Police Stop Stories On Club Visit Drives
minnow
Any place that interests me.
Monday, September 21, 2020 4:51 AM
The 5 police stop incidents depicted here had positive outcomes (3 no-tickets, 2 dodging a trap). Before I go into the stories, I'll put forth some common sense guidelines to have a good outcome, and avoid unnecessary trouble.
1) Accept that you are being detained and that police officer is in command. Resist any urge to hurry things along, or trying to blab your way out of trouble.
2) Produce the documentation requested (driver license, registration, etc) in a slow, deliberate manner, always telegraphing your move. ( "Here's my license, I'll get the registration from glove compartment."). Being mindful that numerous LEO's have been killed while conducting "routine" stops, and putting officer at ease is a good starting point.
I don't mean to suggest that doing these things will help you too much if you were doing triple digits down the freeway, or drank enough to smell like a distillery, but not a bad idea for lesser offenses. Without further ado...
5 MPH OVER ????
I was in a rental car starting out on a short road trip. I was going slightly fast by a shopping mall when I saw the blinking lights in my rear view mirror. I pulled over, thinking "crap, what a way to start out my club visit a ways down the road."
Turns out that officer was pulling me over for expired tags. (What a way to start out a new month). When asked where I picked up car, told him the airport 20 miles back. He let me slide, but I wasn't going to let it slide with rental car company. I went back to airport, and insisted on an exchange for a car with current plates.
Lessons learned: When doing pre-rental inspection, be sure that sticker on plates or windshield hasn't expired. Also, don't try to guess what officer is stopping you for.
HARMLESS JACKRABBIT
Several years later driving my own Corvette, "nailed it" pulling away from a stop light at night, followed shortly by being pulled over by a cop. Thinking "oh shit, I've been nailed for doing a stupid thing not being mindful of my surroundings." Nope, I was being pulled over for no front plates.
Some background: Many people are aware that Corvettes are essentially fiberglass bodies. The Corvette emblem on front is loved by many enthusiasts who hate to mess it up with a front plate in the states that require it. Myself not being that die hard, I put the front plate kit on my 2 prior Vettes. However, this latest model didn't have the screw in assemblies to the front bumper, but instead relied upon gluing plate frame to front bumper. That arrangement sucked since the front plate kept falling off. I finally said "to hell with this", and put framed plate behind the passenger seat.
So I requested officer to shine his flashlight behind the passenger seat, pointing out that I had front plates there, but that they kept falling off, and I didn't know of any mods that would address the glue on issue. He was satisfied with my explanation, and even asked me a few questions about the car, including the new heads up display, and how it worked. (Cops can be car guys too.) Again let the cop do the initial talking. I could say a few things about not getting the 1st model year of a new design version, but I'll save that for another time.
STOPLIGHT TRAP
In just about every locale but NYC, right turns on red are allowed except when sign specifically prohibits it.
Those of you familiar with the old Baby Dolls (Looking Kool for the real old timers) in Medway OH probably recall the single stoplight in town having such a restriction. Taking a right led straight to 675 half loop around Dayton.
Like many people, I believe that life is too short to waste sitting at a red light, especially one in a podunk town at 1 am. So I ignored the sign, until one night that I saw a cop pull out of nearby parking lot, and ticket a guy ahead of me. I changed my habit after that as I saw several more drivers being nailed for right turn on red.
NO BLOW WHITE BALLS
Anyone following the Dayton club scene the last few years probably know that some clubs located on Dixie Drive north of town had their dancers busted for drugs and other things.
Leaving the Harem one night, noticed a cop finishing up with a traffic stop while turning left onto Needmore Dr, then short distance to I75. I hadn't gone far on I75 when I saw the dreaded colored flashing lights behind me. He (cop) said that I was being stopped for not signaling for a lane change (left to right). Whatever..... After boilerplate "LRI" credentials check, he asked me if I had any drinks.
Yes, I nursed a couple over an hour. (I didn't tell him anything past the "yes"). Whereupon, he asked me to step outside for a field sobriety test. The touch ones nose, stand on 1 foot, etc, culminating in Barney Fife having me follow his rapid finger motions with my eyes, concluding with his stopping fingers in my peripheral extremities of my vision range. He held that position for at least a 5 count, then I was free to go with a verbal warning. The later test was clearly designed to have a good look at my eyeballs for bloodshot eyes. I'm guessing he either didn't have a working breathalyzer, or was also interested in screening me for drug use.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY?
Over the course of a quarter century, I've made the ~ 2 hour drive from SW Ohio to Indianapolis to visit their clubs on numerous occasions. One hazard of extensive interstate freeway driving is getting nailed with a speeding ticket. It sucks enough getting a speeding ticket. On this particular night, Indiana's Finest was VERY DETERMINED to nail me with 2 speeding tickets.
The stop halfway to state line started out being routine enough. After handing over "LRI" credentials, officer went back to his car. After 5 minutes or so, I saw a second police car pull out and head east. After another 5 - 10 minutes elapsed with nothing happening, I considered getting out of my car to ask remaining officer if anything was wrong. I thought the better of it, and just stayed put. A few minutes later, officer returned with my credentials, and a citation. After signing the citation, I was free to go.
Not so fast, ace. The second cop car and excessive time interval smelled fishy to me. To cure my lead foot, I set cruise control to 64mph (speed limit was 65 back then, it's 70 today). Sure enough, after 5 miles I spot a blacked out police cruiser in the center median turnaround. A minute or so later, I spot a pair of headlights rapidly passing a truck, and then slowly fall in line behind me. He proceeded to "jazz" the throttle a few times to goad me into speeding, but I wasn't taking the bait. After a few minutes of this foolishness, he tired of the game, and passed me.
There was still several miles to go to state line, I was still leaving cruise control on original setting. Which was a good thing, because this cop wasn't through with me yet.
About 2/3 mile short of the state line (~40 seconds driving time), I spot a pair of headlights shining out of the center median, then turn west bound. Yep, police cruiser headed the other way. Seeing that it was ~ 30 miles from traffic stop to state line, and the ~ 26 second differential in driving time at 64 mph vs 65 mph, I'm convinced that I was being timed practically all the way to the state line. Does anybody know the penalty for 2 consecutive speeding tickets ? Would it be too much of a pun to say that I dodged one bullet that night ?
That's it from me for now, saving remaining bandwidth for others to share police encounter anecdotes during their drives to and from club.
1) Accept that you are being detained and that police officer is in command. Resist any urge to hurry things along, or trying to blab your way out of trouble.
2) Produce the documentation requested (driver license, registration, etc) in a slow, deliberate manner, always telegraphing your move. ( "Here's my license, I'll get the registration from glove compartment."). Being mindful that numerous LEO's have been killed while conducting "routine" stops, and putting officer at ease is a good starting point.
I don't mean to suggest that doing these things will help you too much if you were doing triple digits down the freeway, or drank enough to smell like a distillery, but not a bad idea for lesser offenses. Without further ado...
5 MPH OVER ????
I was in a rental car starting out on a short road trip. I was going slightly fast by a shopping mall when I saw the blinking lights in my rear view mirror. I pulled over, thinking "crap, what a way to start out my club visit a ways down the road."
Turns out that officer was pulling me over for expired tags. (What a way to start out a new month). When asked where I picked up car, told him the airport 20 miles back. He let me slide, but I wasn't going to let it slide with rental car company. I went back to airport, and insisted on an exchange for a car with current plates.
Lessons learned: When doing pre-rental inspection, be sure that sticker on plates or windshield hasn't expired. Also, don't try to guess what officer is stopping you for.
HARMLESS JACKRABBIT
Several years later driving my own Corvette, "nailed it" pulling away from a stop light at night, followed shortly by being pulled over by a cop. Thinking "oh shit, I've been nailed for doing a stupid thing not being mindful of my surroundings." Nope, I was being pulled over for no front plates.
Some background: Many people are aware that Corvettes are essentially fiberglass bodies. The Corvette emblem on front is loved by many enthusiasts who hate to mess it up with a front plate in the states that require it. Myself not being that die hard, I put the front plate kit on my 2 prior Vettes. However, this latest model didn't have the screw in assemblies to the front bumper, but instead relied upon gluing plate frame to front bumper. That arrangement sucked since the front plate kept falling off. I finally said "to hell with this", and put framed plate behind the passenger seat.
So I requested officer to shine his flashlight behind the passenger seat, pointing out that I had front plates there, but that they kept falling off, and I didn't know of any mods that would address the glue on issue. He was satisfied with my explanation, and even asked me a few questions about the car, including the new heads up display, and how it worked. (Cops can be car guys too.) Again let the cop do the initial talking. I could say a few things about not getting the 1st model year of a new design version, but I'll save that for another time.
STOPLIGHT TRAP
In just about every locale but NYC, right turns on red are allowed except when sign specifically prohibits it.
Those of you familiar with the old Baby Dolls (Looking Kool for the real old timers) in Medway OH probably recall the single stoplight in town having such a restriction. Taking a right led straight to 675 half loop around Dayton.
Like many people, I believe that life is too short to waste sitting at a red light, especially one in a podunk town at 1 am. So I ignored the sign, until one night that I saw a cop pull out of nearby parking lot, and ticket a guy ahead of me. I changed my habit after that as I saw several more drivers being nailed for right turn on red.
NO BLOW WHITE BALLS
Anyone following the Dayton club scene the last few years probably know that some clubs located on Dixie Drive north of town had their dancers busted for drugs and other things.
Leaving the Harem one night, noticed a cop finishing up with a traffic stop while turning left onto Needmore Dr, then short distance to I75. I hadn't gone far on I75 when I saw the dreaded colored flashing lights behind me. He (cop) said that I was being stopped for not signaling for a lane change (left to right). Whatever..... After boilerplate "LRI" credentials check, he asked me if I had any drinks.
Yes, I nursed a couple over an hour. (I didn't tell him anything past the "yes"). Whereupon, he asked me to step outside for a field sobriety test. The touch ones nose, stand on 1 foot, etc, culminating in Barney Fife having me follow his rapid finger motions with my eyes, concluding with his stopping fingers in my peripheral extremities of my vision range. He held that position for at least a 5 count, then I was free to go with a verbal warning. The later test was clearly designed to have a good look at my eyeballs for bloodshot eyes. I'm guessing he either didn't have a working breathalyzer, or was also interested in screening me for drug use.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY?
Over the course of a quarter century, I've made the ~ 2 hour drive from SW Ohio to Indianapolis to visit their clubs on numerous occasions. One hazard of extensive interstate freeway driving is getting nailed with a speeding ticket. It sucks enough getting a speeding ticket. On this particular night, Indiana's Finest was VERY DETERMINED to nail me with 2 speeding tickets.
The stop halfway to state line started out being routine enough. After handing over "LRI" credentials, officer went back to his car. After 5 minutes or so, I saw a second police car pull out and head east. After another 5 - 10 minutes elapsed with nothing happening, I considered getting out of my car to ask remaining officer if anything was wrong. I thought the better of it, and just stayed put. A few minutes later, officer returned with my credentials, and a citation. After signing the citation, I was free to go.
Not so fast, ace. The second cop car and excessive time interval smelled fishy to me. To cure my lead foot, I set cruise control to 64mph (speed limit was 65 back then, it's 70 today). Sure enough, after 5 miles I spot a blacked out police cruiser in the center median turnaround. A minute or so later, I spot a pair of headlights rapidly passing a truck, and then slowly fall in line behind me. He proceeded to "jazz" the throttle a few times to goad me into speeding, but I wasn't taking the bait. After a few minutes of this foolishness, he tired of the game, and passed me.
There was still several miles to go to state line, I was still leaving cruise control on original setting. Which was a good thing, because this cop wasn't through with me yet.
About 2/3 mile short of the state line (~40 seconds driving time), I spot a pair of headlights shining out of the center median, then turn west bound. Yep, police cruiser headed the other way. Seeing that it was ~ 30 miles from traffic stop to state line, and the ~ 26 second differential in driving time at 64 mph vs 65 mph, I'm convinced that I was being timed practically all the way to the state line. Does anybody know the penalty for 2 consecutive speeding tickets ? Would it be too much of a pun to say that I dodged one bullet that night ?
That's it from me for now, saving remaining bandwidth for others to share police encounter anecdotes during their drives to and from club.
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6 comments
The only time I was pulled over for anything but speeding, was while leaving a regular dance club. My friend's drunken roommate had spilled a pitcher of beer at the table, with most of it landing on me. I had to leave, I had on a very expensive sweater and pants and didn't want them to get ruined. The cops pulled me over because the club was a hotspot for drug dealing. They claimed I was speeding, which I knew to be bullshit. I refused the field sobriety, even though I was sober, and was arrested for "interference with a police officer". Bonded out in a couple of hours. Got to court later, no speeding ticket because there was no speeding meant no probable cause to pull me over. The cop didn't even bother to show up, and the village had to hire a private lawyer to prosecute me because the DA wouldn't bother with the case, which I easily had dismissed (traffic court, so I represented myself). LOL, that lawyer was so pissed at me.
In hind sight, I should have put my keys away and never entered the car. Shit, we were only a mile away from my buddy's house, we could have walked and come back later for the car. But in the moment, being a dumb kid without much experience driving, or drinking, and certainly not doing both at the same time, I kind of panicked. A bunch of things went through my mind in about two seconds. A) It could just be a police car parked, and the cop's out getting coffee or something. B) If I turn away from my car and go back to the sidewalk, it might look suspicious. C) I'm underage, drunk, and my Dad might take the car away. I finally settled on D) Just play it cool, drive calmly and slowly, and everything will be fine.
Pulled away from the curb and it was only about 50 feet to the red light at the corner. As I came to a stop, I saw the cop pulling out in my rearview mirror. Damn. I made a right-on-red (legally, I thought) and then fuckin' punched it. I was a very short block away from a major road. I thought I could turn onto that road and blend with the other traffic before the cop even reached the red light. Halfway down that block my drunk buddy starts yelling, "One way, one way!" Yup, I had turned onto a one way - the wrong way.
At this point there wasn't any doubt in my mind that my ONLY OPTION was to lose that cop. There were no other cars coming at me and I kept it floored to the end of the block, screeched around the corner cutting off traffic in both lanes, and then began Phase II of my master plan: blend in. Quickly changed lanes and slowed down as the guys I cut off and other cars started catching up to me. Saw the cop in my mirror come around the corner, now with lights and siren going. I breathed a sigh of relief, because I was already down the road a bit with other cars around me providing the necessary camouflage. Whew. Perfectly executed... (Not!)
That cop car was on me like flies on shit. Pulled me over and man this was one fat-ass cop. He was out of breath, I don't know from the thrill of the chase or the walk from his car to mine. He comes waddling up to my window, huffing and puffing, props himself up with his hand and arm on my roof and says, "What the FUCK were you thinking?" followed by some weird grunting sounds. I immediately start apologizing and making a feeble attempt to explain myself, to no avail because A) I'm slurring my words and B) there's no explaining what I tried to do. But he's not even listening and says, "Lemme see your damn license" and more grunts. Handed him my license while I'm thinking this guy needs a fuckin' ambulance. "You been drinking?" I said I had a couple beers... yeah right. I had been drinking Jack Daniel's all afternoon and I couldn't even speak normally. I was strangely calmed down by now. I guess I had already resigned myself to the fact that I was in a shit-ton of trouble and would probably lose my license, which didn't really matter because my dad was definitely gonna sell the car.
The cop never left the window. Didn't ask for registration or insurance, didn't call anything in, nothing. He hands me back the license and starts growling, "I guess this is your lucky fucking day. Two things... you go straight home, and your buddy over there is gonna drive." I don't think my friend was too thrilled with that idea because he was even drunker than me. He got out and tripped over his own feet while rounding the front of the car, had to steady himself with his hand on the hood. I didn't get out, just climbed over to the passenger seat. The cop, coughing and grunting some more, said something like, "I don't wanna see you out here no more" and waddled back to his car and sat there while we drove off.
We didn't speak until we were far away from there. My friend pulls over, turns off the car, and we just stared at each other in total disbelief. We walked to a park and sat on a bench for a while. I have absolutely no idea what that cop's situation was. Maybe he was at the end of his shift and didn't want to deal with busting a couple kids, maybe he really had some medical condition that was acting up. He sure looked like it. For all I know he might have had a few too many drinks himself while on duty. I'll never know. But man that was a fucking weird series of events. The cop was right about one thing though, it sure was my lucky day.