Cops falsely accused a Georgia Southern quarterback of being in possession of cocaine. The substance was actually bird poop, and the embarrassment was caught on video.
Shai Werts was pulled over on July 31 in Clinton, South Carolina because officers said he was speeding. During the stop, the police placed 21-year-old Werts in the back of the patrol car while they searched his vehicle. Starting around the 5:10 mark, WSAV-TV's video shows the cops looking closely at the hood of Werts’ car; when they shined a flashlight on it, they allegedly found a white substance.
An officer then asked Werts, “What's the white stuff on the front of your hood, man?”
Werts quickly responded, “Bird shit.”
The officer didn’t believe him, repeating again and again that the substance doesn’t look like bird poop and that it was tested positive for a controlled substance.
“I swear to God it's not [bird poo],” the officer said, “because I just tested it, and that turned pink.”
The officer then explicitly says, “It tested positive for cocaine.”
Werts was subsequently arrested and charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession and speeding, suspending him from GSU team activities.
However, TMZ Sports reports that prosecutors announced on Thursday that they were dismissing the charges because the substance wasn’t cocaine.
“On August 8, 2019, SLED [South Carolina Law Enforcement Division] received the substance and completed the drug analysis," the statement said. "The forensic scientist determined that no controlled substance was detected.”
“The Solicitor’s Office has begun the expungement process to have this charge removed from the system to ensure that this arrest and charge does not create a criminal history for Werts.”
Werts will be able to return to his team and is expected to open the season on Aug. 31.
