Woman pulled over after Ohio St. sticker confused for drug symbol

Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

A 65-year-old woman was pulled over by police officers while driving through Tennessee after the officers mistook her car's Buckeye stickers — those commonly seen on the helmets of Ohio State football players — for a marijuana symbol.

"It's just amazing they would be that dumb," said Bonnie Jonas-Boggioni, which pretty much sums up this entire story.

Jonas-Boggioni and her husband, Giorgio Boggioni, 66, of Plano, Texas, were driving home through Tennessee from Columbus, Ohio, where they had attended a funeral for Jonas-Boggioni's mother.

The two were pulled over a few miles east of Memphis, along I-40, and were greeted by a pair of black SUVs containing officers wearing "body armor and guns," Jonas-Boggioni told Joe Blundo of The Columbus Dispatch.

"What are you doing with a marijuana sticker on your bumper?" one of the officers asked.

That led Jonas-Boggioni and her husband to explain the meaning of the Ohio State sticker, which is given as a reward to OSU players. To help the puzzled officers connect the dots, Boggioni stepped out of the car to show his 2002 national-championship sweatshirt, one "complete with a Buckeye leaf," Blundo wrote.

Chagrined, the officers excused the unwarranted stop by explaining that an officer in another jurisdiction had called in a report of the Boggionis' sticker — believing the older couple to be at the forefront of some sort of massive marijuana ring, it seems.

"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," Jones-Boggioni told Blundo. Well, duh.

Before letting the pair off, officers told the couple that they should remove the Ohio State sticker from their car. "I said, 'You mean in Tennessee?" Jones-Boggioni said. "No, permanently," the officers replied.

No chance. Have you ever met an Ohio State fan? "I didn't take it off," Jones-Boggioni told Blundo. "This little old lady is no drug dealer."