We're From the Government and We're Here to Help
By Radley Balko  Published   11/10/2003 


Dan Peruchi, father of four, enjoyed fixing up old cars and reselling them.
Because the dealers he worked with dealt mainly in cash, he usually had
lots on hand. Peruchi was driving home to Ft. Worth, Texas when he noticed
the flashing lights of a police car behind him. After pulling him over, the
officer asked to search Peruchi's car. Peruchi had about $19,000 in a
satchel, but nothing criminal to hide, so he consented. The officer found
Peruchi's cash, and immediately suspected Peruchi was involved with drugs.
He called in drug-sniffing dogs, who then reacted suspiciously to Peruchi's
satchel (most all of the U.S. money supply carries feint amounts of drug
residue, mostly cocaine).

 

The dogs' reaction, no more, was enough for the West Memphis police
department to seize Peruchi's money. When Peruchi protested, the police
officer retorted, "Carry checks next time."

 

Peruchi was never arrested. He was never even charged. But his money was
gone, under the absurd premise that property can be guilty of a crime, even
if its owner isn't. The police department deposited Peruchi's money into
its own operations budget, as it was permitted to do under Arkansas' drug
forfeiture laws. Peruchi was told that if he tried to fight the county, his
case would be turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Try
fighting the feds," he was told. Even if Peruchi had won in court, his
legal costs would likely have amounted to more than the $19,000 he was
fighting for, and it's improbable that he would have been reimbursed for
his legal fees.

 

Peruchi is but one of many similarly outrageous stories told the new book,
Mugged by the State, by Randall Fitzgerald.

 

Over 20 years as a reporter for Reader's Digest, Fitzgerald wrote stories
about innocent people who found themselves mistakenly entangled with
unforgiving environmental regulations, draconian drug laws, or coldhearted,
uncompromising bureaucrats. With the sober, detailed eye of a journalist,
Fitzgerald's book recounts the most egregious of his encounters in two
decades as a reporter.

 

The stories he tells will enrage you, awe you, frustrate you, and, in a few
cases, they'll absolutely break your heart.

. . .

[For the complete article, go to:

http://www.techcentralstation.com/111003B.html  ]




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