Birmingham man says he was searched, arrested in Decatur without probable cause

Dec. 22—A man charged last week with a traffic infraction and unlawful possession of a controlled substance says Decatur police had no probable cause to search his vehicle and ignored his protestations that the prescription pain medicine they found in his glove box had been left there by a relative.

Raynu Shakur, 53, of Adamsville, is Black, and he said racial profiling led the four or five white police officers to improperly search his vehicle.

"Life isn't fair, that's the best way to put it," Shakur said. "I've heard older people tell stories, but when it actually happens to you and there's nothing you can do, it feels awful.

"I'm positive I was profiled."

Shakur filed a complaint with the Internal Affairs Division of the Decatur Police Department, and Chief Todd Pinion said the matter is being investigated.

Shakur said he travels throughout the state selling jewelry and networking for his jewelry business. He said he drove to Decatur to speak with business owners about selling his products in their stores over the holidays.

According to an affidavit filed in Morgan County District Court by Decatur police Officer Greg Rutherford, Rutherford stopped Shakur at 14th Street Southwest and Central Parkway at 1:43 p.m. Dec. 13 "after observing a vehicle fail to signal while changing lanes."

In the affidavit, Rutherford said that "during the course of the investigation" Shakur was found to be in possession of 23 acetaminophen with codeine pills, a controlled substance, "without a valid prescription."

The affidavit does not say what prompted the vehicle search or whether Shakur consented to the search.

The traffic ticket, also issued by Rutherford, lists the time as 2:23 p.m. and describes Shakur's vehicle as a 2021 Chrysler 300.

Shakur said in the Internal Affairs complaint that he failed to use a turn signal because there was no nearby traffic. He said that after he was pulled over, he provided his driver's license and the registration for the rental car he was driving while his own vehicle was being repaired.

"When the officer approached my vehicle, he said I didn't signal my turn," Shakur said in the Internal Affairs complaint. "He proceeded to ask if I had any guns or drugs."

Shakur said he was taken to a police SUV and patted down, and officers began searching his car without asking first.

He said police told him they found a full and unopened beer can under the seat. Shakur said his uncle had left it a few days before and was unable to retrieve it because it was stuck under the seat.

Shakur said officers located the can before asking permission to search the vehicle.

"They asked permission to search, but at that point they were already searching the vehicle. The search was already in progress," Shakur said. "They said, 'Do you mind if we search your vehicle?' I said, 'They're already doing it.'"

Alabama court records show Shakur had been cited for prior traffic violations, but he had no record of felonies or drug-related crimes and no outstanding warrants.

"I asked why I'm being pulled over for a traffic violation, and how did that lead them to believe I had committed a crime," Shakur said.

Shakur said "four or five" white police officers continued to search his vehicle and found a bottle of medication in the glove compartment.

Shakur said he explained to officers why the pills were in his car.

Shakur said his mother died the week before his arrest, and her funeral was two days after he was arrested. He said he spent most of the week shuttling family members to various gatherings.

He said he took his cousin, Denise Thigpen, to a family gathering. Her name was on the bottle of medication, and she provided pharmacy documents to The Decatur Daily showing the medication was prescribed for her.

She said she inadvertently left the medication in Shakur's vehicle. She said the medication, which she needs for back pain, was confiscated by police.

"I was really shocked at his arrest," Thigpen said.

She said when she realized she had left the pills in the car, Shakur was already in jail and she couldn't reach him.

During his arrest, Shakur said, he told officers he had forgotten about his cousin's medication being in the glove compartment, but that police could call Thigpen to confirm the medication was hers and that she had mistakenly left it there.

"I said, 'It's her medication, her bottle, with her name on it. Call her and talk to her.' They said, 'No, you're going to jail,'" Shakur said.

"I asked one of the officers, 'If your wife has medicine in the glove box and you jump in the car and go to the store, why would you be arrested for possession of a controlled substance?'"

According to Morgan County Jail records, Shakur was booked in at 2:32 p.m. and released at 8:36 p.m. after posting $1,300 bond.

Shakur said family and friends helped to pay his bond so he could get out of jail before his mother's funeral.

"The family just got together money for a funeral, now we have to get me out," Shakur said.

He said he was given no documentation of the traffic stop or arrest. He said he has still received no information about the arrest or any future court dates. No hearing date has been scheduled, according to court records.

Shakur said that upon his release, the clerk at the jail had to call dispatch to locate his impounded vehicle.

Shakur said the jewelry merchandise he had was strewn throughout the car when he retrieved it, but none of the merchandise was missing. He said he paid $240 to get his rental car from the towing lot.

Pinion on Monday declined to provide details because of the ongoing investigation, but said it's up to the court not police officers to determine whether a third party left a controlled substance in the vehicle.

"He (Shakur) filed with Internal Affairs and we'll go from there. I know (Internal Affairs) got the letter and I turned it over to them. I don't think we have any conclusion on it yet," Pinion said.

He said charges involving medications prescribed to someone other than the person possessing them are not unusual.

"Typically that would have to be something that (defendants) would be able to do in court. If it was somebody else (who put prescription medications in a car), they may be able to bring that person to court and they could say, 'Yeah, that was mine, I left it in there,' or something to that effect. The court can always dismiss the charge."

He said police officers generally do not get involved in trying to figure out why a person was in possession of drugs prescribed to another person before charging a defendant.

The drug, he said, "is under their control. They have it. We get stories (on how it got there) all the time, so we never know."

Shakur said he felt the officers were prejudiced against him based on his race and because he's from the Birmingham area.

In the Internal Affairs complaint, Shakur asks that body camera footage from the arresting officers be reviewed to confirm his account.

The Decatur Daily submitted a public records request for the body camera and dash camera footage, but the city rejected the request. The footage is "part of a criminal investigation ... and is an exception to the Public Records Act," a city clerk said in relaying the position of the city attorney.

— emma.daniel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2437. Twitter @DD_EDaniel