process & were hugging each other. There was a really young girl there (for shoplifting), and they were super kind to her as well. Their kindness & encouragement really helped me get through those 12 hours.
The guards were pretty chill, and there was an inmate worker that was super cool- he would bring people more apple juice anytime they asked. He was earning time off his sentence by working in the holding area.
eventually they would call you up for fingerprints, retina scans etc
And finally your name would be called by this one lady by a door towards the back- she would either hand you âyellowsâ (jail clothes) to change into, or tell you someone came to bail you out & you were being released.
It was really sad when some of the girls would get their name called & be handed yellows to put on, bc that meant they were going to the real jail cells for whatever reason (sometimes mandatory stay times, probation violations, or no one came to bail them out)
I couldnât make my first call for a few hours (had to wait on a PIN to be assigned to me) & my son woke up in the meantime (for his early AM practice)
He woke up his dad when he couldnât find me.
They were really worried bc that is totally unlike me, my iPhone showed my last location on the side of the hwy at 3am (police powered my phone off when they arrested me), I hadnât called and my phone was going straight to voicemail.
He would never expect me to get arrested, so he thought something was very wrong.
He drove up to where it showed my phone last, but found no sign of me, my phone or the truck.
So he started calling hospitals & our county sheriff dept, but still couldnât figure out where I was or what happened to me. (He didnât realize the location I last pinged was patrolled by a city PD dept, not the county sheriffs)
He finally decided to call the jail & they told them I was there. He said it was the oddly the best news he could have heard bc he thought I had gotten into a bad accident or gotten abducted etc.
I feel really bad they had to go through that, especially my kids. My son shouldâve been having fun at sports practice, not worrying if I was in a morgue somewhere.
You just described the most nightmarish real life situation Iâve heard in a long time. Oh my god, your poor husband and children! And poor you, of course. (I stopped eating my micro mac & cheese halfway through.) The jail experience was bad enough but I imagine you were sick with worry, unable to reach your husband to tell him where you were. Itâs going to take you a while to get over this trauma.
Iâve been thinking about you throughout the day. I take Vyvanse, and wanted to mention that I keep an empty (or 1-2 pills) Rx bottle in my purse or car console as a precaution for situations like this. Just a suggestion. I was pulled over one night around 10-ish, for supposedly swerving into the other lane. I was super tired, so maybe I did. Anyway, I got all the expected questions about drugs/alcohol consumed that night. None. I had to do a few different field sobriety tests. Bright lights shone in my eyes. It was awful and humiliating. I remembered to tell them that one pupil is permanently dilated from a childhood injury. Otherwise I may have been hauled off to jail. Girl, I feel for you. Seriously donât they have more important crimes to tend to?
My husband has a tremor disorder, so every encounter he ever has with police begins with explaining he's shaking for medical reasons and not nervousness or alcohol detox.
Good plan, but once cleared definitely make their lives hell.
It's Georgia, do you realize how corrupt that state is? I think OP would make herself a target if she took this any further. And it's not like she would be able to get any help on the federal level, so it's probably not a good idea for them to push back.
You can sue the arresting officer. You don't have to go through the process of suing the city. You NOT filing charges against that officer will give THEM the power to CONTINUE to falsely arrest people like you, doing nothing. I get you need to get the charges dropped. Nothing will make that happen faster if you get an attorney willing to take a cut of what you get. Make them LEARN they can't treat people like that. Think of the next pertain who doesn't have a husband to bail them out or a way to retrieve the car they are potentially living in. You also have the right to demand a supervisor to come before you are arrested. Be Heard. Be Seen. Get Justice. You deserve it. Stop playing kids glove games and take action.
I am almost never a proponent of the very American tendency to sue at the drop of a hat, but in situations like this I believe it is not only justified but obligatory; not for any personal gain but as one of the few viable routes we as private citizens in this increasingly militarized social landscape where police misconduct is more and more the norm rather than the exception.
Without divulging too much I have had my share of legal troubles and I will be the first to tell you that in most of the situations I was absolutely breaking the law, and I can say with absolute certainty that in a few of those instances the way the incident/arrest report read did not reflect the reality of what had happened. Extra charges added, complete and flagrant disregard of protocol, illegal searches with "probable cause" manufactured after the fact and with no factual basis.
All this to say that even when the police are "right," they ignore the laws and protocols they are meant to enforce and the truth is that we as citizens are partly responsible; the average "normie" who has never had a run in with LE beyond a traffic stop and have no notion of the day to day reality of addicts, the unhoused or mentally ill will gladly turn a blind eye to these sorts of infractions because after all, they're keeping those criminals and junkies off the streets and who really cares how it gets done, right?
I have a master's degree that is basically useless because I also have multiple felonies; last year I was falsely accused of criminal damage based solely on the fact that I was the only person with a felony record present when the act was thought to have happened. No witnesses saying they saw me do anything, no video beyond me pulling into the gas station and using my debit card at the pump. Nevermind it had been nearly a decade since my last conviction and that I had been off probation for years at this point, nor that I was innocenct. I have spent two more days and nights of my life in custody, subjected to a campaign of unwarranted surveillance and am still dealing with the repercussions nearly two years later. My case is on the verge of being dismissed, finally, and that's literally the best I can hope for. Because of my past I have no other recourse; there will be no recompense for the time, money and hassle that what is an obvious case of profiling and lazy police work has resulted in.
All this to say that, unfortunate as it is, it takes situations like yours in which a normal, upstanding citizen is subjected to the sort of creative law enforcement those of us with more checkered pasts are all too familiar with to hopefully not only keep LE from abusing their power, but also is likely your best and possibly only course of action that will result having your charges dropped and public record kept clean. It's unfortunate that things have to be taken to such an extreme just so you won't have an arrest record for no other reason than some jumped up piggie decided his version of reality matters more than the truth and the very real and damaging repercussions even being charged of a criminal offense can bring in this digital age, nevermind whether or not you're convicted or even faced prosecution. Your best bet for personally getting a squeaky clean resolution is the same one that could induce positive change in a larger societal sense. Get public attention, embarrass the department and demonstrate how this relatively quotidian abuse of power is symptomatic of a larger issue. They'll be scrambling to make sure your situation gets resolved cleanly, quickly.
Apologies for the long post, I did not intend such a lengthy reply when I began writing but in recent years I have begun to advocate for people currently incarcerated for mental health issues, including drug addiction, who are unable to advocate for themselves and the only way we'll ever see any reform is do it ourselves.
Hopefully charges are dismissed, you get a fair settlement and that cop should be fired. How can that hold up with video proof of your innocence
No , its a racket. The extort people with daily fees on the cars they impound and when you can't afford it, they steal it and sell it for the fees. Hundreds of dollars a day!
Unfortunately the mugshot wonât be removed. Even if charges are dismissed and everything it stays there.
And honestly itâs bullshit. If you arenât convicted or dropped all your booking information, including photo and fingerprints should be removed from the state database and the federal fingerprint database.
Itâs bullshit. And itâs something that should be changed. Thereâs probably half a million fingerprints on file of people who have no criminal record. It should be illegal.
I only know this because my very first charged was completely dropped when the DA refused to take the case. Well fast forward 4yrs when I actually get arrested and the jail still has my mugshot and prints on file.
Are you in GA? We supposedly have some sort of law here that they are required to remove it once itâs dismissed.. and they canât ever take $$ from anyone in exchange for removing them.
And I agree - itâs total bullshit.
There is 0 reason for mugshots of unconvicted, non-violent, minor offenses to be released. There needs to be laws around this practice, bc in the days of social media it is 100% a form of punishment without any due process.
Actually in Georgia itâs perfectly legal for them to keep it and they do. Itâs not like an automatic thing. You have to apply for a record restriction. Which would make them not available to the public at that point. But until you apply for restriction theyâre public.
You have to request it via the district attorneys office if itâs an arrest AFTER July 2013. And youâd have to pay for it.
Police will always have access to them.
I would check out Georgias laws on record restrictions and how they work.
This is a 4th amendment violation. Find a civil rights lawyer and 1983 his ass.
Ypu need to contact a civil rights attorney. They will help you sue the pants off of that department. The cop admitted over the radio that he didn't see you DD and then arrested you... They forced you to take a piss test for what reason? If they gave you a drug test they are trying to give you a DUI and even if you're dirty for a prescription they can push that the amount you had in your system was too high. They violated your rights and you already need to file a lawsuit for all the crap you had to pay.
For sure
What for? Police agents have broad power in most states. That said, I feel like this particular police agent should review probable cause procedures
He lied in the arrest warrant affidavit to keep me in jail longer.
He said he âobserved meâ committing the offense of âloiter / prowlâ at (the dollar general address) between 2:40am - 2:49am
But he only saw me leave at 239am, and pulled me over at 240am. I couldnât have been loitering / prowling at DG while I was on the side of the road with him.
He also claimed there were no âexterior/interiorâ lights on at the business, but there is a working floodlight right above where I was parked.
He claimed I didnât have on my headlights or taillights (to make it seem like i was trying to hide), but I turned my headlights on as soon as I got the car turned around to drive forward in the parking lot (my reverse & brake lights were on while I was reversing - my rev lights are the reason he said he saw me initially). GA headlight law doesnât apply to private parking lots.
He said the place I was parked was the âside/rearâ of business, but itâs the front/side (and fully viewable from the hwy)
He also completely omitted my reasonable explanation for being there (which is part of the loiter prowl law)
He knew the magistrate judge wouldnât approve a âloitering chargeâ arrest for the 30 seconds he saw while I was leaving, so he just pulled a 9 mine timeline* (that he claimed to witness) out of his rear end. He omitted my âreasonable explanationâ (rainstorm, sat in my car, and quickly threw a small piece of trash away) out of the warrant affidavit for the same reason.
*the 6 min actual timeline wasnât even known to him at the time time he wrote the affidavit, bc his coworker didnât get the DG footage until later. He didnât ask me how long I had been there.
https://preview.redd.it/iegqii7yp87g1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=441c16637fe08717c680bc4f4a3d8ab7adcd3a73
Now you know why people say ACAB.
Heâs playing fast and loose with the truth
Exactly- he used a â/ â defined as âorâ in a very misleading way
like how he says âthe rear/side of the buildingâ - like I guess that technically translates to âthe rear OR the side of the buildingâ .. but why not just say âthe side of the buildingâ ??
And him saying âno interior/exterior lights on at the businessâ, instead of just âno interior lights on at the businessâ
Very shady practice, especially when itâs on an arrest warrant
On the police report he straight up calls it the ârear of the businessâ.. even though the ârear of the businessâ is actually unpaved, inaccessible & wooded. The area I was parked is 100% the side.. with an unobstructed view of it from the main hwy the store is on.
OH I Absolutely Love this 𼰠!! , I love that you have him Nailed to the wall with the facts..!! â¤ď¸âđĽ I hope he's totally embarrassed in court and that you can get compensation back from the city.
I too was in a situation where I had them nailed to the wall đ it was a speeding ticket from a red light I was stopped at turning left and the cop said I was going 49mph in a 25mph zone in a 1.4 block distance in my Toyota 4cyl truck loaded with approx 700lbs of motorcycles đ đ which would mean I was in 4th gear with-in one short block and about 4-5feet total 29ft NOT Possible đ. Like I went and took measurements and photos and was very Technical about the whole thing , I felt like the Queen unstoppable Bitch and it was dismissed, oh but they "had to " charge me $25 court fee for taking up their time đ˛đ¤ŹSo F%@# up .
They have broad power to detain, but arrest requires reasonable suspicion that a crime was committed. If OP has included all relevant details, this doesnât appear to meet that standard
A wrongful arrest lawsuit (also called false arrest/imprisonment) claims you were detained by law enforcement without legal justification,
Jesus, this is straight up corruption. Willing to bet the officer who did this to you has been up to this racket for a while. You should FOIA request the bodycam.
https://preview.redd.it/rhaswr7tm87g1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f8cabdb6967ca67db8afee8ebe8557c8c888126
They denied my request.
If the SG decides to move forward with prosecution then i could submit a motion for discovery.
They are currently reviewing arrests that happened about 2 weeks ago, so I have to wait a couple more weeks before I can do anything at all.
This isnât a denial, you have to go through the proper process of discovery
You should talk to a civil rights attorney, as this doesnât seem to meet the standard of reasonable suspicion, which is required for an arrest
I meant they denied the FOIA request, as a reply to the comment telling me to file one.
I was told that discovery couldnât be demanded until there is a state court case number (which I wouldnât have until the SG office review the charges, and decides to move forward with pressing charges or not)
Discovery is part of the court process. You may be able to get the charges dropped yourself, but please talk to an attorney if that doesnât happen after your first conversation with the prosecutor.
Itâs expensive but Iâm willing to bet an attorney could make this go away quickly unless there are other details you havenât disclosed here. Going on your own is very unlikely to be successful if the first conversation fails
https://preview.redd.it/l7w9n7xwda7g1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e917c5f05aa97ab108b5329be94d02043e1a00e
I have to wait for my arraignment court date to submit for discovery, which is tentatively scheduled for 02/06.
My hope is that they dismiss it before then, then I wouldnât have to go to court on that day.
But I will find out here in the next few weeks if the solicitor generals office puts the case on the state court docket or dismisses it.
Do not let it get to an arraignment without contracting an attorney
Thank you! I definitely donât plan on waiting that long.
If my name pops up on the GA state court case search page in a couple weeks, then I will definitely be calling an attorney (or if they donât dismiss it by like the first week of January)
As someome who had to go through the court process on some bs, get an attorney now do not wait. File a lawsuit later and recoupe the costs for any and all damages and then some.
Also what the fuck does your Walgreens pharmacy hx have to do with a trespassing charge? Thats a hipaa violation for them to provide. They have the burden of proof not you. You need a real lawyer like immediately.
Trying to get her for being under the influence while driving.
But itâs illegal to coerce the pharmacy to release her medical information. And a legal level, would have taken days to get back unless you waived it, which SHOULD be admissible. The compounds in the amphetamines of Vyvanve or whatever you take are vastly different than that of someone taking street meth. Also you have a rx. All they need is to see the bottle with your name. This is above and beyond and straight illegal means.
I didnât have the bottle with me- it was at home.
I know it wouldâve came up as adderall vs meth, but even so i would still have to prove it was a legal script.
They didnât ask if my doctor could confirm it, but honestly I would rather them get the confirmation from Walgreens than call my doctors office. (Though either way is invasive & would make people feel uncomfortable the next time they got their script filled)
The Walgreens stuff was after I was at the jail, and none of the people working at the jail were at fault for what was going on.. they were just doing their job, so I tried to not get upset with them.
And the detention holding area nurse actually did seem very kind - like she noticed I was rubbing my eyes (after being there for hours and crying), and she offered me some contact cleaner. (She was all âI wear contacts too & I could tell yours seemed uncomfortable).
I guess bc they drug tested me at the jail & it must have shown my adderall, even though itâs a low dose IR.
I told them about the script during check in (they asked), but had to sign the Walgreens medical release about 8 hours later. The whole thing felt like such an invasion of privacy. But I really wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, so i signed it đ
Are they reviewing this particular officerâs body cam footage for arrests from 2 weeks ago? Because itâs one thing to have a he said;she said situation. Sounds like in this case itâs he said; they all said, plus body cam footage said, plus security camera footage saidâŚ..
Iâm not sure how you can get body cam footage, but you should be able to. Itâs part of your defense
https://preview.redd.it/hplssp2mt87g1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39fae39ad65a7c725620629e9a53d7cd478938d6
Itâs not he-said she-said.. there was a camera above me, that shows I left at 239.
He only saw me for less than a min before pulling me over (at 240)
Yet swore under oath of perjury (in my arrest warrant affadavit) that he saw me âcommitting the offense of loiter prowl at the [dollar general address] between 240-249amâ
But I was down the road with/stopped by him between 240-249. He totally pulled the 9 min window out of thin air bc he had no idea how long I had been there (the tape was reviewed the next day, when the store opened.. hours after he submitted the affidavit)
He lied to put you in jail, losing your freedom of movement, costing you money for the bond, for the car, everything.... And absolutely nothing will happen to him, he has done it before and will continue to do so
Agreed.
The same PD department has actually done the same thing to another person (different sort of situation/ accusation, but with fabricated evidence)
Body cams turned off.. but thankfully a video came out from a business in the area.
It was proven that officer fabricated evidence, and they paid the guy like $150k to settle out of court.
Yet nothing happened to that officer- in fact he is now a K9 officer, which is even a worse position for a known liar to be in.
Hopefully, more people have issued grievances
What Iâm getting at is the fact that this agent could be a âbad copâ Itâs possible that there could be more complaints against him.
Heâs fairly new (under 2 years), but I wouldnât be surprised if there are more.
I am going to submit a FOIA on him tomorrow.
Sadly a lot of people that have fabricated evidence against them probably didnât happen to be parked under a working camera, so they probably just accept diversion* instead of trying to fight against a rigged system.
*Cobb county has a program where you can do 40 hours of community service + pay a fine (+ pay back any public defender costs incurred) to get a first misdemeanor arrest /charge dismissed.
I have no words.
Why were you "down the road" when you stated the gas station was across from DG? Wouldn't you have left DG and gone straight to the gas station like intended?
I do believe there are shady cops and I believe you're side of things, but there are some discrepancies.
In many small towns, the shops and stores will either hire a cop for part-time security, or outright pay a cop(s) for more patrols during their shifts. Yes, it's bribery and using our taxpayer's dollars for a private security force.
Even though cops aren't supposed to have quotas for arrests and tickets, it's also not uncommon for PD's to call them "pay and promotion standards" or some such shite.
Also worth considering whether the cop was manufacturing overtime. Think about it - if the cop needs some overtime, or it's 7am, raining and dark, arresting OP just generated several hours of overtime filling out forms in a nice warm police station and no patrols.
Get a civil rights attorney OP!!!
That makes total sense.
I looked it up & this police dept shift change is at 6am.
I was on the side of the road in his backseat until probably 330 or so (they were waiting on the tow truck)
And then a 20-30 min ride to the jail, so probably got there around 4am. He stayed during the whole check in process, and then had to drive back to their police station. He likely didnât even get back there until 5-530am, then had to write up the report, file the PCA etc⌠All that could probably net him a couple hours of easy overtime.
I doubt dollar general is paying them to patrol their property in that city. That particular city is consistently one of the top 10 safest cities in GA, and even topped the list (as #1 safest city in GA) within the last 5 years. They have low single digit robbery counts every year (3 in 2024). The majorty of the âcrimeâ stems from the college there, which has their own/seperate police department.
They are probably trying to justify their unnecessary existence. 0 reason for them to have 20 officers per 10k citizens (w/ very little real crime), yet unincorporated cobb county has more crime, with only 10 officers per 10k citizens.
https://preview.redd.it/7onv9hndv87g1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c7f413ebb7f2e3f2d737fa0eb4fb0db51141241
Just for transparency, this is the spot I was parked. It is located on the side of the store. There is a floodlight that stays on all the time. The camera is right below the floodlight.
I know some locals may recognize this location, but please donât say anything if you do.. I really, really donât want my mugshot being spread on social media while I am trying to get my name cleared.
I have 2 kids in high school & really donât want them to have to deal with any questions about it etc. đ
But also, if you do recognize the location, avoid that city like the plague!
Because parking at the back of a business late at night is never considered suspicious đđđđđ
Itâs not illegal unless the business has issued a trespass warning or has signs, which they have not and do not.
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You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.
Our state courts here have already clarified itâs not illegal to be in a business parking lot, regardless of what time it is. Nor is it suspicious enough to warrant a stop.
State v Winnie 2000 GA
https://preview.redd.it/m8ji1xiafl7g1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d45174e242011813b33e7fdad83cc1071c4edbc
The similarities are astonishing.
Yet GA appeals court found they didnt even have enough reasonable suspicion to stop him, and therefore his drug charges (found during the illegal stop) were dismissed.
I didnât even have anything illegal, nor was I under the influence of anything.
Plus itâs been proven I had no criminal intentions and told the truth, so he was wrong about whatever he suspected me of doing (which appearently was dumpster diving)
https://preview.redd.it/2dt3njtqn87g1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2f48ee1a3893584955e4e92da90254739400dfa
Sharing for transparency.
Ooooh- a female was scrolling on their phone, and walked to a dumpster for ten seconds! The humanity! The horrors! ACAB. I wouldnât have even cooperated. They are trying to charge you and gather or manufacture evidence. Immediately if you are not free to go, âI will not answer questions without my atty present.â Period. None.
The issue is that law he was accusing of breaking requires cooperation & ID (loiter / prowl), and failure to do so is grounds to arrest. He totally skipped past the âfree to goâ tier 1 stage & jumped straight into a blue lights terry stop (without any knowledge of anything other than he saw me pulling out of parking lot)
I thought once I complied he would let me go, but instead he called for backup. 3-4 SUVs were there, like i robbed the store or something. It was so overwhelming
That is so horribly weird. Sounds like he was really young, really not bright, and/or on a power trip? Who calls for backup for a small female dumpster diver who is entirely cooperative?
He is very young- and heâs been an officer for less than 2 years ..
I guess I could understand calling for single female officer to do the pat down⌠but there is no excuse for a whole mini motorcade rolling up.
Total waste of taxpayers $$$
I guess they all like to be there when they hear an arrest is happening bc they get off on the power of putting people in handcuffs or something.
They like putting WOMEN in handcuffs
You should reach out to EWU. They do body cam videos on YouTube and have a very large following. I donât agree with all of the content they share, however I really appreciate when they post body cam footage of police abusing their power. Iâm sure this would interest them and potentially encourage the department to right their wrongs.Â
Iâm so sorry this happened to you, itâs disgusting and I imagine it was really shitty. I hope youâre fairing well through this mess and you get some semblance of justiceÂ
Thank you so much đ
Or John H. Bryan at the âCivil Rights Lawyerâ YouTube channel! His whole practice is helping victims dismiss bogus charges, and he regularly posts bodycam videos and stories exposing police corruption.
Second on the Civil Rights Lawyer. There are a few other channels like that as well, woukd be worth it for OP to reach out.
Love EWU I watch everything they post though sometimes I am not on their side.
Fuck the police!
I learned long ago to not be diving, or doing anything else around a store, late at night. This is the only time I've ever been harassed by cops or store staff, more because of "suspicious activity behind a store" than dumpster diving as such. I have gone after dark, but generally early in the evening.
Definitely good advice to follow.
Thatâs part of the reason I posted here.. I know if I didnât realize you could be arrested for literally simply existing at night, then there has to be some other people who are equally as naive
And the fact that cops will arrest someone (without warning) for just âdumpster divingâ (or even just the cop suspecting they are), is absolutely inconsolable IMO.
I will never be able to understand that sort of lack of human compassion.
You weren't arrested for existing.
You were trespassing at a closed business.
That's if any of this actually happened and is not just manufactured bullshit.
And for some reason, I read it recommended this to me. Thanks Reddit
I was not trespassing, nor was I charged with âtrespassingâ
GA trespass law requires a warning (or a sign) to be considered âtrespassingâ
https://preview.redd.it/plct2bk5dl7g1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c32955165096edc4c2fd0e36696497197338bfa3
What county was it?
Cobb, but the arrest was made by one of the city PD departments.
As soon as I get it dismissed I will share the exact details / police report. I am humiliated my everything, and donât want any attention brought to it until the charges have been dropped (or they seem to no longer be intending to)
The SG office thus far has been seemingly helpful, but there is a backlog of cases & they are still reviewing he arrests that happened about 2 weeks before mine. Once they get to my case I will have more of an idea of what I need to do next.
What you need is a lawyer. Like immediately. They will not dismiss this horse shit if they can squeeze legal fees or whatever other money out of you. Please please hire a lawyer. Like even a cheap one is better than none at all.
Iâm sure you are right, but I am just praying the SG office doies the right thing.. bc it just really sucks to have to spend even more $$ on this BS, especially right at Christmas time đ
You have criminal charges. You should be entitled to a public defender. Please reach out to them like immediately.
My assets are too high to get a PD due to money I been saving for my kids college & to get them both cars when they go (I have a 16 & 17 year old)
Sadly I put that money into a regular savings account, not some specialized college savings program.
Look for a contingency lawyer. This seems like a case that you could definitely win and potentially be compensated for. A lawyer working for a contingency fee wouldnât charge you until after you win the case
Thanks. I do plan to get a civil rights attorney, but am trying to avoid having to also get a criminal defense attorney.
The probable cause affidavit submitted by the officer (and signed by the magistrate judge) is based on a factually impossible âloiteringâ timeframe (which is easily proven by their own & DG footage), so they know there is no way they could get a conviction.
Bc of the prosecutors office has been communicating with me, I am hopeful that they will dismiss it once my case gets to their office (they are currently reviewing cases from 11/18, and mine was 12/02)
Once they review it & dismiss (or move forward with charges) I will be able to determine if I need to get a criminal defense attorney first (or be able to just hire a civil rights attorney)
Civil rights attorney first, OP. If you got a case - and I think you do- they can help you get a defense attorney who can also get paid from the settlement you are likely to win from this mess.
Maybe try contacting your local ACLU office. I donât know if their lawyers would help in this situation but asking doesnât cost you a cent. I write my local ACLU office phone number on my arm before going to protests in case Iâm arrested. They might take on your case of a corrupt cop/police department. Geez, calling the whole force out on this matter is insane!
Contact internal affairs with the police dept. I would hire an attorneyÂ
You need to contact an attorney. Monday morning. First thing. Please. Iâm begging you.
Yeah I agree. It's not enough to just hope the prosecutors office will dismiss the charges like they clearly should, cause unfortunately when police departments get caught up in their own misdeeds by way of one surveillance camera proving the complete opposite of a written report happened they want to suppress body cam footage, and other stuff that they absolutely wont want to reveal that would show the officer in question ignored procedures, didn't establish articulable reasonable cause besides what he fabricated in his report, among the other lies he made throughout the report. If his department has been having a history of committing civil rights offenses, then u/Basic_Tumbleweed651 you ought to lawyer up immediately so that they will be pressured to review your case faster, and release the body cam footage in accordance with a public information request, cause a lawyer can facilitate and expedite both much quicker then you talking to the prosecutors office, police department higher ups, magistrate judges and whoever you may have talked to already. They know the ins and outs to get the footage and other info much faster. You doing it yourself just allows the whole process to twiddle their thumbs and wait when they shouldn't.
Just be absolutely sure that lawyer has the gas station footage, false police reports and anything and everything that incriminates the officer as not being in good faith of doing his job to the utmost in regards to protecting the public and their rights, and upholding the U.S. constitution, cause he clearly doesn't and doesn't deserve the badge or uniform he wears.
Where in Georgia?
Cobb (but within a city & by a city PD)
That's over by ATL yeah? Just left Columbus. The only problem over here are trashy pockets making messes got all the main spots locked.
Yep, NW Atlanta (cobb county.. so Marietta, austell, Kennesaw, Acworth, mableton etc)
I heard it's starting to get more strict there because of the uptick in divers. Sorry you had to experience it.
Yes, cops lie.
Reach out to lack luster or a few of the 1st amendment guys on YouTube. They are civil rights lawyers.
Georgia is trying its hardest to blast through the rights of as my people as possible it seems. Where are the good cops looking for actual crime?. Now, we out here arresting people for sitting in their cars to avoid rainstorms. Is this gonna be one our new state motto?
Welcome To Georgia where RAINSTORMS ARE PROBABLE CAUSE !
Edit-spelling.
Right?!
And ironically the exact police department that arrested me posted this on their Facebook page the SAME DAY they arrested me
There is no other job that anyone could violate peopleâs rights like this & remain employed.
https://preview.redd.it/x2whl8t9kv7g1.jpeg?width=1199&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec75a5d534c44cda5309796f4a3d1212fd680431
You should pull this and add it to your evidence of their hypocrisy!
I would definitely get a lawyer either way. I think they should reimburse you for your car being towed,and the bail money. Where in Georgia was this? I live in Georgia also. Gotta make sure I avoid that area
This was such a bizarre way for the cop to handle the situation. Sorry this happened to you.
Jesus sounds like small town cops bored as hell trying to create an arrest. Please hold this cop accountable. We live in America with laws that protect us from unlawful prosecution! Hearing this shit makes my blood boil! Idk maybe reach out to the guy on YouTube that goes by "The civil rights lawyer" he puts a spot light on corrupt police and departments and holds them accountable..
For the record I respect law enforcement and not one of those "I hate all police" people. I believe their job is very difficult and most of them are good people who choose to serve their community and make a difference. It's just a shame when there are a few officers like this that will abuse their power and twist the law to make it fit the charges they create in order to obtain an arrest all while wasting tax dollars and time where they could actually be making a difference elsewhere.
civil rights lawyer
Georgia resident here. Please listen to this. Our cops here are on a perpetual power trip and they DO NOT care about us.
They constantly search for the tiniest things they could get you for even if they make 0 sense and are super not illegal.
I got pulled over once because my dog was sticking her head out the window and standing on the food I had just bought so I tried to push her away and I swerved the tiniest bit (I didn't even leave my lane and it wasn't a crazy swerve! I just drifted close to the line and corrected it!) and he pulled me over and tried to book me for reckless driving.
Fortunately I have dash and cab cam and was able to promptly show the officer what happened and made it clear I had complete control of my vehicle and people drift a little in their lanes literally all the time. He was so mad he couldn't get me lol. HE PROBABLY STILL COULD HAVE IF HE WANTED TO. IDK WHAT MADE HIM CHANGE HIS MIND EVEN WITH MY FOOTAGE. He was very dismissive of the footage and said it "didn't prove anything." EVEN THO IT SHOWED ME NEVER LEAVING MY LANE. I'M SORRY VIDEOGRAPHIC FOOTAGE OF THE INCIDENT DOESN'T PROVE ANYTHING??????!
At the end I finally said look, if you had just bought yourself dinner after a really long and hard ass day at work, and someone was stepping on your dinner, you'd stop it immediately wouldn't you? He took a long breath, rolled his eyes, and said drive more carefully or I'll get you next time. A literal threatâđť
GEORGIA COPS ARE THEIR OWN BREED OF CROOKED
They are so terrible there especially in Atlanta
Oml don't get started on ATL cops đđŤ
Georgia is a police state. They must make millions off the predatory attitude toward us as citizens.
Georgia is a fascist police state
I am so glad I no longer live in GA. It is crazy there. The human rights violations are obscene. Iâm sorry you went through this.
I'm in Douglas County. Would you mind giving me some idea of where this happened so I can avoid it at all costs?
Doesn't loitering require violation of request to leave or lack of prior authorization to be there?
CRIMES AGAINST POVERTY hit me like a Mack truck!
Fuck the corrupt police đ definitely sounds like lawsuit you can't lose way more than the $1500+ you shelled out. Good luck
I was empathetic with OP, and then I ran into a commenter doubting their story. I didn't really doubt it, but looked up their post history to see (you can still find it by appending "/search" to their user page):
https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/1pg6877/til_that_having_getting_pregnant_nursing_kids_of/
OP's comment on this:
OP seems very naive in thinking that bad things can't happen to decent people, or that someone who is illegal might not have good reasons for seeking asylum (and legal asylum seekers are also being arrested all over at hearings, etc.), or thinking that illegals are the reason for all the problems in this country.
Sorry for bringing politics into the DD sub, but I hope this is a wakeup call for OP. I am not optimistic.
Not really the place for politics TBH, but it seems like they just believe some policyâs wording is overly broad?
From what I can tell, their core argument seems to be that there is some policy that has a loophole which could be exploited, and potentially lead to a class of people with sometimes unnecessary (and sometimes indefinite) preferential treatment over others? But it seems like they actually agree with the policyâs intended purpose, just not that it could be gamed?
I do think the way they initially articulated that wasnât the best.
âI agree that it is likely for babies not yet on solids, and I don't have any issue with that. However, I believe it was written in a way that could be abused. A woman could nurse (which includes simply pumping) for 10 years & be shielded from deportation. After 10 years she would qualify for a cancellation of removal.
Honestly if I were in that situation I probably would continue pumping like once a day (especially if I had at least 2 children throughout those years)...so I don't blame anyone that does take advantage of it based on the way it was written. (The blame is on the people who wrote it in a such a way that places no limit on it's scope)â
âThe official policy defines nursing as a woman lactating, regardless of time since childbirthâ
âObv there should be protection in place for women that are so close to (before or after) childbirth that it isn't safe to travel, but this directive seems overly broadâ
Sorry Iâm dubious anything like this happened.
Who has practice at 2am?
His practice was at 5am. I intended to get gas after dinner, but fell asleep on the couch
My dog woke me up at around 2 to go potty & I realized I had forgotten to get gas.
There isnât a gas station between our house & where his practice was (that opens early enough), so I decided to run to the 24/7 gas station to fill up. (Which is in the opposite direction of his school)
Why not leave earlier before practice to get the gas? Who wants to leave at 2am in the rain? You have teenagers who have a 5am practice, they can get up earlier than expected to go with you to get gas on the way to their practice.
Seems a bit illogical. Stay home and get a couple more hours of sleep vs leaving at that time and then getting home and not being able to get anymore sleep before having to get up.
Also, you probably shouldn't be posting anything about your case and any potential lawsuit on the internet before your name has been cleared and a lawsuit has happened. It can backfire big time and most lawyers will tell you not to be posting anything related on social media and the internet.