I've been a member of this community for a long time, and good (virtual) friends with many of you now... so I feel safe sharing this stuff with you.

Almost 15 years ago, when I was in my police prime... most active officer, DUI investigator and all... I stopped this 59 year old for speeding in the city, 60 in a 45 mph zone... long story short, He was very augmentative, when I asked for his license he would hold it out for me then when I reached for it, he would pull it away and argue some more with me, this was repeated 3 or 4 times, I smelled alcohol, so I ordered him to step out of the car for field sobriety exercises, he refused...and after 3 or 4 refusals, I advised him he was under arrest, and told him to step out of the car, he continued to refuse, so even after I warned him what I was about to do... I pulled him out of the car through the drivers window, placed him on the ground and arrested him... took him to the station where he blew into the Breathalyzer and was just shy of the legal limit... so his charge was a simple resisting without violence, a misdeamor... a couple of days later on the front page of the local newspaper was an article "Naples man questions his beliefs with unlawful arrest"... it it he said that he was a long time lobbyist for congress, trusted and believed cops was good...untill my incident... how I unlawfully arrested him etc etc... (found out later he was golfing buddies with the papers editor)... so anyway it started, people wrote in letters demanding Ive fired etc etc... court came and he plead no contest, because he had no money... a local big time lawyer was in the courtroom, and knew this story/arrest was big news locally, so they convinced the judge to allow him to withdraw his plea, and "in the interest of justice" took his case for FREE... well the stories continued in the newspaper...

(didn't I say I'd shorten this, lol)

anyway, his day in court comes, to this day the most well known, and media covered misdemeanor in Collier County history... you would of thought it was a murder trial... camera crews out side the court house, reporters and a packed house in the courtroom... so I told my story, the backup officer told his... trial went on for 6 hours or so... he told his story... in the end the jury found him guilty in under 10 mins.

The next day the newspaper reported that he was found guilty, but both the suspect and the officer (me) should learn something from all this... the newspaper articles continued, half supported me, half didn't as usual... there was even a whole section of "letters to the editor" on it, where I (without permission) explained my side of the story... anyway during all this I had a politic cartoon made of me (well the Naples police)... which drew more outrage and letters from cop supportters...

So I was cleaning out my garage and found my box where I saved all those newspaper articles and letters... and this picture... how many of you can say you caused a political cartoon, lol.




Funny now, but 15 years ago I didn't think so.

Thanks for sharing that with us Magnum. You are right about how we can later look back at things with a more serene outlook. Like you, I've made peace with some things.

Good for you.

I dare you to hang that up at work! LOL

YA big lovable Lugg... er I mean Thug.

Interesting story, Magnum. I've always looked on you as a 'take no sh*t' cop ever since you posted that mugshot of yourself with shaven head and eyebrows!

They named the Magnum pistol after SHQ Magnum you know

And what did you learn from that? To open the door before pulling him out of the car lol. Through the window was a classic

Did they have the dash cams then? If not I would've gone all passive-aggressive on him. You know, said things like "Sir, I'm not supposed to hit people with mental handicaps."



The Jedi Master

For comparison:
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20120119/NEWS01/301190043/Melbourne-officer-s-taped-scuffle-fuel-potential-lawsuit?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home



The Jedi Master

actually... this incident is WHY we now have camera's in every car... which is fine by me... would of loved to have a camera back then.

and I did copy it and hang it on our work board, lol... alot of memories out of that incident.

Wow, thanks for sharing that story Magnum!

excellent