Posted in the hope that this hipster jerk getting his comeuppance will cheer some folks up after yesterday's tragedy in Wisconsin. I will post details on any charity funds for the families as they are setup.
This is being linked to the YouTube user's channel and it's not copied from the original.
I am curious as to what happens to the driver. I clearly saw the officer put himself closer to the vehicle and his foot in front of the tire. As far as I know, an officer writing a parking ticket is not placing a person under arrest and therefore the driver was free to go. You certainly, as a police officer, do not need the windshield in order to write the ticket. That office in my humble opinion escalated the situation. In any case, unless the drive hires a top attorney (which it appears he has the means to do so), I am sure the judge will simply side with the officer as they do so often.
ReplyDeleteAny unbiased judge or even DA would see that the driver attempted to not harm the office by turning the wheel away from the officer who, again, moved his foot in the way of the wheel. I would have to ask, how the officer was able to remove his foot under such weight when the vehicle did not move. Somehow the officer was able to wiggle his foot out from a 1.5t vehicle.
After watching the video a 3rd time, we see the vehicle roll forward and the wheels turn towards the curb (away form the officer's foot) and stop just as the officer puts his left foot in front of the driver's side tire. Then the officer pulls his left foot out of the way and the vehicle again rolls forward at which point the officer puts his left foot in front of the same tire again. The vehicle at this point does not move whatsoever throughout the rest of the video. The officer tells the driver to move the vehicle off his foot (expletive, expletive, punching the window) and then he pulls his left foot out from "under" the tire and proceeds to arrest the driver for assaulting a policing officer.
But I have to ask these questions:
1. Was the driver being detained or was he free to leave? Parking tickets are issued tot he owner not the operator.
2. Did the officer have an opportunity to prevent the driver from entering the vehicle? It would appear so from the video, but then that would raise some other questions of legality.
3. Should the officer have attempted to stop the vehicle by putting his foot in front of the tire, if in fact the driver was not being detained? Should you stand behind a person swinging a bat?
4. Was the officer correct in issuing the parking ticket? The vehicle was parked in front of the hotel and the hotel valet had the keys. Obviously the vehicle was parked legally.