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A NEW YORK man who spent 29 days in jail after Pennsylvania state police mistook homemade soap for cocaine has filed a lawsuit.
The Allentown Morning Call reports Alexander Bernstein says he had to pay thousands of dollars in court costs and missed Thanksgiving with his toddler before the charges were dropped.
He’s seeking damages exceeding $150,000.
State troopers and the field test manufacturer are named in the suit, filed last week.
Bernstein was a passenger in a Mercedes-Benz police pulled over for speeding near Allentown in November 2013.
Troopers smelled marijuana, searched the car and found packages the driver said was homemade soap, but tested as cocaine.
Lab tests later showed it was soap.
The driver was charged with marijuana possession and speeding.
State police declined to comment.
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Did the cop not do the pinky finger in the bag taste test im sure all us cops know what cocaine tastes like
You watch too many movies….
That’s why I like the Irish police.
They adopt a more tolerant and intelligent approach to dealing with ‘suspected’ crimes.
Only last month I got stopped by a patrol a car for a defective brake light.
On searching the car one of the Gardai happened upon a suspicious package of white powder in the glove compartment.
‘What’s that?’ he asked.
‘Bath Salts’ I replied.
Did he shoot me?
No.
He just ate the face off me and let me go.
That definitely happened….
I assume the policeman’s name was Hannibal Lecter.
Well someone took bath salts anyway.
yes, guards tend to search all cars they stop allright……
Did you slip him the tongue or just a line!?!
You’d like he would have made a clean get away
The Soaps are the Opium of the People.
All the women in Ireland are addicted to Soaps.
Coronation Street is particularly toxic.
So long as he didn’t have to bend over for the soap when in prison.
Looks like they got into an imperial lather about the whole thing…
The NYPD need to clean up their act.
Pennsylvania
Escaped as free as a dove
have your say