(Toledo, OH) A Toledo federal judge throws out charges against a black driver stopped by state troopers because of questions about whether race placed a role in his arrest.
Troopers pulled over Tyrone Warfield of Chicago on the Ohio Turnpike in 2014 and he was latet convicted of a counterfeiting charge based on debit and credit cards found in his car.
A drug-sniffing dog was brought to the scene but no drugs were detected. A federal appeals court in Cincinnati raised questions after a trooper testified he took drug-sniffing dogs more often to stops with minorities, including Warfield. The Ohio Highway Patrol later confirmed it uses drug-sniffing dogs on stops involving black drivers at a higher rate than whites, but maintains race doesn’t play a role.
As a result, the judge dismissed the charges against Warfield Thursday at the government’s request.