A compassionate Houston driver who gave some change to a homeless man was later wrongfully arrested on police suspicion that his charity was part of a drug deal.
During a late-night drive, Greg Snider pulled into an empty parking lot to make a call on his cell phone. A homeless man approached him and asked for money. Snider gave him 75 cents in change before continuing his drive.
A police officer, who saw the exchange, went ballistic.
“I had no idea what was about to happen,” said Snider, according to KPRC-Houston.
A police car pulled Snider over. The officer ordered him out of his car, handcuffed him and put him in the back of the police car. (RELATED: Cop squeezed kid’s genitals so hard, he is now in a wheelchair and possibly infertile)
“He’s screaming,” recalled Snider. “He’s yelling. He’s telling me to get out of the car. He’s telling me to put my hands on the hood.”
The officer told Snider that he had seen him make a drug deal. Eventually, as many as 10 police cars appeared at the scene.
Snider was incredulous. “Are you kidding me?” he asked. “I gave a homeless man 75 cents.”
Snider agreed to let the officer search his car. [Note: Never do this, unless the police have a warrant, and never answer questions before first consulting with a good lawyer.] (RELATED INFOGRAPHIC: This is how you handle the cops)
After an hour-long search, officers were forced to admit that the man had no drugs, and let him go. The police laughed all the while — apparently, they found it hilarious that they had detained an innocent man for over an hour over a misunderstanding.
Snider has filed a complaint with the police department, alleging that they damaged his car during the search.
Reasons’s Scott Shackford pointed out one possible upside of a wrongful arrest involving 10 police cars.
“Well, at least for a little while fewer people were getting pulled over for minor traffic violations,” wrote Shackford.