More Keystone Kops in Georgia

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse than being falsely arrested for a fine that was paid , the Georgia Keystone Kops busted a Cobb County student for an auto theft he did not commit. He was taken in on orders from a judge even though the arrest warrant said the suspect was black and the student was white. True southern justice.

Excerpt:

Andrew Garrett, a 26-year-old Kennesaw State University student, was arrested at his parents' Sandy Springs home late last week and charged with auto theft. Garrett's father George challenged the arrest, saying that the warrant described Andrew Garrett as black, and his son is white.

The deputies spoke to a judge, who told them to bring Garrett in anyway, George Garrett said.

He was taken to DeKalb County jail, unable to be bailed out because it was a felony warrant. Unbeknown to Chamblee police, Andrew Garrett's wallet had been stolen earlier in the year. And when a woman reported that her son's friend had stolen her rental car, she gave police the ID information that her son's friend had given her — Garrett's name, license number and address.

"So the investigator signed a warrant for auto theft based on that name, not knowing that Andrew had had his wallet stolen a month before," Johnson said. "This individual used [Andrew Garrett's] identity, obviously, to give that mother."

 ---

After meeting with the Garretts' attorney Monday, the investigator took Garrett's booking photo to the woman, who told him that Garrett wasn't the car thief. Tuesday evening, which Johnson said was the first opportunity for the investigator to have a hearing, the charge was dismissed and Garrett was released.

A minimum of five days in jail for having ones wallet stolen. Bet he's more careful in the future.