NJ Man Arrested for Refusing to Hand Over Camera as "Evidence" After Cop Veers Off Road

by Carlos Miller
PINAC
Jan. 10, 2015

A New Jersey man was arrested Thursday after refusing to hand over his video camera to a cop, who insisted he needed it as “evidence,” even though case law makes it very clear that citizens do not have to give up their footage unless their camera was used in the commission of a crime.

You would think a detective from the prosecutor’s office would know better.

But then again, cops make up their own laws when trying to protect their own.

After all, the so-called evidence demanded by detective Dave Margentino from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office involved a fellow cop who had veered off the road in a single-car accident, needing to be airlifted to the hospital.

Andrew Flinchbaugh, 23, was video recording the aftermath of the accident, standing well out the way of police and rescue officials, recording the victim being loaded onto the copter as well as the copter taking off.

After about 30 minutes, just as he was about to make his way back to his car, Margentino walked up and demanded his camera, telling him, “I’m not going to negotiate.”

Typical thug behavior that has become so prevalent in law enforcement these days.

After ten minutes of Flinchbaugh refusing to succumb to his demands, offering to allow the detective to copy his footage, even providing identification though he was not legally obliged, Margentino arrested him.

Once jailed, Flinchbaugh never gave them consent to search his camera and they never asked, but when they returned the camera upon release a few hours later, it appeared as if they had scrolled through his footage, which is illegal to do without a search warrant.

Read More