Statement about Hopland, CA incident on December 5, 2017

The following statement is my true and accurate accounting of this incident. acknowledge
that some of my statement may not be verbatim, or may even have happened in 
different order. In efforts to provide full transparency, it is important to mention upfront that i
am a partner in a business venture that is actively conducting industry research and product
development of cannabisproducts, in California. The products range from a television pilot
about the cannabis industry in California, to a unique packaging concept, and. a organic
CBD dog treat. I have been active in this venture for a little over one'year and one of the
partners is a film/television personality who is willing to corroborate the activities. The
activities of the venture up to this point have been limited to and no products have
been sold, or made publicly available. --

Details of the incident that occurred on 101 South, approximately 10 miles south of
Hopland, CA on 12/5/17 (My original written account of the incident was on 12/5/17 at 9:00
PM, in my hotel-room). At approximately 11:50 AM departed the Valwalia Hopland gas
station after filling up with fuel (receipt for gas has time stamp of 11:50:44), heading south
on 101 in a white Kia Sportage SUV rental car. i was traveling alone. After a few minutes
. of driving cracked the driver window because i smelled the odor of gasoline. was driving
the speed limit using cruise control and abiding all traffic laws, signs and conditions,
traveling in far right lane with the flow of traffic. Traffic was light to medium. Throughout the
morning, I had been driving'with cruise control set at 2 to 3 miles over the posted speed limit
because I had noticed over the previous several days the speedometer was reading 2 or 3
miles over the speed i was actually traveling (using devices). As i
approached the area of Squaw Rock, noticed a black unmarked Ford Police interceptor
SUV (?unmarked unit?) parked on the west side of 101. i looked at my speed and cruise
control was set at 67. An older green 4 door compact Toyota passed me in the left lane, as
. we both passed the unmarked unit. Several hundred yards after passing the unmarked unit,
i noticed in my rear view mirror that the unmarked unit pulled onto 101 south, quickly sped
around another vehicle that was behind me in the same lane, and turned on its emergency
lights. i turned on my right turn signal and pulled onto the shoulder, and stopped. i turned
off the engine. i noticed that the driver (officer 1) was approaching my vehicle on the
passenger side, so I put down myfront passenger window. Officer 1 asked ?Where are you
heading?" replied, ?The San Francisco area.? He then either asked where was coming
from or why i was in the area, i don?t recall exactly but i replied, ?Visiting a friend}? Officer 1,
?Please step out of the vehicle with your license and registration.? grabbed the rental
contract from the driver door pocket, which officer 1 noticed and asked, ?is this your car?"
?No, it's a rental? He extended his hand for the rental contract, which i handed him along
with my license. ?How do you pronounce your name?" Me, ?Ezekiel.? Officer 1, ?Step out

 

 

to the rear.? Almost immediately I felt something was not right. I knew I wasn?t speeding
and although officer 1?s techniques appeared official, his procedures did not. He did not
disclose his name or department when he first made contact with me. i exited my vehicle
and was met by officer 1 and a second Officer (officer 2) standing at the rear passenger side
of my vehicle (the unmarked unit was parked approximately 10 feet behind my rental).
Officer 1 asked, ?Do you have any weapons on you?? ?l?m going to pat you down.?
He handed my license and rental contract to officer 2, I compiled with his pat down. i
started to take notice that. both uniforms had no patches, no badges, or no name tags. They
were both wearing green BDU style uniforms with black raid vests that displayed 
insignias on front and back, and officer 2 had a green cap with the muted U.S. flag on the 
side of the cap. I also took note that the unmarked unit had a California Exempt plate (i
believe the first three of; the plate were Officer 1 asked me, ?Do you know how fast
you were going?? Me, ?62? (This-was an intention-al?iie because i knew wasn?t speeding
and wanted to see how he attempted to establish probable cause. Posted speed limited
was 65.) Officer 1, ?You were going a little faster than that coming down the mountain.?
Nothing more was said about my alleged speeding. Officer 1 then asked, ?Do you know
there is gas smell coming from your vehicle?? Me, ?Yes, I was smelling it too. i just filled
lturned my head and shoulders looking back toward the gas door on the driver side
of the rental to see if it was "open (it was out of my view), and officer 1 said, ?No, stay here!"
. complied. Then officer 1 asked, "Are there any weapons) money or drugs in the car?" Me,

Officer 1, ?You don?t have any math, coke, or cash?? Me, Officer 1, ?We?re are
going to search your vehicle. What's in the parcel in the back?? (Referring to a box in far
back luggage compartment that could be seen through rear factory tinted window.) gift
that l?m dropping off to a friend in Santa Rosa.? "I?m going to search the box. Do you want
to change you answer?" Officer 1 asked something about my fingerprints on the tape of the
box, and i said I also stated at some point during this, have a California medicai
marijuana doctors recommendation in my back pack on the front seat.? Officer 1, ?Since
you stated you have a medical recommendation, we have the right to search the vehicle."
Officer 1 opened the hatchback to myrental and removed the box, and then closed the
hatch. He did not touch anything else in my vehicle. Officer 1 set the box on the ground
next to his front passenger tire and knelled down as he cut open the box with his knife. In
hind sight he was concealing himself behind the unmarked unit from the view of traffic on
101. As officer 1 pulled three sealed bags from inside the box, officer 2 asked me, ?is this
your current address?", as he was looking at my drivers license. Me, ?Yes." Officer 2, ?Do
you know how much you can legally posses?? I did not answer. Officer 2, ?One ounce.
That looks like more than one ounce.? Officer 2, ?Do you know it?s illegal to ship
marijuana?? Me, ?l wasn?t shipping it. I said i was dropping it off at a friends in Santa
Rosa.? (There was no label, name or address on the box that would indicate was shipping
it and I never stated I was shipping it.) Officer -1 put the contents back into the box, he
looked at me and said to officer 2, "Get a picture of his license.? as he quickly placed the
box in the unmarked unit. Officer 2 took a picture of my drivers license, me, and the license

 

 

plate on the rental car. (Note: officer 2 had a smart phone with a white Otter Box case that
had an accent color - I think orange or light blue.) Officer 2, ?We?re with the ATP. Marijuana
is taking over in California, like cigarettes. You may get a letter from Washington.?
(Throughout the entire incident, Officer 2 appeared more nervous than officer 1. The ATF
statement did not make sense and sounded like nervous rambling.) He handed me my
license and rental contract andsald, ?Have a nice day.? and they left me standing on the
side of 101. They were gone heading northbound on 101 before lcould walk back to my
driver door. We were on the side of the road for less than 5 minutes. They never ran my
name to see if I Was wanted nor did they search any other part of the vehicle, or my person.

I never heard any police radio traffic and neither of the officers used their'radios to .
communicate. Subsequently after going over the events in my head, i concluded was
robbed by legitimate police officers. As far as i can tell the incident happened In Mendocino
county just before the Sonoma county line. When get to my hotel that night carefully
placed my rental car contract In an envelope to preserve any potential fingerprints from the
two officers, as proof of my contact with them.

 

. EzekielFlatten .