05-07-2018, 01:43 PM
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Ontario woman arrested, jailed in U.S. for driving with a Canadian licence
WTF??
Quote:
Ontario woman arrested, jailed in U.S. for driving with a Canadian licence
An Ontario woman is looking for an apology from the Georgia police officer who arrested, handcuffed and charged her because she was driving with a Canadian licence.
"It was the most horrendous incident of my life," said Emily Nield. "It was mortifying. I was terrified the entire time."
About a month ago, the 27-year-old was driving through Georgia to Tennessee, where she had just completed a master's degree in geology. Nield's route took her along the I-75, which is often used by Canadians making the trek to and from Florida.
Canadian driver's licences valid in Florida, after all
That's where she was pulled over for speeding, and the officer asked to see her licence. Nield handed over her Ontario driver's licence, but wasn't prepared for the officer's reaction.
"She kept saying, 'No, Canadian licences are not accepted,'" said Nield. "I was flabbergasted. I just kept saying this can't be right — a Canadian licence is always valid."
Nield told CBC Toronto she was then asked to prove she was Canadian and although she had copies of her passport, Nexus card, and birth certificate on her phone, the officer wanted to see an original hard copy.
I was flabbergasted. I just kept saying this can't be right — a Canadian licence is always valid.
- Emily Nield
"When I failed to produce it, she reached through the window of my car and she put handcuffs on me," said Nield.
"She told me that I have just been arrested for driving without a licence and that I needed to go to jail."
In the back of the officer's cruiser Nield managed to take a video on her cellphone and send it to friends on SnapChat.
"I'm in cuffs. Help me! I don't want to go to jail," she says in the video as she breaks down in tears.
'I never committed a crime'
At the police station Nield was charged with driving without a licence and speeding, for doing 87 m.p.h. in a 70 m.p.h. zone.
Police took her mugshot and fingerprinted her.
"They kept saying 'You're now in the system. Any crime that's going to be committed, your fingerprints are going to be searched,'" said Nield. "I never committed a crime."
One of her friends was able to determine her location in Adel, through a feature on SnapChat, and called the sheriff's office in Cook County, Ga.
Nield said she was permitted to speak to her friend, but her requests to speak to the Canadian Consulate or her parents went unanswered.
Paid $880 to get out of jail
She said police told her she would remain in jail until her court appearance on June 12, unless she paid an $880 US bond in cash, which she didn't have.
Eventually she was allowed to use her debit card and post her own bail. Nield said she also had to pay $200 to remove her car from the impound.
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She stayed in the States while trying to get the charges dismissed and the arrest expunged, with the help of a friend's father, who is a lawyer in Virginia, and the Canadian Consulate.
"I just kept thinking this would ruin me," Nield told CBC Toronto. "Any job application you have to check a box. Are you a criminal? Have you ever been convicted or arrested for anything?"
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Full Story and Video at Ontario woman arrested, jailed in U.S. for driving with a Canadian licence | CBC News |
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