A man in New York is now suing the New York Police Department after officers arrested him and his friend back in June — thinking they were carrying crystal meth.
The trouble is, that meth was actually just Jolly Ranchers. Somehow, officers concluded the candy was an illegal substance through a field test and took the men into custody for about 24 hours. (Via WPMT)
The New York Daily News brought the first report on the new lawsuit and says high-tech lab tests finally determined the suspicious-looking drugs were really just blue and red pieces of candy.
The blunder could serve as an embarrassment for the NYPD officer who said he had a good eye at pinpointing illegal drugs. In this instance, he was a little off the mark. (Via Time)
However, a drug enforcement agent defended the NYPD saying many new forms of crystal meth really do look like candy. But that still doesn't explain how the field test determined the Jolly Ranchers were drugs. (Via Daily Mail)
The lawsuit might sound funny, but the case is very serious. The man suing the police department says he underwent severe "emotional trauma" because of what happened while he was in jail.
In jail, the man said he underwent a strip search to prove he didn't have any other drugs on him, even though he didn't even have any in the first place. A friend of the two men was also arrested for police interference. He reportedly told officers his friends were just carrying candy. (Via The Smoking Gun)
It's not clear why the men were stopped, but a writer for Salon says this botched arrest could show flaws with New York's controversial "stop-and-frisk" policy, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg has strongly defended.
"In what appears to be an all-too-common refrain for New York cops stopping and frisking young, non-white men, the officer who detained [the men] reportedly said, it was 'only a matter of time before they found something.'"
Narcotics charges weren't dropped until a September court date despite the fact that the lab test concluded the Jolly Ranchers weren't drugs three months earlier. The man suing the police department is seeking unspecified damages.
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