What happens when you get caught brown bagging alcohol in new york city?

[tenzntwentiez]

So heres the scenario. Im out with my friends in manhattan and im caught brown bagging a beer. The thing is, im not stupid. I saw the police officers so i covered up my beer and i wasnt drinking or showed any signs of being drunk. I was actually pretty sober (it was only 1/4 of a beer). The cop stops me and asks what's in my bag. Due to some video's on youtube i asked the cop if he needed a warrant to check my bag, He then took my bag and said no i dont and found the beer. Then his partner reached into my jacket and pulled a water bottle out 1/4 stuffed with a screwdriver mix. ( I did not hand him over the bottle, he just took it). He then says that since im such a smart ass about the warrant question he gives me 2 summons. So now im wondering what do i do now.

1) Am i right? do you need a warrant to check someones bag? There was no visible evidence

2) There is no fine amount on my tickets, What does this mean?

[Big Dan]

The first rule of thumb when dealing with any police officer is be nice and polite. Don't start the with the "I know my rights" spiel because then the cop is going to write you all the tickets he can for busting his balls and being an idiot.

To answer your questions:

1) The police officer does not need a warrant to stop you on the street and check your bags especially post 9/11. Even before 9/11 if it's obvious that you're trying to conceal something like a bottle in a brown bag, the cop can question you.

2) It's simply means it's a civil fine, in NY civil fine prices aren't listed on the ticket. An open container ticket is $25 plus court costs (normally $25). The other ticket who knows what it is.. therefore I cannot tell you.

What I can tell you is this, I've been stopped more than once for an open container in NYC in my younger years... The most the cop ever asked me to do is dump it out and throw away the can because I was polite and didn't give him a hard time.:fryingpan: