Quote Originally Posted by Eden View Post
I'm much more worried that the guy was arrested for not having any ID.......

You cannot lie to the police about your identity but at least not yet, there is no law that says you must have government issued ID on your person at all times.... Around here this is accepted (if are driving you do need to have your license, but otherwise you do not have to have an ID card), but I know the ACLU is/has been fighting similar arrests around the country as fundamentally unconstitutional.
I doubt that was what he was arrested FOR (the story doesn't day). You DON'T have to carry your DL while operating a bike. I don't. If you break a law and are stopped by an officer, you DO have to tell him your name and date of birth so that he can ID you. You can't tell him someone else's name, or refuse to identify yourself if he has lawfully detained you. The ACLU (God help us all) seldom has the full story. You CAN be arrested for a LOT of things (riding on the sidewalk is one if it is a city ordinance). People have actually said to me "you can't take me to jail because I rolled through that stop sign." Oh yeah? I can. Seldom do, but if I need to, I can.

Making an unlawful arrest exposes a cop to disciplinary action and civil litigation. But few people know that there are many, many things that one can be lawfully arrested for.