Falsely Arrested by 3 Scottsdale Cops

Letter to Circle K

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Dear Manager:

Last Saturday on June 13 I took the bus from Tempe and got off in Scottsdale at 68th Street and McDowell and went to your Circle K at about 7 p.m. I got a free cup of water and told the clerk that if I couldn’t change it into wine I would come back in a little while and buy some beer. The clerk is a tall skinny guy who works there often on the night shift.

I then walked along McDowell Road to 76th Street and from there I started to walk back to your store. In front of the old Bashas store between 74th and 75th streets three Scottsdale police officers stopped me

The police told me that there was a guy with a blue sweatshirt and a hat setting fires and that because I was wearing a blue sweatshirt and a hat that they stopped me.

Oddly the police didn’t ask me any questions about setting fires. Also if the cops thought I was an arsonist you would figure they would have searched me looking for matches, lighters and whatever other stuff arsonists use. But the police didn’t search me. They didn’t even give me the usual pat down check for weapons.

The only thing the police did was run my name thru their computer to see if I had any warrants out for my arrest and after they found out I didn’t they released me.

Since I look like a homeless person I figured the cops just wanted to stop me and see if I had any warrants out for my arrest. And because of the way they treated me I think they just made up the stuff about some guy starting fires who matched my description as an excuse to stop me and run me thru their computer.

But I would like to cover myself in case there really was somebody starting fires. I know that Circle K videos tapes everyone who enters and leaves your store.

Would it be possible to burn a CD of the video when I entered the store around 7pm just in case somebody was starting fires so I can prove I was at Circle K. You can let one of the clerks give it to me when I come by the store to buy my beer.

I am also asking Valley Metro to give me a copy of the video that was tape recorded when I rode the bus from Tempe to Scottsdale.

Thanks

Mike Ross