A Stamford, Conn., police officer arrested a man for allegedly warning drivers about a cell phone sting. The officer is now facing a lawsuit from the ACLU of Connecticut.
A Stamford resident named Michael Friend made a cardboard sign reading COPS AHEAD to warn drivers about police waiting to issue tickets for texting while driving. The lawsuit says a Stamford police officer took Friend’s sign and arrested him when he wouldn’t stop recording them with his phone.
Friend was charged with interfering with a police investigation.
However, Dan Barrett with the ACLU said, “It’s not interference if you’re standing on the sidewalk holding a sign warning people there are police ahead. That’s not the way the law works.”
Prosecutors have since dropped the interference charge against Friend. The ACLU is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
