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A Florida woman was arrested and jailed for buying two boxes of a legal over-the-counter drug at a Winn-Dixie supermarket, and is now suing.
The woman, Mickey Lynn Goodson, also claims that she was following a pharmacist’s advice when she made the purchase.
When she and her husband tried to take the Sudafed home, a sheriff’s deputy in an unmarked car blocked them in and confiscated the Sudafed, a false arrest lawsuit alleges. The suit was filed against the Gadsden County Sheriff and his deputies. Deputies then searched Goodson’s car before taking her and her husband to the sheriff’s station. She was released after two to three hours, and then arrested at her home.
“Plaintiff was arrested on her front porch after [police] obtained a search warrant on false and misleading statements and evidence,” a complaint filed in federal court in Tallahassee states.
An officer asked her, “What have you gotten rid of?”
False Arrest and False Imprisonment
The suit further says that the judge who granted the search warrant acknowledged had he been aware of all the facts, “he would not have found sufficient probable cause for issuance of a warrant.”
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The judge dismissed all the charges against Goodson after learning the nature of her arrest. Goodson is suing the sheriff for false arrest, false imprisonment, violation of the Fourth Amendment and negligence.
Goodson was seeking the medicine “because she has allergy flare-ups” the suit says, according to Courthouse News. “The pharmacist on duty suggested that plaintiff buy two boxes of Sudafed and she did.” She was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, and charges eventually were dropped.
Be Careful What You Buy
Police monitor purchases of Sudafed and other cold and allergy medicines because they contain an ingredient called pseudoephedrine, which is used in making methamphetamine or meth.
Restrictions were placed on allergy medicine sales a few years ago in an attempt to control the meth epidemic. The effort hasn’t worked very well. Forbes contributor David Whelan noted in 2012 that Meth abuse was increasing faster than ever because drug cartels were cooking the drug in Mexico and smuggling it into the US.
Other Controversial Arrests
Unfortunately Goodson isn’t the only person arrested for controversial reasons. At least two women in different states have been arrested and charged for letting their children play in the park.
“I’m totally dumbfounded by this whole situation,” Nicole Gainey of Port St. Lucie, Florida, told a local TV station. “Honestly didn’t think I was doing anything wrong, I was letting him go play.”
Gainey made the remarks after being arrested and charged with child neglect. Her crime: She let her 7-year-old son, Dominic, walk half a mile from her house to the neighborhood park. Gainey had to pay $4,000 in bail to get out of jail.
Gainey isn’t the only mother facing charges for letting her child play in the park. Debra Harrell of North Augusta was jailed for letting her 9-year-old daughter play in a public park alone while she went to work. Police arrested Harrell, jailed her and charged her with unlawful conduct toward a child.
Harrell, who works at McDonald’s, said she couldn’t afford daycare so she gave her daughter a cell phone and let her play in the park. Harrell was arrested after a stranger noticed the girl alone and called the cops.
Meanwhile, in a similar case, police arrested Jeffrey Williamson of Blanchester, Ohio, in front of his family this year on a Sunday morning. Williamson’s “crime” — his son Justin decided to hang out with his friends rather than take a van ride to attend services at a Baptist church.
Do you agree or disagree with these arrests? Tell us in the comments section below.
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