You all know how it is. You're driving along, smoking pot, and a cop pulls up behind you.
You stay cool. Wave to the cop. Let the cop pass. Slow down. Take another hit.
At least that's the way marijuana aficionados have described such a situation to us.
But they apparently didn’t tell Barbara A. Hill.
Hill, 21, was driving with some passengers when Officer Lance Shupe pulled up behind her car.
When he tried to pass, Shupe said, Hill wouldn't let him.
Which is not very nice.
"Then … when I was turning into my office they honked the horn and gave me the one-finger salute," Shupe has been quoted as saying.
The "one-finger salute," for those who are not familiar, is similar to a Cub Scout salute, but with only one finger. A particular finger.
When Hill pulled into a convenience store, Shupe followed.
At the car window, Shupe said, he could smell burned marijuana, so he searched the vehicle. He found 3 ounces of marijuana, some methamphetamine and packing material.
Hill was the only one charged. She also faces a multitude of charges unrelated to the pot bust.
Shupe called the case "hilarious." Hill said only that she was unaware that Shupe was a cop.
Which seems defense enough for us.

Posted at June 15, 2004 02:32 PM