Some shady things going on here
A New York woman says what started as a severe migraine ended with hours of police testing, a suspended driver’s license, and a police report she claims contained multiple inaccuracies. She later turned to Reddit for legal advice, where many users questioned whether the encounter crossed constitutional lines.
Arrested for having a migraine
byu/Short-Mongoose5641 inlegaladvice
According to Short-Mongoose5641, her migraine was triggered while driving home at night from intense headlight glare from other cars. The pain became so unbearable that she pulled over and even vomited, while the person she was with agreed to drive in her stead. A police officer noticed the commotion and stopped by to investigate.
Needless to say, Short-Mongoose5641 was compelled to go through field sobriety tests and breathe into a breathalyzer, which showed her BAC as 0.00%. The police officers then took her to a Drug Recognition Expert, and she was “subjected to hours of testing, including light tests in a dark room that severely worsened my migraine and caused me to vomit multiple times.
Eventually, she was released without charges or tickets, only to receive a notice that her license had been suspended based on a physician’s evaluation. Things got even more bizarre when the notice stated that she was in a “motor vehicle crash where I lost consciousness.” On top of that, the copy of the police report she received of the incident allegedly had “many inaccuracies involving events that occurred and didn’t occur,” with some things left out completely.
Reddit Believes the New York Police Violated the 4th Amendment
Later in the comment section, Short-Mongoose5641 clarifies that she had been detained, not arrested. Still, the immoderate testing, the New York officer’s alleged lies, and the license suspension were all things she felt weren’t deserved. This left many Redditors wondering: “Isn’t what happened a straight-up 4th amendment violation?”
Regardless of whether it is, comments strongly urge the woman to lawyer up and gather up all the evidence she can to clear her name. Someone with a high number of upvotes recommended getting a report from a neurologist, which is unfortunate given her situation. “As I don’t have one and need an intake those appointments are booking six months or more out at clinics up to two hours away,” OP sighed.
Plenty of other users chimed in, suggesting she obtain body-cam footage as evidence to challenge the officer’s claims. As one person puts it, “Regardless of whether the police had probable cause, lying in the police report was inexcusable.”
For now, the Redditor says she’s choosing not to drive while she tries to sort out the suspension. Whether the police acted appropriately remains unresolved, but many commenters agreed the next step should be gathering medical records, requesting body-camera footage, and consulting an attorney.
