A Maryland man who helped a drunk neighbor home was arrested for marijuana possession and resisting arrest just moments later by police who had been called to help the intoxicated man. Samir Ahmed, 23, was arrested outside his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, on the morning of November 17, according to media reports.
Ahmed wrote in an Instagram post that on that morning he had been waiting outside his home for a Lyft ride when he saw an intoxicated neighbor fall down next to his front yard.
“He was so drunk he could barely walk,” Ahmed wrote.
Ahmed then decided to help his intoxicated neighbor.
“So I lifted him up and took him home,” he wrote in the Instagram post. “While walking him home I asked why was he drinking so much, so early in the morning. Unfortunately, he was grieving the loss of his brother who passed away a few days ago. I knocked on the door and made sure he got inside home safely then walked back home. When I returned home I [saw there were] policemen and firefighters outside my house.”
Ahmed learned that the first responders had been called to assist the neighbor.
“Apparently before I [saw] the drunk guy, he was unconscious [on somebody’s] lawn,” he wrote. “I explained how I carried him home, and showed my ID to prove that I lived on the residence. After answering all [their] questions in a respectful manner, one the officers said ‘I think you’re the intoxicated one.’ I was later arrested as seen in the video but was never told what for [until] literally 3 hours later.”
Video of Arrest Posted Online
A video of the arrest was posted to social media and went viral after being shared by comedian D.L. Hughley. In the video, other neighbors who had come out during the commotion try to explain to police that Ahmed was not the man they had been called about.
“It was a man that was out here that was unconscious. He helped the man,” a bystander yells.
One of the police officers then replies to the small crowd.
“The officer smelled an odor of marijuana coming from him,” says the officer.
As several officers pin down Ahmed on a parked car, they can be heard asking him if he has any marijuana.
After searching him, police found a bag of pot in a coat pocket that “was such a small amount that I didn’t even know I had it,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed’s attorney, J. Wyndal Gordon, said that his client will be fighting the charges.
“We vehemently dispute that the officer smelled marijuana; you can’t smell marijuana in a baggie inside of his left coat pocket that hasn’t been burned,” Gordon said. “It’s a very negligible amount if anything,” he added.
Gordon noted that the man police had been called about was not arrested.
“He’s a Good Samaritan being converted to a criminal defendant,” Gordon said. “There’s a strange irony to all these facts.”
Police Respond
A statement from the Montgomery County Police Department noted that it is “aware of the concerns voiced by some community members” following Ahmed’s arrest.
“The Department is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the arrest to determine if any Department policies, procedures or laws were violated during the incident,” the statement read. “This assessment will include a review of the responding officers’ body-worn camera footage.”
On Tuesday, Ahmed, who is Black, said that he believes that race was a factor in his arrest.
“If I had blond hair and blue eyes, this wouldn’t be an issue,” Ahmed said. “She wouldn’t have been so disrespectful when I showed her nothing but respect.”
Ahmed is due to appear in court on charges of resisting arrest, failure to obey a reasonably lawful order, obstructing and hindering, and disorderly conduct. Possession of less than 10 grams of cannabis has been decriminalized in Maryland. Ahmed has not been issued a civil citation for marijuana possession, according to his lawyer.
