Watch Cops Seize Combat Vet's Life Savings [RARE FOOTAGE]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

I just wanted to tell you,
Officer Brown, I mean,

you're taking money out of
my kids' mouths right now.

I'm sorry.

You're taking food out
of my kids' mouths.

Like I said, we
believe right now

that this is drug
proceeds, illicit currency.

Well, I'm going to prove
to you that it's not.

Perfect.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[SIREN BLARING]

[RADIO CHATTER]

That clip shows a
retired US marine

being robbed of his life savings
on the side of a highway.

He was not arrested for, charged
with, or convicted of any crime.

He wasn't even ticketed.

This is a rare glimpse
into an abuse of power

that thousands of innocent
Americans experience each year.

Through a public
records request,

The Institute for Justice was
able to acquire body and dashcam

footage of an entire
roadside seizure,

from the initial traffic stop to
the seized money being deposited

at the bank.

This is the most complete
footage we have ever seen.

On February 19, 2021,
our client Stephen Lara

was pulled over outside of Reno
by the Nevada Highway Patrol.

He was driving to visit his
daughters in a small California

town just West of Reno.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

The driver of this vehicle
was following the red and blue

semi-truck too closely,
less than a second following

distance.

Also driving under the
speed limit, which I thought

was really odd.

And I'm going to
stop him up here.

[INAUDIBLE] a little
bit safer [INAUDIBLE].

Make sure everything's OK.

Yeah, initially, I
thought I was getting

pulled over because
maybe I had expired tags.

I had a rental car.

Unfortunately, I had
some car trouble.

And that was necessary to get a
rental car for a short duration

for that weekend.

I'm doing great.

Hey, the reason
I'm stopping you,

we have a special enforcement
campaign going on.

We're trying to educate drivers
about violations they may not

realize they're
committing but we're

seeing a big increase
in crashes out here.

First, applaud you
on your driving.

You drive great.

You're driving really slow.

It appears that you're
trying to drive safely

under the speed limit.

I appreciate that.

I just want to talk to about
your following distance,

especially around
commercial vehicles.

The Highway Patrol Officer
seems friendly and reasonable

at first, even complimenting
Stephen's driving.

He orders Stephen
to exit his vehicle

and starts asking him a series
of questions unrelated to why

he was pulled over.

Police often ask
questions like this

to see if a suspect's
story lines up.

You a fighter?

Am I a fighter?

Yeah, you've got
a Tapout shirt on.

[CHUCKLES] Well, I've
got a lot of training.

I'm a retired Marine.

What do your daughters do, man?

Ever been in trouble
law enforcement before?

When did you leave?

When did you leave?

What part of Texas are you
thinking of buying a house in?

What were you doing
for work up there?

The officer then
explains the real reason

he pulled Stephen over.

Hey, while I'm working on this,
let me ask you something, man.

This is going to
sound kind of weird.

Part of my job out
here is I do what's

called Highway Interdiction.

I look for people that
are smuggling contraband

through our state, across the
country, weapons, humans, drugs,

illicit currency,
things like that.

Anything in the vehicle
I should be aware of?

Nothing.

OK.

No firearms?

Nothing.

No explosives?

None.

OK.

Are there any drugs
in the vehicle?

No.

Cocaine?

I don't do drugs.

Yeah, I've got to ask all
these silly questions, right?

There's no drugs.

There's no weapons
in the vehicle.

OK.

Any large amounts of United
States currency in the vehicle?

Yes.

OK.

What's a large amount
of US currency to you?

Anything over $10,000.

OK.

So there's over
$10,000 in there?

Yes.

How much money have
you got in there?

A whole lot.

[LAUGHS] OK.

I don't trust banks so
I keep my own money.

Fair enough.

Would you give me permission
to search your vehicle today?

Yeah.

If that's OK with you?

Sure.

OK, perfect.

Although it's Stephen's
right to refuse,

he gives the officer
permission to search his car.

I didn't want to
come across as being

non-cooperative or combative.

So I did what I felt was right.

And I was very honest,
very forthcoming.

I was also very respectful.

And I just wanted to make
their job as easy as possible

so that I could be on my way
to spend time with my children.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

Hey, Shane, how are you?

Good.

Hey, can you head
out to a traffic stop

or are you busy on that
other stuff going on today?

So far, I'm still searching a
car, but a big bundle of money.

He says, probably,
at least $100,000.

That interaction shows what's
at the heart of the officer's

interest in Stephen.

He knows that even though
Stephen did nothing wrong,

the DEA will adopt the
seizure of his cash

and return a
portion of the money

to the Highway Patrol for the
favor of giving them the case.

Here's how an adoption works.

When state or local police seize
cash, cars, or other property,

federal law enforcement
takes over the forfeiture.

The federal agency
does all the work

and kicks back up to 80% of the
proceeds to the state agency

that seized the property.

In Stephen's case,
that would mean

the DEA would take
control of the cash

and seek to forfeit it
through federal law,

ignoring the
important limitations

that Nevada law places on
seizures and forfeitures.

In 2019 alone, federal
agencies made $334 million

in equitable sharing payments to
state and local law enforcement

agencies.

In this case, the Nevada Highway
Patrol stands to gain nearly

$70,000 by taking
Steven's money.

I think you're a good
guy, and I don't--

I am a good guy.

Yeah.

[CHUCKLES] So how
much cash is that?

About $100,000.

$100,000.

So as you know, I'm a vet.

He's a vet.

You're a vet.

It's not illegal to carry
currency, have currency.

[INAUDIBLE] It does, though,
make us ask some questions

on why someone has $100,000.

I can understand why you
don't trust banks, especially

in this day and age right now.

Stephen keeps his
savings in cash.

Maybe that's uncommon.

But as the officer
acknowledges, it's not illegal.

I have nothing to hide from you.

I appreciate that.

Give me a few seconds.

I'll make a couple phone calls.

The officer first
calls his superior.

He interrupts that call to
speak again with the DEA agent.

Hey, Sarge, are you
on your way out here?

Oh.

OK.

I'm waiting to hear
back from Shane

to see if he comes out here.

This is a strange one,
but not a strange one.

Consented to a search.

Said there was money up there.

We located what he
says is $100,000.

It's in a Ziploc
sandwich baggie.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

I haven't gone into it a bunch.

I'm waiting to hear back but
there's a bunch of bank receipts

and stuff in there as well
to show the [INAUDIBLE]--

this might be Shane.

Hold on one second.

Hey, this is Shane.

Let me call you back.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

Around 20 minutes later,
the officer's superior,

a Highway Patrol Sergeant, is
recorded on his bodycam chatting

with the same DEA
agent who apologizes

for not being able to make it.

No issues.

It's too easy to do an adoption.

We contacted you so I think
everything's going to be OK.

And I'll text you the money
count after we get it.

It'll probably be
a couple hours.

Remember, there's
still no probable cause

to seize Stephen's money.

All the officers have is
a large amount of cash.

And cash is not a crime.

But the Sergeant
isn't giving up.

So why the distrust
for the banking system?

I just don't trust them.

Yeah?

It's my reasoning.

It's my personal thing.

Oh, I'm not trying to
convince you one or the other.

It's not usual.

After questioning
Stephen, the Sergeant

speaks privately with the
officer who pulled him over.

What are your thoughts, Chris?

I-- kind of leaning more
towards it's odd but--

It's odd but it's not
packaged like normal.

No.

And he's answering
the questions.

There's receipts here.

I would like to put--

I would like to put the
dog on the currency, man.

OK.

The two officers agree that
Stephen has been forthcoming

and has years worth of
bank receipts showing

that he has withdrawn his
savings from his bank accounts.

But the Sergeant orders
the junior officer

to put the dog on the currency.

The Sergeant put Stephen's
money in an open Ziploc bag

and throws the open
package to the ground

on the side of the road less
than 40 yards from Stephen's

car.

Nice.

Positive alert.

We'll go forward with it.

Huh?

We'll go forward with it.

OK.

This positive alert
appears to have

given the Sergeant
what he thinks he needs

to take Stephen's life savings.

Remember, both officers
have planned all along

to hand the money to the DEA.

They are looking for
a legal justification.

But numerous studies have shown
anywhere between 67% and 100%

of US currency has
trace amounts of drugs.

For that reason, a dog
alert to currency on its own

does not show the currency
was used in an illegal drug

transaction.

What we're going to do, I
believe they're drug proceeds.

Dog alerted to it.

Drug proceeds?

Yeah, it's very common, sir.

We get people that are
trafficking large quantities

of marijuana from Northern
California to all states East,

even from Reno.

Sir, I can tell you
right now, there's--

I'm going to tell you exactly
what's going to happen, OK?

We're going to seize it today.

But that doesn't mean we're
the final judgment on it.

It's going to go
through the DEA.

So the DEA will contact you.

And the DEA will provide you
with the means to fight it.

You're going to have to
provide your pay stubs.

You're going to have to
provide your other receipts

and stuff like that.

OK?

Stephen now has nothing.

He had to convince his brother
to wire him $1,000 to continue

his trip to see his daughters.

I just want to let you know, I
know you're just doing your job.

That money, I work
pretty hard for.

The money that I have in my
jacket is only a few dollars.

I have no money to pay
for my kids' meals,

[INAUDIBLE] my hotel, or even
get that car back to Texas.

So I know you're
just doing your job,

but I don't know what
to do [INAUDIBLE].

So I'm probably going to be
stuck here unless somebody

sends me some money.

I have no way of providing
for my children and stuff,

or getting back to Texas.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

After nearly an hour and a
half on the side of a highway,

Stephen was given
a receipt for US

currency with a number
to call the DEA agent.

This is all I get here?

That's what you get.

Yes, sir.

You're going to get
noticed in the mail

as well at that address, OK?

I find it even
more so concerning

that if this could happen to
me as a combat veteran who

served overseas in
Iraq and Afghanistan,

this could happen to anybody.

After six months without
his nearly $87,000,

Stephen sued the DEA in
federal court to get it back.

Only then, after The
Institute for Justice

filed a lawsuit on his behalf,
and The Washington Post called

the agency for comment did they
agree to return Stephen's cash.

Stephen may have gotten back
his money but his case goes on.

Stephen and The
Institute for Justice

are also suing the Nevada
Highway Patrol in state court

to make sure that this
doesn't happen to anyone else.

Stephen's situation isn't unique
but he is one of the lucky ones.

He will get his money back.

Most victims of forfeiture don't
have a public interest law firm

like IJ to take their case.

And if they cannot afford an
attorney and cannot figure out

how to navigate convoluted
forfeiture processes

on their own, the government
walks away with their property

without ever having
to prove any crime.

This highway robbery must end.

It is time to abolish
civil forfeiture.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]