Had an interesting encounter with a LEO who thought he was above the law.

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dcmdon

dcmdon

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Hi all, my wife and I had a fun encounter with a very angry man on Saturday morning.

We were on our way to PA where she was competing in a half ironman triathlon to celebrate 10 years of breast cancer survival. (She was diagnosed on 9/11/01 - a crappy day in every way, but now both a happy and sad day for us)

We were on 95 in relatively heavy traffic when a Toyota Tundra pickup truck came up HARD on my bumper. Traffic was heavy, so you just stayed in line and kept up with the car in front of you. I lightly touched the brakes to flash the brake lights to ask him to give me some room but he persisted. A few minutes later I saw an opening in the right lane and saw it as an opportunity to get away from him so I pulled right and passed a couple of cars. A minute after that the car in front of him pulled to the right and he went roaring up past me in the left lane and put himself 2 ft off the bumper of the next car.

At that point the left lane started to slow and I went by him on the right. He pulled behind me again, except this time in the right lane and rode 2 ft off my bumper. So I took my foot off the gas and started just coasting, this made him irate and he pulled into the left lane along side of me flashed me his badge and pointed at his shoulder. I gave him a big thumbs up. (annoys idiots much more than the middle finger, which really lacks imagination)

It was at this point he noticed my wife filming him with her iphone.

Then everything changed. His eyes went forward. He dropped back a reasonable distance from the car in front of him. And never bothered anyone for as long as he was in sight of me.
I feel like I did a good deed.

Video IS the great equalizer.

Don
 
Just a week or two ago my sister was run off the road by some a**h*** in a huge black truck. He sped in front of her, slammed on his brakes causing her to veer right into another car and spun out over four lanes of traffic. Her car was totaled and the a**h*** who caused it sped off without any damages. There's plenty of a**h***s out there with big trucks and small dicks. Expect it, and plan accordingly.
 
JoeyD said:
I hope you got his plate number and called the cops.
Click to expand...

I did. I saw him get on the radio, he had an extra antenna on his truck, so I fell back to something a friend of mine who is a state trooper told me: "The first one to call us is the victim".
So yes. I dialed 911 and reported what I saw. I simply told the truth because his behavior was textbook reckless driving.

My wife is tougher than anyone else I know. For her 5 year survival anniversary she ran the NY Marathon. At mile 16 she blew out her knee. She finished 10 more miles and couldn't walk right for weeks. Tough as nails.

Don't tell her, but I'm actually afraid of her.
 
Marcus5aurelius said:
Just a week or two ago my sister was run off the road by some a**h*** in a huge black truck. He sped in front of her, slammed on his brakes causing her to veer right into another car and spun out over four lanes of traffic. Her car was totaled and the a**h*** who caused it sped off without any damages. There's plenty of a**h***s out there with big trucks and small dicks. Expect it, and plan accordingly.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing the video taping would not have had such an effect if he had not been a LEO.

The funny thing is that I was carrying my Kahr PM9 at the time. I have a FL permit which covers me in DE and PA, where we were going to be.

It may be a topic for another thread, but 20 miles later I'd not have been armed. By then I'd have pulled over into the shoulder to put the Kahr in the trunk in compliance with the safe passage portion of FOPA for my drive through NY and NJ. Even if he wasn't a LEO and had truly intended to do me harm, my car is a far more effective weapon than a gun out on the highway.

Years ago I got the opportunity to play a bad guy for a company that taught defensive and offensive driving to government and private security companies. I learned a lot. A pickup truck with its light back end would be very easy to nudge into a spin with the nose of your car. They were based out of the old Bridgehampton Raceway. The track is now a golf course. Another sad story.

Don
 
dcmdon said:
he pulled into the left lane along side of me flashed me his badge and pointed at his shoulder...
Click to expand...

And you pulled out your CCW badge and flashed him back? LOL What an ass hat. He should be charged with impersonating a respected police officer.

+1 on the thumbs up, I do that too along with the friendly wave with a smile.
 
[thinking]
I doubt he was a cop. Maybe a mall Ninja. I had one do that to me once on 290. He pulled up next to me and flashed a badge. He put his passenger window down, I put my drivers window down. I told him, "Go yea forth and multiply with thyself" in a biblical sense but not so many words. He sped off. Even if he was a cop screw him. They have no right to tailgate or harass anyone.
 
This was before my wife started filming with her phone. She shot this prior to him getting really aggressive with me.

[video=youtube_share;pmFeq_uCyU4]http://youtu.be/pmFeq_uCyU4[/video]

This was after she filmed him with her phone. His driving is "normal" now. Anybody know this guy?

[video=youtube_share;FFvdOzZbgMQ]http://youtu.be/FFvdOzZbgMQ[/video]

The audio in the first vid gives his plate number.

Please excuse the BAD Bob Seger impression in the 2nd vid.

Don
 
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jarhead66 said:
[thinking]
I doubt he was a cop. Maybe a mall Ninja. I had one do that to me once on 290. He pulled up next to me and flashed a badge. He put his passenger window down, I put my drivers window down. I told him, "Go yea forth and multiply with thyself" in a biblical sense but not so many words. He sped off. Even if he was a cop screw him. They have no right to tailgate or harass anyone.
Click to expand...

He was a cop. He was pointing at his shoulder patch at one point as if I should read what it said. I tried, but couldn't. Also, in CT all the security guards have square badges, not shields. Thats done for recognition purposes by real LEOs. Mall ninjas are referred to as "square badgers" in CT.

Finally, I doubt a civilian would have snapped into line as much as he did when he saw he was being videotaped. This guy literally went from reckless and dangerous to completely courteous when he saw the camera.
 
dcmdon said:
I gave him a big thumbs up. (annoys idiots much more than the middle finger, which really lacks imagination)
Click to expand...

yeh, i usually blow a kiss...
you should SEE how much THAT pisses off the typical 'Roid-Rage road rager.....

though if he flashed the badge i probably would've flipped him the bird....
 
+1 for the Seger sing-along

-1 to that chode in the Tundra

and +1 million for your wife for beating cancer. Forget that idiot and his road (roid) rage.
 
Not so sure that he was a cop. Sounds more like a mall-ninja or security guard cop wannabe or maybe some kind of small town auxiliary or reserve officer who can't get on full time because he is too much of a "hot dog." It also could be some nut flashing his CCW badge because he left his sash at home.

The extra antenna doesn't mean anything per se. There are a lot of wannabes with scanners, CB radios and even flashing lights on their vehicles.
 
Best wishes to your wife; may she have many future years of negative checkups. [thumbsup][thumbsup] When you flashed the idiot the thumbs up instead of the finger, he might have thought you were a fellow LEO; most folks would probably have flipped him off. I find that wearing glasses is beneficial in situations like this. I reseat them on my nose using my middle finger; a little something I learned from my old man. [grin]
 
When I get a tailgater, if moving over in the lane doesn't work or is not possible, I pretend like I'm falling asleep and do the whole head bob to the side and a little brake light action, they usually back right off. Or a half gallon of washer fluid sometimes does the trick too.
 
I would bet a large sum of money he wasn't a LEO. Just because he was worried that you were taking a picture/video doesn't prove he was LEO. In fact someone who was impersonating a LEO would likely be more concerned about that.
Now I know this won't be a popular position but 1) if you tap your brakes you pretty much are the one starting the 'fight'. 2) the video only shows a guy well ahead of you in a different lane following another vehicle closely.

ETA If I have an ecounter like this in traffic I stay away from the other vehicle. Particularly because of the CCW
 
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Jose said:
That's about as stupid as saying that one starts the fight when one pushes back against someone who's been shoving you around already.
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Shove? From behind? Did the bumpers actually touch because I missed that part of the OP. Actually the shove you refer to is more like someone breathing down your neck in the line at a movie theater. What do you do when that happens? If he's too close slow down and let him go around you, Or is that not macho enough?
 
Realtor MA said:
I would bet a large sum of money he wasn't a LEO. Just because he was worried that you were taking a picture/video doesn't prove he was LEO. In fact someone who was impersonating a LEO would likely be more concerned about that.
Now I know this won't be a popular position but 1) if you tap your brakes you pretty much are the one starting the 'fight'. 2) the video only shows a guy well ahead of you in a different lane following another vehicle closely.

ETA If I have an ecounter like this in traffic I stay away from the other vehicle. Particularly because of the CCW
Click to expand...

I was taught by my father when I was a kid that a couple of very quick light touches of the brake pedal says. "please give me a little more room".

My experiences in the last 25 years of driving have reinforced that. I'm not talking about any actual braking. Just flashing the lights.

I love it when people criticize me without actually reading what I wrote.

These are MY videos. I already explained that my wife has already deleted the good one from her phone
 
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Cop was a douche, which means he will in-turn produce baby douches. With any luck, darwin introduces his car to a wall and prevents this procreation. Woops did I say that.
 
What? I hate people that tailgating me. You have every right to hit the breaks. Beside the car in front was slowing down. ;-P. You dont like it then dont tailgate someone.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
 
dcmdon said:
I was taught by my father when I was a kid that a couple of very quick light touches of the brake pedal says. "please give me a little more room".

My experiences in the last 25 years of driving have reinforced that. I'm not talking about any actual braking. Just flashing the lights.

I love it when people criticize me without actually reading what I wrote.

These are MY videos. I already explained that my wife has already deleted the good one from her phone
Click to expand...

Exactly, "brake checking" is a dick move. "Brake tapping" isn't.
 
dcmdon said:
These are MY videos. I already explained that my wife has already deleted the good one from her phone
Click to expand...

Why? That's the most incriminating one. Catching the guy going "RESPECT MUH AUTHORITAH!!!" it's even better if it is a fake cop, it could put that guy in jail.

-Mike
 
kato617 said:
What? I hate people that tailgating me. You have every right to hit the breaks. Beside the car in front was slowing down. ;-P. You dont like it then dont tailgate someone.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Brakes. And is it still okay if the person doing the "brake checking" is the one being the a**h*** driver and creating the dangerous situation? Just because you are in front of somebody does not mean your are automatically in the right. A lot of times someone might think I'm tailgating because they're a retard and can't maintain a constant speed and I don't feel like slamming on my brakes on the highway every few seconds so I try to keep an average speed. Most the times I would just rather pass someone and never see them again then engage in road antics.
 
Tapping the brakes does not make you the instigator. After all, you may have just needed to slow down a bit to stay in the speed limit. It is the responsibility of the driver to pay attention to what is in front of them and keep a safe distance.

But I normally use the approach of taking foot off gas and slowing down until he can't take it anymore and passes. Braking says you are aware of him and reacting to him, supposedly in a belligerent way that gives him an excuse to escalate. Going slow and not paying attention says you're just another dope on the road that needs passing. I prefer they think I'm a 'tard and just go around... It does not hurt my ego if they think that and it usually solves the problem.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
 
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