Illegal Traffic Stop, WRONG CAR - January 7, 2024
- 4 months ago
On the evening of January 7th, 2024, a deputy of the Caldwell Parish, Louisiana sheriff's department stopped a maroon 2021 Jeep Cherokee that he claimed did not have a license plate. The vehicle actually did have a license plate, though. And it was the vehicle's permanent plate, not a temp tag in the back glass as is the case with approximately 98% of these bogus "no plate" stops.
After admitting the vehicle had a plate and determining the plate was valid, the deputy asked dispatch if the plate was "similar to" the plate on a stolen vehicle that nightshift deputies were supposed to have been looking for (but didn't care enough to...) approximately 20 hours prior. It's not included in this recording, but for reference, the stolen vehicle was a silver 2014 Jeep Cherokee with multiple other distinguishing features. The only similarity was the make and model, not enough by itself to legally justify making the traffic stop.
Bottom line is, this deputy unlawfully stopped that motorist just because the make and model (but not year, color, or other key distinguishing features) was the same, and initially lied about it not having a license plate presumably just to make scanner listeners think the stop was justified.
This deputy has a history of stopping the wrong vehicle (or wrong person) that doesn't even remotely match the suspect vehicle's (or the suspect's) description. For an example of that, in August 2023 he stopped and tried to get violent with a 60-year-old black man (a school janitor for over 20 years) at a local school, who was wearing light gray work clothes. The actual person he was supposed to have been looking for, was an early-20s black male wearing a dark blue vest and shorts, not even close to matching the janitor's description. Other than later being made to go back and apologize to the janitor, he faced absolutely no repercussions for that. I strongly suspect he will not be reprimanded for this illegal stop either.
After admitting the vehicle had a plate and determining the plate was valid, the deputy asked dispatch if the plate was "similar to" the plate on a stolen vehicle that nightshift deputies were supposed to have been looking for (but didn't care enough to...) approximately 20 hours prior. It's not included in this recording, but for reference, the stolen vehicle was a silver 2014 Jeep Cherokee with multiple other distinguishing features. The only similarity was the make and model, not enough by itself to legally justify making the traffic stop.
Bottom line is, this deputy unlawfully stopped that motorist just because the make and model (but not year, color, or other key distinguishing features) was the same, and initially lied about it not having a license plate presumably just to make scanner listeners think the stop was justified.
This deputy has a history of stopping the wrong vehicle (or wrong person) that doesn't even remotely match the suspect vehicle's (or the suspect's) description. For an example of that, in August 2023 he stopped and tried to get violent with a 60-year-old black man (a school janitor for over 20 years) at a local school, who was wearing light gray work clothes. The actual person he was supposed to have been looking for, was an early-20s black male wearing a dark blue vest and shorts, not even close to matching the janitor's description. Other than later being made to go back and apologize to the janitor, he faced absolutely no repercussions for that. I strongly suspect he will not be reprimanded for this illegal stop either.