Even Saying The Word ‘Nickelback’ Can Get You In Trouble
Nickelback has sparked many an argument. Now, it seems even mentioning the oft-criticized Canadian band by name can get you in hot water.
It all started, 23-year-old Dylan Swinford and 22-year-old Riker Morrow say, with an offhand complaint about a nearby motorist blasting Nickelback at an Idaho gas station. By the time it was over, two deputies with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office had Swinford in cuffs while questioning Morrow on June 20 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Morrow captured the incident on video, and has posted more than five minutes of the exchange via YouTube, above. The officers say they took Swinford's comment as a possible reference to a nickel bag of marijuana.
"I watched him get out of your car," one of the arresting officers says in the video. "He walks away, and he says, 'Yeah, nickel sack, for sure.'" Morrow, who was behind the wheel, protests ("No, Nickelback; that guy was blaring Nickelback"), seemingly to no avail. "He's not talking about Nickelback," the same policeman asserts later. "We weren't born yesterday. That's a bull--- story."
Ultimately, no charges were filed. Now, an internal investigation has been launched by the sheriff's department. "It's a personnel issue," Lieutenant Stu Miller says. "We take this type of thing very seriously and we tell our people all the time to do their job as though someone is always watching, and they are always watching."