A suburban Pittsburgh couple is not happy with police, or their neighbors, after being detained on Oct. 7 by law enforcement when officers believed the couple's hibiscus plants were marijuana plants, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
Edward Cramer, 69, and his wife, Audrey Cramer, 66, are planning to sue the Buffalo Township Police Department, Nationwide Insurance and their neighbors after they claimed that police kept them detained in the back of a police cruiser. While the couple was detained, police reportedly ransacked the couple's home.
In the couple's civil lawsuit against the police department, it claims the police used excessive force, false arrest, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy, the Tribune-Review reported.
According to the Tribune Review, photos taken by a neighbor prompted police to detain the couple and obtain a search warrant. The neighbor, Jonathan Yeamans, gained access to the property after a tree fell in Cramers' backyard.
Without the couple's knowledge, Yeaman was accused of taking photos in a manner to make the hibiscus plants look more like marijuana.
After sharing the photos with police, and the police obtained a search warrant, the police arrived on Oct. 7. The Cramers claim that nearly a dozen officers arrived with riles pointed at the couple's door when the wife answered the door. The complaint also claims the police would not show the couple the search warrant.
The couple was released, and no charges were filed against the Cramers.
To read the Tribune-Review's full report, click here.
