Talk about some really dumb cops...

Buckeye leaf mistaken by Tennessee police

Tennessee police might need better instruction in botany and Buckeye football.

A 65-year-old woman recently came under suspicion, she reported, for having a Buckeye leaf decal on her car. The cops mistook it for a marijuana symbol.

“It’s just amazing they would be that dumb,” Bonnie Jonas-Boggioni said.

She lives in Plano, Texas, but she grew up in Columbus and is known as a lifelong Buckeyes fan.

She has served as president of the Ohio State Alumni Club in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

On Feb. 4, Jonas-Boggioni and husband Guido Boggioni, 66, were driving home to Plano after a trip to Columbus to attend the funeral of his mother, Eleanor, 92.

They were in the westbound lanes of I-40, a few miles east of Memphis, when a black police SUV with flashing lights pulled them over, Jonas-Boggioni said.A second black SUV soon pulled up behind the first one.

“Knowing I wasn’t speeding, I couldn’t imagine why,” she said.

Two officers approached, one on each side of the car.

“They were very serious,” she said. “They had the body armor and the guns.”

Because the couple’s two schnauzers were barking furiously, one of the officers had Jonas-Boggioni exit the car so he could hear her better.

“What are you doing with a marijuana sticker on your bumper?” he asked her.

She explained that it is actually a Buckeye leaf decal, just like the ones that Ohio State players are given to put on their helmets to mark good plays.

“He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language,” she said.

At that point, Boggioni got out of the car to show that he was wearing a commemorative sweatshirt from the 2002 national-championship season, complete with a Buckeye leaf.

The officer then explained that someone from outside his jurisdiction — apparently another officer — had spotted the leaf sticker and thought it might indicate that the car was carrying marijuana, Jonas-Boggioni said.

She was too rattled to notice what police department the officers represented. But she suspects that a joint drug-interdiction effort was under way because they had passed several law-enforcement vehicles from different agencies.

Neither the Tennessee Highway Patrol nor the Shelby County sheriff’s office in Memphis had information about the traffic stop. A marijuana sticker would not be a sufficient reason to stop a car, said a spokeswoman for the West Tennessee Drug Task Force.

Even if it were, Jonas-Boggioni said, police hunting drugs should know that a Buckeye leaf — which has five leaflets — doesn’t look much like a marijuana leaf, which typically has seven leaflets and a narrower shape.

Before they let her go on her way, the officers advised Jonas-Boggioni to remove the decal from her car.

“I said, ‘You mean in Tennessee?’ and he said, ‘No, permanently.’

“I didn’t take it off. . . . This little old lady is no drug dealer.”

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_e ntertainment/2013/02/14/buckeye-leaf-mistaken-by-p olice-out-of-state.html

A cop in TN working drug interdiction is expected to know what the OSU buckeye looks like? -

Do you know all the words to Rocky Top? - - -

37179 wrote: A cop in TN working drug interdiction is expected to know what the OSU buckeye looks like? -

Do you know all the words to Rocky Top? - - -

what the hell is a buckeye?

Regardless, even if it was a pot leaf, that's not enough reason to pull someone over. I would be on the phone with my lawyer and sue their ass.

Dawgfather wrote: Regardless, even if it was a pot leaf, that's not enough reason to pull someone over. I would be on the phone with my lawyer and sue their ass.

Your lawyer is an F ing idiot if he takes your case. 

This doesn't surprise me. Most natives here don't even know where Ohio is on a map....

How bass ackwards is Tennessee that cops pull you over and question you while wearing body armor because of your bumper sticker? WTF?

CaryNCBrownsBacker wrote:

Dawgfather wrote: Regardless, even if it was a pot leaf, that's not enough reason to pull someone over. I would be on the phone with my lawyer and sue their ass.

Your lawyer is an F ing idiot if he takes your case. 

Well maybe. I guess that's why I'm not a lawyer. I'd still be pissed though.

bayareaactor wrote: How bass ackwards is Tennessee that cops pull you over and question you while wearing body armor because of your bumper sticker? WTF?

Welcome to the South. If I could find a job in Ohio that pays what I'm making down here, I'd be back in a heartbeat.

I know that if I were transporting pot I would surely have a sticker of a pot leaf on my car.  Maybe even flashing lights and a big sign reading something like "Pot on Board".

More than likely, those weren't "TN cops" at all.  That area is heavily patrolled by I.C.E. (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) also known as the Cocaine Cowboys.  The vehicles  described match what they use.  They also use Ford Explorers but those are usually clearly marked with the I.C.E. banner.




And in that area... they make a very large number of busts in that exact manner.  The other thing is the Texas plates.  A very large number of transport vehicles display that tag.  Add in the bumper sticker, and you're painting a target on your back.

Don't most cops today wear body armor? -

And I've been stopped twice because of a Gadsden Flag on the bumper of my truck -

Usually ends up with "Nice truck" - Thank you officer - - -

37179 wrote: A cop in TN working drug interdiction is expected to know what the OSU buckeye looks like? -

Do you know all the words to Rocky Top? - - -

yes, but only because I watched the movie Six Pack, starring Kenny Rogers, as a kid.

Its a chocolate covered peanut butter candy. Very delicious.

olecowboy wrote:

37179 wrote: A cop in TN working drug interdiction is expected to know what the OSU buckeye looks like? -

Do you know all the words to Rocky Top? - - -

what the hell is a buckeye?

It's always a good day for some country music -

Wish that I was on ole Rocky Top
Down in the Tennessee Hills.
Ain't no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top,
Ain't no telephone bills.

Once I had a girl on Rocky Top,
Half bear the other half cat;
Wild as a mink as sweet as soda pop,
I still dream about that.

CHORUS

Rocky Top, you'll always be,
Home sweet home to me.
Good ole Rocky Top,
Rocky Top Tennessee.

Once two strangers climbed ole Rocky Top,
Lookin' for a moonshine still.
Strangers ain't come down from Rocky Top,
Reckon they never will.
Corn won't grow at all on Rocky Top,
Dirt's too rocky by far.
That's why all the folks on Rocky Top,
get their corn from a jar.

CHORUS

I've had years of cramped up city life;
Trapped like a duck in a pen.
All I know is it's a pity life,
Can't be simple again.

CHORUS

37179 wrote: It's always a good day for some country music -

Wish that I was on ole Rocky Top
Down in the Tennessee Hills.
Ain't no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top,
Ain't no telephone bills.

Once I had a girl on Rocky Top,
Half bear the other half cat;
Wild as a mink as sweet as soda pop,
I still dream about that.

CHORUS

Rocky Top, you'll always be,
Home sweet home to me.
Good ole Rocky Top,
Rocky Top Tennessee.

Once two strangers climbed ole Rocky Top,
Lookin' for a moonshine still.
Strangers ain't come down from Rocky Top,
Reckon they never will.
Corn won't grow at all on Rocky Top,
Dirt's too rocky by far.
That's why all the folks on Rocky Top,
get their corn from a jar.

CHORUS

I've had years of cramped up city life;
Trapped like a duck in a pen.
All I know is it's a pity life,
Can't be simple again.

CHORUS

"I hate that f****** song." -Rachel Phelps

Who is Rachel Phelps? -

You sound like you don't like it here - Because OSU can't beat SEC? -

I'll pay for gas to get you back to Ohio -Seriously - - -

god, country music sucks more than I thought it did. . .

37179 wrote: Who is Rachel Phelps? -

You sound like you don't like it here - Because OSU can't beat SEC? -

I'll pay for gas to get you back to Ohio -Seriously - - -

Did someone say Rachel Phelps?!

He'd be an idiot? You are misinformed. A picture of a pot leave is not probable cause to make a traffic stop. I'd hope they had some other violation to make the stop.

Attornies make a living on probable cause cases, so I'm not sure what you are talking about.

---------------------------------------------
--- CaryNCBrownsBacker wrote:

Dawgfather wrote: Regardless, even if it was a pot leaf, that's not enough reason to pull someone over. I would be on the phone with my lawyer and sue their ass.

Your lawyer is an F ing idiot if he takes your case. 

---------------------------------------------

All kinds of stupid from Tennessee on display, even in this thread.

You ain't kidding.  I nearly want to cut my wrist whenever I hear that horrible crap.  

olecowboy wrote: god, country music sucks more than I thought it did. . .

YankeeBigDog wrote: More than likely, those weren't "TN cops" at all.  That area is heavily patrolled by I.C.E. (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) also known as the Cocaine Cowboys.  The vehicles  described match what they use.  They also use Ford Explorers but those are usually clearly marked with the I.C.E. banner.




And in that area... they make a very large number of busts in that exact manner.  The other thing is the Texas plates.  A very large number of transport vehicles display that tag.  Add in the bumper sticker, and you're painting a target on your back.

Really, people actually transporting drugs put pot bumper stickers on their cars?

Yes, people can really be that stupid regardless of their location.

YankeeBigDog wrote: Yes, people can really be that stupid regardless of their location.

Then we should probably just go ahead and execute them.

Not for the drugs.

WhosGotTheJuice wrote:

YankeeBigDog wrote: Yes, people can really be that stupid regardless of their location.

Then we should probably just go ahead and execute them.

Not for the drugs.

There would be a lot less Texans!

But if we were to execute them for the drugs, there'd be a lot less Californians, Oregonians, Washingtonians, Idahoans and Montanans!  Why if that happened, Canada could invade Mexico over the weekend.

YankeeBigDog wrote:

WhosGotTheJuice wrote:

YankeeBigDog wrote: Yes, people can really be that stupid regardless of their location.

Then we should probably just go ahead and execute them.

Not for the drugs.

There would be a lot less Texans!

But if we were to execute them for the drugs, there'd be a lot less Californians, Oregonians, Washingtonians, Idahoans and Montanans!  Why if that happened, Canada could invade Mexico over the weekend.

Pffft!

They wouldn't get past the Red River. . .

↑ Perfect example of what a Texas IQ is like... without drugs!

They wouldn't have to!  They could use the old end around.  Like Sam Houston did when protecting the Alamo! 

well, let's break this down:

if they invade thru north and south dakota, there's nothing to stop them, since no one lives there.

then they get to nebraska, but it's just got a couple of corn-husking hicks.

then kansas, same as nebraska, but with wheat.

then oklahoma, but no one there can get their hands outta their pants in time to do anything.

but then, then, lads, they hit texas!

and we would put a stop to that nonsense damned quick!

They can pretty much drop in wherever they see fit. If they handed out cell phones along the way, they wouldn't have to worry about people trying to stop them.