OFFICERS DETAIN ARMY STAFF SERGEANT

I got lost driving in France late at night (2009)...stopped to pay a toll..evidently took too much time scrounging the dam Euros to pay the toll..gate upens up..and there are 2 cops waving me over..where you going..where were you coming from bla bla bla..but THEN....one cop smiling and all says you need to step out of the vehicle and open trunk ( a little Fiat rental)....I'm thinking HUHHHH? Where's the probable cause?? ( like the US 4th amendment)..I'm pissed..then it dawned on me..didn't I once read that in France you are assumed guilty and have to prove innocence?? So I did..all I had in there was a small carry on suitcase...they went thru it...smiled...ok you can go..

I had a similar experience as an undergrad. We (a party of 2 males and 3 females in a blue '55 Ford with New Jersey plates) were pulled over on the northbound Bayonne bridge to NJ from Staten Island
The officer explained that he had stopped us because that was the precise description of a group of people and their vehicle, who had attacked a couple somewhere south of our location. He asked where we were for the last half-hour, and if there were any witnesses who could confirm our story.
We explained we had spent about 2 hours at a "watering spot" just south of the bridge, and had left there about 5 minutes before we were pulled over. They sent someone to enquire of the landlady about our activities, but at the same time a police car with the victims of the attack arrived and the police asked the males in the group to walk over to see if the victims could ID us. They instantly verified it was not us, and we were free to go.

Yep - been stopped by a squad of cops for driving a vehicle that matched the suspects vehicle and having the same number of people in the car.