Is Declining to Be Searched, When You Did Nothing Wrong, Disorderly Conduct?

You're out shopping -- wearing some new jeans you bought at another store and forgot to remove the tag from.

A store employee gets suspicious, and police ask you to step into the loss-prevention office so they can check out your pants to make sure you're not shoplifting them.

You're not shoplifting, so you say no, you can't check out my pants.

And out come the handcuffs. The charge for not cooperating, you're warned, is disorderly conduct.

What do you do?

A Loganville man recently opted for the disorderly conduct charge rather than agree to take his tag-on jeans to the loss-prevention office. A review of security tapes showed he hadn't been shoplifting the pants, but the disorderly conduct charge stuck.

Did he commit a crime?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.