April 29th... Riding home, heard sirens while i was sitting at the light, looked down, saw lights and a trooper so i hand motioned that i was going to pull over, pulled thru the light and over to the side b/c the cars in front of me did the same. Officer rolls up on me with gun drawn... tells me to get off, and cuffs me right then and there. He says why'd you run from me? I didnt sir, i never saw or heard you until i was at the light, well... whyd you pull over? b/c i saw and heard you when i was at the light. oh ok... well there was reports of an officer across town chasing a guy on a red bike with a red helmet./ well sir i wasnt on that side of town, i was here etc. well we still have to wait on that cop from across town to get over here. so we sat and waited... Fat cop pulls up in a tahoe and asks why i ran from him, i say ive never seen you before, well i chased you here, me - sir, i was never there, i went by the golf course home,... Oh yea thats where i you ran from me, go ahead and confess and save us both some time, its my video vs your word... i said sir i did nothing wrong and have nothing to confess to... he said well ok you're not going home tonight and he slammed the door.
I got hit with 2 counts of felony evading arrest, 2 5k bonds, 320 in impound fees, 1035 to my bail bond lady, and the cheapest lawyer is going to cost me around 3500....
Ive been praying for everything to get dismissed but more than likely ill have to retain a lawyer and fight the case and shoot for deferred probation.... I was talking with the trooper on the way to jail and i said sir, do you really think i was evading arrest? I was at a stop light with an open lane where i could have turned right and i was out near the country where i could have ran for MILES... he said well no youve got a good point and kept driving.... So yea guys thats my experiences with officers. Mind you my dad was a deputy sheriff for 20+ years around this area and if this goes to court, ive got about 50 character letters from the officers he worked with over the years so itll be a battle, also i never turned my head or looked in my mirrors while i was riding home AND... neither cop clocked my speed... phew... sorry for the rant
WOW, I've had an eerily similar experience!! There is nothing worse than getting caught up in something that isn't true, or you had nothing to do with.
3 years ago on my 600rr at the time, I was stuck behind an oil tanker that was kicking concussion worthy rocks, it was about 11:30 at night and not only was I avoiding flying rocks, but also trying to dodge them in the road. I slowed down, let him get about 30 seconds ahead of me and still, dodging all the rocks was impossible. If I turned around for another route home, it would have been a 90 minute ride, whereas I was only about 15 minutes from home at this time. I take my time working back up to the tanker, reach a passing zone and get out wide and RIP by & quickly get back in the lane. I hit 95mph , got in to my lane and quickly dropped down to 55 - even hitting my brakes.
I get about 2 miles down the road and BAM, here comes the trooper with his lights. I pulled over promptly pull my key out of the ignition, hold it up in the air and toss it behind me. He yells to get off the bike & get on the ground, I hobbled off the bike with my bad knee and get on the ground. He drives his knee into my back and hand cuffs me, with my helmet on, gloves on, jacket on, etc.
Asks me if I know how fast I was going. I said I hit 95. He goes no, 97. He asks for my license & registration, I said it's in my bike and I obviously can't get to it now. Get it yourself. Now he seemed a bit apprehensive, like maybe he jumped the gun a bit. He comes and uncuffs me and tells me to get it myself & then to sit back on the bike.
He takes my info and time is dragging by, 20 mins go by and he hasn't left his car. Another trooper rolls up, has a quick look at me, u-turns and leaves. Then a local rolls up, takes a look and leaves. At this point I'm wondering WTF is going on, so I turn around and throw my hands up at the officer. He jumps out of his car and before he could say anything I said I'd appreciate it if you quit dicking around and either fine me or let me go. Why am I being held on the side of the road??
He approached me aggressively and hands me my information back and asks why I'm limping. I said it's because I have a bad knee and why does it matter? He asks if I had anything to drink, I said yeah, water, about 2 hours and 20 minutes ago...then he asks me if I have anything in the bike he needs to know about? I said officer, my bike barely has room to hold my wallet, there isn't any drugs in my motorcycle. So finally he asks why I was doing 97, I asked if he saw all the rocks in the road & he goes "go on", I explained how I dropped back from the tanker kicking up the rocks but it didn't really help me get to my destination any safer, so I decided to catch up and pass the tanker as quickly as possible.
So he explains how he saw me drop back and felt I was going to do a high speed run & at that point he flipped his lights on and was "only 100 feet behind me" with his lights on, accused me of evading, reckless driving, speeding & driving to endanger, claiming I made a threatening & intimidated pass on the tanker??
My blood boiled and I almost exploded. I told him bullshit, we were in a pitch black area & I would have seen his lights from over a mile away on this straight stretch of highway & that I was actually 5 mph under the speed limit until I was directly behind the tanker and pulled out to pass him.
A few minutes go by with some arguing between the two of us, he tells me from my town, someone matching my description about 2 hours prior, evaded the locals & that was his primary reason for pulling me over. He asked if it was me. I was so incredibly angry at this point I said it doesn't matter what I tell you because you're a fucking prick. Not even 30 seconds later another local rolls up, pulls in front of me and gets out. The trooper asks if it was me who evaded, the local takes one look and said "sir, his bike is white. the bike in question is red with a short male with matching red boots and helmet. This citizen is on a white motorcycle in black with a chrome helmet, not matching the PPD's description".
Needless to say, the trooper looked at me and said slow down & go home. I said a big F you and then a thanks to the local officer.
Never been verbally combative with the police before or since.