September 22, 2009 1:08 PM

Video: Cops Play Wii Bowling During Drug Raid

By
Ryan Smith
Topics
Caught on Tape
(Tampa Tribune)
NEW YORK (CBS) Pinheads! That's what some people are thinking after a security camera caught undercover drug investigators from central Florida playing Wii bowling during a nine-hour drug raid.

In March, police stormed the Lakeland home of convicted drug dealer Michael Difalco with guns drawn and flashlights at the ready. But searching for drugs is hard work and what the crack squad of officers thought they really needed was an invigorating game of bowling.

Fortunately Difalco had a Nintendo Wii and a big screen TV at the ready!

Strike!

Turns out Difalco also put up a wireless camera that he connected to his computer, which caught all the "investigative" hijinks.

As some of the more diligent officers searched the residence for illegal drugs and other illicit items, a couple of Florida's finest began bowling frame after frame - all within 20 minutes of entering the suspect's house.

In the video, one female detective can be seen going through evidence one moment and throwing strikes and gutter balls the next. She even jumped up and down when she threw a double!

And she is not the only one.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, which conducted the raid, says its mission is to reduce drug trafficking in the most critical areas of the country, thereby reducing its impact in other areas. It is not clear how video games became involved in the mission.

Law enforcement officials from Polk County Sheriff's Office and police departments from Auburndale, Lakeland and Winter Haven participated in the raid.

"Certainly this was a case of bad judgment," Auburndale Police Chief Nolan McLeod said to The Tampa Tribune. "We will handle it appropriately."

"If there is any indication that someone did something inappropriately, we will do something about it," Winter Haven police Sgt. Brad Coleman said to the paper.

But will the virtual bowling tournament affect the case against Difalco?

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd doesn't think so. "That absolutely is not true; that doesn't invalidate the search at all," Judd told the Tribune.

Police say they found marijuana, meth, weapons, drug paraphernalia and over $30,000 of stolen property during the March raid. Difalco's arrest record dates back to at least 1995 and he has already spent three years in prison.

It doesn't look like he is going anywhere fast.

What do you think? Does the bowling tourney invalidate the case against Difalco? Or was it all in good fun?



Add a Comment
by SheriffoutofControl October 12, 2009 11:22 PM EDT
WHAT WOULD YOUR BOSS DO TO YOU IF HE OR SHE CAUGHT YOU PLAYING VIDEO GAMES ON COMPANY TIME -- WOULD HE FIRE YOU -- YOU BET -- WANNA BET WHETHER OR NOT ANY OF THOSE DEPUTIES GOT FIRED -- I'LL BET NOT ONE OF THEM!!! The Polk County, Florida Sheriff's Office is grossly overstaffed due to federal/state block hiring grants and it must invent crime to keep jobs. On any given day in this County when one siren sounds and a deputy sheriff races by at speeds which cause accidents all of the time, there will be at least four to five other deputies that immediately fire up squad cars and speed down the highway at high speeds ALL TO THE SAME INCIDENT. If you are stopped for a traffic violation in Polk County, Florida, you are SEARCHED, WHETHER THEY HAVE PROBABLE CAUSE OR NOT, AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU GIVE CONSENT. THEY WILL SEND ENOUGH DEPUTIES OUT SO THAT THEY HAVE WITNESSES TO MAKE UP THE STORY AS THEY GO ALONG. THINK ABOUT IT, THE LEGAL TRAFFICKING CHARGE IN FLA FOR METH IS SOMEWHERE AROUND 14 GRAMS, LOOK AT THE BAGGIE IN THE VIDEO FOUND BY THE DEPUTY=NOWHERE NEAR 14 GRAMS=LOOKED LIKE A SMALL ZIP LOCK TO ME==??? WHAT HAS FAILED TO MAKE THE NEWS IS THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS LIVING AT DIFALCO'S RESIDENCE AT THE TIME -- THEY ARRESTED DIFALCO AT THE CONVENIENCE STORE ABOUT TWO MILES FROM HIS RESIDENCE; HELD HIM CAPTIVE AT THE LOCAL SHERIFF'S OFFICE FOR 4+ HOURS BEFORE THEY SEARCHED HIS HOUSE--NOTHING WAS FOUND ON HIS PERSON NOR IN HIS VEHICLE WHEN THEY ARRESTED HIM--HE WAS NOT BREAKING THE LAW IN ANY MANNER--YET THEY TOOK HIM INTO CUSTODY----WHO WAS AT DIFALCO'S HOUSE IN THE 4-5 HRS. WHILE HE WAS IN CUSTODY??? ANOTHER PERSON LIVED THERE REMEMBER -- HIS NAME WAS ALAN LOVERING -- CHECK IT OUT -- POLK SHERIFF'S OFFICE WANTED DIFALCO BAD -- IS DIFALCO A BAD GUY, HE WORKED ON MY CAR AND FIXED IT PLENTY OF TIMES, I PAID HIM MONEY, I HAVE RECEIPTS TO PROVE IT. NOWHERE WAS IT EVER MENTIONED THAT THERE WAS A BUSINESS OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE HANGING IN DIFALCO'S GARAGE THAT WAS CURRENT. THERE WERE VEHICLES OWNED BY OTHER PEOPLE THERE, VEHICLES THAT DIFALCO WAS WORKING ON FOR OTHER PEOPLE. NOTE THAT THE POLK COUNTY CLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT RECORDS ONLINE REFLECT MANY MANY CHARGES THAT WERE DROPPED, ABANDONED BY THIS OVERZEALOUS AGENCY. SHERIFF GRADY JUDD, WHO SEEKS NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE, REGULARLY AIMS TO MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF, LOCAL RESIDENTS SPECULATE HE WANTS TO CLIMB THE "POLITICAL LADDER." Don't think this one helps any?? ASK SHERIFF JUDD HOW MANY OF THOSE DEPUTIES WERE PLAYING POOL AND ELECTRONIC DARTS IN THE GARAGE UPSTAIRS DURING THE DIFALCO RAID there was a pool table and a dart board upstairs in the Difalco barn -- BET THE REST OF THE DEPUTIES WERE UPSTAIRS!!! It's a shame Difalco didn't have a hidden camera there as well. TOO BAD DIFALCO WON'T PROBABLY EVER GET TO HAVE A TRIAL ON THIS CASE -- WOULD YOU IF YOU KNEW A FLORIDA JUDGE WOULD GIVE YOU THE MAX SENTENCE IF A JURY CONVICTS YOU. HE WILL SURELY BE FORCED TO NEGOTIATE A PLEA WHILE THE CORRUPTION IN THE LOCAL SHERIFF'S OFFICE CARRIES ON WITH A MERE INTERNAL INVESTIGATION -- HA -- AN INTERNAL INVESTIGATION -- WHAT WOULD YOUR BOSS DO TO YOU IF HE OR SHE CAUGHT YOU PLAYING WIII FOR 9 HOURS ON COMPANY TIME. THE AXE PROBABLY -- YOU'D BE FIRED FOR SURE -- BET NOT ONE DEPUTY GETS FIRED WHAT DO YOU BET ME???
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