Nyree Hinton says he had a prescription for Adderall and a valid driver’s license when California cops arrested him for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and for driving without a license earlier this year.
But things went from bad to worse when the 30-year-old Black man said he discovered the Jaguar he had been driving the day of his arrest at an auction facility in Riverside County after a disputed repossession.
“I called the cops, but (Riverside County deputies) threw me in jail again and charged me with stealing my own vehicle,” Hinton said in an interview with Atlanta Black Star.
The former finance worker said he spent the night in a Riverside County jail before he was released, but the district attorney never filed charges in that case.
“I never had a criminal history coming to California,” said Hinton, who grew up in New Jersey and moved to California in January 2022 for a job at Capital Group after working in finance in New York.
“And they basically ruined my life. It’s been immensely impactful on my social life.”
Hinton says repeated encounters with California law enforcement left him jailed twice, deprived him of both his vehicles, and drove him to leave the state. He accuses California cops of racial profiling and possible retaliation for filing misconduct complaints.
In the unfinished draft federal complaint shared with Atlanta Black Star, Hinton accuses Santa Barbara County deputies of unlawfully arresting him, searching his 2020 Jaguar F-Type and falsifying custody records, setting off a disputed towing and repossession process that he alleges ended with the vehicle’s sale.
“Everyone’s trying to figure out what I did wrong. I did nothing wrong,” Hinton said.
Hinton’s negative experiences with California law enforcement began during his first week in the Golden State when he said a man robbed him at gunpoint on Sunset Boulevard, taking a watch he valued at approximately $4,000.
He said a 911 operator disconnected his call, and officers failed to assist when he tried to flag them down. He said he eventually contacted Beverly Hills authorities, who sent detectives to take a report.
“They didn’t give a f–k,” he said.
Years later, Los Angeles police pulled him over on Aug. 31, 2025, in Hollywood, accusing him of blocking a crosswalk with his car, prompting another complaint.
Hinton said officers handcuffed him, searched him and his vehicle, detained him in a police cruiser, and threatened to jail him because they objected to his signature on the citations.
He said he received 10 tickets. The citation paperwork he provided to Atlanta Black Star lists multiple alleged traffic violations.
LAPD emails confirm separate complaints over the traffic stop and officers’ alleged failure to assist after the robbery.
“Today I received a letter outlining your experience with two Hollywood Officers in August, as well as another separate incident two years ago,” LAPD Captain Robert Peters wrote on Sept. 11, 2025.
“Two separate personnel complaints were generated, and they will be investigated thoroughly to determine facts and any necessary follow-up actions by me.”
Neither email reports a finding of misconduct.
On Jan. 9, 2026, LAPD officers stopped Hinton again while he was driving his Tesla home from Starbucks and impounded the vehicle. Hinton said officers cited expired registration as the reason for the stop.
But Hinton insists his documents were valid and officers did not allow him to provide them.
“They pulled me out of the car,” he said.
“And they searched me, searched my vehicle all the way through, and then they impounded it.”
A towing receipt shows the Tesla remained in storage from Jan. 9 to April 22, racking up a bill of $8,164.20, including 104 billed storage days. Hinton said his parents helped him pay the bill.
An LAPD form authorized the vehicle’s release on March 23. The records reviewed do not explain the month-long gap before he retrieved it.
“This Tesla is fully paid off, and they just took it, and they kept it, and they put it under an investigative hold,” he said.
Hinton said he was exploring graduate-school options when Santa Barbara County deputies arrested him on April 30 after stopping him for multiple alleged traffic violations, including expired registration, missing registration tabs, an unsafe lane change, and illegal window tint.
His draft complaint says he had already pulled over before emergency lights were activated, cooperated with deputies, and presented a valid Pennsylvania driver’s license. He claims officers nevertheless handcuffed him, searched the Jaguar, and impounded it.
The sheriff’s report gives a different account, alleging that Hinton became agitated, refused to identify himself, and failed to follow deputies’ commands.
Sheriff’s dispatch records show a database check returned Hinton’s Pennsylvania license as valid. The sheriff’s report nevertheless alleged that he was a California resident driving without a valid California license.
An inventory search of his backpack at the jail found pills he identified as Adderall without a prescription, according to the report.
Hinton disputes those allegations. He maintains that his out-of-state license was valid and that the medication was prescribed to him in a labeled bottle.
“It’s Adderall with my name on it,” he said. “The doctor’s name on it.”
Booking records list allegations of obstructing an officer, driving without a license, and possessing a controlled substance without a prescription.
Hinton said prosecutors had not pursued the obstruction allegation and that the driving and medication charges remained pending.
Hinton’s draft lawsuit alleges that the impoundment led to a dispute with 805 Roadside Towing and his lender, Golden 1 Credit Union.
A personal-property release form in his records lists a $125 daily storage rate. Hinton said he challenged the charges and contested a proposed lien sale before learning that his lender had removed the Jaguar from the yard.
“They never told me that they did any of this,” he said.
In his written Riverside complaint, Hinton says he drove the Jaguar to the auction’s front gate, exited when instructed, and waited approximately 40 minutes for deputies. He alleges they refused to examine his ownership documents before arresting him.
Riverside documents show a June 8 booking and list Vehicle Code section 10851(a) and Penal Code section 602(k), the vehicle-taking and trespass-related allegations identified in his written complaint.
Hinton said he spent the night in jail, and prosecutors never filed charges.
His draft complaint alleges that Golden 1 sold the Jaguar on July 10 and later demanded $6,067.84 from him.
Hinton filed multiple complaints with the agencies that arrested him, as well as with California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, the agency that certifies law enforcement officers.
Santa Barbara sheriff’s officials acknowledged his complaint in June, but in a July 13 letter, the department said it had completed its investigation and found the allegations “UNFOUNDED.” The letter did not explain its findings.
Riverside officials also found allegations unfounded in a separate detention-center complaint.
POST letters confirm receipt and referral of complaints to local agencies but do not confirm that the state commission opened independent investigations or began proceedings to revoke officers’ certifications.
Hinton said the repeated encounters with cops in California drove him to leave the state, and he is now living in his mother’s home in Pennsylvania.
“But it got so crazy in California that I just got everything and left,” he said.
