What is your worst and best cop story?

[djdrock]

Reading another thread got me thinking about cops, and the general feeling that people have towards them.

I once got pulled over for hootin' and hollerin' at some girls at a gas station while driving by. The cop, in an unmarked vehicle, frisked myself and my passenger, illegally searched my vehicle, and asked my passenger to take a walk. He hid behind some shrubs, and watched as the cop spent 20 minutes or so going through my vehicle. He found nothing, so then decided that harassing me and other stuff was in order. I could not believe it. I asked for his badge number, which he refused. So, my passenger got back in the car, and we were both pissed to say the least. I ended up getting his license plate number, and it was a local suburb cop that happened to be with the same police force as the chief of police, who was a neighbor of ours. Anyways, I filed a formal complaint, and he was later dismissed. I found out months and months later that he was being investigated for similar crap with other people.

I got pulled over not too long ago and the cop said I was doing 75 in a 55. The kick was, I was going about 50 or so as it was raining hard, and my MR2 which needed new rear tires badly at the time. I said "Come on, there is no way...I was going under the speed limit". He said okay I must have been clocking someone else. He let me go.

I (we) recently got pulled over with a friend of mine, who now owns my former MR2 Spyder, going about 80 in a 55. Luckily it was a friend of mine who pulled us over and he said, hey, I thought that was your car when I got behind it. No ticket...

 

[SilverStone05]

Worst-Called the cops about some suspicious punks loitering down the street when I got home from a club one night. The cops showed up, let the kids on their way, and gave me a breathalyzer when my car was parked on private property. I passed those bastards.

Best-Lady cop bought me and friends some booze after picking us up when we ran out of gas. Yea, don't ask me. :biggrin:

 

[DocL]

My best story is when I was 17. I had a Jeep and the intersection near my house had a huge bump. I usually slowed up about a block away if the light was red so I could hit this bump at 50+ mph. When I did this, each time I got about 3-4 feet off the ground, it was a hoot!!! Anyway, one day I'm performing my usual jump routine and there is a cop at the light. Well I couldn't slow down in time so I just hit it hard and knew I was in deep $hit. My house was only a half-block down so I pulled into the driveway and tried to get into the garage when mister officer pulled in behind me. Now my driveway was very long, about 200 yeards to the back of the house where the garage was. He comes over and asks me, and I can't make this up, "Who do you think you are, Evil Kinevil trying to jump the Grand Canyon???" My friend and I laughed so much that I didn't care if I was going to get a ticket. Luckily, the officer knew my mother, from pulling her over a few times, and he let me off with a stern warning.

My worst story had to be when a cop punched me in the face when I asked for his badge number. I did nothing at all to deserve it, all I was doing was trying to get my friend to shut his mouth up when he was kicked out of a bar. Needless to say I learned a lot from that experience.

 

[djskyy]

WORST - At the time, I was 18 & living in Sheboygan, WI...One day, my friends and I were on our way back from Milwaukee and 1 of my friends bought a Angel paintball gun...All of us were check'n it out in the car and I guess 1 of then drivers who was passing by called the cops and said we had a real gun in our car and we were flashing it around ...next thing you know, there was a road block down I-43 near the Port Washington exit...Probably 8-10 cop cars w/ all of them w/ their shotguns/handguns drawn out...Man it was the scariest situation ever...We all had to throw our hands out the window, walk backwards, lay on the ground w/ all these freakn guns pointing straight at us...about 1hr later, all they found was the paintball gun & a bottle of wiskey...They let us go except we were all under 21 at that time, so my friend got the fine for underage posession of alcohol(which was his anyways)....

BEST - none

 

[nchopp]

It's a tough job, guys. I'm in an academy right now that our city is putting on for people that work with the PD on a regular basis. Myself, a reporter from the Free Press, a DA, a few attorneys, and some others are in it. I did a ridealong Friday, and man, they deal with some crazy shiet. Sure, there are some that're doing it just for a powertrip, but a lot of them honestly are out there to "serve and protect". So far, I've been VERY impressed with the cops in my town. Then again, I work for Public Safety as well (firefighter), so I guess that probably has something to do with it too.

Somewhat related, I got Tased at class on Tuesday. Man, that stuff is SERIOUS. No way in hell you're fighting through that.

 

[steveny]

When I was 18 I was doing donuts in the mall parking lot. I didn't know it but a state trooper was witnessing the whole thing. She put the lights on and pulled up. She says so what was that move you pulled over there. I said that move is called the slideways move. She almost fell over laughing and let me go.

Another time I was pulled over for speeding and the trooper asked me what the magic number was. I said I will go with the year of the car 69 Mustang. I was correct and he let me go.

I was over at a friends house when I was about 12. It was the 3rd of July and we were setting off firework. 2 houses up the road a sheriff lived. He came down and seized all our fireworks. About 15 minutes later he put on a fireworks show for his kids.

 

[NSXFreak00]

My worst story had to be when a cop punched me in the face when I asked for his badge number. I did nothing at all to deserve it, all I was doing was trying to get my friend to shut his mouth up when he was kicked out of a bar. Needless to say I learned a lot from that experience.

Umm, tell me you did something about this...

He has no right to do that.

 

[clr1024]

Worst - My girlfriends car got stolen from a parking garage downtown in Orlando after being out at night. She was driving and was not drunk by any means. Anyway after walking to where the car should of been we realized it was gone, we then talked to garage personnel and asked about it they said no tow trucks had been in there. So the car was stolen. We find a cop and start talking to him, my poor girlfriend is bawling her eyes out and explaining the story to the cop. He just berates her, are you sure its stolen? are you sure you didn't park somewhere else? Ok this is valid the first time round, but thats all he keeps asking in a very condescending tone for the next 20 minutes or so, I confirm her story and apologize just to be nice a couple of times. He yells at me to stop apologizing, then I was just near him and did not touch him or come close and he yells at me not to touch him . WTF. Anyway this continues and finally he files a report so she has something to give to her insurance agent. To me he was just had little man syndrome, he was 5' 6 or something, nothing against the people here that are short but hopefully you understand what I mean when I really think he got off on power tripping because he had a badge. to say I outsized him is an understatement but being aggressive is not in my nature. Unless really provoked, but even that takes a lot. I just felt really bad for my girlfriend as here she is going through this traumatic experience and one of Orlando's finest doesn't make the situation better he just berates her. Its a shame cops like this give bad names to some cops that really are good at their jobs.

Will have to think about a good cop story.

 

[simonprelude]

Erm, the day I bough the DC2 I tested it slightly doing approx 100 on a dual carriageway. Got followed for over a mile, pulled, asked why I thought he had pulled me over, I said was the exhaust a bit loud maybe (Spoon N1 decat) said he saw what I had done and it was my lucky day that they weren't on traffic

Worst being slightly over the limit (alcohol) when sliding on ice into a metal post, 12 month driving ban followed. Hard one but taught me a lesson.

 

[DocL]

Umm, tell me you did something about this...

He has no right to do that.

I spoke with an attorney and he basically said that for the next two years that I'd be living there it would be best not to do anything. Gotta love those Boston cops.

 

[ryans]

Where do I began?

I must have been about 18 and it was 4 am, me and my friends started doing driving in circles in an empty parking lot, not doing donuts, just driving. Cops pull up and we stop and I see one cop get out and he has his shotgun in one hand. I told the cops we were waiting for my friends who owned the donut shop at the mall we were at. They said oh we know them too and let us go.

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I was in my wifes prelude and my friend was next to me in his GSR. We hit a red light and he starts revving like crazy, light turns green and we both take off street racing, about 5 seconds later I've got lights flashing behind me. My other buddy cut across my lane and hit the freeway and took off. I just pulled over to take my punishment. This motorcycle cop saw the whole thing. I pulled over and he asked to see the video tape my brother took during the race, but my brother was denying it. I just told my brother to give him the camcorder. The office recognized my face from my website and started laughing. He said hey your that guy from that website! I finally caught you. My old website had a lot of my racing adventures on it, lots of movies you can watch. He watched the tape few times and then let us go.

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I was driving down 101 south from a club in SF late one night in my wifes prelude and I was doing around 80, noticed a cop in my rear view and slowed down. The cop paced me for a bit then got off an an exit. After that I took off to about 90mph and that cop came chasing after me. He was laughing his ass off saying I fell for the oldest trick in the book. He let me go.

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One night we were at my old shop in Hayward, and we hear some street racing going on. Craig and I took my 93 Sentra automatic to go see what's going on. by the time we got there no one was around. So I decided to ebrake this one turn and I drifted it pretty well. It was late at night in remote business area so we felt pretty safe. Craig then asked to try it and I said Ok, but i'm getting out the car since I felt he was a crazier driver than me. So he did the turn and spun out, and as he did that I notice a police officer roll up to this corner behind him. The cop didn't see what happened though, he only saw all the smoke and you could smell rubber really bad. So I see the cop and jump behind some bushes. The cop starts following craig and craig pulls up to the bushes in hiding in and the red and blues are a flashing...

So this cop jumps out of this car and asks WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING? We told him we heard some noises and decided to take a drive to see whats going on. Well the cop is starting to get pissed and he said you guys better tell me what's really going on or i'll take you to jail. You got one guy in the bushes here and the other guy doing god knows what?

So I told him about that turn and how we like to take it fast and I told him I got out because I was scared my friend would crash. He believed it and told us to get lost.
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Article I wrote back in 1998.

I recently got pulled over on the freeway. I was cruising at 85 in a 65. My girlfriend and I
were going to San Francisco. It was a really clear day, and the road was wide open. Lucky for me I wasn't doing my average 100+. I saw him way back there so I down shifted not to show my brake lights, then pulled into the middle lane. He came cruising up and got right behind me. I said awe man, i'm getting pulled over. Next thing I know lights come on. I pulled off the highway into this residential area in Danville off of 680.

He came up and told me that he pulled me over for doing 85 in a 65. I agreed with him. He then asked for my license, registration and insurance. The only thing I had on me was my Drivers License. He didn't like that but took my ID and went back to his car. I was totally bummed, I was thinking "Damn third ticket this
year, this is going to be expensive." He came back about 2 minutes later and asked me to step out of the car. "Oh Damn, I must be in trouble now I thought. How often do they ask you to get out of your car?"
I got out and he told me to come over to his car.
Officer: "Where is your Insurance and Registration?"
Ryan: "Oh, it's at home in my other car."
Officer: "How long has your windshield been cracked?"
Ryan: "About 1 month"
Officer: "Why haven't you gotten it fixed yet?"
Ryan: "Oh, because it's expensive."
Officer: "You know that you where going 85 in a 65. I don't care if your in a rush or whatever."
"If you were to get in an accident at that speed it would most likely be fatal. I don't want to have to call an ambulance to pick you up. You know you have to share the road with other drivers. People that are going home to see their family's. In most accidents, it's not the people that are speeding that get hurt, it's usually the innocent people. OK?"

Ryan: "OK, thank you. "
Officer: "Have a nice day."

I shook his hand and left. NO TICKET, YES! but what he did say has been sticking in my head. I guess a lecture could be better than a ticket. It's fun to race, but do it safely. Always wear your seat belts.

 

[mindretch]

Will have to think about a good cop story.

Best -

Early 70's Colorado, driving up a winding canyon in an Alfa Berlina. Having a *animated conversation* with my mother-in-law when the state trooper turned on his siren. He asked me to step out of the car and walk back to his vehicle.
I asked him if I had been speeding. He replied "Oh yeah, 35-40 over for the past 5 miles." I apologised, "Sorry, Officer, I was talking to my mother-in-law and not paying attention". He repied, "I could see that, she talks pretty loud with her hands. Figured you might want a break."
"You didn't seem to be having any problem with the road," he continued, "but it was getting hard for me to keep up so I though I better slow you down." "I don't want people complaining about your speed or trying to do the same on my route."
"Promise to slow it down around here and we can just talk for a while - otherwise you can go right back to your argument."

35 years now and I have never broken that promise - "around there".

 

[heySkippy]

How about a recent bad story?

Just last Sunday morning, I took a picture of an accident scene (an SUV had driven through the front of a house). For doing this, I was admonished by a state trooper who asked for my name and address. The last thing he said to me was "If I see that picture on the internet, I'm coming after you".

Of course, the first thing I did when I got home was put it on the internet. Want to see it?

 

[DrVolkl]

Best-
Back when I was in college in Buffalo:
Had a few beers at one of the bars near campus and me and my buddies decided we wanted to head down the street to another bar. Well, it's winter, and it's cold....cold cold...snow covered roads, and snowing. So we figure it would be better to drive the two blocks than to walk. We hop in my Mustang GT and head down the street. Well I notice that there's a parking spot right in front of the bar. Now, the bar is on the other side of the street, so imagine street parking where the cars are one in front of another. I suddenly think it's a good idea to do a power slide into the spot..basically whipping a 180 slide into a spot between two cars on the opposite side of the street facing the other direction. It really was quite the maneuver...the snow covered roads and the stangs RWD worked perfectly together. Unfortunately I failed to notice that one of the two cars I was performing my ballet act in front of was a police car.
Lights came on....cops come up to both windows...and I proceed to get yelled at. "What the hell was that? What were you thinking?!?!". I replied...and I'll never forget this... "I don't know...I must be retarded". And with that he let me off. He said he now knew my car and if I ever pulled anything like that again, he'd throw me in jail. He also said I better be drinking water the rest of the night because he'd be waiting for me when I got out. He also said I had a nice car and I should appreciate the fact that he just saved my butt from a huge insurance hike.
I learned a huge lesson that night for sure!

 

[clr1024]

Best -

Early 70's Colorado, driving up a winding canyon in an Alfa Berlina. Having a *animated conversation* with my mother-in-law when the state trooper turned on his siren. He asked me to step out of the car and walk back to his vehicle.
I asked him if I had been speeding. He replied "Oh yeah, 35-40 over for the past 5 miles." I apologised, "Sorry, Officer, I was talking to my mother-in-law and not paying attention". He repied, "I could see that, she talks pretty loud with her hands. Figured you might want a break."
"You didn't seem to be having any problem with the road," he continued, "but it was getting hard for me to keep up so I though I better slow you down." "I don't want people complaining about your speed or trying to do the same on my route."
"Promise to slow it down around here and we can just talk for a while - otherwise you can go right back to your argument."

35 years now and I have never broken that promise - "around there".

Man that cop has a good sense of humor. For whatever reason it reminds me of this joke

A middle aged man in Florida bought a brand new Mercedes convertible. He took off down the road, flooring it to 80 mph and enjoying the wind blowing through his hair.

"This is great," he thought as he roared down I-75. He pushed the pedal to the metal even more. Then he looked in his rear view mirror and saw a highway patrol trooper behind him, blue lights flashing and siren
blaring.

"I can get away from him with no problem," thought the man and he tromped it some more and flew down the road at over 100 mph. Then 110, 120 mph!

Then he thought, "What am I doing? I'm too old for this kind of thing." He pulled over to the side of the road and waited for the trooper to catch up with him. The trooper pulled in behind the Mercedes and walked up to the man.

"Sir," he said, looking at his watch. "My shift ends in 30 minutes and today is Friday. If you can give me a reason why you were speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go."

The man looked at the trooper and said,
"Years ago my wife ran off with a Florida state trooper, and I thought you were bringing her back." The trooper replied,
"Sir, have a nice day."

 

[Autophile]

Story 1: Night time street racing in Sacramento back in the early 90's (El Centro Road). One night two Sacramento City patrol cars came by to make sure no one was racing. Well, one of the racers knew the policemen, and he had lightened them up so much that when they left, the two police cars lined up, rev'd their engines, and drag raced each other out of there! That is still one of the craziest things I've ever seen.

Story 2: NSXPO 2003, Comptech visit. At the end of the visit, the California Highway Patrol gave us all (~100 NSX's) an escort from El Dorado Hills to Fairfield. At the start of the escort, the police officers shut down Highway 50 for us, at rush hour, while hundreds of cars backed up on the highway! Once we are all on the highway, the police bring us into the fast lane, where we cruise at speeds of 80-100 mph. A couple times, the group became segmented from traffic congestion, so the police direct the non-NSX cars out of the way and prompt the latter NSX's to pick up the pace. On one of those events, I know I was going 100 mph, right next to the bike officer, and he was giving me the signal to "pick up the pace" to catch up with the leading NSX's. Ok, so I picked up the pace up to about 140 mph. :redface: It was the oddest thing, to be going so fast, right next to a cop, and he's signaling me to go faster. :biggrin:

 

[PoohBEAR]

I have been a good boy.

 

[DocL]

... On one of those events, I know I was going 100 mph, right next to the bike officer, and he was giving me the signal to "pick up the pace" to catch up with the leading NSX's. Ok, so I picked up the pace up to about 140 mph. :redface: It was the oddest thing, to be going so fast, right next to a cop, and he's signaling me to go faster. :biggrin:

I had a similar situation like that on the Annual Halloween Bike Run from Boston to Salem. :biggrin:

 

[Meeyatch1]

Okay...so I was minding my own business ( :wink: ) driving from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne, Indiana on a Sunday morning in my favorite blue pajamas with little cows on them. This was after a long night of hanging out with friends and generally acting retarded. I had to be back in Fort Wayne by noon for some reason which to this day I cannot remember. Anyway, this was back when I only had one NSX (my '91 Berlina Black) and I was cruising along at about 110-115 mph in a 65 mph zone on I-69 North in a big hurry listening to my CD's and just enjoying the ride. I remember looking in the mirror and seeing my hair spiked up looking like I had just done a stretch in lockup (I had not, I just had severe 'bed head')....I remember thinking I was glad nobody could see me like this behind my window tint. Well...that was about to change. :biggrin:

Anyone who knows me knows I am a leadfoot....I just am, so don't judge me. The road was very light on traffic so I was moving well. About halfway to Fort Wayne I notice a line of 3 vehicles in the right lane, so I move to the far left of my left lane as not to blow them off the road or scare them too much since I was moving much faster than they were. The rear vehicle was a camper truck, the front was a van...the middle car I did not see well, but I wish I had. All I could tell was that it was silver.

Well, about 10 seconds later my V1 blows up like I was just kicked into DEFCON 5 on D-Day, and I damn near had a heart attack!! I threw down my half eaten Hostess snack cake and yelled, 'What the hell was that,' and saw the rear arrow on the V1 lit up. Whooops....that is not good. :frown:

A little ways back I see the silver car....the silver Camaro...the silver UNMARKED Camaro Z28 police car...oh crap...I am in trouble. :redface:

Well, for a quick flash I though, 'Hell...I am in an NSX...I will just floor it and go,' which lasted for all of 2 seconds until my brain actually kicked in and said, 'Look tool box...pull over before you pi$$ this guy off more than you already have,' and so I did. I pulled over to the side and actually had to wait about 20 seconds for him to even get to where I was....damn!! I had a good lead!!

He walks up to the passenger window, looks in, sees a 22 year old idiot (me) in blue cow pajamas, wild hair, T-shirt wrinkled beyond recogniztion, not shaved, with no shoes on, driving an exotic sports car...man, that must have been unexpected for him. :biggrin:

As I settle in for the anticipated Rodney King treatment, he politely says, 'Thanks for pulling over...I did not want to have to try and catch you,' to which I smiled and said, 'You are welcome'.

'You know why I pulled you over right?'

'Oh yes.'

'When you passed me I am guessing you must have been doing about 115 mph.'

'Sounds about right.' (No reason to lie...he had me nailed.)

(He steps back and looks the NSX up and down the side)

'This thing really moves doesn't it?'

'Yes sir.' (Smiling)

'Why were you going so fast?'

'Honestly...this is just how I drive, Officer. No reason.'

(Officer smiles and nods.)

'License and registration please...I will be right back.'

(10 minutes and 2 panic attacks later)

'He is your ticket. I did you a favor since you pulled over. I wrote you for '95+' so that I do not have to take you and your car to jail today.'

'Thank you, Officer.'

'So...how fast will this thing go anyway?'

'I have no idea. (In my mind I am thinking, 'I saw 162 mph once'.) What do you guys have in those Camaros anyway? Those are fast, right?'

'Yep. (Officer just grins) Slow down the rest of the way, have a good day.'

He was so polite I actually called his base camp and told his superiors how professional he was and how much I appreciated it. Nice guy...probably still shocked that I had not stolen the car...I mean, the cow pajamas are not just for anyone you know.

 

[nchopp]

Few tips, from the PD side, if\when you get pulled over.

1. Be honest. Don't say "Oh, I didn't know it was 55, Officer." We all know what the speed limits are.
2. Don't try to shake hands. Cops do NOT want to shake hands when on the job. Think about it for a second.
3. You want the cop to forget you, particularly if you're planning on going to court. If you smart off, they're going to remember you, and leave a note for themselves to make it to the court date if you set one. You don't want that.
4. After the stop, take a few mintues to write down everything that happened. Where you are (closest mile marker, direction, and road), the level of traffic, who was with you in the car and where they were seated, the weather conditions, road conditions, etc. This will all come in handy if you go to court for it. You can bet the Officer is doing the same thing.
5. The magic number for most PDs is somewhere between 9-11 over. If you're doing more than that in town, you're gonna get busted. Highways are much more variable.

 

[Meeyatch1]

Few tips, from the PD side, if\when you get pulled over.

1. Be honest. Don't say "Oh, I didn't know it was 55, Officer." We all know what the speed limits are.
2. Don't try to shake hands. Cops do NOT want to shake hands when on the job. Think about it for a second.
3. You want the cop to forget you, particularly if you're planning on going to court. If you smart off, they're going to remember you, and leave a note for themselves to make it to the court date if you set one. You don't want that.
4. After the stop, take a few mintues to write down everything that happened. Where you are (closest mile marker, direction, and road), the level of traffic, who was with you in the car and where they were seated, the weather conditions, road conditions, etc. This will all come in handy if you go to court for it. You can bet the Officer is doing the same thing.
5. The magic number for most PDs is somewhere between 9-11 over. If you're doing more than that in town, you're gonna get busted. Highways are much more variable.

So you are saying that going 115 mph on the highway in an NSX and cow pajamas with morning hair might get remembered?? :tongue: :biggrin:

 

[CL65 Captain]

One of my former clients owns a race car themed resturant in Orlando. I was down there for the grand opening with all the celebrity part owners.... We were sitting at a table drinking and Michael Andretti tells this story of getting pulled over by the PA State Police. Cop walks up to the car and asks for L & R and says, "Son, who do you think you are, Mario Andretti?" Michael hands him his liscene and says, "No, Michael Andretti." Cop takes a look at it and say, "Ahby Damn, have a nice day!" as he hands the license back. :biggrin:

 

[druby]

Trip to Arkansas year and half ago for the georgia - arkansas game. I had two buddies with me. We flew in and went to mexican restaurant and $80 later for 3 of us we headed to Fayetteville. Spent the next 4 hours drinking as we made our way down the main drag of bars. Being a relative lightweight I quit drinking around 6;00 PM. My buddies continued to drink as we went from place to place until we headed back around 2:30. By this time it had been over 6 hours since I had anything to drink and we had a very large steak dinner around 11:00 that night. Trying to find my way out of Fayetteville (we were staying in Bentonville). There were light in my rear view as I was trying to find the interstate. Didn't realize it was police I thought I was holding someone up and driving to slow so I speed up, he kept on my bumper so I continued to speed up. Lights come on and he stops me. Asks for my license and tells me I was doing 50 in a 35. I told him I was lost and thought I was holding him up. He asked me to step out and by this time another police car is there both hae the lights on and there are 4 cops watching as he now gives me a field sobriety test. I thought I did good, but pulls out the breathalyzer. Gives me the test 3 times before telling me a failed every fireld sobreity test but blew a 0 on the breathalyzer. They left me go. My buddy who was with me is the chief asst. DA said if they put me in the car he would have said something.

:redface:

 

[steva44]

Back in my highschool days, four years ago, we had to do a modern rendition of a shakespere play for english class. Me and my friends decided to make a "fun" rendition with mullets, fake guns, gangster like.. well long story short, one of friends was tied up to a tree in the park with fake blood all over him, three of my friends had real looking handguns in their hands, and I had a small chainsaw that I was unsuccessfully trying to start. To top it all off, we all had fake mullets and trench coats on. The last thing I remember is a glock 5 ft from me pointed at my face, and about 15 cops yelling and screaming at us to drop our weapons and get down. I started laughing because my friend tied to the tree was screaming "dont shoot me I cant lay down I am still tied up" luckily the cops saw the humour in it and didnt take us to jail

 

[nchopp]

That's CLASSIC! Man. You know, calling the PD BEFORE staging all this might've been a good idea.