Nevada AG probes deputy's seizure of cash from I-80 drivers

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

State law agents are investigating possible criminal wrongdoing by a rural Nevada sheriff's deputy who seized more than $60,000 from drivers during purported drug stops on U.S. Interstate 80, a lawyer told The Associated Press.

The Nevada Attorney General's office began investigating Humboldt County's highway interdiction program last summer when the latest of three federal civil lawsuits were filed against the county, said John Ohlson, a Reno lawyer who represented two of the plaintiffs.

... Patricia Cafferata, spokeswoman for Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, said Wednesday that she could "neither confirm nor deny" an investigation.

But new Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Allen confirmed his office has been cooperating in the investigation into the forfeiture fund where the seized money was deposited. He suspended the interdiction program when he took office in January and has no plans for it to resume.

Read more: http://elkodaily.com/news/nevada-ag-probes-deputy-s-seizure-of-cash-from-i/article_eaabb919-f2a5-59a6-81a0-731edffe20f5.html

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. These guys are more like highwaymen than highway patrol men.

The same thieving racket is being played out on all the major east-west interstates.

And if you're headed south in Texas, don't be surprised to see a cop behind you. They're not looking for drugs headed north, but cash to seize headed south.

Asset forfeiture laws lead to distorted law enforcement priorities, also known as policing for profit.

[Joe Chi Minh]

2. Hideous. The stuff of nightmares.

I read of an innocent African American being fleeced in this way. IF I remember correctly, I believe even his car was taken from him.