quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
You don’t decide the safe place to pull over the officer does ALWAYS. You get lit up you pull it over ASAP.

I always wait for a safe place to stop. I used to do volunteer road patrol. I know how dangerous it is to stop even on the side of the road, with room to walk, much less impeding a lane of traffic. The stories I've seen in the "news," of late, of people running into stopped cops on the sides of the freeways, validates my judgement.

If the officer wants to endanger his or her life and limb by doing that, they're more than welcome. I will not.

This goes along with "Better to be judged..."

When the cop asked "Why didn't you stop right away" and got a reasonable explanation it should have been enough. This kind of over-the-top, unnecessary behaviour by some cops does the profession no favours at all.

quote:

quote:
The officer claiming you were fleeing is full of it. Fleeing where?


Here at least statutorily all that is needed for fleeing is knowingly not stopping for an officer. Intent for not stopping does not matter or knowing where fleeing to is not needed for the charge.

I'm not saying the statutory requirements for the charge were not met. I'm saying the road leads to an island with an amusment park. The road is narrow, full of traffic going to and from said amusment park. There isn't a good place to pull over, but the OP wouldn't know that and it's understandable that he thought there might be a spot over the next hill or around the next bend. The officer knows this.

I'll change full of it to over the top. Five more cops, a K9, vehicle search, and a trip downtown all for a guy, his wife and two kids going to an amusement park. What this reeks of is small town cop sticking it to the out of state tourists. I'm assuming of course that the OP and his wife were polite, respectful and apologetic during the encounter.

Sounds like a pretty douchey cop but who knows what his experience is — maybe he’s had a couple bad situations that started just like that in the past. So what really bothered him might be something that bother doesn’t really bother the rest.

Regardless, sounds like he has poor judgement.

Good luck with the legal stuff — hopefully it goes in your favor.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
Please just tell me you slipped in something about being "a traveler" and asked "Am I being detained" unnecessarily a bunch of times..

Nor did you create joinder, I trust...

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
[they're the one taking the risk of getting hit from behind.

Nope.

I would have pulled over much sooner and let the officer direct you where to go if he thought it wasn't a good spot, but I've seen plenty of people pulled over in my area in terrible locations, just over the crest of a hill, etc. The cops don't seem to care, they want you stopped when they put those lights on.

quote:

Originally posted by Angus the Kid:

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
[they're the one taking the risk of getting hit from behind.

Nope.

Doesn't really prove your point... if you are saying the area wasn't 'safe', what is safe to you? Parking lot surrounded by concrete????

Some moron can ALWAYS hit you.

I would’ve pulled over sooner but the cop was being a dick considering you weren’t causing any trouble. I pulled over in a similar bad spot because there was no safe place. Asked the cop to please go to the passenger side so he wouldn’t get hit. He acted like a dick the rest of the stop.

Officer friendly needs to hit the youtube for a few minutes and watch some of those videos of his colleagues being creamed by distracted drivers. Maybe he would be a little more rational.

That being said, I have been pulled over more than once where I got the impression the officer was fishing (I usually drive pretty old vehicles) and was hoping I had no licence or insurance or drunk. Once I proved clean they appeared to get frustrated and really started nit picking.......taillight lens being a tad sun bleached on a 30 year old truck. Stuff like that.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Doesn't really prove your point... if you are saying the area wasn't 'safe', what is safe to you? Parking lot surrounded by concrete????

Some moron can ALWAYS hit you.

My point is - I decide what is safe for me and my family, not anyone else.

To say that the cop is the only one at risk because his car is in the back is wrong. Me and my family are at risk also. I don't defer my responsibilities to my family to another man (or woman) because they have a badge.

There has not been one mention of a parking lot until you chimed in. The OP was on road, not a parking lot. The video was on a road, not a parking lot.

Last time I got pulled over, it was at night and the cop lit me up while I was 5th lane next to the HOV (far left) lane. I had to cross four more lanes to get to the shoulder. This was on the 60 in Rowland Heights, CA. Six lanes in each direction, road is always bumper to bumper traffic in all lanes. It was so dangerous to pull me over there. Reason for the stop was that I had exited the HOV lane on a solid white line. In AZ you can enter and exit HOV lanes anywhere, all of them are marked by double solid white lines. Cop let me go, but it was pretty silly to get pulled over for such a nothing violation, given all the insanity I see when driving around LA. And it was just a very dangerous time and place for a very minor traffic stop.

I would have stopped sooner, assuming that the cop would position his car with the flashers on to make it as safe as possible.

That said, given your circumstances, the cop might have been precipitous in arresting you. You had family with you, a reasonable explanation, and upon being searched had no contraband. But I certainly don't think he was completely out of bounds.

An arrest has occurred. This is a legal matter. It should be discussed with an attorney, not a public web board.

As a former Ohio cop I have charged offenders under this section. You should have stopped immediately. Let the officer tell you to drive farther if he feels it necessary. I have written on this ORC code. If I felt he was trying to escape I worded it as fleeing and eluding. If not they get a citation and get let go. They should have charged you for the red light as the PC for the stop. However some courts frown on that as stacking charges.

Let your attorney speak to the court and they may reduce the charge.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
From what I just read, cop was a jerk in my opinion.

This, completely.

quote:

Originally posted by Eponym:
I think continuing to drive 1.2-1.3 miles was a mistake. I might have immediately pulled over to the right as far as possible and let the policeman worry about safety.

The police actions after the stop do seem a bit excessive.

I’m in this boat also. Without knowing what an officer has just gone through or his briefing at the beginning of the day (“we’ve been seeing a rash of nefarious characters slowly run from us as they dispose of evidence”), I would’ve driven no more the 0.5 miles before pulling and await the officer’s response.

You think too much. Just pull over. The cop is behind you with lights on, and everyone in the world knows you’re both there.

You made a mistake. Cop was a badge-heavy shitbag.

Wonder if the cop reads SIGforum?

The officer observed your vehicle in a pattern consistent with someone buying time to conceal illicit substances, weapons, etc. So he was acting with due caution in elevating to backup personnel and a vehicle search. But, in my decidely unlegal opinion, this should have ended when the search turned up nothing and the detainee was cooperative and had a reasonable explanation for his behavior. The arrest was over the top.