Serious driving charges by an off duty officer?

[fastfredracing]

So, my buddy, who I met when I was still active in the sccca, and pca and all that stuff is heading to work at 5 am. He is an aggressive driver. He was pretty much one of the fastest guys around back in the day. Any how, he is hauling butt, and says that he comes up on a beat up grand cherokee that is poking around at under the speed limit. He thinks nothing of it, and makes an illegal pass, goes around the guy, and continues to haul butt to work. He says he notices that the jeep is now gaining on him, and chases him into his work parking lot.
My buddy, is the first to work , he opens up the place, and there is no one around, and he says that this guy is trying to stop him, and even trys to block his car with the jeep. So fearing for his life,( my buddy ) he runs. He says he poured on the steam, and got away from this guy. He was not sure at this point if the guy was going to shoot him, beat him up, rob him, etc...
So , later in the day, he gets a call at work , and it is the guy who chased him, and states that he is a police officer and was on his way to work when my buddy passed him. He tells him that he has a whole bunch of charges filed against him, including, Fleeing, and eluding, wreckless driving, illegal pass, illegal use of high beams, speeding, and improper lane change etc.. He tells my buddy that he will be receiving his tickets in the mail.
Can this really happen?

[slakjaw]

Let us know if he gets his tickets in the mail.

[Zeke]

It can happen. The so called cop won't have a positive ID but your buddy won't have anyone else to throw the blame on. Still, it's weak, so if and when the tickets arrive, I'd call a lawyer.

I once had a deal sort of like that and I went to the courthouse on the day I was supposed to appear and asked to speak with the prosecutor. He listened and then went to speak with the judge (I presume).

He came back a little before court was to begin session and told me that I would pay a fine, but it wasn't going to be anywhere near the face value. And that's what happened when my name was called and I said, "Guilty."

[oldE]

Obviously I don't live in the same area , but I'm surprised your buddy wasn't visited through the day by a LEO.

I (not a LEO) have given testimony in the case of dangerous driving, which resulted in charges being made under the Motor Vehicle Act.

Your buddy might get off on ones he can claim were provoked by the behavior of an unmarked vehicle following him, but I suspect he will be convicted on the charges stemming from the initial behaviors which caught the attention of the off-duty LEO.

Best
Les

[Zeke]

It can happen. The so called cop won't have a positive ID but your buddy won't have anyone else to throw the blame on. Still, it's weak, so if and when the tickets arrive, I'd call a lawyer.

I once had a deal sort of like that and I went to the courthouse on the day I was supposed to appear and asked to speak with the prosecutor. He listened and then went to speak with the judge (I presume).

He came back a little before court was to begin session and told me that I would pay a fine, but it wasn't going to be anywhere near the face value. And that's what happened when my name was called and I said, "Guilty."

[wreckersteve]

If he tried to block him, he very well will be able to ID him in court. Your buddy is in for a world of hurt if they charge him with it all. The fleeing and eluding wont stick. The pass and speeding will. I know LEO's and have heard them talk about citing somebody for what they saw off duty. They usually would not persue of approach like that, but they are cooler headed. The officer should have ID himself on the phone. Name and dept. I would be interested in how it turns out. An officer in PA can inforce laws on duty or off. And out of their area.

Aggresive driving belongs at the track. Like that local aggresive racer who got killed last year around here. Not a wise thing.

[silverwhaletail]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Fleeing, and eluding, wreckless driving, illegal pass, illegal use of high beams, speeding, and improper lane change etc.. He tells my buddy that he will be receiving his tickets in the mail.
Can this really happen?

fleeing and eluding. FAIL. no red light/SIREN = no fleeing/eluding
speeding. FAIL. Old Jeep Cherokee odometer/speedometer would have to have been calibrated/certified prior to this incident.

The other stuff is possible, I guess, but Officer would have to lie about ID'ing driver during the incident. Easily done, by getting a copy of your friend's driver's license photo from the DMV.

I hope that this is BS and a cop did not really act this way, do all of the stupid schit cited in your original post. If I pulled a stunt like this (attempting to stop a citizen off duty, in my own personal car, chasing him, trying to block him in, etc) then I would be looking at a multiple day suspension (probably 40 hours) and/or demotion.

If I'm your buddy, I'm not worried about it at all. Other than the fact that the guy in the Cherokee knows where I work (and my name).

Your friend should immediately go to the police department and make a written formal complaint. If your friend's account is accurate, this incident is very bad on many different levels.

[gshase]

Fleeing, and eluding an unmarked car is a joke. Find out if the cops are allowed to make traffic stops off duty in unmarked cars. I bet this guy violated several department policies if it did go down this way.

[968rz]

Sounds like a desk jockey with a chip on his shoulder (no offense to any LEOs), it happened to me like that once, ended up with just a small fine.

[speeder]

It's probably going to turn out the way that SWT describes but tell your friend to stop driving like an ass hole and he won't have problems like this. Next time it will be some pissed-off guy who just got out of prison in a faster car and he's going to get owned.

I'm not a slow driver, (hence my screen name), but I get in surprisingly few disagreements out on the road and cops leave me alone for the most part. I rarely even use my horn.

[fastfredracing]

I am real anxious to hear how all this plays out myself. I also forgot to mention in my original post, that the off duty officer was also not in his jurisdiction. I have no idea how the law works in a situation like this, but it sounds like BS to me.

[speeder]

Find out where he works and go fill-out a Barney Fife complaint against him. That will protect your friend from future harassment from the guy.

[andyt11]

Will be interesting to see how this pans out.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by speeder

but tell your friend to stop driving like an ass hole and he won't have problems like this. Next time it will be some pissed-off guy who just got out of prison in a faster car and he's going to get owned.

+1 to this. Wait for a passing zone, be patient, leave earlier, drive with courtesy and respect. There are lots of times guys driving like your "buddy" do stupid stuff that I wish there was a cop around to give 'em what for.

The last time this happened to me, I followed the car for 40 minutes keeping it in site until it stopped. I sat there to talk to the driver, explained a few things, and left. It had been a really bad day with lots of bad driving observations, I was driving my junk car, it was a struggle in the heat of the moment at first to not just pile into the car, my car already has a few dents and dammage here and there, one more wouldn't hurt. There's a lesson there, don't drive like a jerk around a beat up car!

Originally Posted by oldE

Obviously I don't live in the same area , but I'm surprised your buddy wasn't visited through the day by a LEO.

I (not a LEO) have given testimony in the case of dangerous driving, which resulted in charges being made under the Motor Vehicle Act.

Your buddy might get off on ones he can claim were provoked by the behavior of an unmarked vehicle following him, but I suspect he will be convicted on the charges stemming from the initial behaviors which caught the attention of the off-duty LEO.

Best
Les

I hope he gets nailed for at least the initial pass, hopefully speeding as well. As for what happened after he tried to lose the jeep, he might not get in trouble for that.

American drivers make me sad for the country. Guys like your buddy make me wish I didn't drive a 944 and had something even more beat up so if they want to play rough, I can play rough back. If they started a "road rage" incident, neither of our insurance's can get involved in my state, so if I had a $250 car.......(not that I would, my '86 944 is beat up on the body from the prior owner, and despite plenty of opportunity, I've still avoided collisions with idiots)

He also better not bring up that he races WHATSOEVER. There are lots of has been race car drivers that come in and try to be fast at my local kart track, get their tail whooped, and try to start a fight. Their driving sucked, so why try and getting in a fight with someone way faster because they don't want to yield I don't know

[johnsjmc]

My younger brother was having a rather loud but not physical argument in a parking lot near her work. A rather large woman approached them and my stupid brother told her to mind her own buisness but he did it with a few expletives. She identified herself as an off duty officer but didn,t produce a badge.(She was actually on maternity leave) He got even more beligerent and called her a lying fat cow or something to that effect.
He and his wife then left in seperate cars. To make a long storey short. She WAS an officer and called 911 and my brother was arrested and charged with domestic violence. She basically threw the book at him
He spent one night in jail and a small fortune on a lawyer. The officer embellished everything in court and made him look even worse.
That argument has cost him several thousand dollars to date.
Your buddy should slow down.
He was found guilty despite his wife,s testimony that nothing happened.

[VINMAN]

First of all, if you bud was driving like that to begin with, he deserves a few tickets. Wanna play, gotta pay.

My stepson got pulled over by a off-duty LEO driving a fire truck. Claimed he illegally passed it, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle., few other things. guy just took down his plate told him he would be getting a few tickets. he said the FT had no lights on no siren. etc.. all guys on the truck in civilian clothes. I told him to ignore it. A week or so later he gets 5 tickets in the mail. I went ballistic.
Called a few people I know in that PD. They all said the guys is an a-hole. Did some other research. The truck was coming from a party at another fire dept. Not reponding to or returning from a call. Before he went to court, i had his lawyer obtain all call records and radio tape from that day, to prove that there was no calls. for that dept at that time.
He went to court, and all the tickets were tossed.

[Rick Lee]

I don't see anything wrong with passing a car doing under the speed limit. The slow car should get the ticket. If the pass can be safely made, why not? I do it on the bike once in a while, but I can do it very quickly and usually without crossing the center line. The other day I was behind such an idiot who had both hands on his phone, texting away, not watching anything. I don't think he even saw me pass him, I did it so fast. It was a double yellow line, but I could see way ahead and didn't have to cross the center line.

[VINMAN]

True, but how was this guys pass "illegal"? Here in NJ./NY people tend to pass everyone by driving on the shoulder. Everyones in a effin rush.

[Rick Lee]

Well, I'm also allowed to run red lights if it's safe to do so and the light won't change. That happens a lot with motorcycles when no one else is weighing down the sensor pad. And it happens every day for me with those silly onramp metering lights.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

...The other day I was behind such an idiot who had both hands on his phone, texting away, not watching anything. I don't think he even saw me pass him......

Not so sure i'd want that idiot behind me.