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Three Cops Resign After Forcing Teen To Eat Weed

Three Cops Resign After Forcing Teen To Eat Weed

Politics

Three Cops Resign After Forcing Teen To Eat Weed

Officers Richard Pina, Michael Carnicle, and Jason McFadden were forced to resign after making a 19-year-old man eat marijuana to avoid jail time.

Cops Force Teen To Eat Marijuana

A 19-year old Phoenix, AZ resident, was driving when police stopped him for committing a traffic violation. Among his possessions was about a gram of marijuana. That’s when the officers gave him a shocking ultimatum: eat the marijuana or go to jail.

The Incident

Officers Richard Pina, Michael Carnicle, and Jason McFadden were forced to resign after making a man, whose name was not released, eat marijuana to avoid jail time. The marijuana was found in his car when police pulled him over for an unrelated traffic violation. Faced with the choice of eating the plant or going to jail, the man opted for the former and swallowed the marijuana.

The incident occurred on Sept. 13th at 3:30 a.m. and resulted in the man’s car being towed. He was also given a fine. The officers stayed true to their word, though, and the man did not face jail time after consuming the marijuana.

The three officers all had their cameras turned off during the incident, so the department found out when the man told authorities what the police on the scene had forced him to do. That’s when the department got involved, and punishments were meted out to the offending officers.

The Consequences

Police Chief Joseph Yahner called their actions “appalling and unacceptable,” adding that “this conduct is against everything we stand for.” The Chief said he would have fired all three officers had they not already chosen to resign instead.

All three offending officers are being investigated by the department for misconduct. Additionally, 2 of the officers are being pursued criminally, with the third avoiding charges; he’s considered a mere witness to the act.

In addition to the three officers on the scene, a fourth officer, Jeff Farrior, was punished as well. Farrior knew about the incident and neglected to take appropriate action. As a result, he was demoted from his previous rank of lieutenant to sergeant.

The Final Hit

The man, other than having an upset stomach and feeling ill after eating the gram of marijuana, was otherwise fine after the incident. Eating raw marijuana does not yield any psychoactive results, so the man did not become intoxicated after the ordeal.

While the event was described by the Chief as “disturbing and upsetting,” he added that all 3 of the officers in question were in their first year of employment for the department. As such, they were probationary employees, and their behavior is not emblematic of the department as a whole.

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