Bonnie Jonas-Boggioni is not a drug dealer. Nope, she’s a 65-year-old Ohio State Buckeyes fan. Still, police in Tennessee briefly detained her under suspicion of drug possession after they mistook the Ohio St. logo on her car for a pot sticker.
According to Dispatch, Jonas Boggioni was passing through Tennessee when police noticed the Ohio St. logo on the side of her car. The officers immediately thought, not only that the sticker was actually a pot leaf, but that this 65-year-old woman was such a brazen drug dealer that she would advertise her illegal product on the outside of her car.
Jonas-Boggioni said: “It’s just amazing they would be that dumb.”
Boggioni may be laughing now, but at the time she said that the event was quite serious. The officers had guns, body armor and were not in the mood to joke around with some drug dealer.
Boggioni said:
“Knowing I wasn’t speeding, I couldn’t imagine why. They were very serious … They had the body armor and the guns.”
There are a few other interesting details about Jonas-Boggioni’s traffic stop.
- The 65-year-old woman was wearing a Buckey’s sweatshirt at the time.
- She once served as president of the Ohio State Alumni Club.
- She was on her way home from her mother’s funeral when she was stopped by police.
- The officers eventually let her go but told her to remove the sticker from her car. Boggioni refused, saying: “I didn’t take it off. . . . This little old lady is no drug dealer.”
Oh, and then there’s this little detail. The traffic spot was not reported by the Tennessee Highway Patrol nor the Shelby County sheriff’s office. Which means that one of two things are true. Either 65-year-old Bonnie Jonas-Boggioni is a compulsive liar (but still not a drug dealer). Or, the officers were so embarrassed by their mistake that they decided not to report the traffic stop.
Are you surprised that police mistook the Ohio St. logo for a marijuana sticker?
They mistook the Ohio State logo for a Chinese appetizer? Man, that is one dingy cop.
Seriously, though, this has to be the single worst effort at coming up with "probable cause" for a search I've ever seen. This officer needs to take a refresher course on the U.S. Constitution.
anything can and will happen to the good citizens in our country as they precariously pass through t-baggerland.
T-bagger land? are you seriously that dumb or that liberal to where you will try and blame tea party people anyway you can? You are removing all doubt of your stupidity.
To all the fine people of Tennessee. You're all a bunch of simple morons. As stupid as they are, your police forces should not be allowed to carry firearms.
Maybe it is time to find a new logo… Police had the right to be suspicious but not pull her over. Ohio State players are truly classless so to see a fan act the same is no surprise!
The strip of Interstate 40 between Memphis and Nashville is notorious for bogus drug stops. I travel that section often and have been pulled over or tailed too many times to count. I've never received a citation for any of the stops either. They insist on searching your vehicle and if you decline they bring out a canine unit. The dog will always "alert" to detecting drugs and they search you anyway. I wish someone would launch an investigation into their actions. If you google it, several local news outlets have done stories on how the various local departments along that stretch of the highway get into altercations over jurisdiction. It's all motivated by who gets to keep the "spoils" of drug stops….big money for those small towns.
That;s why people get poison oak.They can't tell the difference vetween common plants like maple, weed, poison oak, foxglove, miner's lettuce and a host of other things they should know about.
Just curious as to how the OSU players have anything to do with this? And how is she classless when she was the one stopped because an idiot officer of the law doesn't know what a marijuana plant looks like? I don't know who you are or where you come from, but I have to say you are the "classless" one here!
That's because Memphis is notorious for drugs!
jfaust, that's an idiotic comment. Are you applying for a job with this police department?
What the hell are you even talking about JFaust? Who gives a shit if there even was a pot leaf on a car. I see it on shirts and posters does that mean strip search people and raid homes due to a picture of a LEAF? Its obviously NOT a POT leaf So why change it other than its just plain ugly
Maybe it was an old logo but who cares. Classless? not sure what you are trying to say at all
Doesn't surprise me with all the weird stuff that goes on these days.
I have a WVU mountaineer on my truck, I hope these officers wouldn't pull me over on suspicion of carrying a muzzle-loading ball and powder rifle. Some police officers have no idea or care very little for your rights, a logo of a sports team is in no way close to probable cause even if they think its a pot leaf.
"they had the body armour and the guns" , really? On police? Now that's odd!
Personally I think all Ohio fans should be arrested! Just kidding! A U of M fan
Dude's from asheville….what do you expect…
Silly woman, driving into the heart of SEC territory sporting a Big 10 logo. Next time, leave it at home.
Thanks for grouping an entire state based on one traffic stop. I'm sure your state is continuing its run of being absolutely perfect and never having any morons in it's forces…
Faust is Michigan fan. Everyone knows that Michigan is our Bichigan.
yeah, us buckeyes have to deal with that alot… lol sometimes I even mistake it for that… and I've lived here my whole life!
Wow. I bet those COKE delivery trucks get stopped all the time.
When is the last time you got pulled over on a traffic stop by a cop in body armor f-stick.
I'm rockin a Tampa Bay Buccaneer bumper sticker. Hope I don't get arrested for piracy.
Haha! 25 years ago I was pulled over in TN for having Guns and Roses bumper sticker on the back of my Pinto and they thought I had GUNS in my car!
Case of the "POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK". damnedin82 must be from California. POT is known by the State of California to cause stupidity.
WE NEED TO LOOK IN YOUR TRUNK FOR STOLEN PROPERTY. YOU HAVE A STEELERS STICKER ON YOUR CAR!
Plain ole harassment to me!!!! Wow!!! Btw "Go Bucks"!!