too much coffee..or ...what was the cop thinking??

I am usually siding with the cops -- but this dude is just a little over the
top...

John Grogan | Horse sense gets driver in trouble

Gloria Cascarino, an equestrian instructor, was towing a loaded horse
trailer to a competition on a recent Sunday when another motorist
pulled alongside her on the northbound Blue Route and yelled out the
window: "You've got a flat tire!"

The Chester County woman had thought her rig - a heavy-duty pickup
truck pulling a large trailer containing two horses - had begun to
ride rough, and now she knew why.

She turned on her flashers and began trying to get from the center
lane to the shoulder.

"Just before the tire blew, I had noticed a state police car in the
grass median," Cascarino, 53, later told me. "The trooper saw me
pulling over, and he got behind me with his lights on. Wow, was I ever
glad to see him. I really was. I figured he was behind me to help me
from getting hit."

What the Wayne grandmother did not realize was, she was about to
commit a major police-assistance faux pas.

The 10-foot-wide shoulder on this stretch of the Blue Route near the
Villanova exit was lined with a guard rail, making it a tight squeeze
for her rig, which is more than eight feet wide. Up ahead, she could
see that the shoulder widened into a paved pull-off area where she
could get safely away from traffic. To Cascarino, the wider area was
the logical place to stop for the safety of everyone, including her
two students, ages 11 and 14, who were riding with her in the truck.

A chase worthy of O.J.

With flashers blinking and driving at a speed she said was less than 5
m.p.h., she limped up the shoulder to the wider pull-off area. Halfway
there, the trooper turned on his siren, which puzzled her. She kept
going.

When she finally reached the pull-off area and stopped, she said the
trooper approached, visibly angry with her. He asked her why she had
not stopped immediately upon seeing him behind her with his lights on.

She explained her safety concerns, but Trooper Raymond Shaw said that
was not her decision to make. He told her he could charge her with
fleeing and eluding a police officer for not stopping promptly.

Fleeing and eluding? Wasn't that for bad guys who led the police on
high-speed chases, like in Starsky & Hutch?

"I thought his reference to my fleeing was very curious," said
Cascarino, who, when not on horseback, works for a Center City
architect. "If I were to consider a potential getaway car, would my
vehicle of choice really be a Ford F-350 diesel pulling a fully loaded
horse trailer with a flat tire and two children? It was all I could do
not to laugh."

Shaw saw no humor. Cascarino claims he became unduly aggressive and
nasty, frightening the children. He ended up writing her a ticket for
a lesser infraction: failing to yield on approach of an emergency
vehicle, which carries a $105 fine.

A losing argument

That charge, aimed at drivers who refuse to pull over to let
ambulances and other emergency vehicles pass, did not seem to fit,
either. Shaw was not trying to get by; he had pulled behind a motorist
in distress.

"At that point, I shut up," she said. "He was not unprofessional; he
was not profane. He was just very, very angry. Very exercised over my
crime."

About 21/2 hours later, Cascarino had her tire fixed and made it late
to the competition. On the way, she told her two students that,
despite the experience, "the police really are our friends."

She plans to contest her ticket in district court in December. She
also filed a complaint with the state police at the Media barracks,
claiming Shaw overreacted.

Shaw's superior, Sgt. Anthony Sivo, confirmed that he received
Cascarino's complaint, which will be assigned to an investigator.
Citing the pending investigation, he declined further comment other
than to say, "She was dissatisfied with his performance, although he
sat with her for 21/2 hours" while a tow operator changed the tire.

Despite the ticket, Cascarino stands by her decision. "This was not a
traffic stop. I didn't go very far, and I didn't go very fast, but I
did go where it was safer for all of us, including him. If the price
of my safety, and the safety of those children and of all the
motorists speeding by is $105, then it's worth it. I'll pay it."

Kimber
--
I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it
was hell.
- Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)

"Kimber" <newsgroups@divegirldesigns.com> wrote in message
news:10ochktc8tftm49@news.supernews.com...

> Despite the ticket, Cascarino stands by her decision. "This was not a
> traffic stop. I didn't go very far, and I didn't go very fast, but I
> did go where it was safer for all of us, including him. If the price
> of my safety, and the safety of those children and of all the
> motorists speeding by is $105, then it's worth it. I'll pay it."

I'd like to hear his side.

"Scott" wrote ...
> I'd like to hear his side.

"She matched the description of someone who had recently robbed a donut
shop"... <snicker>

"Scott" <pugetsounddiver@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:10odic851aggr91@corp.supernews.com...
>
> "Kimber" <newsgroups@divegirldesigns.com> wrote in message
> news:10ochktc8tftm49@news.supernews.com...
>
> > Despite the ticket, Cascarino stands by her decision. "This was not a
> > traffic stop. I didn't go very far, and I didn't go very fast, but I
> > did go where it was safer for all of us, including him. If the price
> > of my safety, and the safety of those children and of all the
> > motorists speeding by is $105, then it's worth it. I'll pay it."
>
> I'd like to hear his side.

Well you know how it goes -- there are three sides to every story.

And there are good and bad in every profession... she may have gotten one
of the bad ones -- or one of the good ones having a bad day.

Kimber
--
Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

- Dale Carnegie

"Kimber" <newsgroups@divegirldesigns.com> wrote in message
news:10of1vf9ebscbc8@news.supernews.com...

> > I'd like to hear his side.
>
> Well you know how it goes -- there are three sides to every story.
>
> And there are good and bad in every profession... she may have gotten one
> of the bad ones -- or one of the good ones having a bad day.
>
> Kimber

I know a guy who didn't pull over fast enough for a friggin life guard in
Dego, and he got tagged with a felony conviction.

"Scott" <pugetsounddiver@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:10of2it8h2e2lfc@corp.supernews.com...

> > And there are good and bad in every profession... she may have gotten
one
> > of the bad ones -- or one of the good ones having a bad day.

> I know a guy who didn't pull over fast enough for a friggin life guard in
> Dego, and he got tagged with a felony conviction.

OMG!!! I would fight that... geezus...

Kimber
--
"There's no earthly way of knowing which direction we are going. There's no
knowing where we're rowing or which way the river's flowing. Is it raining?
Is it snowing? Is a hur-ra-cane-a blowing? Not a speck of light is showing.
So the danger must be growing. Are the fires of hell a-glowing? Is the
grisly reaper mowing?! YES! THE DANGER MUST BE GROWING! FOR THE ROWERS KEEP
ON ROWING! AND THEY'RE CERTAINLY NOT SHOWING! ANY SIGNS THAT THEY ARE
SLOWING!!!"

Kimber wrote:

> I am usually siding with the cops -- but this dude is just a little over the
> top...

We have only heard one side of the story at this point in time.



> She plans to contest her ticket in district court in December. She
> also filed a complaint with the state police at the Media barracks,
> claiming Shaw overreacted.

Precisely my advice. That is what our courts are for.

>
> Shaw's superior, Sgt. Anthony Sivo, confirmed that he received
> Cascarino's complaint, which will be assigned to an investigator.
> Citing the pending investigation, he declined further comment other
> than to say, "She was dissatisfied with his performance, although he
> sat with her for 21/2 hours" while a tow operator changed the tire.

I also agree with her filing a complaint. If an officer is out of line
then he/she should be corrected. May the officer had a bad day. Maybe
the officer shouldn't be an officer. Maybe Ms. Cascarino left out some
pertinent facts. Let the Internal Affairs investigation determine the
facts.


--
More people died in Ted Kennedy's car than have been killed by my guns.

In article <10of6m9ftvlo0b1@news.supernews.com>, Kimber
<newsgroups@divegirldesigns.com> wrote:

€ "Scott" <pugetsounddiver@geemail.com> wrote in message
€ news:10of2it8h2e2lfc@corp.supernews.com...
€
€ > > And there are good and bad in every profession... she may have gotten
€ one
€ > > of the bad ones -- or one of the good ones having a bad day.
€
€ > I know a guy who didn't pull over fast enough for a friggin life guard in
€ > Dego, and he got tagged with a felony conviction.
€
€ OMG!!! I would fight that... geezus...
€
€ Kimber

A felony, yes. But unfortunately we've given our lifeguards a little
bit of power, and it's gone to their heads. Most of the time they just
give out petty infractions because it makes them feel important without
actually having to incur any risk. I recently got a $60 parking ticket
for *stopping* at the end of Vellicitos street to throw my gear in the
back of the truck. The city has decided that they'll fund some of their
pension shortfall by aggressively enforcing all traffic laws (think
about that before you travel here to visit Sea World or the Zoo), and
one our wannabe lifeguards wouldn't look at me while he ran and stuck a
ticket under my windshield wiper.

I did hear a story about a time when the lifeguards got a dose of
reality. A friend of mine is an FBI agent, and she was at a party with
a group of agents at Mariner's Point in Mission Bay. It was kind of
rowdy, and a couple of the wannabes came over and threatened to arrest
them if they didn't settle down. A sea of federal badges and discreet
flashes of weapons convinced them that it was time to stop playing law
enforcement officer and go back to being little surfer boys.

"Alan Street" <agstreet@nonono_san.rr.com> wrote in message
news:021120040805292175%agstreet@nonono_san.rr.com ...

> I did hear a story about a time when the lifeguards got a dose of
> reality. A friend of mine is an FBI agent, and she was at a party with
> a group of agents at Mariner's Point in Mission Bay. It was kind of
> rowdy, and a couple of the wannabes came over and threatened to arrest
> them if they didn't settle down. A sea of federal badges and discreet
> flashes of weapons convinced them that it was time to stop playing law
> enforcement officer and go back to being little surfer boys.

Sounds like obstruction of justice to me, along with unlawful and
threatening display of firearms. If the feds were breaking the law, they
shouldn't be allowed to get away with it any more than a speeding or
drunk-driving off-duty cop should be able to flash his badge to get out of a
ticket or worse. Too bad the lifeguards were so easily cowed. I'd have
hauled them all in and let them sleep it off in the drunk tank.

In article <4187ce53$0$105$6c56adcd@news.qnet.com>, Greg Mossman
<mossman@qnet.com> wrote:

€ "Alan Street" <agstreet@nonono_san.rr.com> wrote in message
€ news:021120040805292175%agstreet@nonono_san.rr.com ...
€
€ > I did hear a story about a time when the lifeguards got a dose of
€ > reality. A friend of mine is an FBI agent, and she was at a party with
€ > a group of agents at Mariner's Point in Mission Bay. It was kind of
€ > rowdy, and a couple of the wannabes came over and threatened to arrest
€ > them if they didn't settle down. A sea of federal badges and discreet
€ > flashes of weapons convinced them that it was time to stop playing law
€ > enforcement officer and go back to being little surfer boys.
€
€ Sounds like obstruction of justice to me, along with unlawful and
€ threatening display of firearms. If the feds were breaking the law, they
€ shouldn't be allowed to get away with it any more than a speeding or
€ drunk-driving off-duty cop should be able to flash his badge to get out of a
€ ticket or worse. Too bad the lifeguards were so easily cowed. I'd have
€ hauled them all in and let them sleep it off in the drunk tank.
€
€

Except that they weren't breaking the law. Our lifeguards have an
annoying habit of overstepping their authority, which the public and
tourists usually lets them get away with. This time they messed with
something much bigger and badder than they are (which is pretty much
any real law enforcement agency) and got put in their place.