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A family friend was mistreated by police officers after breaking a NY statute he was not aware of. Is there anything in the way that the police acted that could get the case thrown out? This occurred earlier today in Albany, New York. A family friend and my father, both of whom live in Vermont, went to Albany to purchase hardware at a store nearby. The family friend who I will refer to as Mark left his dog in the back seat of the car, and made the mistake of not rolling the windows down. He was not aware of New York law concerning pets in vehicles, but within 5-10 minutes of leaving the dog in the car, someone called the police. By the time Mark and my father got out of the store (they estimated it at about 30 minutes, and not more than 40 that they were in the store) four cops in four separate cop cars had arrived at the scene, had smashed in the window on the car and removed the dog. They were about to impound the vehicle, and my father wound up paying cash on hand to have the car released. It's not so much the crime itself (as Mark was in the wrong for not leaving the dog in better conditions), but the ways in which the cops acted which I'm bringing into question. From how Mark and my father relayed the story to me, the police: * searched the vehicle without a warrant after taking the dog out (not just the passenger compartment, but the whole car, as they removed two license plates (both legal) that were in the back seat under some other things * when my father inquired one of the police officers about what was going on, the officer forcefully pushed my father back and yelled at him to "get back". * verbally abused Mark multiple times (calling him an asshole, telling him how he doesn't care about his animal, etc.) * when Mark asked the officer to put Mark's seatbelt on for him (he was in the front passenger seat), the officer refused, telling him that he "didn't deserve it". The officer did not have his seat belt on either. * The cop that was driving was te