Apparently It's True....No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

[jmp883]

Injured good Samaritan ticketed for jaywalking

I've been an emergency services dispatcher for 17 years now and thought I'd heard, seen, and read it all. At the risk of offending any LEO's on this website what happened to this poor guy is just inexcusable. I understand he technically broke the law but if you follow that logic then you better lock up the whole country. Why? Well the first violation that immediately came to my mind is this: anyone who has ever taped a TV show, record album, or any other copyrighted material, violated the law! I'll bet that includes a lot of LEO's. This guy was helping someone, in bad weather, get safely across the street! If official, or public, uproar over this ticket isn't enough to recall it it makes me sick to think that after all this guy will have gone through medically he'll have to pay the consequences legally. There is nothing you can tell me that will justify the legal retribution this man received.

Granted the article doesn't have all the details. We do know it was snowing so I'll venture to say the crosswalk markings probably weren't visible. However most bus drivers will only drop off/pick up passengers at posted bus stops or on street corners. Due to the weather he, and another good samaritan, decide to help those less able and this is the thanks they get.

I hope I never see anyone in my department do something this idiotic.

[NW0U]

It was Denver, what did you expect?

Busses I have to wait for around my employer's place stop at bus stop signs. Those signs occur mid-block about as often as at corners. Not many crosswalks associated with them.
So I offer you at least one counter example to "most bus drivers."

Originally Posted by jmp883

However most bus drivers will only drop off/pick up passengers at posted bus stops or on street corners.
I hope I never see anyone in my department do something this idiotic.

[N1508J]

Originally Posted by jmp883

Injured good Samaritan ticketed for jaywalking

I've been an emergency services dispatcher for 17 years now and thought I'd heard, seen, and read it all. At the risk of offending any LEO's on this website what happened to this poor guy is just inexcusable. I understand he technically broke the law but if you follow that logic then you better lock up the whole country. Why? Well the first violation that immediately came to my mind is this: anyone who has ever taped a TV show, record album, or any other copyrighted material, violated the law! I'll bet that includes a lot of LEO's. This guy was helping someone, in bad weather, get safely across the street! If official, or public, uproar over this ticket isn't enough to recall it it makes me sick to think that after all this guy will have gone through medically he'll have to pay the consequences legally. There is nothing you can tell me that will justify the legal retribution this man received.

Granted the article doesn't have all the details. We do know it was snowing so I'll venture to say the crosswalk markings probably weren't visible. However most bus drivers will only drop off/pick up passengers at posted bus stops or on street corners. Due to the weather he, and another good samaritan, decide to help those less able and this is the thanks they get.

I hope I never see anyone in my department do something this idiotic.

There has been much discussion on why cops pay more attention to the minor infractions while ignoring major crimes. One of the items discussed is that it's easier to find mostly law abiding citizens to harass than to work finding the thugs. Thugs carry weapons, a lot of law abiding citizens can't. So in the interest of "officer safety" they concentrate on the helpless rather than the ruthless. Despite comments to the contrary, there are unmentioned but understood quotas in order to get promoted. The story is yet another example of biased enforcement!

[Stick0413]

I guess some people just forget the "Spirit of the Law" versus the "Letter of the Law." Jaywalking laws were not enacted to be used in situations like this.

[mikepdx]

Originally Posted by jmp883

At the risk of offending any LEO's on this website what happened to this poor guy is just inexcusable...

It would probably be difficult to find very many LEO's who wouldn't have
exercised their discretion not to cite in this situation.

Fortunately, issuance of a citation does not necessarily equal a conviction.

[bpckty1]

Reminds me of a similar, but different, ticket written in Roman Forest, TX, a rural community NE of Houston. A teenager was riding his horse along the roadway (right of way), training it to not be spooked in traffic situations, and the horse decided to do what comes naturally and deposited some horse apples to the scenery. The rider was given a citation for "littering". I guess the small town needs to "fight all types of crime and corruption".

I'll bet the RFPD wi$he$ it were in Hou$ton thi$ weekend with the trail ride$ and Rodeo coming to town from all direction$ today.

[wx4cbh]

Well, granted we weren't there and don't know the whole of the circumstances, but it appears to me from what I read that, yes, on a pragmatic plane, what the gentlemen and ladies were doing contributed to the sequence of events. However I think Trooper Ryan Headuphisass needs to take a chill pill and see why Mr. Numbnuts Pickupdriver was not paying attention to what was going on in front of him, especially in those weather conditions. Numbnuts' lack of due diligence in his driving is where the real trouble began. I also think that when the lawsuits are over, Trooper Headuphisass will find that the civil courts will decide that Numbnuts' negligence is what actually precipitated the injuries, not the fact that the injured weren't in a crosswalk.

[commstar]

My, my, my, lets not all throw our Birkenstocks at the Trooper all at once.

We all know that everyone of the 221 words in that article are not only the unbiased, factual, gospel truth the press is revered for when it comes to the Police, but, also the complete and exhausutive document surrounding the event.

What if there is another factor that was not mentioned, not known or otherwise not published by the press. I mean really that never happens.

Some newspapers should be printed on Charmin in my view.

If you read the article, it mentions it was a Denver street- not a highway. It is common in many jurisdications that collisions involving ones own city that an outside agency conduct the investigation- is that how the CSP got there?

It is common that agencies have a policy where all collision factors in an injury crash get 'full service'. Would that not have an effect on the Officers discretion? Of course it would.

Ok lets say the paper actually got it correct: In my view, the Troop probably did the Hood Ornament a favor with that cite (in addition to protecting the cities interests)- that kind of judicial review is worth its weight in gold in a civil suit.

When that cite gets dismissed- in the interest of justice- it will give the P/U truck drivers insurance company a whole lot less work with in the smoke and mirrors, finger pointing, and obfuscation department.
And this will also likely translate into more dollars for the hood ornament. I'd take that ticket any day of the week knowing what I know.

In a world where most of us cannot accurately even complete our own tax returns we all want to assume that we would make a better decision that someone who is there and actually knows how to do his job. If you need an offer of proof you should check out my plumbing skills sometime.

[clanusb]

Originally Posted by mikepdx

It would probably be difficult to find very many LEO's who wouldn't have
exercised their discretion not to cite in this situation.

Fortunately, issuance of a citation does not necessarily equal a conviction.

this LEO was probably upside down in the garbage can most of his high school years..he is just getting revenge.

[hoser147]

Watched a report on it tonight, fine is 22 bucks, a friend of his said he is the type that would pay the money, laugh about it and do it again tomorrow if he had too.

[wx4cbh]

commstar's reply is the one to keep. The rest, including mine, need to go. It's just that during a trip through CO a few years back, I was truly harassed by a CO trooper in a situation that I had absolutely nothing to do with except being one of the hundreds caught in the traffic jam at a multi-car crash on I-70, and, well ........

[Ray_Air]

Just remember:
Nice Guys Finish Last

[jmp883]

Colorado withdraws ticket issued to good Samaritan


It's nice to see that some things do turn out right in the end.

Here's wishing a speedy and full recovery for the bus driver, Jim Moffett.