Medical marijuana user sues Sparta police for false arrest

BY JOSEPH PICARD
SPARTA — Scott Waselik, the medical marijuana user who, in 2013, was stabbed by his roommate and subsequently charged by Sparta police with possession of marijuana, has filed suit in federal court against Sparta Township and the police department, alleging several violations of his civil and constitutional rights, according to court documents.
The suit, entered Friday, Aug. 12, by Tracey Hinson of the Princeton-based law firm of Hinson Snipes, states that Waselik, now 26, “was illegally charged, detained, falsely arrested, and maliciously prosecuted, without probable cause, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence.”
The complaint demands a trial by jury and seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.
Sparta municipal and police officials declined comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit has its roots in events beginning on Oct. 8, 2013 at a home on Sparta Lake shared by Waselik and Kevin Rios, his roommate and boyfriend. According to court papers and published reports, the two argued and Rios punched Waselik several times, then stabbed him in the side with a knife. Injured and bleeding, Waselik accompanied by a friend went to the Sparta Police Station and reported the incident.
The police questioned Waselik and his friend who witnessed the assault. The suit alleges that police officers did not properly respond to Waselik’s injured condition but questioned him rather than rush him to medical care. Waselik was taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital where he underwent surgery and remained for five days.
Police went out to the Sparta Lake home and found Rios in the backyard. The knife used in the attack was found in his pocket. Rios was handcuffed and placed in the back of the police car.
Two police officers then entered the residence claiming, according to published reports, that they were looking for other possible victims. Once inside, officers observed marijuana and drug paraphernalia in plain view. Based on that observation, police obtained a warrant to search the house and another to search Rios’ car.
Police found 74 grams of marijuana and assorted pipes and bongs. Later that month, police charged Waselik and Rios with possession of over 50 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Waselik is entitled to receive medical marijuana from the state because he suffers from Crohn’s disease. Rios also legally receives medical marijuana. But Sparta police, in charging them, said that the marijuana they found in the house was not purchased through the state program, but illegally procured.
In 2014, however, a Superior Court judge ruled that the warrant to search the house was invalid, finding no good reason or probable cause for police to enter the house. Sparta appealed the ruling. In 2015, the appellate court upheld the judge’s decision. Meanwhile, all the charges against Waselik were dropped.
According to the complaint, from “the moment MR. WASELIK entered Police Headquarters in obvious distress, beaten, bruised, battered, and bleeding from a stab wound, until the dismissal of charges was affirmed by the Appellate Division, he was treated as a criminal suspect rather than as a victim of a crime.”