So I’m out for a walk to take a break from my job for a bit, on my usual route, to a local path where I like to walk back and forth several times before going home. On my way there I pass a local store, outside of which is a cop car, with an officer just standing around outside it. I look over at it as I wait to cross the street (it’s very busy), but don’t really think about it much after that. I go ahead and walk for a good hour or so, thinking about work and a book I’ve been reading. After 4 times back and forth, I hesitated before deciding to do a fifth and final one. I walk to the end of the path, turn around like usual, and walk back, and about a hundred yards back down the path, a cop comes running up from behind with his fucking gun drawn.
He put it away after I stopped and held up my hands, but that shit rattled me. He asked me the usual questions about what I was doing and where I’m from and whatnot, and took my ID and called it in. I asked if I was being detained and he said, “Right now you are.” Then some more questions, during which he said there was something that happened at the store involved a red vehicle or something, and a guy whose description I match "exactly." Which I told him I knew nothing about that, but he didn't seem to believe me at all, of course. Then he left me with some detective and walked off, with my ID in hand, back down the path the way I had come from (and was heading back to). The detective tried to get chatty but I just said I was exercising my right to remain silent and waited for the other cop to come back. He came back and gave me my ID but said he was “going to go check the cameras, and if it was you, we’re going to have a problem. I know where you live.” He said something about how if it was me I should just admit it now because it’s “just a minor charge,” and if I don’t “we’re going to add interfering onto that.” Anyway he gave me back my ID and let me go, but I'm still all stressed out right now, ugh.
Now I have to trust the fucking thumb's fucking facial recognition skills using off-angle, probably poor-resolution security cam footage, Yippee. Fun 4/20! I guess I should look up a lawyer's number right now, huh?
Get a lawyer ASAP. The minute pigs are involved you need to protect yourself and there's really no other way to do that other than a lawyer. I'd say get a gun but that would look suspicious. Make sure to be with friends for the next couple of days so is something happens, which it probably won't because laziness trumps grudges usually, there will be witnesses.
what would be step 1 of getting a lawyer? look in the yellow pages? asking because I'm an idiot and I really don't know
All bar associations and law societies I'm aware of offer a free referral service. Just search "(YourState) lawyer referral" and I guarantee that you can find a phone number in a matter of minutes.
It's best if you know a lawyer or someone who works in law, they can recommend someone decent if they can't help themselves. Short of that, I guess there's the referral system the other person talked about, but I don't know much about that. If none of those work ask any friends and family that have had legal trouble, and past that just Google or yellow pages. Provided they're not a billboard lawyer you should be fine.