A University of Virginia student had just bought some bottled water, cookie dough and ice cream for a sorority fundraiser when a group of people in plainclothes approached her car. One person jumped on her hood, another pulled a gun on her, and the student, logically, began trying to drive her car as fast as she could out of the parking lot.
Unfortunately for the student, the people attacking her car were state Alcoholic Beverage Control officers, who mistook her purchase of LaCroix sparkling water for a 12-pack of beer.
"They were showing unidentifiable badges after they approached us, but we became frightened, as they were not in anything close to a uniform," Elizabeth Daly, 20, wrote about the April incident. "I couldn't put my windows down unless I started my car, and when I started my car they began yelling to not move the car, not to start the car. They began trying to break the windows. My roommates and I were ... terrified."
After driving out of the parking lot and grazing two of the plainclothes officers, Daly called 911 to report the attack and ask if there was any way these people were in fact agents of the law. That's when another Alcoholic Beverage Control agent pulled over the SUV (this time using a police vehicle and flashers). Daly was then arrested and charged with three felonies, including assaulting a police officer. She spent that night in jail.
Daly had already been on edge before the incident after having just come from a "Take Back the Night," vigil on campus, where women had shared stories of their experiences with sexual assault.
Prosecutors have dropped the charges against Daly, but until a full investigation is concluded, the district attorney is standing by the conduct of its Alcoholic Beverage Control officers, who really, really want to stop people under the age of 21 from purchasing any type of beverage.