hello fellow JHers,
Last night I was walking home from the subway around 8 pm on 82nd street, and came across a suspicious site. Next to Burger King there was an abandoned stroller with a purse sitting on top of it. Visible was a cellphone, and some 20's tucked into the pocket of the purse. I looked and asked around for a minute to see if it belonged to someone nearby and nobody appeared. Thinking the purse may have been stolen and dumped (though it still had cash) or just lost, I picked it up and started looking for ID, so that I could contact the owner.
A minute later a plain-clothes policeman approaches me and basically threatens to arrest me. I tell him emphatically that I was searching for ID (as I'm sure he was watching me, it's clear that I haven't pocketed anything form the purse). I hand him the purse and startled and upset, I go on my way.
Does anyone know anything about this disturbing police tactic?
My guess is that it is a way of trapping illegal immigrants???
thanks!