Celebrity DJ says deputies ripped off his money after seizing it on bogus drug suspicion
A deejay who has worked with a number of famous artists says he was unfairly targeted by police and had a huge amount of money taken from him
Harvey Miller, a DJ who has worked for high-profile celebrities like Beyonce and Jay-Z said he was racially profiled and had nearly $150,000 cash taken from him during a traffic stop, Raw Story reports.
Miller, known as DJ Speedy was headed to Los Angeles from Atlanta when an Oklahoma County sheriff’s deputy stopped him for a traffic violation that amounted to failing to signal a turn a full 100 feet before changing lanes on Interstate 40, KOCO-TV reported.
“I was racially profiled, plain as day — no way around it,” the 42-year-old said. “He went in with the questions of, ‘Where are you going? What’s in your car?’”
Miller claimed the deputy’s suspicions of him were unwarranted.
“Then, he asked me can he search my vehicle,” Miller told the TV station. “No, you can’t search my vehicle. What warrants you to search my vehicle?”
The deputy then enlisted the help of a K-9 that sniffed and responded in a way that brought alarm to the deputy that illegal drugs were possibly in the car.
After a search of the vehicles, no drugs were recovered. However, Miller’s $149,000 in cash was seized because his vehicle allegedly smelled like marijuana.
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“I’ve never used drugs, I’m not drinking, I wasn’t speeding — I wasn’t doing nothing,” Miller said. “You have nothing on my except I have money. I’m black and I have money.”
Miller was taken into custody on suspicion of possession of drug proceeds and for having a fake $20 bill. He spent 12 hours in jail and was released.
The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office released a statement denying that the stop was racially motivated.
“The numbers we see are in line with the makeup of the population of Oklahoma County,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Miller, who still hasn’t been given his cash back says he wants his name cleared so he can get back on track.
“I want to be exonerated from all this,” Miller said.
