Back in March of this year, 21 year old Greg Zullo was driving Route 7 in Wallingford. He was pulled over by State Trooper Lewis Hatch. Officer Hatch pulled Mr. Zullo over because his license plate registration sticker was covered by a bit of snow–there was quite a bit of snow in Vermont at the time. This is not a crime or a violation, especially when none of the numbers or letters on the license plate were covered. Normally, an officer of the law is supposed to tell the driver that the snow is there and the driver says something like "Oh, I didn't know. Thank you," and wipes it off. "Have a good day. Be safe." Something like that.

But that didn't happen:



The complaint alleges Hatch told Zullo he was on patrol for heroin traffickers and repeatedly asked Zullo for permission to search the car. Zullo refused, and when Hatch checked Zullo’s record, he learned the man had been arrested in 2013 for misdemeanor marijuana possession. The charge was later dismissed. The complaint says Hatch ordered Zullo out of the car and told him he had been pulled over because snow partly obscured the registration sticker on the license plate of his car. Hatch told Zullo that he should give consent to search the vehicle because Hatch’s police dog “smelled something,” despite the fact the dog was not trained in drug detection and was kept in the trooper’s vehicle with the windows rolled up, the lawsuit alleges. Again, Zullo refused to waive his rights, and Hatch told Zullo he was seizing his car.

At around that time, a second state trooper arrived on the scene. While the second state trooper remained outside with Mr. Zullo, Hatch returned to his police truck and placed a telephone call. During the call, Hatch recounted details of the stop, and recited his reasons for seizing Mr. Zullo’s car as follows: “I can smell weed and he won’t allow me to search, so I’m just going to take it.” During that same call, the defendant’s employee admitted that he did not have a drug detection dog with him, but would have access to one at the state police barracks. Hatch also admitted during the telephone call that seizing the car was “stupid, but whatever, that’s what [Mr. Zullo] wants to do.”

.

While waiting for the tow truck to arrive, both state troopers attempted at length to get Mr. Zullo to waive his privacy rights and permit a search of his car, including by again presenting him with the state police consent search palm card. Mr. Zullo refused to waive his rights. Mr. Zullo asked Hatch if he could retrieve his money and cell phone from his car, because he did not know how he would get home without either item. Hatch refused, saying that getting home was “not my problem,” and warned Mr. Zullo that if he attempted to retrieve those items from the car he would be arrested. When Mr. Zullo walked towards his car, Hatch placed his hands on Mr. Zullo to restrain him from reaching the car. After the tow truck arrived and took Mr. Zullo’s car, Hatch and the second state trooper left the scene, leaving Mr. Zullo stranded on the side of Route 7.

The video supports this. The ACLU has filed a complaint. The traffic stop continues:Not once during the video does Trooper Lewis Hatch wipe away the snow from the registration sticker–you know, why he pulled him over in the first place. From there the police officers put on hats because it's f*cking freezing out there.They didn't find heroin. But they did find "marijuana paraphernalia", and possibly residue, none of which are against the law in Vermont. You can have less than an ounce of marijuana on you and not be in violation of the law.

Other things they found:

Visine eyedrops.

Air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror.

It took Greg Zullo a couple of hours of walking and getting rides, before he made his way back to the police station at 5:30pm. Then, Mr. Zullo waited until 10:00pm before his car was released. Mr. Zullo had to pay $150 to the tow-truck driver. No charges. No warnings. No citations.

The whole stop is covered in the Video below the fold. Notice how Avichi's "Wake me up" starts playing at about 1:02:50:00. The banality of racial profiling and civil right's violations on a sunny, cold day, in Vermont.