On a December night in 2022, Chattanooga police pulled over a Lookout Valley hemp shop owner for an alleged window tint violation.
Officers thought they smelled marijuana coming from Nik Shipley’s car and ordered him and a passenger out for a search based on the odor. They called in a drug-detecting dog, but the K9 that responded wasn’t trained to detect marijuana, video showed.
Officers eventually confiscated Shipley’s gun and holster, as well as some cannabis gummies, Shipley said, and he was given a handwritten citation for unlawful possession for the weapon. But when Shipley went to turn himself in on the charge, he was told there was no citation against him, he said.
(READ MORE: Lawsuit: Chattanooga officers searched car based on marijuana smell, confiscated hemp)