After footage of an officer tossing a plastic bag into a vehicle during a traffic stop went viral on social media, the Village of Caledonia Police Department in Wisconsin has released body camera footage of the stop.
The police department released footage of the July 21 stop on July 24 after some social media users accused the officer of planting evidence in the vehicle. According to a statement by police, the bag seen being tossed into the back seat of the vehicle had initially been retrieved from a passenger during a search, and was being returned.
“Since there were NO DRUGS in the corner tear, the officers discarded the empty packaging material in the vehicle. This is what was observed in the video,” the statement said. Police said the plastic originally came from an occupant’s pocket.
The 16-second video was originally filmed and shared to Facebook on July 24 by a man going by the name La Savoo.
“First time ever seeing a cop try to throw sum on me just to get reason to search the car. I’m just a local music artist from Racine Wi he ain’t even know I was recording you can tell he was nervous,” La Savoo wrote. The video was viewed more than one million times.
In the comments, people speculated that the officer was planting something in the vehicle, and accused the officer of misconduct. “Crooked cops,” one user wrote.
The video shows an officer tossing something into the back of the car, prompting La Savoo to ask, “Hey Bro what’s that?”
The officer is heard responding “What’s what?”
La Savoo responded, “What you just threw in here. I got you on camera, bro.”
“I got you on camera, we’re all good,” the officer replied.
Police explained in a statement that officers had pulled the vehicle over because the driver was going 63 mph in a 45 zone. The driver was a female who has not been identified, and there were front and rear passengers in the vehicle.
Police said in the statement about the bag obtained from a passenger’s pocket, “While we would discourage officers from discarding items into a citizen’s vehicle, the video is clear that the officer is NOT planting evidence or doing anything illegal.” Police have not said why the passengers were searched, or why one man was handcuffed. In total, six hours of body camera footage was released from the four officers who responded to the scene.
Body camera footage shows an officer pulling the plastic bag from a man’s pocket and asking, “What was in the bags, man?” The corner tear bags are commonly used to hold illegal drugs, according to police. After an officer tossed the bag into the vehicle, he explained that he didn’t have on gloves and did not want to hold onto it.
The officer went on to say, “I’m telling you where it came from, so … It’s an empty baggie at the moment, too.”
No one was arrested during the incident, and the driver was cited for speeding. Caledonia Police are still reviewing the incident.
