William Pippin was still sleeping when the cops showed up around 10:30 a.m. At the edge of town in Vancouver, Washington, near a set of railroad tracks and a steel foundry, Pippin had strung a camouflage tarp between a guardrail and a chain-link fence.
It was a mild November morning. Police rapped on the tarp, notifying him and other homeless people in the area they would soon have to move on. From underneath his tarp, Pippin, a broad-shouldered 49-year-old, answered groggily. He’d be out soon, he told them. Some time passed, though exactly how much time is disputed. At the high end, it could have been two minutes—at the low end, as little as five seconds. In any case, an officer came to feel that Pippin was taking too long. The officer pulled back the tarp. Inside, he saw Pippin, Pippin’s sleeping bag, and a clear baggie containing “a substantial quantity” of crystal meth. Pippin was arrested and charged with possession.
