Category Archives: Searches and Seizures

Driver Honks at Cop Car Idling at Green Light, Gets Arrested 5 Minutes Later

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Matthew Edwards, a hard working welder, had just worked a 14 hour shift and was waiting to turn into his neighborhood in Troy, New York. A marked police car was waiting at a red light in front of him at the intersection where he was waiting to make a left turn onto the street where he lives. But when the light turned green, the police car didn’t move. After waiting a few moments, Matthew briefly honked his horn to alert the distracted police officer that the light had turned green. Within 5 minutes, Matthew would be violently arrested by that officer, Taylor Ganache with the Troy Police Department.

The police report:

The lawsuit:

Troy ComplaintDownload

Cops Pull Over a Paraplegic Driving a Blind Man, Then Order Them Both Out of the Car

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Officers with the DeKalb, Texas Police Department pulled over a paraplegic man and his fully blind best friend over a broken tag light on their country Cadillac. One of the officers claimed to smell marijuana and ordered both men out of the car (the search of which did not subsequently produce marijuana) – at night, on the side of a highway. One of the men couldn’t see a thing, and the other had no use of legs and had no wheelchair. It went about how you might expect…

Police Captain Caught by FBI Staging Innocent CEO’s Arrest for Social Media

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Captain David Boruchowitz was the face of law enforcement in Nye County, Nevada, showing up on the news, social media, and even police reality TV shows. But behind the badge, a darker story was brewing. In 2019 he arrested Angela Evans, the CEO Valley Electric (VEA) – a local power company, accusing her of embezzling services by moving a power pole on her own property. As it turns out, that allegation was a total lie. But the damage was done. She lost her job and ended up filing a civil lawsuit. So why did he do it? Believe it or not, Boruchowitz was later exposed by the FBI to be part of a conspiracy to oust this woman as CEO and replace her with his co-conspirator, Ken Johnson. A central part of this scheme were elaborate Facebook and YouTube videos produced by the Nye County Sheriff’s Office for the purpose of effecting the conspiracy. Despite getting caught, indicted and convicted, Boruchowitz ended up not spending a single day in prison.

The Indictment:

Buruchowitz IndictmentDownload

Search Warrant No. 1:

vea search warrant 1Download

Search Warrant No. 2:

vea warrant no 2Download

Trooper Gets SUED AGAIN for Arresting Innocent Door Dash Driver | Lawsuit & Bodycam

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A little over two weeks ago, I posted a video showing Kentucky State Police Trooper Myron Jackson wrongfully arresting a mom of three who was on her own porch, filming Trooper Jackson’s illegal traffic stop. The bogus criminal charge against the mom was dropped by prosecutors and a lawsuit was filed. Now yet another lawsuit has been filed against Trooper Jackson – this time for the wrongful arrest of an innocent Door Dash driver. I have the exclusive first look at the lawsuit and the bodycam footage. Just like the prior video, prosecutors dropped the bogus criminal charge. But looking a little deeper into the Kentucky State Police, it’s no huge mystery where Jackson learned to make these sorts of unconstitutional arrests.

The lawsuit:

1Download

The 6th Circuit opinion from the Phillip Burnett video:

14a0651n-06Download

The full Phillip Burnett video:

Cop Accuses Couple of Trespassing on THEIR OWN Property

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A Marion County (Florida) Sheriff’s Deputy saw a couple sitting in their car, on their own property, where they were building a new “barndominium” in the middle of a large field behind their home. The deputy pulled onto the property, got out of his police cruiser, approaching the couple, who were sitting in their car eating a meal, as it was raining. There had been no report of criminal activity. The deputy just thought they looked suspicious and that they could be trespassing.

The police report:

Incident Report 25-14568 RedactedDownload

Cop Arrests Mom of 3 Filming His Illegal Traffic Stop | She Wins in Court

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On July 31, 2024, Kentucky State Police Trooper Myron Jackson took exception to Christen Johnson, a dental assistant and mom of 3 young children, silently filming his illegal traffic stop from her front porch. Trooper Jackson stormed up to Christen and threatened her, “Go inside of the house or I will take you from your kids and take you to jail.”

When Christen remained filming on her porch, Trooper Jackson grabbed her, forcefully pulled her from her porch, and dragged her across the ground. Christen’s two, seven, and ten-year-old children screamed and cried, watching helplessly as their mother was violently hand- cuffed and dragged away to jail. When she got out of jail the next day, she was forced to walk several miles home, and when she got there, she found her children gone.

The lawsuit:

Johnson suit filed copyDownload

Cops Humiliated by Angry Victim After Supervisor Arrives

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In Margate, Florida, Officer Sohn of the Margate Police Department observed a man sitting in his parked car during daylight hours in a local park. He approaches the driver’s side window of the car and begins to ask questions and demand identification. The officer refuses to take no for an answer, and the situation escalates to eventually holding the man in handcuffs. Once the supervisor arrives however, Officer Sohn is unable to justify his actions.

Grandmother Arrested on 25 Year-Old Warrant for Someone Else | Lawsuit Filed!

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In the blink of an eye, a peaceful day of yardwork for Penny McCarthy turned into a nightmare. She was on her driveway in Phoenix, Arizona, in a sleeveless shirt, shorts, and slippers, when a team of United States Marshals pulled up in unmarked vehicles and aimed firearms at her.

Penny—who is a 67-year-old grandmother—was clearly at their mercy. And yet, the officers threatened to “hit” her, frisked her, placed her in handcuffs and ankle shackles, and drove her away from home. The officers did not so much as check Penny’s driver’s license or run any other basic checks on her identity before violently arresting her.

The whole time, Penny calmly but persistently insisted that there must be a mistake. The officers claimed that she was Carole Rozak, for whom they had an arrest warrant. But Penny was not Rozak, and Penny had no connection to Rozak. The officers had made a huge, inexcusable error.

Here are more details from the Institute for Justice.

You can DONATE to the Institute for Justice here.

The complaint that was filed by the Institute for Justice:

AZ-Mistaken-ID-Stamped-ComplaintDownload

When Cops Demand ID for a Walmart Trespass, But No Crime is Suspected

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Eddie and his mom went to the Gadsden, Alabama, Walmart to pick up a pair of shoes. But a Karen security guard called the cops and requested that they trespass Eddie from the store. Even though Sgt. Unlu of the Gadsden Police Department admitted that Eddie had committed no crime, he wanted Eddie’s ID in order to provide his personal information to Walmart for purposes of a trespass notice. This is a common issue around the country. Is there a Walmart exception to the 4th Amendment, or does Eddie have any constitutional protections in this scenario?

CVS Employee Arrested Waiting on Bench for Lyft Driver (7 MINUTES after closing the store)

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22 year-old Paul was sitting outside the CVS store where he works in Edgewater, FL, sitting on a bench waiting for a ride using the Lyft app. Edgewater Police Department Officer Daniel Rippeon observed Paul and concluded that he looked suspicious. No crime had been committed. No crime had been alleged by anyone to have been committed. Yet Paul was almost immediately seized and threatened with being tased and bitten by a police K9. He was taken to jail, despite the fact that Officer Rippeon was fully aware that Paul was a store employee waiting for a Lyft driver.

Arrest report:

Other incident video from James Madison Audits.

Here’s the full unedited raw bodycam from Ofc. Rippeon, so that you can see what was cut and that there was no misleading editing involved. This is as provided via FOIA request from the City of Edgewater, FL: