Expert: Jack Toomey - 10/7/2011

Question
Dear Mr. Toomey,
I am writing a novel about a road trip where my characters have an accidental run in with the police and i want to know if the scenario is plausible and what the police procedures would entail.

Here is the scenario:
My main character has undertaken a road trip a la On the Road. On the way, he has picked up an underaged hitchhiker (17). They have crossed several state lines and the youth is driving when they are pulled over (speeding, busted taillight, something innocuous). When the officer runs the kid's license info, he finds that the teen has been reported missing by his foster mother in NC.

What would be the procedure after that? Would the officer take the kid and the main character to the station? Could the main character be charged with anything (kidnapping, taking a minor across state lines)? Would he be booked into the jail? Would they be separated or held in the same cell? Would the police return the kid to his foster home?

Also, they are traveling with a dog. What would happen to the dog and the car they were driving if they are taken into custody?

Thank you for taking the time to help a struggling novelist.

Answer
Christy,

Like I tell all authors there is no concrete or set way that any case would be handled.  That is because there are fifty states, fifty sets of laws, thousands of police departments and thousands of rules and regulations that these departments operate by.  Most importantly there are close to a million police officers and they are human beings, each making his own decisions.

I will give it a try.

I am assuming that both of these people are male?  That would make a lot of difference.

The 17 year old, if reported missing by his family and in the NCIC computer, would be taken into custody and probably held in some kind of youth facility or even a foster home.  You might be surprised at that but he has committed no crime and he could just as easily walk away from the home.

There would probably be an inquiry about how the boy got into the car but since he was driving I doubt if that there would be much suspicion about any crime being committed.  Kidnapping?  Never.  Kidnapping is the forcible removal of someone from one place to another against the will of the victim.   There is no such crime as "taking a minor across a state line" so the owner of the car would likely be shown the door and wished a good trip to wherever he is going.

Whose dog is it?  If its the kids dog then it would be put in an animal shelter until the mother came to pick him up.  If its the adults dog then it would be back in the car with him.

I hope that this answers your questions.  If not then follow-up.