Exercising The 4th Is Exhausting

dandays (67)in #story • 6 years ago (edited)

I recently shared a story about the time I dialed 9-1-1 in the middle of nowhere. There’s a section in that post where the police officer wanted to search my vehicle and I complied. What I said was: “I said no once, BIG mistake, that’s a post for a later date.” Welcome to a later date - This is the time I said no.

It’s near the end of 2008, I’m building Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. That was the first time I lived in Las Vegas.

My mother watched my dog for me that year, she loved it when I needed her to watch The Rook. She knew by doing so she’d see me regularly, as well as daily phone calls from me checking in “how’s Rook?” At the time she was only 90 miles from Las Vegas - It worked out great for everyone.

A Friday after work: I rolled onto Interstate 40 toward Kingman, Arizona USA, exiting Highway 95, the route leading to and from Las Vegas. The interstate is two lanes, the on-ramp is a single, narrow lane. I know my mothers exit is about 10 miles ahead and there’s a semi truck in the slow lane. I rolled onto the interstate with the intention of passing the semi truck but when I looked over my shoulder there’s a police car approaching in the next lane and he’s approaching fast! I didn’t see him:

iPhone, google earth, Fumatic app

To avoid obstructing the cop car’s high speed, I slowed down and got back behind the semi truck. The cop was going so fast, he passed me before he was able to slow down enough to get behind me. As soon as he got behind me, he hit his sirens, I pulled over:

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I know the routine: Vehicle is turned off. Window is rolled down. Hands are in the ‘10 n 2 position’ on the steering wheel. The very first words out of his mouth are “nice tattoos” and continued by asking me “what’s the big hurry that made you nearly run me off the road back there?” ..disclaimer: The art of ‘kill’em with kindness’ wasn’t introduced to me yet.

“I didn’t cut you off, I was going to pass the semi truck but I didn’t see you because you were going so fast!” He told me “step out of the vehicle please.” “Step out for what?” He instructed me to grab my license, registration, proof of insurance and exit the vehicle because it isn’t safe for him to stand on the side of the Interstate. I grabbed my documents and met him on the other side of our vehicles - His police cruiser is now shielding us from traffic.

I handed him my documents, he said “wait right here” and sat back down in his police cruiser. I have a clean record so within a few minutes he got out of his car and handed my documents back to me. “What brings you out here?” I told him the whole shpeel; working in Vegas, mom watching dog, etc. His line of questioning immediately changed: “Do you have any guns in the car?” “What? No.” I assumed he asked me that question because Nevada is a right to carry state. “No, I don’t have any guns in the car, I’m just trying to hang out with my dog for the weekend.” He told me to hold my arm out, “let me see your hand.” He held my hand and put his fingers on my wrist:

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“Why is your heart beating so fast?” “Because you’re a cop.” He asked “do I make you nervous?” “Of course!” I pointed to the guns on his belt, “you have those things and now we’re holding hands on the side of the highway and I haven’t broken any laws.” He said “don’t move” and retrieved a piece of paper from the dash of his car.

We stood at the front of his car and he’s holding down a piece of paper on the hood of the cruiser, trying to hand me a pen, explaining to me why I needed to sign it. He said it’s a document that grants him the right to search my vehicle; “if you don’t have any guns in the car, you don’t have anything to worry about.” I told him “I’m not signing it.” He told me to comply - I refused. “No. It’s my car and I don’t want you to search it?” He asked me if I was hiding something. I told him “no, I just don’t want you in my car.” He insisted I comply or he’ll radio his captain and the captain has the authority to grant the search. I said “call him.” He asked me a few more times with different words. “No. I don’t care how you word the question, I’m not signing that piece of paper.” “If you don’t have anything to hide, just sign it, I’ll search your car and you’ll be on your way.” “No. Call your boss.” He wanted me to sit in the back seat of his police cruiser while he made the call. “No way!”

Now he’s ordering me to sit in the back of his police car while he made the call - I refused. We went back and forth several times “no, I’m not sitting in the back of your car!” He eventually gave me the option of sitting in the front passenger seat, I complied. He left the door open while he radio’d his captain - The captain arrived in less than 5 minutes.

The captains police cruiser was identical, both cars had the same markings and colors, the officers had matching uniforms, matching shoes etc. but the captain’s wearing a different hat. The new officer has a round brim that goes all the way around his hat, shading his ears and face. That’s the only difference my untrained eye detected:

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They shook hands, briefed each other etc. The new officer motioned for me to exit the cop car and now the three of us are standing in front of the car, shielded from traffic, on the side of Interstate 40. The captain asked me why I refused to sign the search release. “Because I want to go see my dog, I’m not doing anything wrong, it’s my car and I don’t want you to search it.” He looked at the original officer “do you have probable cause?” “He was swerving and his heart rate is rapid.” Without any hesitation, the captain said “Ok! Search his vehicle.” I said “that’s it?! That’s all it takes?! All he has to do is tell you I was swerving and now you have the right to search my car??”

I no longer had the option of waiting in the front seat of the police car. Now I’m being escorted to the back of the police car by both officers, I’m being told to “calm down” while one held the door open and the other made sure I didn’t hit my head as they placed me in the back seat of the police car. They closed the door and now I’m locked in - They never even searched my pockets!

Those cops searched every inch of that car. I didn’t realize the extent of their search until I was released from the back seat. I watched one of them empty out all of my games in the trunk of my car.

He emptied out my chess board, cribbage board, cards, checkers, backgammon, dominoes, all inside the trunk of my car. (strategy games, specifically chess, it’s a sickness, that’s a post for a later date) He removed the speakers from the trunk, set the box on the side of the highway and I saw him remove the carpet from the trunk, the spare tire, everything inside the spare tire compartment and he continued going through the trunk while the other guy is searching inside the car. I couldn’t see what was happening inside the car through the tinted windows.

It lasted quite awhile, those cops were thorough, I was locked in the back of that cop car the entire time. I was back there at least 20 minutes before the “captain” finally got in his squad car and took off. The original officer came back to me and opened the door to let me out. “Your vehicle’s been cleared, you’re free to go see your dog now” and motioned for me to go to my car. From where we were standing I could see my car was in a million pieces, I asked him “are you going to put my car back together?!” “No” he told me “but I’ll wait right here with my lights so you can:

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I looked at the speakers laying on the side of the highway, both passenger doors are still wide open, the lights are all on and the vehicle is in complete disarray. I didn’t say anything else, I just walked toward the car. The first thing I noticed was the mess of games in the trunk. They destroyed my things. I began putting the trunk back together and the police officer took off! He actually peeled out on the side of the highway and left a cloud of dust for me as he sped off. I was never issued a citation nor was I ever asked to empty my pockets. I wasn’t even searched before they locked me in the back seat of the police cruiser. All I did was avoid cutting off a police car that was approaching me really fast on the highway - That was my first mistake. But when I refused to let the officer search my car - That was mistake #2. That’s when things got messy, tossed, damaged and ruined.

Putting my trunk back together was the easy part. That duo of officers destroyed that car. It was a Saturn, nothing fancy, a 4-door commuter car but it was new at the time and paid for and it wasn’t theirs. They tore all four door panels off of the doors - “Tore.” They ripped the plastic behind the door panels off, too, and ripped the speakers out of the doors - “Ripped.” They tore out the entire headliner and stuffed the shredded pieces on the passenger floor board, there wasn’t a fabric of foam left on the ceiling of that car. They removed the center console from the car without tools, they broke it, the two or three bolts that held it down were ripped through the plastic and ruined. The door runners between the seats and the doors, typically hard plastic to secure the carpet, held down by factory metal clips - They broke all four of those too.

They did a lot of damage to the interior of that car. I ended up putting a bunch more miles on the vehicle but I never replaced the headliner. It was miserable inside that thing in the summer! The day I totaled that car all four door panels were held on by the tech screws I screwed them back on with - I had to drill new holes in the doors. I ended up putting the center console back together with bigger bolts and I had to re-thread the factory mounting hardware. The door runners never got replaced because I couldn’t just replace the broken plastic clips. That was about the same time General Motors was closing the doors on Saturn and I would’ve had to order the runners, hardware, etc and it just didn’t seem worth it to me.

I just comply now! That’s why I complied when the police officer hassled me in the middle of nowhere. I said no once, been there - done that, it didn’t work out! Should I get stopped today, I mirror the routine: Vehicle off - check. Window down - check. Hands in the ‘10 & 2’ position - check. If they want to search my car though, I don’t say no anymore, now I kill’em with kindness. If they want to search my vehicle today, I’ll step aside, roll out the red carpet for them, patiently wait and pretend there’s nowhere I’d rather be: “Yes sir, officer, I thought you’d never ask, sir!”

#writing #new #blog #life

6 years ago in #story by dandays (67)

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geneeverett (61) 6 years ago

Man this made me mad. Similar situation happened to me. I know a lot of good people who wear the uniform so was always extra respectful which ended up not making a difference when this almost exact thing happened to me. I thought about taking them to court but was quickly told and figured it wouldn’t be worth it.

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dandays (67) 6 years ago (edited)

I have more of these stories actually, it sucks! You’re right about court though, the same person that signs the judges check signs the police officers check. We don’t stand a chance!

I have some cool cop stories, too, though! Not as many but I have some. There’s absolutely some good uniforms out there, great! I’m sure of it...

Thanks a lot for stopping by @geneeverett, I appreciate it! Here’s to 57 hundred. 🥂

Exercising The 4th Is Exhausting

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