Man arrested after cops mistake Jolly Rancher candy for crystal meth, suit follows
Posted by: Jon Ben-Mayor on 10/19/2013 08:35 AM [ Comments ]
A Brooklyn, NY., man was detained by NYPD for over 24 hours after he was accused of possessing crystal meth; one of the arresting officers boasted that he was professionally trained to identify meth.
The NY Daily News thinks that cop might need a refresher course.
“I don’t know if these cops have been watching ‘Breaking Bad,’ but my client is not Walter White,” said lawyer Kenneth Smith, who filed the suit Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Olatunjiojo, 25, and an unidentified friend had purchased the sweets at the It’Sugar candy emporium on Surf Ave. in Coney Island last June.
Several blocks away, the two were stopped by Officer Jermaine Taylor and several other cops who searched the men.
The cops told Olatunjiojo, who ended up being detained for 24 hours, it was “only a matter of time before they found something,” according to the complaint.
Taylor also claimed that he administered a field test to determine if the candy was narcotics and got a “positive” result, the complaint states.
Two “red crystalline rocks of solid material” and four “blue crystalline rocks of solid material” were then subjected to a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis at the NYPD lab.
Two days later the results were in — Jolly Ranchers, not a controlled substance, Smith said.
Olatunjiojo is seeking unspecified monetary damages for the 24 hours or so he spent in police custody and court detention for a misdemeanor drug charge.
Olatunjiojo, who declined to comment, claims he suffered emotional distress as a result of the alleged false arrest, illegal search and seizure and false imprisonment.
“I don’t know if these cops have been watching ‘Breaking Bad,’ but my client is not Walter White,” said lawyer Kenneth Smith, who filed the suit Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Olatunjiojo, 25, and an unidentified friend had purchased the sweets at the It’Sugar candy emporium on Surf Ave. in Coney Island last June.
Several blocks away, the two were stopped by Officer Jermaine Taylor and several other cops who searched the men.
The cops told Olatunjiojo, who ended up being detained for 24 hours, it was “only a matter of time before they found something,” according to the complaint.
Taylor also claimed that he administered a field test to determine if the candy was narcotics and got a “positive” result, the complaint states.
Two “red crystalline rocks of solid material” and four “blue crystalline rocks of solid material” were then subjected to a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis at the NYPD lab.
Two days later the results were in — Jolly Ranchers, not a controlled substance, Smith said.
Olatunjiojo is seeking unspecified monetary damages for the 24 hours or so he spent in police custody and court detention for a misdemeanor drug charge.
Olatunjiojo, who declined to comment, claims he suffered emotional distress as a result of the alleged false arrest, illegal search and seizure and false imprisonment.
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