The incident, which at first appeared to be just a routine traffic check in Tallahassee (Florida), has caused outrage, and the local police have been put under scrutiny. The bodycam footage shows officers placing evidence in the vehicle of a driver to justify his arrest for driving under the influence.
Calvin Riley, 56, and Officer Kiersten Olson of the Tallahassee Police Department were involved in an incident that occurred on May 7, 2023. The officer is seen pulling Riley over because he was driving with a suspension.
After arriving on the scene, the officer requested backup and spoke with Officer Margaret Mueth about the details of his traffic stop. Oliver asks Meuth to speak with Riley, claiming she is verifying Riley’s address. Oliver said that she thought Riley was drunk. She said, “I’m not sure but I feel like there are some indications.” “I don’t smell anything at the moment.”
Oliver accuses Riley that he smells like marijuana. The motorist explained that he does not smoke weed, to which the officer replied: “You lie.”
Oliver appeared to try to arrest Riley by raising several possible charges during the 45-minute stop.
Officers in Florida have the discretion to either ticket or arrest a driver with a suspended driving license after the first offense. Officers must arrest and take someone into custody if they commit a second offense. Riley was notified of a suspended driving license just weeks before the March 7th stop.
Oliver and Mueth discussed the incident in Oliver’s vehicle before approaching Riley. Mueth said that the officers had formulated a plan to ask Riley to take field sobriety and, if he did not, to use their discretion to arrest Riley for driving with a suspension of his license.
Riley refused to take a roadside voluntary sobriety check when officers asked him to.
He was not told the consequences of refusing to take the optional test.
Officers initially claimed that Riley smelled of marijuana. However, after placing Riley in Oliver’s car, they began to claim Riley smelled of alcohol.
Oliver asks Mueth, after placing Riley into the back of her squad vehicle: “Is it enough?
Riley’s vehicle was searched by the two officers to look for marijuana. The vehicle was empty of marijuana.
It didn’t end there.
The officers were disappointed when they failed to locate any illegal substances in Riley’s vehicles. They then looked for alternatives. Officer Oliver stated, “There is vodka in his chair…vodka has been found”. She then held up a cognac bottle and claimed that a cup inside Riley’s car smelled of alcohol, even though she had not smelled it. The driver told officers it was tea.
Mueth continued to question Riley in the vehicle where Riley was detained. The footage shows Oliver pouring the alcohol out of the bottle before throwing it in the passenger’s seat, out of Mueth’s sight.
Bodycam footage shows Florida police officer planting alcohol in a man’s vehicle after a traffic stop to justify arresting him for DUI.
Despite what is clearly shown on the bodycam footage, the motorist is still facing trial. pic.twitter.com/IReO8HDy39
— Jeff Charles, An Awful Pundit🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) April 4, 2024
The two officers called Sergeant Brian Smith and he arrived on the scene.
The three officers discussed the case after moving Riley without incident. Did you search the vehicle? Smith asks Mueth, “Nothing in there?”
Mueth replies: “No, it’s ok. He had alcohol stashed there. But, that is not the case.”
Smith asks, “Nothing open?”
“Yeah, open,” Mueth says. “In his, like, Turvis, in the center console, he had a mixed drink, and then under his knee, he had like, um, a little bottle of vodka tucked away.”
Oliver suggests that Riley move his car to the New Life United Methodist Church’s parking lot after his arrest. They were standing outside. This would prevent Riley from having to pay for a tow. “I’d just let it go because he did nothing to try and …” Mueth, who is now stumbling, says.
Riley told Our Tallahassee he had missed car payments and legal fees because he posted his $750 bond and paid his legal fees. He also missed his work at the barbershop.
“You still live?” Sergeant Smith asks, pointing at Officer Mueth’s body camera. He quickly looks away when he realizes she is. Just twenty seconds later, Mueth asked Oliver “Are you still on?”, Oliver shook her head. The body camera footage ends.
Riley may still face charges despite what is visible in the video. In a deposition given by Officer Oliver, she claimed that the alcohol was poured out because it is against department policy to impound liquids as proof. The policies of the department do not mention such a prohibition. Riley’s trial by jury is scheduled to start on April 5th.
