Ambition is the last refuge of failure.
Not usually how I respond to the police...
Published on December 20, 2005 By Silver_and_Jade_Tears In Blogging
Friday morning (we're talking about early morning, as in around 1:30 AM) was a first (and hopefully a last) for me. I ran (or drove quickly) away from a Davis County Sheriff. I don't make it a habit of running from cops, especially Sheriffs, but this was the exception.

Before you go and condemn me to whatever painful afterlife you believe in, let me explain.

Thursday night around 11:00 PM, my boyfriend and I got into a dramatic, intense...shall we say...discussion. Since we were both upset, and since talking on the phone instead of in person was making it worse, I decided that I would drive over to his house. I knew that he would say no if he knew my plans, so I didn't tell him until I was on the road. Unfortunatly, he heard my car in the background, and told me that if I came, it (meaning the relationship) was over.

So I pulled off the side of the road, and though I was in a residential area, it was dark (no street lights), so I kept my headlights on, and there were a lot of trees around. For the next hour and a half, I tearfully tried to convince my boyfriend that the relationship was worth something.

At around 1:30 AM, I saw out of the corner of my eye, a white SUV head up the street in the opposite direction that I was facing. Since I was otherwise occupied, I didn't think much of it, until I saw it in my rearview mirror, pulling up behind me. That scared me. I was alone, had no weapons, (I'm not one to carry a gun around, or a knife, or even a nail file.) and didn't have much way to defend myself against the homocidal maniac that I knew was behind me. So I did the only thing that I knew to do. As soon as I saw the door open, I gunned away, and turned off that street onto the next right, all at a breakneck speed. When I saw the car following me, I accelerated even more, and again turned onto another street.

I watched as the car behind me turned also, and as I was about to attempt a U-turn (going about 40 MPH) the red and blue lights came on. I was mortified. I told my boyfriend (who was still on the phone) that it had been a cop following me, and then I told him to hold on. I rolled down my window, and started digging through my purse looking for my driver's license.

The cop, who turned out to be a woman, came up to my door, and as she shined her flashlight in my eyes, the first thing I said was, "You scared me to death!" Wrong thing to say to a cop. She immediatly became suspicious (even more-so than she already was) and asked me why in the world I would be scared of a police car. I tried to explain that I had been on the phone, and had been upset, thus the fact that it hadn't registered that it was a police SUV pulling up behind me. She didn't seem to understand, and went on for a few minutes about how she didn't understand why I would be scared. She mentioned the fact that she had turned on her cop lights (which I guess are two white lights on the top of the vehicle) and I told her that I wasn't aware that cop vehicles had such a thing. (I dont' get pulled over that often, once is my record.)

After the interrogation of why I was scared, she went on to ask me if I had been drinking. I blinked up at her in surprise. Did I sound drunk? I had been keeping eye contact with her, and since I definetly hadn't been drinking, there wasn't any smell, so why did she ask me that? She caught my confused look, and told me it was "just a question." I told her politely that no, I hadn't been drinking, nor have I ever. Then she asked my age, and asked me where I lived. I told her 19, and up on Mountain Road (which was a little less than a mile away.)

At that point I offered her my license, and insurance, and losing interest in her kill (that's what it seemed like), she told me she didn't need to see anything, and then told me to have a good night. (As if.) And that was the end of that.

Thinking back on it, I have some questions.

How are people supposed to know that those two white lights (not beamers) at the top mean that the vehicle is a cop? I have seen many SUV's that aren't cops with such lights. How were these any different?

Why didn't she ask for any identification?

Why did it mystify her about the fact that I was scared when it was obvious that I was young, and apparently unarmed?

So that was my experience (deep voice) RUNNING FROM THE COPS!

Comments
on Dec 20, 2005
*siren*
on Dec 20, 2005
Until she turned on her lights, you were in the right.  I think that is why she did not ticket you.  The White lights are not illegal on any car, and there are too many stories of faux cops that pull people over for other reasons.  You may have pissed her off, but I think in the end, she realized that she did spook you and let you go with no warning or anything else.
on Dec 20, 2005
I think you are pretty lucky actually. She might have made you walk the line and given you all kinds of trouble if she didn't believe you.

I won't stop for unmarked cars no matter what alone at night. I don't care how many lights they have shining in their window. I will drive slowly toward a cop shop or very crowded well lit area. I learned that while working at a PD some years back. NEVER EVER stop at night by yourself for an unmarked vehicle. If you have your phone call 911 and tell them there is someone behind you with flashing lights and you think its a cop but aren't sure, and are afraid to stop. They'll be able to tell you in about 15 seconds if its a cop or not.

911 calls are public records and they can't EVER get you for evasion if you do that. If they try you get a copy of the tape and wa-la...judge gets it.

Just something to think about.

I think you def did the right thing.
on Dec 20, 2005
smart move protecting yourself, it's a dangerous world out there.
on Dec 20, 2005
Damn Davis County mounties...Harassing poor Lil' Jade like that. Bastards! ::
on Dec 20, 2005
You did the right thing. There have been cases where people posing as police officers have abducted, raped and killed young women. The MO is to pull up behind them at night and act as officers, tell them they'd have to get out of the car and perform a field sobriety test and then...well, you can imagine the rest.

So, you did the right thing in driving off until you could see for sure that it was a marked police vehicle. I think that's probably why she let you off.
on Dec 20, 2005
The White lights are not illegal on any car, and there are too many stories of faux cops that pull people over for other reasons.


Exactly. That's why I don't understand why she kept pressing the point of me not knowing that those were "cop lights."

I think you are pretty lucky actually. She might have made you walk the line and given you all kinds of trouble if she didn't believe you.


As soon as she asked me if I had been drinking, I fully expected her to ask me to step out of the car. I was really surprised when she just went on to ask my age.



smart move protecting yourself, it's a dangerous world out there.


That's me... really smart... and scared. LoL I told some of my coworkers, and one of them thought that I was paranoid.

I won't stop for unmarked cars no matter what alone at night.


Actually, the SUV wasn't unmarked. It's just that I had been upset, and wasn't even really paying attention to passing cars, so I didn't notice her lights. (That's the point of pulling over, so you don't have to pay attention to those driving.)

There have been cases where people posing as police officers have abducted, raped and killed young women. The MO is to pull up behind them at night and act as officers, tell them they'd have to get out of the car and perform a field sobriety test and then...well, you can imagine the rest.


I have heard about those. I wasn't thinking about that though, and if I had known it was a cop, I probably wouldn't have left. It just seemed like some random SUV pulling up behind me.
on Dec 20, 2005
so I didn't notice her lights.


Or her decals on the side, for that matter.
on Dec 20, 2005

Reply By: Tova7

What she said!  And very well!