Police mistook hibiscus plants for marijuana - elderly couple terrorized

[left-of-center2012]

A Buffalo Township (PA) couple is suing the township police and the Nationwide Insurance Co. after, their lawsuit says, hibiscus plants growing in their backyard were mistaken for marijuana plants.

In a lawsuit, Edward Cramer, 69, and his wife, Audrey Cramer, 66, claim that Buffalo Township police handcuffed them both and made them sit in the back of a police car for hours last month as police ransacked their house looking for marijuana.

But rather than running a pot-growing operation, the Cramers say they grow flowering hibiscus in their backyard.

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The police apparently arrived at the Cramers' home around noon Oct. 7 while Audrey Cramer was on the second floor only partially dressed.
When she answered the door, she alleges that about a dozen officers were pointing assault-style rifles at her.
According to the complaint, Sgt. Scott Hess demanded that Cramer put her hands up and told her that he had a search warrant but would not show it to her.

Then, “(Officer) Hess entered the home and went upstairs. Upon returning downstairs, he demanded that (Cramer), a 66-year-old woman, be handcuffed behind her back in a state of partial undress.”
The suit claims Cramer asked if she could put on a pair of pants next to her, and was told “in no uncertain terms” that she could not.
The complaint alleges that she was walked outside and made to stand — handcuffed, in her underwear and without shoes — for 10 minutes.
The suit claims that Hess refused her request to get sandals. Police walked her down the gravel driveway, barefoot, to a police car.
The complaint alleges that she was left in the “very hot” patrol car, with her hands cuffed behind her, for four-and-a-half hours.

A half-hour later, Edward Cramer arrived home to find his wife handcuffed in the police cruiser and officers searching his home.
The suit claims he was met with leveled guns, removed from his car, placed under arrest and put in the police car with his wife ...

The high temperature that day was 82, according to the Accuweather company.

Read more at:
http://triblive.com/local/valleynewsdispatch/12960252-74/police-mistook-hibiscus-plants-for-marijuana-arrested-buffalo-township-couple-suit-claims

[riversedge]

1. Thug mentality. That is all it is. They should be fired--but suppose their bosses are of the same

mentality.

[left-of-center2012]

2. Photo of hibiscus plant

In the article,
one of the police officers claimed to be an expert in identifying marijuana plants.

[MineralMan]

3. Because the two plants are SO similar?

Hibiscus Plant


Marijuana Plant

[struggle4progress]

18. It's easy for experts to confuse them: both have green leaves

A little learning is a dangerous thing

[MineralMan]

19. So they do. Maybe they should have smoked tested

the plant.

[C_U_L8R]

4. I've got one right here

Hibiscus plant, that is. Should I be worried? Maybe I should disguise it as a pet or a small building or something.

[MattBaggins]

15. You should disguise it as cannabis

Those cops apparently couldn't find the real thing if it was right under their nose.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

5. Nationwide is on your side!

Maybe they should use this in one of their commercials.

“Nationwide is not in a position to discuss the matter at this time,” company spokesman David Gilligan wrote in an email.

I'll bet...On the positive side, when this is all over, I'd wager the Cramers will be able to get a new fence!

[MineralMan]

6. Police are notorious for not recognizing plants.

Back in the early 1970s, in my dope-smoking days, I used to plant the seeds from my baggies of weed here and there, just for the LULZ.

Inspired one weekend, I went to the county courthouse, and planted a bunch of them in the landscaping around the courthouse entrance. It was mostly hedges and other tall plants. I worked near there, so I kept checking over the next three months. Sure enough, with good watering, fertilization and care, they sprouted and grew well.

It wasn't until the plants were at least 6' high that someone from the police department noticed them. They were all removed and a little story about their "find" appeared in the local paper.

Dozens of cops each day passed through the doors near where the plants were growing. Nobody noticed them until they were huge.

Note: My pranking days are in the past.

[moriah]

7. I was always afraid of flushing them back in the day.

I had this vision of our terrible pipes, which had tree roots growing through them so ladies had to be good to the environment and throw away "flushable" products (which everyone should do anyway, they really aren't good for water treatment).

I was imagining them getting clogged, Rotor-Rooter coming out, and finding things growing up from the pipes out through to the ground. As I said, they already had tree roots through them, it wasn't completely impossible for that to be a great germination spot for a seed, and a shoot break through to get to sunlight...

[MineralMan]

8. I had similar plumbing problems at the time, too.

However, I always found it more amusing to plant those seeds here and there in public places. Cleverly, though, I never returned to those locations to harvest the bounty. Too risky.

Those I didn't plant, I fed to my cockatiel, who delighted in them as a treat.

[NightWatcher]

9. Thought I was the only one who did that.

I worked at a music store in a mall and used to put the seeds in the gigantic potted plants and the other flower beds around the escalator near the store. We'd smoke up in the service corridor and kick a huge kick out of watching them grow in the mall.

[MineralMan]

11. I'm sure we weren't the only ones to see the humor in

watching dope growing in public places. In those days of seedy weed that required grooming, pretty much everyone had seeds to deal with. Sinsemilla was right out of my price range back then. So, what do do with them? Why, plant them of course!

[lagomorph777]

10. WTF? There isn't even a vague resemblance

Hibiscus:


Marijuana:

[MineralMan]

12. Some cultivars of hibiscus have more deeply serrated

leaves, but they don't look a think like marijuana plants. Dumb cops. That's the answer.

[Iggo]

13. Cops. That's who they are. That's what they do. (n/t)

[Orsino]

14. Clearly we need to shut down all marijuana busts...

...until we can figure out what's going on.

[GoCubsGo]

16. Hibiscus "Texas Star."

Safe to say it likely wasn't in bloom. Nonetheless, an actual expert would be able to tell it isn't marijuana, even without the flowers.

[left-of-center2012]

17. "... the flowers clearly in bloom."

From the linked article:

"According to the complaint, Edward Cramer repeatedly asked to show the police that the plants were hibiscus and noted the flowers clearly in bloom."

[GoCubsGo]

20. I missed that part.

Which makes the cops' actions even more egregious.