and so they altered the check we verified that with our customer here okay and he says yeah that check has been stolen that check was originally made out to Eagle Eye Printing and um they altered it altered it okay capital F and now it's a lowercase f and you've written over this part I didn't write over well you're in possession of it right and you're trying to cash it so being in possession of a forged or altered check is a felony in the state of Florida you could go to jail today on January 10th, 2025 Florida officers responded to a bank in progress forgery call what followed looked like an arrest but legally at least at the outset it was not one a widespread myth holds that once handcuffs come out Miranda warnings are automatically required that is not the law and this footage shows precisely why the myth collapses under scrutiny and so they altered the check we verified that with our customer here okay and he says yeah that check has been stolen that check was originally made out to Eagle Eye Printing and um they altered it altered it okay three 3 k 9 2 hey put your hands up everybody put your hands up put the windows down let me see your hands while you put the windows down put it down passenger from the outside open the door driver put your hands up what's going on walk towards me stop right there turn around what's going on I'll tell you in a minute walk back towards me walk back towards me take four steps to your left yep hey come over here and cuff my daughter's in the car yep what's going on I'll explain it here in a second I'm so confused yep I'll explain it here in a second driver do the same thing open the door from the outside keep your hands up and walk towards me nope walk towards me cut across in front of the vehicles come this way turn around for me walk backwards walk backwards stay right there put your palms together there you go I'll explain everything to y'all here in a second I see her let me gather the rest of the information it's all coming in third party from the tellers so from the people inside the tellers so when did you get that check I'm not sure two days ago Wednesday Wednesday night Dang what time I'm not sure I know I got it from somebody after we went to his house evening time I'm not sure for morning time I think it was around 4 4 OK and you went to his house and did yard work and you got it from him Mister James whoever that is OK alright hey question for you any narcotics inside the vehicle no at all no drug paraphernalia marijuana methamphetamine means OK all right all right sit tight this is the check they tried to cash she so they she handed her their her ID I'll add both of them to the call yup no no this is the that's the complaint right there so they got they received this check it was altered it was made out to Eagle Eye Eagle Eye Printing for that amount right there so they altered the check right there yep and she wrote her name out which one's the she also she's in my car or your car in my car OK she also that's easy for social prefer don't know what social act comes back to my about find out real quick so I'll let y'all dig into this so driver we don't have anything on driver not on not on driver it's Miss Joanne here so so they apparently came in about a week ago try to cash another check from for a different bank both of them well or at least that they denied them service because they don't have an account here they said you want to cash this bank check you gotta go to your bank would you still like to talk today sure okay so hey like I get it it's big scary I pull up block the front of your car my blue lights on and get out with a gun big and scary so backstory is bank calls the check that your passenger was trying to cash is altered and stolen is it yep so that's that's why the response the way it did cause it's it's a in progress felony so if I not saying this would have happened but I didn't want to pull up behind you and then you throw it in drive and take me on a long lengthy pursuit and then could have been worse for everybody else we didn't know it was stolen yeah so you might not have known I don't believe her what did she say well she got it from Mr Dobins who I know personally to traffic and use narcotics and steal stuff James Dobbins yeah he lives down the street from y'all sorry and Wilson Neck you still live right there on minor right across from like the airport or the airport so she is going at a minimum for being in possession of altered check altered or forged check cause I can tell where she wrote her name over the whoever that name was cut to and I just spoke to the boss man of the company that wrote that check and it's not to her so she's going to jail at a minimum I don't have anything on you so I'm about to pull you out and put put you in uh take handcuffs out of you whose child is that is that hers well it's ours but okay so both of y'all have legal custody or legal rights to him okay alright if you'll hop out for me um can I talk to her what are you gonna work right here if you'll lean forward at the waist for me alright I'll be uh under Terry versus Ohio 1968 officers may briefly detain a person on reasonable suspicion reasonable suspicion requires specific articulable facts a standard well below probable cause here those facts came from an identified citizen witness the bank teller herself Adams versus Williams 1972 holds that identified citizen information carries substantial weight far greater than an anonymous tip because the source is accountable and verifiable the teller verified the check with the account holder before the first cruiser ever arrived under Pennsylvania versus Mims officers may order occupants out of a lawfully stopped vehicle Maryland versus Wilson extended that rule to passengers without additional individualized suspicion handcuffing during a Terry stop is permitted where reasonably necessary for officer safety the handcuffs alone do not convert a Terry detention into a formal arrest so I'm a guy that's like super straight to the point so what's the deal with this check what does it belong to you that's what somebody gave me I don't know so the dude that the bank talked to at this electrical company is is just lying full of sh*t then I can show you the address I can take you where I got the check from okay cause this check is reported stolen yeah that's why we're here so like we get calls on stuff because it's like of certain stuff going like if you were just randomly cashing a check we wouldn't show up like this you'd cash your check and you go along your way right but this is the bank that this check was written from or for the accounts at this bank so where I got it from well so the person who wrote this check has reported his check being stolen and we have numerous cases where do you live at off minor still with Mccormick so we have like five or six ongoing cases right now of auto break ins and mail thefts that are right in that general area you see where this is kind of you're saying you got it for this but all the evidence that I have here is showing otherwise right like I have there's like four or five open cases for stolen mail there's like two or three auto break ins in that same area and now you're here at a bank trying to cash a check that's been reported stolen and it's forged see I can see where y'all wrote over it I didn't write that that's your name on it right and you're saying you took this right so all of this has been written over at least once cause I can see where it doesn't line up like that was a capital F and now it's a lowercase f and you've written over this part I didn't write over well you're in possession of it right and you're trying to cash it so being in possession of a forged or altered check is a felony in the state of Florida you could go to jail today so where do we get this check from be honest with me I'm being honest cause honesty goes a long way right so if you're honest with me I might be able to make some phone calls with some detectives we might try to work something out please but you got to be honest with me right now I don't think you're being honest with me okay I don't care if you think I'm not being honest I am being honest with you okay well I'll come talk to you here in a minute think about our conversation okay she's lying under Berkemer v. McCarty 1984 roadside questioning during a Terry stop is generally non custodial Miranda is not triggered by cuffs drawn weapons or a command to hold still the line moves only when the detention takes on arrest like duration and character on use of force Graham v. Connor 1989 sets the objective reasonableness standard force is judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on scene not with hindsight Florida Statute section 831.02 criminalizes uttering a forged or altered instrument the elements are presentation as true knowledge of the forgery and intent to defraud the visible alteration on the check establishes the first element on the face of the footage presentation at the teller window establishes utterance and the remaining elements are inferred section 831.09 covers forged bank paper and both are third degree felonies a third degree felony in Florida carries up to five years in prison and a five thousand dollar fine um if you wanna go check on the kid I will work on maybe once we transfer her to a different car put in the window down and let y'all talk real quick um it won't be face to face just for everything question do you know how she got the check were you there I remember it being handed to her that's all when um like a few days ago did you know a day Thursday Wednesday or where at um we went well I can't really remember at the yard in the front of our yard okay what was the check for do you remember I guess she went to go do something in the yard OK alright do you know what the guy look like to hand it to her you seen you seen it being handed to her but do you know what it looks like but I was like what time of day do you go get did y'all go get this check so like 5:36 evening I was on a I was on a porch OK but y'all went y'all went to this person's house and got this check they came up to us they came up to your house but they they stayed like OK even if it's an off day I can they they pay me overtime to talk to you so if you if you're sitting there like hey I remember who this guy was and you give me a phone call it would help out tremendously OK so yeah if you wanna go check on the kid we'll work on let y'all talk real quick so the story sort of match up a little bit um she's told the same story like she was doing yard work in her guy's yard yeah which means she's still going for yeah yeah that's why I asked her I was like how did the check happen because it is possible now here it is James Dolan's guy could have stole it well I just talked to the dude here he was up here like 30 minutes ago putting a hold on or void on that check cause he walked in he said there's a five thousand dollar check that was stolen too out of the mailbox so oh yeah but no she said guy paid her she said guy paid her I wonder if that James Davis guy could have stolen it and he's handing it off oh you did work for me but I'm paying somebody else's check yeah but that's probably what it is she only she only remembered James she didn't remember last name she only remembered James James yeah there's only not even a hand only work zone the old Zone 7 for I don't know five years so that's what I've worked before I make payments you take you taking her yeah I'll take her it's easy alright this definitely can't talk to you you are going to jail today for possession of a forged altered check okay I talked to the victim the guy that wrote that check and it was not written yep do you know anything about a 5 thousand dollar check cause that was also he just told me that was stolen out of his mailbox so he's gonna hold on that so do you know any information about check that lower back the officer earns a B+ legally supportable stop proportionate tactics well founded arrest the soft spot is continued questioning after the announced jail decision without a recorded warning the passenger earns a d answering after formal arrest and naming a source she could not describe two practical lessons first cuffs do not equal arrest and roadside questioning is generally non custodial second once arrest is announced further interrogation without warnings risks suppression at trial for citizens the correct response to you are going to jail is invoke silence and request counsel let us know in the comments if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to cover thank you for watching and don't forget to subscribe for more content on police court interactions