Man Arrested For Drinking Ice Tea in Parking Lot

Originally posted by TorqueyThePig
reply to post by Rezlooper

 

Well if he was hired by the store owner he was probably given a list of job descriptions. 99.9% of the time when a business owner hires an officer or security guard one of the main duties is to ask people who are loitering to leave. Most liquor store owners don't even care if you purchased something from them. They just simply don't want you hanging out in the parking lot afterwards. Their store, their rules.

The officer/security guard had every right to ask what he was drinking and to smell it. However the guy did not have to comply. However when asked to leave the property he must comply if the owner asked the officer to make him leave, or a letter of authority is on file. One warning is all that is needed. If the person refuses an arrest can be made.

That is the problem I have with this article which is floating around everywhere including infowars. It says a man was arrested for drinking tea. That is so sensationalist. He wasn't arrested for drinking tea.

1 of 2 things happened. He was either legally arrested for trespassing or he was falsely arrested for trespassing.

The tea really doesn't play as big of a roll as people are making it to be. The two questions that need to be asked are as follows. 1. Did the owner call the police to have the man removed from the property? 2. Did the property owner already have a signed letter of trespass authority on file? If either of those two questions are true the arrest is absolutely valid. If neither are true then yes there may be an issue.

We simply don't know those answers. I just find it funny how people who don't know the facts, or people who have never even heard of a letter of trespass authority automatically bash the police.

I say learn all the facts before coming to a definitive answer.

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

I don't get the trespass angle at all. The officer never mentioned trespass at the outset, that came after he embarrassed himself. You're right though that the civilian was not arrested for drinking tea, he was in fact arrested for feck all.

reply to post by TorqueyThePig


I am sorry if this is off topic, but for someone who claims to be a Cop, that is an interesting choice for a member name you have there.

You claim you are a cop, yet in your member name is a derogatory term used to reference a cop.
Something’s sizzling-------Bacon!

If you find any offense in that, I would suggest you changing up your name because it was hard for me not to point this out once you established you were an officer.

reply to post by Bedlam


Yes you are right. The officer could have absolutely done a better job at identifying himself. That will definitely be brought up by the defense if this goes to court. That could get the case thrown out for sure.

Okay, no, BS on you.

Originally posted by kimish
OK, bs. How hard is it to put alcohol into an open can?? Not hard at all. To my knowledge carrying an open alcohol container in public is illegal.

According to your logic no person should be allowed to drink anything in public ever, that's beyond ridiculous, just because my open bottle of water 'might' have vodka in it, or my open bottle of coke 'might' have rum in it means any cop has the right to harass me and make demands of me?? Hell no.

All that X had to do was let the officer smell the can. Instead he was defiant.

He had no obligation to let the cop smell the can, again when did open can = crime? He was not being "defiant" at all, the cop had not identified himself before asking, the cop had not shown a badge, and X had committed no crime therefor is only exercising his RIGHTS.

Chances are that X has a rap sheet as long as his leg too.

Wow racist much? Not only would that be irrelevant to this incident the cop would have had no knowledge of that therefor that has nothing to do with anything. Sad you got so many stars, I guess there's more racists around this site than I'd like to think.

ETA: Arizona tea is also popular in many subcultures. Codeine (illegal without prescription/or illegal to abuse) is used in the tea.

I happen to love Arizona Tea, have bought it many times, I have never once mixed it with alcohol or drugs, but according to your logic anyone drinking Arizona Tea is a suspect drug user and needs to be harassed and arrested? Wack. I guess you like living in a police state where your nothing but an obedient number with no rights.

reply to post by IntrinsicMotivation


TorqueyThePig was a screen name I used long before I became a cop. I like the cartoon porkey the pig and I race cars. Irony I tell ya, pure irony.

It wouldn't matter what my screen name was, I would still be called a pig. Such is life I guess...

Originally posted by smurfy

Originally posted by TorqueyThePig
reply to post by Rezlooper

 

Well if he was hired by the store owner he was probably given a list of job descriptions. 99.9% of the time when a business owner hires an officer or security guard one of the main duties is to ask people who are loitering to leave. Most liquor store owners don't even care if you purchased something from them. They just simply don't want you hanging out in the parking lot afterwards. Their store, their rules.

The officer/security guard had every right to ask what he was drinking and to smell it. However the guy did not have to comply. However when asked to leave the property he must comply if the owner asked the officer to make him leave, or a letter of authority is on file. One warning is all that is needed. If the person refuses an arrest can be made.

That is the problem I have with this article which is floating around everywhere including infowars. It says a man was arrested for drinking tea. That is so sensationalist. He wasn't arrested for drinking tea.

1 of 2 things happened. He was either legally arrested for trespassing or he was falsely arrested for trespassing.

The tea really doesn't play as big of a roll as people are making it to be. The two questions that need to be asked are as follows. 1. Did the owner call the police to have the man removed from the property? 2. Did the property owner already have a signed letter of trespass authority on file? If either of those two questions are true the arrest is absolutely valid. If neither are true then yes there may be an issue.

We simply don't know those answers. I just find it funny how people who don't know the facts, or people who have never even heard of a letter of trespass authority automatically bash the police.

I say learn all the facts before coming to a definitive answer.

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

I don't get the trespass angle at all. The officer never mentioned trespass at the outset, that came after he embarrassed himself. You're right though that the civilian was not arrested for drinking tea, he was in fact arrested for feck all.

edit on 3-5-2013 by smurfy because: Text.

He probably never mentioned trespass at the beginning because he was looking to make an open container arrest. Until the officer (by the written or verbal request of the store owner) warns the suspect that he is trespassing OR asks him to leave the premise it is not a crime.

So to me it seems like the officer did get upset that the dude didn't have an open container and then remembered that he could enforce the trespass.

So I do agree that the officer could of handled this situation better.

Originally posted by TorqueyThePig
reply to post by Rubic0n

 

I thought this guy was an officer? I also thought uniformed police eventually responded and transported the man.

Not to the kid who was drinking the ice tea, he did not identify himself remember |(how many times does it need to be mentioned?) even when asked who he was he did not identify himself. only near the end he moved his shirt a bit for a split second were there supposedly was a badge but is not visible as it was to quick.

Uniformed police arrived a while AFTER this whole ordeal or did you somehow just magically miss that?? The man in plains should have ID'ed himself long before that and was even asked too. Not that it needed to be asked. Any well trained police officers know that he needs to identify himself (duh) especially of he is walking the streets looking like a lumberjack.

If one fails to do that , you ,me and the kid in the video can and should demand it. Or can any moron on the street approach you and convince you he is police just because he told you so ?

There has been no reason at all to acknowledge this man as a cop at that time and that is final.

reply to post by TorqueyThePig


My encounters with police in my 30 years of living in America as well as the abundance of cases of wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, Cops out to fill quotas, for profit jails, cops getting off with paid leave etc…. Seems like they take care of their own. Funny huh?

My open eyes and observations are what allow me to say this. Then again it is only my perception, and I may fall into the minority category with this perception, but that is slowly changing and this will be the view of the majority if things do not start to change.

What I do for a living, besides being a general contractor and music producer, I am obtaining my bachelors in psychology and then working on my Juris Doctorate. I study the laws of wherever I reside, because I was once ignorant of them and was taken advantage of by this so called justice system until I secured my release from what they called a justice center due to lack of jurisdiction. Still had to spend some time in there until I got into the Law Library and seen the truth with my own eyes. And even when I showed the C.O.’s my case they still tried fear tactics.

End result- at the end of the day I was released.

P.S. About the screen name - I figured you must have been a bike cop
I do not have any issues with you personally, just know that you are not going to pull this B.S. on me.

Originally posted by TorqueyThePig

Originally posted by smurfy

Originally posted by TorqueyThePig
reply to post by Rezlooper

 

Well if he was hired by the store owner he was probably given a list of job descriptions. 99.9% of the time when a business owner hires an officer or security guard one of the main duties is to ask people who are loitering to leave. Most liquor store owners don't even care if you purchased something from them. They just simply don't want you hanging out in the parking lot afterwards. Their store, their rules.

The officer/security guard had every right to ask what he was drinking and to smell it. However the guy did not have to comply. However when asked to leave the property he must comply if the owner asked the officer to make him leave, or a letter of authority is on file. One warning is all that is needed. If the person refuses an arrest can be made.

That is the problem I have with this article which is floating around everywhere including infowars. It says a man was arrested for drinking tea. That is so sensationalist. He wasn't arrested for drinking tea.

1 of 2 things happened. He was either legally arrested for trespassing or he was falsely arrested for trespassing.

The tea really doesn't play as big of a roll as people are making it to be. The two questions that need to be asked are as follows. 1. Did the owner call the police to have the man removed from the property? 2. Did the property owner already have a signed letter of trespass authority on file? If either of those two questions are true the arrest is absolutely valid. If neither are true then yes there may be an issue.

We simply don't know those answers. I just find it funny how people who don't know the facts, or people who have never even heard of a letter of trespass authority automatically bash the police.

I say learn all the facts before coming to a definitive answer.

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

I don't get the trespass angle at all. The officer never mentioned trespass at the outset, that came after he embarrassed himself. You're right though that the civilian was not arrested for drinking tea, he was in fact arrested for feck all.

edit on 3-5-2013 by smurfy because: Text.

He probably never mentioned trespass at the beginning because he was looking to make an open container arrest. Until the officer (by the written or verbal request of the store owner) warns the suspect that he is trespassing OR asks him to leave the premise it is not a crime.

So to me it seems like the officer did get upset that the dude didn't have an open container and then remembered that he could enforce the trespass.

So I do agree that the officer could of handled this situation better.

There had been no call from the store , the "cop" acted on his own:

m.fayobserver.com.../articles/2013/05/03/1254450

A statement from ABC Law Enforcement Chief Bill Belvin said that despite Beatty's assertion that he was drinking a non-alcoholic beverage, "the officer still had suspicions based on previous experience, and asked to examine the can more closely to determine if alcohol was present."

In court records, Libero says "the way Mr. Beatty carried the beverage appeared suspicious, so I walked toward Mr. Beatty to inquire about the same.'' He said he wanted to take the can so he could smell what was inside.

the so called "cop"'s name is Rick libero :

The incident was in the parking lot of a Cumberland County ABC store on Morganton Road, across from Cross Creek Mall. Libero's agency handles law enforcement for the county ABC Board.

Originally posted by IntrinsicMotivation
reply to post by TorqueyThePig

 

My encounters with police in my 30 years of living in America as well as the abundance of cases of wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, Cops out to fill quotas, for profit jails, cops getting off with paid leave etc…. Seems like they take care of their own. Funny huh?

My open eyes and observations are what allow me to say this. Then again it is only my perception, and I may fall into the minority category with this perception, but that is slowly changing and this will be the view of the majority if things do not start to change.

What I do for a living, besides being a general contractor and music producer, I am obtaining my bachelors in psychology and then working on my Juris Doctorate. I study the laws of wherever I reside, because I was once ignorant of them and was taken advantage of by this so called justice system until I secured my release from what they called a justice center due to lack of jurisdiction. Still had to spend some time in there until I got into the Law Library and seen the truth with my own eyes. And even when I showed the C.O.’s my case they still tried fear tactics.

End result- at the end of the day I was released.

Well I can post plenty of stories of contractors, music producers and psychologists who have committed crimes I don't think the majority are bad.

I can actually think of two occassions where a family member and I were frauded by a contractor I still don't think they are all bad.

I do apologize if you have had negative experiences with law enforcement. However I have never met you, nor have I wronged you in any way.

I wish you luck in your future endeavors.

Originally posted by TorqueyThePig
reply to post by IntrinsicMotivation

 

TorqueyThePig was a screen name I used long before I became a cop. I like the cartoon porkey the pig and I race cars. Irony I tell ya, pure irony.

It wouldn't matter what my screen name was, I would still be called a pig. Such is life I guess...

edit on 3-5-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)

This is where you are wrong. If the majority of the public respected the police, this would not be happening. People would unite and defend those who defend them.

You suffer that fate because the police have abused their power over the generations. Maybe you should find another line of work, or take advantage to help affect change within your department and in your community so that the police are respected again.

I hope this message does not fall on deaf ears.

reply to post by Rubic0n


I agree with you. The officer did a piss poor job of identifying himself. The resisting charge should no question be dropped. The whole thing may get thrown out. I definitely see where you guys are coming from. The defendant may have his charges dismissed and may also have a lawsuit.

Like I said before I just wanted to make it clear that he wasn't arrested for drinking an iced tea.

reply to post by IntrinsicMotivation


I have never abused my authority.There was a case of domestic violence with one of our officers and another was sleeping with a prostitute. Both were caught, arrested and fired by my department. We do our part.

Why should I have to take abuse for other peoples actions? That is like saying all whites should be held accountable because the majority of serial killers are white. That doesn't make any sense and frankly is not fair.

Originally posted by chrismarco
reply to post by WaterBottle

 

here we go...so someone just wants to film some unknown guy drinking Ice Tea in the parking lot...because I always film friends and family drinking Ice Tea in a parking lot....more to it than this...

edit on 2-5-2013 by chrismarco because: (no reason given)

ummm watch the 2nd vidoe... they were clearly filming. The samera man that uploaded the video thought the undercover cop was an actor because they were filming... he was surprised when the cop turned out to be real... End all be all, the cop never took the iced tea, and arrested him for trespassing. So there's NOT more too it than that...

Originally posted by TorqueyThePig

Originally posted by IntrinsicMotivation
reply to post by TorqueyThePig

 

My encounters with police in my 30 years of living in America as well as the abundance of cases of wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, Cops out to fill quotas, for profit jails, cops getting off with paid leave etc…. Seems like they take care of their own. Funny huh?

My open eyes and observations are what allow me to say this. Then again it is only my perception, and I may fall into the minority category with this perception, but that is slowly changing and this will be the view of the majority if things do not start to change.

What I do for a living, besides being a general contractor and music producer, I am obtaining my bachelors in psychology and then working on my Juris Doctorate. I study the laws of wherever I reside, because I was once ignorant of them and was taken advantage of by this so called justice system until I secured my release from what they called a justice center due to lack of jurisdiction. Still had to spend some time in there until I got into the Law Library and seen the truth with my own eyes. And even when I showed the C.O.’s my case they still tried fear tactics.

End result- at the end of the day I was released.

Well I can post plenty of stories of contractors, music producers and psychologists who have committed crimes I don't think the majority are bad.

I can actually think of two occassions where a family member and I were frauded by a contractor I still don't think they are all bad.

I do apologize if you have had negative experiences with law enforcement. However I have never met you, nor have I wronged you in any way.

I wish you luck in your future endeavors.

Yes I agree, there are bad people out there from all walks of life.

Did you see in my previous post that I acknowledged that there are good cops out there?

You see the police have treated people like suspects for so long that now we the people are looking back at you like a suspect.

It is not cool to be profiled is it?

Welcome to my world.

I do see you forgot to mention Lawyer, which is my end goal. You see, instead of just complaining online, I am taking the steps I need to take to put myself in a position to affect change on the inside of the system, or at least to protect those who find themselves victim to it.

I do understand that you have done me no wrong. But you are a cop.

Fool me once, shame on you!
Fool me twice, Shame On ME!!!!

I have been fooled by cops and you are now automatically suspect until I can get a read on you. That is called survival my friend. I will not be the victim again!

The way I see it, Police need to hear the words of people like me otherwise you are only getting one side of the story (the police side).

Remember your oath and serve the public faithfully. I know you guys are not paid well for the amount of BS encountered on a daily basis.

Thanks for the wishes of luck and I send the same back at you.

Originally posted by kimish
OK, bs. How hard is it to put alcohol into an open can?? Not hard at all. To my knowledge carrying an open alcohol container in public is illegal. All that X had to do was let the officer smell the can. Instead he was defiant. This is why many people get arrested for petty stuff, they're stupid and try pressing their luck.
Chances are that X has a rap sheet as long as his leg too. SMh.

ETA: Arizona tea is also popular in many subcultures. Codeine (illegal without prescription/or illegal to abuse) is used in the tea. OP< I know you are aware of this so stop the race baiting.

Originally posted by TorqueyThePig
reply to post by Bedlam

 

Yes you are right. The officer could have absolutely done a better job at identifying himself. That will definitely be brought up by the defense if this goes to court. That could get the case thrown out for sure.

I have to say, if you come up to me in a parking lot with a windbreaker on, one that isn't company logo, and it doesn't have a security company logo either, and you have no badge showing, and identify to me as "po-lice", I would likely assume you were an imposter prima facie, unless I knew you personally.

"Let me sniff that drink" would be countered with "Identify yourself", if you said "po-lice" I'd say "let's find out" and call a supervisor.

I don't hold with 'multiple hats'. I know it's done everywhere. If you as a LEO take on a side job, you ought not have police authority while clocked in. However, at least around Pensacola, if you're doing that, you are required by policy to have your badge showing, either around your neck or on your belt. And you have to have on some identifying mark that says you are working for the company. If you're at the Wallyworld, for example, you'll have your badge on and a walmart vest. It reduces the likelihood of such errors.

This thing could have turned out really badly. Say you come up to someone, possibly me, as a CCW permit holder and say "I am po-lice" and grab at me, if you manage to spook me badly enough I might draw on you. I don't know who you are, you're some random guy to me, if you go grabbing at me after making some unsubstantiated statement that you are po-lice, when I know that's not policy, it's possible I'll assume my life is in danger.

Welcome to Soviet Rus... I mean, America. How dare this man drink tea in public. And how dare he not bow down and grovel to the authority that refuses to even show identification. Lawyers are going to have a field day with this. The "officer" has no business holding a badge.

reply to post by IntrinsicMotivation


Fair enough. I guess you are right. From now on I will automatically think that all contractors will fraud me and all lawyers are corrupt. Survival. Dude that actually makes sense to me. I am not being sarcastic either!

Prepare for the worst hope for the best. Assume someone is going to be a dick but be happy when they are not. Wether they are a cop or a waitress. Make them surprise you.

Wow man. I honestly never thought of it that way.

reply to post by Bedlam


You are 100% correct. I live in Florida too. If I am working an overtime detail I have to have my uniform on. If I am working under cover I have to show my badge and ID.

This case should be thrown out.