Wilbur Haisley is no stranger to the police, but nothing prepared him for the encounter he had with a member of the Metro Gang Strike Force last winter.

In the early hours of March 1, a Strike Force member caught Haisley with 6 grams of marijuana at a Minneapolis nightclub. It's the kind of misdemeanor offense that is usually pleaded down to a loitering offense and comes with a $50 fine, according to Gay Glaze, a Hennepin County public defender who handles such cases.

But instead of arresting Haisley or charging him with a crime, officer David Garman simply seized the dope and $3,319 from Haisley's pocket and told him to leave the nightclub. The Strike Force didn't pursue the investigation or return the money until Haisley, who drives a delivery truck, proved the cash came from a tax refund and that he was using the money to shop for a used car earlier in the day.

The incident is one of many that led a pair of independent investigators to conclude that Strike Force members were putting a misplaced emphasis on minor drug offenses that were not gang-related. Most of these incidents involved people of color, according to former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger and retired FBI agent John Egelhof, who were asked in May by state Public Safety Commissioner Michael Campion to review the unit's conduct. Haisley is black.

In their report, the investigators said they were "deeply concerned" by the encounter, noting it is "highly unusual" to seize large sums of cash over such minor drug offenses.

Garman was fired in September by the Minneapolis Police Department for misconduct in another Strike Force case. He has moved from his home and did not return messages left with relatives.

Haisley, 28, is not considered a gang member by metro police agencies, according to sources with access to GangNet, a computer file of suspected gang members. But he has had a number of run-ins with the law.