'Planted Evidence' Just Officer Discarding Searched Baggie: Chief

CALEDONIA, WI — A recent video that showed a Caledonia Police Department Officer throwing a bag into the back seat of a car sparked accusations that the officer was planting evidence, but police say they were only discarding an empty bag that was already searched.

The incident happened on Wednesday when Caledonia police officers stopped a vehicle for traveling over the speed limit. Police removed the passengers from the vehicle and found a small bag in one passenger's pocket which was cut in a way commonly used for illegal drugs, Christopher Botsch, Caledonia's Chief of Police, said in a statement.

No drugs were found in the bag and no arrests were made following the traffic stop, although the driver did receive a speeding ticket, according to Botsch's statement. The department did not say in any statement why the passengers were removed from the vehicle and searched.

"Since there were NO DRUGS in the corner tear [the bag], the officers discarded the empty packaging material in the vehicle," Botsch said in the statement.

The man who originally posted the video on Facebook claimed alongside the video that the officer threw the bag to get a reason to search the car.

"I’m just a local music artist from Racine WI, he ain’t even know I was recording you can tell he was nervous," he posted on Facebook alongside the video.

The man did not immediately reply to Patch's request for comment.

The video sparked reactions from many including civil rights lawyer Ben Crump who represented the family of George Floyd.

Caledonia PD Ofc. Mathew Gorney captured on video tossing a clear plastic bag into a Black driver’s vehicle. Caledonia PD has launched an investigation into the incident; however, this is a CLEAR example of police abusing their position of power! pic.twitter.com/3K2eRyzM7E
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/AttorneyCr... 25, 2021

"Every single one of those officer's arrests needs to be thoroughly investigated" one comment said on Caledonia Police Department's Facebook post.

"We all know if that passenger wasn't recording yall [sic] would have ruined their lives," another comment said.

"What was the probable cause for them being searched in the first place? You don’t search someone’s car because they’re speeding!!!" another commenter said in response to the department's Facebook post.

Other commenters spoke in favor of the department's narrative:

"Unfortunate that the 'media' has created 'something' out of 'nothing' and you folks had to scramble to discredit misinformation before it goes careening out of control. Thank you for your quick action and continued vigilance in the village," one commenter said.

"Stop looking for things that aren't there against Police Officers while most of you look the other way when it comes to someone who is actually committing or has committed a crime," another comment read.

The video was taken by the front passenger of the vehicle.

"Hey bro what's that?" the passenger said in the video after the officer threw the bag inside the car.

"What's what?" the officer responded.

"I got you on camera bro," the passenger said. The officer responded stating that he also has him on camera.

The video then shifted to the back seat of the vehicle and showed the small clear bag sitting on the seat.

Botsch described the incident and video in his statement:

"The front seat passenger tells the officer that his actions are on video, and the officer replies that he is also recording the incident. The officer acknowledges to the front seat passenger that he (officer) put the item there and explains that it was taken from one of the passengers and the officer did not want to 'hold on to it.'

"Essentially, he appears to be discarding the empty baggie. While we would discourage officers from discarding items into a citizen’s vehicle, the video is clear that the officer is NOT planting evidence or doing anything illegal. Additionally, the empty corner tear is not itself illegal," Botsch wrote in the department's statement.

Four officers were present on the scene. Each had their body cameras on and an investigation into the incident is ongoing. The origin of the bag and the circumstances that led to it being thrown into the vehicle are "supported by body worn camera video," Botsch's statement said.

The department released two police body camera videos and intends to release all of them alongside dash camera footage, according to another statement from Botsch on Saturday.

The first two videos from body cameras can be found in the most recent statement from Botsch on the Caledonia Police Department Facebook.

Below is the body camera footage from the officer who placed the bag into the car, according to the statement. An additional video located in the comment section shows the passenger who had the bag in his pocket getting searched, the statement said.