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August 2019

Police, Poop and the Vindication of Shai Werts

Shai werts

On so many levels, this incident seems incredibly unbelievable but let's unpack this. On the night of July 31, 2019, Saluda County, SC police arrested Georgia Southern University (GSU) quarterback, Shai Werts, for speeding and cocaine possession. As Werts's arrest was picked up and publicized by mainstream media, he was suspended from the GSU football team.

Now, the incident should be an open and shut case, but no. Werts did not deny speeding. He did insist that the white substance police saw on the hood of his car, was not cocaine as the police said it was. Werts said it was bird poop. The police said the substance tested twice for cocaine. Werts explained that he tried to clean the poop from his car. For some strange reason, the unidentified police officers saw nothing odd about a significant amount of possible cocaine residue on the hood of a car. Really? The hood of a car. Let that sink in. Who does that?

Initially, Werts did not pull over when police turned on their siren. It's a sad sign of the times. Werts was reluctant to pull over for police in a dark, isolated area. He had the where-with-all to call 911 to alert them to what was happening. Werts asked the dispatcher to notify the cops following him that he was not trying to escape, he would pull over at a lighted area. That was a smart move on his part.

While enduring the humiliation of arrest and suspension from the GSU football team, it was later determined that the substance removed from the hood of Werts's vehicle was, in fact, not cocaine. There was not confirmation that it was bird poop but it was not cocaine. 

The Saluda County Sheriff's Department should be highly embarrassed by this incident. The manufacturer of their drug field test kit should also investigate the false-positive results generated. As ridiculous as this situation appears, it is a blessing that Shai Werts was not injured or killed.