lawfulandlegal
Junior Member
I'm posting this on behalf of my girlfriend, so let me explain what happened to her. There is a little bit of backstory involved.
Backstory:
Almost 2 years ago her car was stolen outside of our home during the night. She woke up to go to work and her car was gone. The point to this story is that her car had a personalized license plate on it when it was stolen. We called the police and filed a police report. To our surprise, a week or so later she received a new license plate in the mail from the SOS with the same personalization as the stolen plate on it. Apparently in the state of Michigan, if a personalized plate is stolen, they automatically send you a new one in the mail.
Her stolen car never ended up being found, and she ended up buying a new vehicle (totally different make and model than her stolen car), and put the new plate on it.
A few months later, she was pulled over by an officer who informed her that the reason she was being pulled over is that her plate was coming back as stolen. She explained the story to him and he checked a few things in the system and confirmed that her story was legit. He then told her that he put a note in the file about what happened and why the plate is on the new car.
What happened a few days ago:
Fast forward to a few days ago, almost two years after her old car was stolen. She is driving home from work and is pulled over by an officer. He informs her that her plate is coming back as stolen. She tells him the story about what happened, and then he says something about the system showing that her plate is supposed to be registered to a Chevy. This is confusing because the current car she owns is not a Chevy, nor is the car that was stolen 2 years ago. She tells him she is not sure why it was say its registered to a Chevy. (Keep in mind the officer has not even asked to see her drivers license or registration, which obviously matches the car she is driving).
He then tells her to step out of the vehicle. He then asks her about what she has in her vehicle, and if he can search it. She has absolutely nothing to hide so she tells him sure. He then tells her place her hands on his car and lean over and proceeds to pat her down from head to toe, including around her breasts and crotch. I might add that she is a thin person and is wearing tight fitting clothes, so there is basically nothing she could be hiding from him. He then pulls her hands behind her back and she asks him being very confused and humiliated at this point and thinking she is going to be handcuffed "Why are you doing this? I'm telling you the truth, and I haven't done anything wrong." He doesn't handcuff her but tells her to sit in the back of his police cruiser and asks her where her license is. She tells him its in her purse. He then goes back to her car, finds her purse and starts rifling through it, finally finding her license. Then after a few minutes he gets a call back on his radio confirming that her story is correct and he finally, albeit begrudgingly lets her be on her way.
The next day I decided to call the Police Department where the original police report was filed on her stolen car. I talked to the records department and the very helpful person explained to me that officers should be aware about the fact that a stolen personalized plate will be reissued.
She also said that it states clear as day on the report that the plate belongs to the new vehicle that she is driving and that the other plate has since expired on the car that was stolen. She said there is even a note in the file that explains the story. I asked her if there is any way to remove the stolen report from the record and she said no, but there is no reason to because it states very clearly that the plate on her new vehicle is not stolen. She confirmed that the report she is looking at is the same thing officers look at when they run a plate, no matter what department they are from.
This just made me upset, because he was either a very incompetent police officer, or was abusing his power knowing that he had no reason to make her get out of her car, search her belongings, and pat her down. It already was bad enough to have a car stolen, but now she gets harassed like this on top of it. It seems odd that he didn't even ask her for her drivers license and registration upon pulling her over either, since that would have instantly cleared things up.
Is there anything legally she can do about this? Thank you in advance for your time and comments.
Backstory:
Almost 2 years ago her car was stolen outside of our home during the night. She woke up to go to work and her car was gone. The point to this story is that her car had a personalized license plate on it when it was stolen. We called the police and filed a police report. To our surprise, a week or so later she received a new license plate in the mail from the SOS with the same personalization as the stolen plate on it. Apparently in the state of Michigan, if a personalized plate is stolen, they automatically send you a new one in the mail.
Her stolen car never ended up being found, and she ended up buying a new vehicle (totally different make and model than her stolen car), and put the new plate on it.
A few months later, she was pulled over by an officer who informed her that the reason she was being pulled over is that her plate was coming back as stolen. She explained the story to him and he checked a few things in the system and confirmed that her story was legit. He then told her that he put a note in the file about what happened and why the plate is on the new car.
What happened a few days ago:
Fast forward to a few days ago, almost two years after her old car was stolen. She is driving home from work and is pulled over by an officer. He informs her that her plate is coming back as stolen. She tells him the story about what happened, and then he says something about the system showing that her plate is supposed to be registered to a Chevy. This is confusing because the current car she owns is not a Chevy, nor is the car that was stolen 2 years ago. She tells him she is not sure why it was say its registered to a Chevy. (Keep in mind the officer has not even asked to see her drivers license or registration, which obviously matches the car she is driving).
He then tells her to step out of the vehicle. He then asks her about what she has in her vehicle, and if he can search it. She has absolutely nothing to hide so she tells him sure. He then tells her place her hands on his car and lean over and proceeds to pat her down from head to toe, including around her breasts and crotch. I might add that she is a thin person and is wearing tight fitting clothes, so there is basically nothing she could be hiding from him. He then pulls her hands behind her back and she asks him being very confused and humiliated at this point and thinking she is going to be handcuffed "Why are you doing this? I'm telling you the truth, and I haven't done anything wrong." He doesn't handcuff her but tells her to sit in the back of his police cruiser and asks her where her license is. She tells him its in her purse. He then goes back to her car, finds her purse and starts rifling through it, finally finding her license. Then after a few minutes he gets a call back on his radio confirming that her story is correct and he finally, albeit begrudgingly lets her be on her way.
The next day I decided to call the Police Department where the original police report was filed on her stolen car. I talked to the records department and the very helpful person explained to me that officers should be aware about the fact that a stolen personalized plate will be reissued.
She also said that it states clear as day on the report that the plate belongs to the new vehicle that she is driving and that the other plate has since expired on the car that was stolen. She said there is even a note in the file that explains the story. I asked her if there is any way to remove the stolen report from the record and she said no, but there is no reason to because it states very clearly that the plate on her new vehicle is not stolen. She confirmed that the report she is looking at is the same thing officers look at when they run a plate, no matter what department they are from.
This just made me upset, because he was either a very incompetent police officer, or was abusing his power knowing that he had no reason to make her get out of her car, search her belongings, and pat her down. It already was bad enough to have a car stolen, but now she gets harassed like this on top of it. It seems odd that he didn't even ask her for her drivers license and registration upon pulling her over either, since that would have instantly cleared things up.
Is there anything legally she can do about this? Thank you in advance for your time and comments.
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