On a May evening about two years ago, Ron Johnson claims he woke up to someone banging at his front door. He dragged himself out of bed and opened up. Before he could even ask what was going on, a Tucson Police officer handcuffed and shoved him in the back of a patrol car for the next six hours.
Two days prior, he had suffered a heart attack and was trying to recover at home. While in custody, he says he repeatedly told officers he did not feel good, but any request for medical attention was ignored.
Johnson’s home on Fourth Avenue quickly flooded with other officers who, without a warrant, probable cause or Johnson’s permission, drilled through his safe, took money, tens of thousands of dollars in jewelry, his computer, all of his medical marijuana and the five plants he cultivated, as well as pot paraphernalia.
They also confiscated his heart and blood pressure prescription medication and, down the road, tried to seize his home.
The cops alleged he didn’t have his medical marijuana card, making his plants an “illegal grow operation.”
“What they are doing is robbing people and it is a problem nationwide,” he says. Johnson is the founder of the 420 Social Club, a house where medical marijuana patients can go to hang out and medicate. (The house the city tried to take.) “They kept the money, the jewelry, and they told me I wasn’t getting any of the paraphernalia back or the plants. They don’t have to find you guilty of anything. They just come in and take your things. They were trying to say that this is a criminal house.”
Ultimately, Johnson was charged with several felonies.
There had been a shooting near his home that same night, and they pinned it on him, he claims.
While he fought to get the issues sorted out, law enforcement agents were required to check up on him (to make sure he hadn’t bailed). On Valentine’s Day last year, Johnson refused to cooperate and tried to leave the house, so they tackled, arrested and charged him with disorderly conduct.
That charge was dropped April 2014 and Pima County Superior Court dismissed the felonies in June.
On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, Johnson’s attorney, Vernon Peltz, filed a complaint against the city of Tucson, Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villaseñor and the law enforcement agents who entered Johnson’s home and confiscated his stuff.
The accusations against the TPD officers include unlawful seizure of a person and property, and use of excessive force. There’s also one of negligent hiring, training and failure to discipline against Villaseñor.
“That negligence of said defendants … was a proximate cause of the violations of the plaintiffs civil rights,” said the complaint obtained by the Tucson Weekly a few days before it was filed.
Johnson hopes to shed some light locally on the state’s civil forfeiture statues, which give law enforcement the green light to take your stuff without even charging you with a crime (80 percent of people usually aren’t charged, according to the Institute of Justice).
In Arizona, law enforcement tries to seize as much property as they can because they get to keep most of the “funds” raised this way. The report “Policing for Profit,” says that from 2000 to 2011, civil forfeiture revenue in the state increased by nearly 400 percent—hundreds of millions in civil forfeiture revenue.
Law enforcement can use that money to pay for staff salaries, equipment, travel, witness protection programs and even drug and gang prevention classes. Some citizens pay double—part tax dollars, part civil forfeiture.
The government doesn’t have to prove that you are guilty, either. Rather, it is the owner of the property who has to prove his or her innocence, as well as the “innocence” of the property seized.
In Johnson’s case, since the criminal charges against him were unfounded, now it is his money, jewelry and other items that stand trial.
Also, because it’s civil and not criminal, you’re not entitled to any free legal help. You have to pay for your own attorney, which is one of the reasons these actions sometimes go unnoticed.
“Unfortunately, it happens to people who don’t have the funds,” Peltz says. “People end up losing their property and they don’t have the ability to file a complaint. There should be prosecution there. The reason the cops keep doing it is because they don’t see a punishment. They get to keep what they steal.”
Johnson says it is not a war he wanted to fight, but he is in the position to do it, not just for himself, but others who find themselves in similar circumstances.
“Somebody has to say ‘enough,’ somebody has to break the ice,” he says. “Once you get the dominoes started, the dominoes continue to fall.”
Next week, the Tucson Weekly will talk with Tucson Police Department representatives for a follow-up on this legal complaint.
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2015.
This is new ???? ever Since Dennis DeConcini and the “MANTIS”( Metro Area Narcotics Task Interdiction Squad) ( miss allocated and missing funds confiscation of A lear jet that they tooled around . In the 70’s the Police District Attorneys informants have been setting up citizens and legally ripping them off and them keeping the monies it should go to the elected officials to govern. This is why we don’t need a ” Department of Marijuana” Same thing we collected the monies it is up to us on what we do with it. This type of governmental departments becoming their own tax and allocated monies collected out side the elected official is dangerous as you just read. And the ADA want to hire them to police their market with this power. Annie barricade the door the wolf is kicking it down.
I strongly recommend reading Johann Hari’s book: Chasing the Scream, The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. This book will open your eyes, turn your stomach and make you realize – if you don’t already – just what a tragic waste the 100 plus years of the War on Drugs has been.
This is compete nonsense. All the people who use the 420 club are ill or injured and require Marijuana to battle chemo related nausea and pain, etc. This is nothing but police harassment and a money grab. With all these police murders of innocent citizens, this is becoming frightening.
Who are these people harming? First, the use of marijuana on a university campus or school grounds is against Arizona Law. Many of the members of the 420 Club go to the University Medical Center and Cancer Center for treatment, after their treatments they ride the streetcar to the streetcar landing right in front of the 420 Club. The exit the streetcar and then enter the 420 Club 20 yards away and consume marijuana to settle their stomaches and let the effects of chemotherapy wane. The police want to harass and steal from the ill and sick?
I will tell you who has become ill and sick: It’s the police that pull tricks like this one, hassling and stealing. No wonder the rank and file Tucson Citizen is frightened of them as they have become bullies and thieves.
What the 420 Club is:
1. It is NOT a dope den!
2. All the members are legitimate Arizona Green Card holders
3. The 420 Club is NO threat to anyone at all
4. All you will find in the 420 Club is the sick and ill trying to truncate and aswage their pain and misery form disease
5. All you will find in the 420 Club are people talking, playing games, chess and trying to make some kind of recovery. Thy are NOT criminals……..
6. Cancer, illness, pain and death are very democratic and you, yourself may need the 420 Club sometime in the future! Do you really believe that Cancer, illness, pain and death will never set foot in your household? Think again!
If anything the Tucson Police Department should protect and help these injured, sick and ill people. Stop this harrasment of the ill, recovering and dying. What in the world is wrong with you?
This is a good argument for just making marijahuna legal.
As far as the police go, there are too many of them. This is true just about everywhere in the United States. It’s time to start refusing them increases in staff, reguardless of how the ask, argue, whine, or cry.
Bahahaha have fun trying to get your money cause soon as you do the IRS is coming to audit why you have soo much unidentified income. Circumventing the government under the guise of Health and medicine will quickly become transparent for the criminal you are. ahahahah its the truth and you can dislike it all you want.
Look at policing for profit that went on 20 years ago right here
.http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/03-07-96/curr2.htm.
I wonder how many remember the Vice Squad Sargent shot dead while trying to Rob at gun point. The owner and convicted cocaine dealer of a Tucson strip club. Thinking a excon would not have a gun. Or just recently the BackPage investigation with city police & officials. We need police and they do a good job mostly. All monies & property of any kind or sort they collect during the official capacity of police needs to go to the general fund.
Carpet Baggers-
The Tucson Weekly 96′ article is a dead link… Would like to read it.
Sarah here it is again
Currents: The Final Bill (March 7 – March 13, 1996)
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/03-07-96/curr2.htm
Tucson Weekly
WHEN THE TOWN of Huachuca City agreed to pay $325,000 to Benson … with Huachuca City to pursue forfeiture cases to fatten the town’s coffers. A former deputy with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department, Halloran was at loose … Don Watola, an investigator with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, noted in a report:.
I would rather go up against a criminal before a criminal-with-a-badge, ANY day of the week. At least a regular garden-variety run-o’-the-mill criminal won’t call for backup.
And get a paid vacation after he/she takes your life.
At least a regular criminal would be prosecuted and punished.
As opposed to being “Cop of the Year” or something.
Cops are as bad any criminal.
If not worse.
They are paid thugs. Had a patient to patient transfer seized, because I live less than 25 miles from a dispensary, I MUST use a dispensary. This is a drug task force and they don’t know the law. And I am coming after them for a simple 4 grams. Seems trivial, but people need to know what these uniformed thugs are doing, don’t even know the law. Though by 2811 they are prohibited from these actions.
Thieves!
Hey Dope is for Dopes, Ron Johnson runs a legal jewelry business. So you should learn the facts before running your mouth. You sound like a cop.
The police were under an Order of the Court to return Mr. Johnson’s seized property but never did…. Instead they sold it and split the proceeds of the sale of the items and failed to return not one single piece of Mr Johnson’s property as per Order of the Court, but rather they deposited the funds equally into each of their budget accounts, Mr. Johnson was never reimbursed nor return any of his property from the police.
So this is a good lesson for future criminals, get a uniform and a badge first, whereby laws don’t apply to you when stealing, hurting and robbing the public.
Get permission to steal from the public…. Get a job, uniform and a badge from a government law enforcement agency and you are good to go.
Civil forfeiture have increased 4000% in the last 25 years due to law enforcement seizure and forfeiture. The institute of justice found that over 80% of items seize, forfeited and sold was from innocent members of the community never charged with any crimininal acts. The fact is that law enforcement agencies confiscate property from people not committing any crimes, sell these innocent people’s personal and business property, then deposit the money generated into their person budgets which should be considered stealing and a conflict of interest because they financially benefit from their unlawful actions against the citizens they are sworn to protect. Arizona law enforcement have become the perfect description of actions described in accordance to Arizona RICO law violations.
However, since they consider marijuana a schedule I Narcodic drug as dangerous as heroine, it would be appropriate the unlawful stealing of an innocent citizen’s property under the guise of Civil Forfeiture law is not a violation of “racketeering in organized crime” by law enforcement…. It is just a friendly armed robbery by the public servants paid to protect us from cartels and the mafia from committing such crimes against individual hard working citizens, whom are helpless to protect themselves from this government tyranny.
Mr. “Joe Public” needs to remember that their property has No Rights when defending themselves. The police have no legal expenses when prosecuting property seizure and forfeitures…. While on the other hand, you or your property have the burden of financing a defense to protect its return. Consequently, to pay an attorney in these matters are more expensive than the value of the property stolen by the police, this it it cost prohibited in trying to defend and seek return of your property. How can the public protect themselves from these unlawful and unethical government actions?
Oh ya,…. They can’t!