Randy Sievert did not commit a crime when he snapped a photo of an undercover Manatee County sheriff’s vehicle from the road, a state prosecutor said this week in a case that has drawn national attention.

Deputies confronted Sievert in February and ordered him to erase any photos he took standing at the scene of a drug-related search warrant. Authorities called Sievert a “known” drug dealer whose photos jeopardized officer safety. Sievert, 20, was charged with interfering in a search warrant.

The misdemeanor arrest kicked up controversy on blogs across the country, as commentators weighed in on the justification of arresting a man who stood on a public road when authorities searched a home. Sievert has been jailed without bail since his arrest; the obstruction charge violated his probation in two drug cases.

Full Story: Herald Tribune

(via The Agitator)