Man spends one month in jail, loses job and home after police mistake homemade soap for drugs

‘When Pennsylvania state police officers pulled Alexander J. Bernstein over to the side of Interstate 78 it appeared to be just another traffic stop. Bernstein was going 5 mph over the speed limit, traveling 60 in a 55 mph zone.
Bernstein and his friend Anadel Cruz were on their way to visit a relative when the red and blue lights appeared in their rear-view mirror. Bernstein pulled his Mercedes Benz to the side of the road and waited for the officers to issue their citation. The officers, suspicious of the luxury vehicle and its out of state license plates, were quick to probe Bernstein. With nothing to hide, Bernstein allowed the suspicious and interrogating officers to have a look inside the vehicle.
When the officers popped the trunk, they found two bars of soap wrapped in plastic. It didn’t look like soap, according to the officers, whose motives were unclear. According to The Allentown Morning, they decided the soap looked like cocaine. Bernstein and Cruz pleaded that the contraband in question was just soap bars wrapped in plastic.’
Read more: Man spends one month in jail, loses job and home after police mistake homemade soap for drugs