Car Searched by Pittsbirgh Police

[Ricochet]

This happened a week ago and I didnt want to post it here until my attorney gave me the "OK" to do so. At this time however, I cannot divulge specific details about the officer's names and precise location of this incident.

Let me preface this post by saying that I am a 31 year old professional who was once a TSA at Baltimore/Washington airport with US Customs and DEA clearances.
I have always held LEO's in very high regard since working along side them.

Now onto what happened.

Approximately one week ago, a friend was in a minor car accident was taken to Allegheny general Hospital. After he was discharged, he called me and asked if I would pick him up since his car was towed after the accident.

I was fishing at the time of his call, and packed up my gear and drove directly to the hospital to pick him up.
Afterward, we stopped for gasoline on the way to his house.
My friend is a 28 year old very clean cut , well mannered black male attending grad school at Pitt.

After I pumped my fuel, I got in my vehicle and left the gas station using all my turn signals.

I then noticed a PPD vehicle behind me with his light bar activated.

I pulled over and the officer asked for my license and reg.

I handed it to him and politely asked: "may I ask why I am being pulled over sir?"

The officers reply was "Because thats what I do" and her immediately pulled me out of my vehicle with no explanation and asked me to lean on my bumper.

Keep in mind I have NO warrants, my car is 100% legal and is fully insured.

Other officers arrive on scene and take my friend out of the passenger seat and talk to him.

After having my friend exit the vehicle, they (3 LEO's) immediately begin searching my vehicle.

I make it clear to all LEO's that I NEVER consented to a search and the original officer yelled in my face "You can tell that to the judge! You must watch too much law and order. This isnt Hollywood you know". I then asked him for the second time, why was I pulled over and what was his probable cause or even reasonable suspicion to search my vehicle.
The same officer tells a lain clothes officer to "take him over to the curb , have him sit down and shut his mouth"

The plainclothes officer pats me down and asked me if I "had any contraband on my person or the vehicle" I said no.

As they search my vehicle, they find a loose .40 bullet that was at the bottom of a book bag that I use at the range. He then asks me if I own a firearm, I say yes. He then asked me if it was in the vehicle, I said yes (knowing full well they were about to find it) He opened the truck and saw that I had a cased and UNLOADED Sig 229 with two loaded magazines in a separate case.

He then yelled at me "I asked you if you had any contraband, what the hell do you think a gun is?" I replied, it is a firearm I legally bought, I didn't think that was considered contraband". The rude LEO said "yeah, you got all the answers dont you?"
The polite plain clothes officer who was standing beside me was clearly embarrassed my the rude LEO's behavior.
I told him "I have a Sportsman Firearms Permit and I was just carrying that firearm while fishing.
The nice LEO then smiled and I gave him my SFP and he ran the info over his radio to verify it along with the SN# of my Sig.
Both came back clean.


After the officers talked a bit, they all shrugged and asked me one more time "Do you have any drugs or other weapons in this car" I said "NO".

They told my friend and I that "we were free to leave".

As I sat down in my vehicle, the rude LEO came up to me and said "I will be filing a street incident report that only police officers can see. If you are in this area again, all police will know about this incident here today" I told him "Thats fine with me, I have not broken any laws".
He just turned his back and left.

Folks, I honestly dont know what to make of what happened. I was given NO traffic violation and more importantly NO reason as to why they did this.
One of the many reasons I left Maryland was because of the horrible abuse of power that most (not all) MD LEO's practice there.

I had no idea that in Pittsburgh, a city that I really enjoy living in so far had the same problem.

Now I know that this is probably rare, but irregardless, it was WRONG.

The only reason that I can think of as to why he pulled me over, was because I am white, and my friend in the passenger seat was black.

With my attorneys help, I plan to get some type of explanation. But in the mean time, I would like to hear your thoughts.

[gnbrotz]

(06-20-2010 02:35 AM)Ricochet Wrote:  Now I know that this is probably rare, but irregardless, it was WRONG.

<snip>

I would like to hear your thoughts.

My thoughts are that this is not as rare as you think, but many (most?) don't know what their rights are or are too intimidated to try and assert them.

[cgbudde]

Sounds like another cop on a power trip. Good to see you got a lawyer, and yes I expect the reason he did pull you over was because you are white and your friend black. Talk about profiling.

[Paradigm]

Go get 'em, Tiger!

That's an absolute load of crap. At the very least, someone needs to be reassigned for a long time. Ideally, someone needs to be given a pink slip.

Best wishes. Make sure you let us know when your court date is if you'd like some support.

[perfesser]

Sounds like a dick on a power trip watched too much Pulp Fiction lately. Go get 'em!

[railjack]

I'm glad I live in Lawrence Co. Our LEO's are so caught up in trying to catch quad runners that you could walk down the street with a M1 Abram and they wouldn't notice!!!

[Maverick]

PLease Keep us updated on this incident!

[Mike13]

Wow! Sorry to hear about your incident. The officers broke numerous laws that day. Unlawful detention, illegal search and seizure, and I'm sure other things as well. I must say I feel like you handled yourself pretty well. By not considering your firearm contraband (which it is not), by clearly stating that you did NOT consent to the search of you vehicle and also, being persistent and asking a second time why you were pulled over. The unfortunate part is that you handled yourself with better tact that the officers did Good luck perusing this with your lawyer, please keep us posted.

[sjello]

Ricochet, My nephew had the same thing happen to him in Pittsburgh. He is in his 20's. Was driving an older Buick with a couple friends. He's a great kid. Clean cut and never in trouble. Didn't do anything wrong. They pulled him over, made them get out of the car and harrassed them and searched the car for no reason. They found nothing, but I guess it made them feel better. I don't mind tough cops when someone broke the law, but this stuff gotta go. I really hope you make Rambo the Cop regret what he did. Good luck!!!

[thetruepyromaniak]

did this ever get settled?