MASON CITY – A Mason City man recently given a deferred judgement for drunk driving was stopped by police while walking along a busy road and found to be in possession of illegal drugs.
The incident occurred just before midnight on January 23. Austin Lee Lorenzen, age 23, was stopped by a police officer as he walked near Killdeer Avenue and 265th Street (Highway 122). After an investigation, Lorenzen was arrested for second-offense possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was taken to jail and released not long afterward.
Lorenzen had been arrested in May of last year for drunk driving and was given a deferred judgement which included probation and fines / fees totaling $1,940.00, which he had paid in full.
Due to the arrest on January 23, Lorenzen was quickly charged with violating his probation in the drunk driving case and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He turned himself in on January 31 and remains in the county jail on $1,000 bond. He has a court date set for February 29.
It’s pretty suspicious when someone is walking down a highway at midnight in the middle of the winter. And he WAS breaking the law. If he didn’t want to be arrested, he shouldn’t have had pot and paraphernalia on him. DUH.
I agree that he broke the law but the police still need probable cause to search you. Did they have probable cause? The kid did not have an outstanding warrant and the last I checked it’s not illegal to walk down the street no matter what time of day or night it is. The police need more than just a suspicion, they need probable cause. Don’t get me wrong I am not defending breaking the law I am just defending our Constitution.
They do it all the time. They use the excuse they are just checking on their welfare and then they say they saw something they don’t like. Illegal? Yes. But hard to prove or disprove.
OK, So here is a kid who paid his fines, is not driving because he has lost his license and the police still harass him for walking down the street? It would be interesting to know what lead to “further investigation”
Hey at least he was walking.