it did field test presum the positive Arman go and put your hands behind your back fck a cigarette please on April 17th 2018 in Florida a man named Steve Van found himself in a frightening situation that would shake his trust in law enforcement forever it all started when officer Zachary Wester from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office pulled him over officer Wester initially told Mr van he was stopped because his car's license plates were not showing any insurance however Mr van quickly prooved this by showing his valid insurance causing officer Wester to change his reason for supposedly drifting over the double yellow line as these justifications Twisted officer Wester decided to search Mr Van's Car let's see this 2554 the r is going to be the driver on 10 six vehicle search during the search recorded by Officer West's body camera he engaged in a casual conversation with Mr van asking if anyone else had been in the car recently come on man you ain't had nobody in the vehicle with you huh have you had anybody in the vehicle with you lately yeah had uh crystal in there why Crystal who uh I add more or something like that I can't I don't know why okay all right honesty is going to go a long way with me okay man no all right I've got to test this have you ever seen this before no okay no what is that hang out with defy Jackson here the center console there Ain no way man this search led to a startling Discovery or so it seemed officer Wester claimed to find a small plastic baggie with traces of in the vehicle's center console the body camera captured all of this but it was hard to see everything clearly raising questions about what happened during the search could the officer have planted the baggie himself officer Wester then tested the substance using a field test kit the test should turn blue for a positive result according to the kit instructions however the liquid in the test visibly turned pinkish red not blue despite this officer Wester declared it blue and informed Mr van that it tested positive for K me c [Applause] all right look man it did field test presum the positive from okay let me ask you this if I read you your rights will you talk to me I talk to you man I'm just saying man dude we're going to get there we're going to get there okay the officer then proceeded to read Mr van his rights and arrested him this situation turned Mr Van's life upside down as he faced criminal charges based on what appeared to be falsified evidence the field tests results and the questionable circumstances of the SE SE suggested that something was terribly wrong with the Stop and the subsequent arrest you have the right to remain silent anything you say can be used against you on court you have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions and have him or her present with you during questioning if you cannot afford a lawyer one be appointed for you without cost and for any questioning if you so desire if you decide to answer questions now without a law you're present you still have the absolute right to stop answering at any time you also have the right to stop answering any time until you talk to a lawyer you understand each of those rights I've explained to you sure today on this traffic stop have you myself or K9 Deputy Jackson to allow you to speak to an attorney okay having these rights in mind you we should talk to me now okay okay all right man I explained the reason for my traffic stopped and when we started talking about crossing the line you explained to me your front end was out a line right walked up talked to you start talking about a little bit of an overend vehicle and you made the statement I know you want to search it okay what what was the reason behind that and then and then you said then you were then you were starting to get out and you were like go ahead and search it like what what's the reason behind that man because I got pulled over FL and that's exactly what doph did he come up said he SM don't smoke okay and that just gave him the right come in sear all right so I get into the vehicle okay you saw me work my way around same way I search every vehicle start on driver side go to the passenger side open up the center console pull all of your papers out of the center console in the bottom in the corner there was that little clear baggy paint black or it's already black with creases in it okay in the bottom of it probably 020 of a gram of what appears to be that that's what my field test shows out here on the side of the road okay whenever I came back and talk to you about it before reading you right so I can't I can't even put that in my report I can't use that against you you made the statement that you had had someone in the vehicle with you okay now that your RS have been read do you want to tell me I mean give me some ground who you had and are they users or anything she the past us I gave her a ride wow did did she go in your center console or anything man I have no idea possible maybe I have no idea now now before I before I look any deeper am I going to find a pip or syringe or anything like that man man I'm tell you walk man so the last time you used meth me is before you went to prison right you voluntarily told me that you had been to prison for possession of yes okay you said you served two years yes sir okay and see when did you get out this just March okay so when you got out in March you've been clean ever since correct okay all right where you live at man uh White Church Pond Road White Church Pond yeah okay all right um have you been pulled over since you got out of prison no you Haven been pulled over since you got out of prison okay so you don't you don't know where that suspect came from why would be in your center console man I do not it was like I said man it was black I almost missed it whenever I opened up the center console it was just laying flush on the bottom of the console I I I don't know you don't know man I don't know man nothing in your hat or anything like that man no man I got nothing on me man oh wow when's Last time she was in that vehicle with you this earlier earlier yes sir you got the cashier man just from your odd jobs that you've been doing yes sir and before we start further if you found this video informative don't forget to like subscribe and hit the Bell icon for more content like like this this claim led to Mr Van's arrest despite his protests and confusion about the presence of in his car the officer Justified the arrest by citing the lack of discretion in charges ignoring Mr Van's please and his clean record since his release Mr van was respectful throughout the interaction which made the situation even more disheartening and there I mean you can't think of any other way man that what have got in there I mean like I said man honesty goes a long way okay I'm being honest man I really don't know man man I like I tell everybody here turn around let me I I treat everybody with the same amount of respect they treat me all right you've been nothing but nothing but respectful okay I could I couldn't ask you to be any more respectful man um I'm just trying to figure out how that stuff got in your car turn around and talk to him serious open up your mouth if your tongue up okay you think she had I don't you didn't see her use it or anything no okay I just look man you going to go to jail today for possession okay it was in your vehicle right there at center console all right I don't have much discretion with a f charge buddy I don't have much discretion with that man dude oh man dude I'm serious dude anything what you want me to do man listen man I don't have the SC my okay d man if I know that [ __ ] was in there you think I tell you goe and search man come on oh man really people still do sometimes and that that's why I was getting around to the fact did you see the person that was with you were they using or shooting up or smoking while they were in the car because whenever I ask you that you kind of put your head down and look away it makes me kind of think that maybe yeah no man I'm telling you man God okay AR man go and put your hands behind your back for I smoke a cigarette please please just hang tight right there [Applause] let me explain something man go and get you a cigarette The Company You Keep sometimes makes you turn into a telling everybody stay away from me too okay see you l officer Wester suggested that Steve should stop letting people ride in his car hinting that this might stop these kinds of problems from happening but Steve was clear he didn't know how the got into his car as the officer went back to searching the vehicle Steve was left to ponder the unwarranted accusations now handcuffed in the back of the patrol car you I'm have to tell your vehicle see okay 25 54 Go and show me 1015 and roll a rotation on 1070 please listen buddy I don't think you a bad guy okay sometimes people we hang around though get so screwed up in bad situations right this is this fact right here man I mean oh man you just you don't know how hard it's been okay when I got out man my house been broken into all my [ __ ] stolen I had nothing man I everything stolen from me man where did you live at at the time the same place same place man whenever you went to prison was that your first time going not what's your criminal history look like man pretty pretty lengthy how long were you on before you went prison man years years that'll eat you at one tear your damn life apart it did it did really did he kept unmarked bags of and in the trunk of his patrol car and manipulated his body cam footage to fabricate evidence against innocent people many of whom were trying to recover from past mistakes or maintain their sobriety I want to quit letting people in your vehicles you saying that's not chores not want to quit letting people in your vehicles and I can tell you man you look me in my eyes whenever you tell me it's my chores but you look away whenever I ask about the person that was with you I don't know say I really don't know I just throw that cigarette out man I'm just going to do it on my computer I'm going to finish searching and uh make sure I didn't miss anything in July 2019 the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested officer Wester detailing his Corrupt Practices in a 30-page a fit of it his actions not only undermined the trust in law enforcement but devastated lives that brings us to the end of a troubling case of trust betrayed by someone meant to uphold the law officer Wester actions remind us how crucial it is for those in power to act responsibly and justly have you or someone you know ever faced a similar situation please share your thoughts in the comments below see you in the next video