Hear about the kid who stung the cops in St. Louis?

[Rick Lee]

This is a very long read, but I couldn't stop once I started. This kid, because he had gotten a ticket a while back he felt was bogus, rigged his car up with a video recording system. A real a$shole cop picked the wrong car that night. This has made it all around the Net and onto several tv news shows, including CNN. Turns out the cop AND the chief have colorful pasts.

http://www.radardetector.net/viewtopic.php?t=29701&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[Chuck Moreland]

Can't view. You need to be a subscriber

[Mule]

Absolutely awesome!

[Rick Lee]

Here's a short version:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2007/09/12/chetry.kid.pulled.over.dashcam.cnn

[cashflyer]

Full version on Youtube:
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f9mj37SeMY
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M72FCMC2MnI

[lm6y]

That guy needs to have his badge ripped from his uniform, and tossed in the trash.

He isn't a cop, he's a punk with a badge.

He said it all when he said "I don't need a reason to pull you over." Ummm, yeah you do there Sparky, it's called probable cause.

[CurtEgerer]

I watched the videos. Let's see, kid with an attitude and too much time on his hands pulls into a vacant parking lot at 2AM. Cop is naturally suspicious and pulls kid over to see what's going on. Kid immediately gives cop an attitude rather than simply cooperating. Kid is an exceptionally good liar on CNN. Kid deserved everything he got, which was really nothing except a verbal dress down. Kid has bad taste in music.

[Joeaksa]

This will be interesting.

[CurtEgerer]

I may have been that kid earlier in life (except for the music) I've been pulled over for speeding maybe 10 times in the last several years and have driven away with no tickets each and every time. It's all about attitude and respect. If, otoh, you're seeking trouble, it will find you.

[the]

I saw the whole story on some show last night.

Basically, the kid got a ticket for something or another a while back. He was bitter, so to try to get "revenge," he made it his mission to bait a cop into doing something. He rigged a camera in his car and basically went around cruising looking for trouble. Parking in vacant lots in a suspicious way in the middle of the night, going through drunk driver checkpoints and giving smart-azz answers, putting himsel in other supicious situations, etc.

He is careful to bait just enough to make himself seem semi-reasonable, but enough to try to antagonize the cop.

Apparently, hit took him a lot of time and baiting before he finally got this cop to go off on him.

Was the cop wrong? Yes. But I think it is relevant to the story that the kid went out for the *sole purpose* of antagonizing the police.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I agree. The kid was a punk-ass douchebag that was looking for trouble, but that cop was stupid enough to give it to him in a way that's completely unprofessional and unbecoming an officer.

The cop should be reprimanded, or discharged. The kid should (probably will) be given "extra attention" by the local P.D. for the remainder of his days. If he so much as tears the tag off a mattress, the local authorities should/will be all over his ass like a bum on a ham sandwich.

[Jeff Higgins]

It's too bad the kid found success so easily. I won't defend what he did, as he did start off with an attitude designed purely to bait the cop, but the cop did rise to the bait. One has to wonder how many others in his long career (longer than the kid has been alive per his own words) have been treated similarly.

I was a punk kid on a Harley once, long ago. I was treated like this by a few cops on different occasions. I have never been anything less than polite and courteous in every encounter I have ever had with an officer, even back when I was that punk on a Harley. I always figured courtesy and respect were appreciated, and far more likely to get me the results I was looking for, than some kind of attitude.

Can I tell you how hopeless, how helpless it feels to be treated this way in spite of all of that? That is why I still bristle so whenever I see something like this, whenever I hear of police abuse of a citizen or their authority. Officers that treat folks in this manner during something as relatively innocuous as a traffic stop have some serious issues. They have no excuse. None. This officer in the video should never work in law enforcement again; he needs to be fired, losing his pension and the whole works. He needs to go to jail for awhile. There is no room for bullies like this, that hide behind a badge.

[Joeaksa]

The cops will get him in the end and you can bet that they will go by the book the next time. His assets are theirs and its only a matter of time now.

He asked for it and will get it. Agree that the cop went over the limits but wonder how many videos the kid has taken before finding one cop to act like this?

[Neilk]

Kid was a punk looking for a little trouble, but the cop went WAY over the line and should be fired. If the cop had a problem with his attitude, he should have had a rational discussion with the kid instead to threatening him with BS charges that were COMPLETE fabrications.

Seeing that video makes me want to get a video phone so I can record any potential conversations with the police. Since regular citizens have zero credibility in front of judges, it might be good self protection.

[Rick Lee]

While I'm always polite to the cop when I get pulled over, I do not think attitude justifies an agent of the state with a badge and gun using his authority to threaten the kid, threaten to trump up charges or manufactire evidence. It's not illegal to give a cop attitude. It's not illegal to pull off into a commuter lot after hours. It's not illegal to have a camera in your car and it's not even illegal to film a police encounter as long as it does not interfere with police duty. This cop needs to be in jail. Given his past, I don't how he became a cop in the first place. The chief has his own shady history too. These folks should not have badges and guns.

[Jims5543]

We see 2 different things, I see a kid tired of being harassed and doing something about it. That cop was out of line and needs not be a cop anymore.

When I was 20 years old I had a brand new Suzuki Samurai and had a pretty good paying job with a bog telephone company. I got pulled over in Longwood Florida. I was speeding (5 over the limit) on a very busy road in Longwood Florida a suburb of Orlando where I worked. A cop pulled me over, I never for a minute disrespected the man, I was in a shirt and tie and had a briefcase on my passenger seat. I was not a threat and I was a clean cut respectful young man.

The cop made me get out of my car while he screamed at me on top of his lungs about how he was not going to tolerate young punks like me speeding through his town. He made me read to him the "protect and serve" on the side of his car then he proceeded to lecture me about his job and my disrespect for him with my speeding.

Anyone that knows a Suzuki Samurai, knows they cannot get out of their own way, he questioned me about my clothes and why I was dressed up, I explained it was for work and I had to dress this way, he then taunted me about how I probably thought I was a bigshot and needed to be taken down a notch.

The whole thing ringed of this one, this kid was harassed and I am glad he caught it on tape.

Pretty son I will be daily driving my RX7 and I guarantee I will be pulled over. I have an Archos V700 and a Viosport cam and I think I might rig it up so I can record every time I drive. I get pulled over all the time with cops fishing for a problem in that car.

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

I watched the videos. Let's see, kid with an attitude and too much time on his hands pulls into a vacant parking lot at 2AM. Cop is naturally suspicious and pulls kid over to see what's going on. Kid immediately gives cop an attitude rather than simply cooperating. Kid is an exceptionally good liar on CNN. Kid deserved everything he got, which was really nothing except a verbal dress down. Kid has bad taste in music.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by Jim Cesiro

We see 2 different things, I see a kid tired of being harassed and doing something about it. That cop was out of line and needs not be a cop anymore.

When I was 20 years old I had a brand new Suzuki Samurai and had a pretty good paying job with a bog telephone company. I got pulled over in Longwood Florida. I was speeding (5 over the limit) on a very busy road in Longwood Florida a suburb of Orlando where I worked. A cop pulled me over, I never for a minute disrespected the man, I was in a shirt and tie and had a briefcase on my passenger seat. I was not a threat and I was a clean cut respectful young man.

The cop made me get out of my car while he screamed at me on top of his lungs about how he was not going to tolerate young punks like me speeding through his town. He made me read to him the "protect and serve" on the side of his car then he proceeded to lecture me about his job and my disrespect for him with my speeding.

Anyone that knows a Suzuki Samurai, knows they cannot get out of their own way, he questioned me about my clothes and why I was dressed up, I explained it was for work and I had to dress this way, he then taunted me about how I probably thought I was a bigshot and needed to be taken down a notch.

The whole thing ringed of this one, this kid was harassed and I am glad he caught it on tape.

Pretty son I will be daily driving my RX7 and I guarantee I will be pulled over. I have an Archos V700 and a Viosport cam and I think I might rig it up so I can record every time I drive. I get pulled over all the time with cops fishing for a problem in that car.

Good idea, I've wanted to have full angel coverage camera system in my car, just got to get the funds. Start it recording each time I drive, the re record over my space on the next one, only saving it if I felt something was important. I've never been even pulled over in three years of driving, but I've had two cars of mine get hit, fortunately they wheren't a hit and run.

I would definitely hook up one of your cameras out the back window, one covering the interior/front at least(being that you have multiple). I don't think it would hurt any.

[Dottore]

What is it with cops in the deep south anyways? Are they just statistically representative of the general population - or are there a disproportionate number of *********s among them?

I have met very many nice cops - and my guess is you will always have a few ****ty ones, just as you will always have a few ****ty ones in any profession you care to name.

Still, in the southern states there is this stereotype hillbilly cop syndrome which I have had the misfortune to experience twice at first hand.

So what is it: Are cops generally stupider in the south - and if so why - or is everyone stupider in the south, and cops just reflect the demographic?

Note: This is not a troll. Am genuinely interested in peoples views.

[island_dude]

Perhaps I didn't didn't hear clearly, but I don't think the kid said anything disrespectful to the cop. I don't care how many parking lots he has stopped at. The cop was a serious ass and has no business say the things he did. I notice that he (the cop) started to change his tone when the kid made it clear he had a video system in the car. This easily could have turned out very badly.

I know cops are people to, but threatening to create charges to take someone in is pretty much enough for me. That is BS pure and simple. I was once pulled over with some friends by a pair of cops (I was in high school at the time). Shortly afterward We had six cops with guns drawn standing around us three. I was getting peppered with some rather nasty questions. It turned out something had tripped an alarm at a supermarket not far from us. They decided it might have been us. The roughed us up a bit until I started asking for badge numbers and names. It was way over the top and I can appreciate this kid's concern about cops.

[lendaddy]

I also did not hear anything disrespectful from the kid but it was hard to hear clearly. Can someone post an example?