Cops tase man on busy highway who is then run over and killed by a car

Police defenders be like “The cop clearly feared for his life”

 

Blameless? He participated and was involved in the death. Criminal? Don’t think so. Of course there were other choices. Say the kid runs into the highway and is killed and causes a wreck - then the cop is wrong for not detaining him earlier, right?
Did he go too far? Perhaps - we’ll never know.

I think it’s sad the person is dead. Should the cop’s behavior be reviewed? Of course. I’m always wary of taking 60 seconds of video and making decisions as though it’s the totality of the situation.

 

In VA the law is to move to the outside lane passing pullovers. About a year ago an “extra” cop at a stop chased me down because I couldn’t get over into that lane. I have no issue with it, happy to comply, but sometimes there is a vehicle in that lane.

He basically walked up and chastised me with maximum condescension. We had a heated argument. He started looking at my stickers, tags, trying to look all into the vehicle. FTR, I’m a teacher and this was a Chevy Cruze, middle of a Saturday morning. You may not be able to get more boring and uneventful than me, especially if you are a cop.

He told me to roll my window down more (nope) and said that my demeanor and “lack of cooperation” was causing him to become concerned for his and MY safety!! He took my license and registration and went to his car for about 20 minutes. We just sat there. He eventually walked my stuff back, handed it to me, and said “You have a safe day.”

Now I will say that in 6+ years in NOVA that is only the second time I have even been pulled over (the other was speeding turning onto a 25 MPH four lane road in Manassas, and I was indeed speeding; that officer was polite and respectful and I took my medicine—even rolled the window all the way down!)

But the point is they are so hyper-aware there is a law for it (again, no issue with the law) and they might even chase you down to give you a life lesson.

 

Which of those is a death penalty?

 

Sadly in florida vehicles much more often than not don't yield for us during a response and rarely slow down or move over while on scene. They actually move over more in 95 for us than anywhere else. Not enough cops here to enforce the issue though so it's largely ignored.

Also not a fan of his condescension when it's obvious why you did what you did.

 

And I totally agree with the intent of the law. I too see plenty of zoomers when they could’ve gotten over. This was on Fairfax Parkway. Another mile away is I66 and I do almost incomprehensible things to avoid that mess. It is like a rookie NASCAR race 24/7 and anyone on the side is immediately down to about a 80% survival rate, before you even factor in the reason they are there.

 

Sadly, all those cumulatively which led him to run from police onto a highway. Multiple poor choices over time.

 

Bullshit? We agree to disagree. This young man's poor decisions led him to a place where the stakes got higher and he lost. Dude did not deserve to die. His death was a result of all those things he had done up until then...and then the decision to run: He drove without a license. His tag was expired. He gave the cops a fake name. He had violated some provision of a drug charge. Then, he's pulled over and runs from the cop.

 

What people don't like to admit is how many victims have a hand in their own victimization. Feels kind of unseemly to express this sentiment due to it being perceived as unkind to the victim and excusing of *offender* culpability.

But it's reality.

Yes, his actions led to the situation and thus contributed to his own death. But yes too he did not deserve to die and yes, that deputy made a terrible decision in the situation, even if the Sheriff said he did not violate policy.

I hope this makes people question policy and use of force. Too many people die or are severely injured at the hands of police imo...in a country where people claim to love freedom, abhor govt abuse of power, and respect life.

 

yes. It is standard procedure to secure the individual. Some people
Get knocked out and wake up extremely disoriented and violent. It’s for safety of both. Procedure is procedure. Tragic event but avoidable

 

I’m not sure because it was back in the early 1990s,,, The Hillsborough County SO required all its deputies to be stunned while in Taser class as part of their qualifying to carry one. I refused and was not assigned one. I worked the streets alone, after 600 hours of training, for about 3 years as a regular reserve deputy. Never carried one.

I’d bet everyone in patrol is required to carry one these days. As to being tasered in class, ????

 

so why didnt you roll your window down more?

 

Colorado Cops be Crazy

Colorado cop found guilty of reckless endangerment for placing handcuffed suspect in patrol car hit by train

 

I had it rolled down plenty. I handed him my DL and reg through it, we were speaking, etc. it wasn’t just a DL sized crack, it was like halfway.

He didn’t even say anything until I had the audacity to stick up for myself. He was pissed off that I didn’t just take my whoopin’ and wanted to reestablish that he had the leverage. That is when he started looking all around, went to the back and looked at my tags, was looking through the rear windows, etc. Then he told me to roll the window down all the way and then gave me the veiled threat about “our” safety.

I have no duty to obey rando commands and arbitrary instructions. I do what I am compelled by law to do, like pullover, present the DL, registration, etc. and then whatever else I choose to do because that person persuaded me by being a decent human, like the other officer I mentioned. That guy actually gave me a ticket. And I am pointing out that he had the decency to treat me with respect.

But marching up and immediately berating me as if I plowed through a playground full of kids or something gets you legal compulsion only. If he had only “asked” me about it and heard my explanation that I am aware, happy to obey, but was unable to, and had “believed” me, we would have had a pleasant enough interaction. It is already inconvenient that I have to do that at all, but OK. But then again he wouldn’t have left the scene and chased me down in the first place if he thought my explanation was sufficient. He never even refuted my claim, as in something like “I saw that that lane was accessible.” He was just angry from the jump and got angrier when I didn’t just admit that I am an evil lane-stayer.

I never even got to the “I agree with the law” part because he was so incensed when I said I was aware of the law but felt moving over was too dangerous due to traffic in that lane. It’s not exactly I66, but the parkway is also perpetually busy, so the fact that both lanes are congested is far from a wild excuse.

BTW, vehicles buzzed by us in that lane during MY step the whole time. I also pulled off a good 6-7 feet or so from the road, as far as I could get over. The irony was thick.

 

While that may seem logical, it’s not. Clearly this violated something. Much better to not do it and cause a scene. Much easier

 

Good for you!

Too often people comply with unconstitutional or *illegal* demands and fishing expeditions by police to *find* crime or traffic infractions, thus giving up their rights and getting them into trouble.

Better to not comply with unconstitutional orders and then go fight it in court later on.

Folks need to remember that they have rights against unconstitutional searches and seizures and a right to keep their traps shut and not answer questions by police other than what might be mandated by law (see e.g. stop & id laws).

 

Rolling down the window?