my unpleasant police experience/rant (Cliffnotes included) (home, buy)

[JVLec]

DISCLAIMER: I am from Boston MA and recently moved here. I'm doing my best to shake the road rage gene that all "Mass-holes" are born with. I really try my best to stay laid back and avoid bad Florida drivers.

So its 1:30 today, and my detail shop has closed because of the pouring rain. I leave work, deposit some cash in an ATM and head home. Now on my way home I take a two lane road with no turn lane. I need to take a left and make a LEGAL left turn, so I put my blinker on and sit in the left lane waiting for a chance. Usually in this type of situation my guard is up and I'm always expecting some old retiree, soccer mom, or pissed of teenager on a cell phone to rear end me. As I'm waiting to make my turn, a brown Explorer comes flying up behind me in my lane. He lays on his horn for a solid 30 seconds, and dodges me like I'm a wrecked stock car blocking his Talladega final lap victory. The way this guy proceeds around me, its so dramatic, and with the horn blowing.. I just lost my temper.

So I follow him.. I never intended to do any damage. I follow him until he turns right towards a residential area. As he stops to turn.. I lay on my horn and pass him, calmly. It was just to say.. "hey buddy see how annoying this is?" It was silly and harmless. I turn around and head home. A minute later hes flying up behind me, and I'm like "oh great I pissed him off". Then the blue lights come on. I pissed off an undercover cop.

He gets out of his Brown ford Explorer wearing fatigue pants and a t-shirt. Where I come from police wear uniforms.. but if he wants to dress up like GI-Joe to make traffic stops.. its his career. I can tell hes the typical young jacked up cop type. He LOVES his badge and his gun. He proceeds to read me the riot act. "You wanna be a F***ing tough guy?! F this, F that. Calls me some F-ing names. I mean this guy was letting it all out. Then promises me a HUGE ticket, takes my info, and walks to his car. He comes back with nothing, throws my papers at me like a 5 year old, and tells me not to be a F-ing punk. I guess I got off easy. I apologize for the whole experience and he walks away.

CFNotes:

An undercover forgot he was a police officer and swerves around me as I attempt a LEGAL left turn. He blares his horn like a jerk, so I follow him for two blocks and then blare mine as I pass him. He pulls me over like its illegal to beep at an undercover cop. He swears at me, drops 10 "F" bombs like some jacked up frat boy. He promises a huge ticket, but returns with nothing. Swears at me one more time, and we part ways. If he was a professional police officer and not some hack sheriff who probably can't pass a DT, he wouldn't have swerved and beeped. You're a cop buddy, flash the blue lights and let me know I'm doing something wrong.

I feel neither served nor protected by this moron. I have always respected police officers. I don't drive sorry like a clown

sorry for the rant, thanks for reading.

[Carbondated]

Did he flash you a badge? You gave your drivers license and information to someone who had blue flashing lights. Heck, I could buy blue flashing lights if I wanted. You sure you weren't just suckered into divulging your information to some weirdo?
Now he knows where you live etc. etc. and you know nothing. That is never a good scenario.

[JVLec]

Originally Posted by Carbondated

Did he flash you a badge? You gave your drivers license and information to someone who had blue flashing lights. Heck, I could buy blue flashing lights if I wanted. You sure you weren't just suckered into divulging your information to some weirdo?
Now he knows where you live etc. etc. and you know nothing. That is never a good scenario.

You make a really good point. I only assumed he was a police officer because of the vehicle/lights and his attire. I've seen undercovers in brown Ford Explorers before, and I've seen certain police officers wearing the camo/tshirt combo... but thats all very easily attained.

I'll definitely keep this in mind. Figures too, I've lived in Florida for one year and just got my identity stolen for the first time. Someone aquired my info and cashed $600 in checks against my account. Luckily for me, Bank of America and their Fraud specialist were able to quickly reverse the damage.

a huge wake-up call indeed

[Sunnydee]

JVLec, first of all you are hilarious! I loved reading your rant. You really need to be a writer, so the world can experience your humor. Second, OMG, you're crazy following a jerk like this - what if he had pulled out a gun? We live in a dangerous society and in some places people get shot for less than this. Third, this guy should be reported, he's a whack job. Thanks for the laugh!

[Edvard]

He is a cop.

And you following someone to harass them is a good idea why?

People have been shot for that kind of stuff. Grow up.

[PixiStix]

Sorry that happened~ It's just part of driving in Florida I've learned that after being here a year.

Just 2 weeks ago, I had some moron cut me off without even looking & I had to slam on my brakes to keep from hitting him. I toot my horn like "hey buddy, I'm right here!" So this guy flips me off, follows me & lays his horn on as he goes by me. And HE was the one who almost hit ME. Some people here have such a self intitled attitude on the road & not alot of maturity.

I honestly have never seen an undercover cop with camo/fatigues on. I've seen alot of them in undercover cars/suv's in the area but they are always in uniform. And shoudn't an undercover cop have both blue & red lights? Not just blue? There have been a couple of instances of creepos impersonating undercover cops, there was a big write up about it in the Tribune. It was happening along I-75 & they were targeting women mostly. Scary stuff!

Anyway, just be thankful- it could have been worse.

[Ladywithafan]

You needed to get his badge number and name. I can only assume it was someone playing undercover and you got the bad end of the deal.

[PixiStix]

Originally Posted by Ladywithafan

You needed to get his badge number and name. I can only assume it was someone playing undercover and you got the bad end of the deal.

True- getting his license plate # would have been good as well

[JVLec]

thank you everyone for the comments.

Edvard.. if he was a police officer why honk his horn for 30 seconds and swerve around me? If I'm doing something illegal or dangerous, flash your lights and tell me what to do. Ignorant people blow their horns and flip out on people in traffic EVERY DAY. It's quite common. But for a police officer to act like just another jerk on the road and INCITE road rage?? I find this extremely unprofessional.

As far as growing up goes, I know following someone anywhere because of road rage is a bad idea. Maybe I didn't make myself totally clear. After I realized that my left turn idea was completely futile, and after being reminded by Captain Steroids, I decided to put my right blinker on and jump back into the flow of traffic. It just so happened that he was directly in front of me. So I figured, "OK buddy lets see how you like a horn blaring at you for no reason." I was behind him for one block. When he turned right, I followed him 100 ft down the street until I found a quiet intersection to pull a U turn. As I pulled over to turn I blared my horn at him, just to annoy him. I admit it was very childish.

But then he followed me and pulled me over. It wasn't because I broke the law. I did nothing illegal. This was PURE SPITE. He acted like a punk. I retaliated, and suddenly he became a police officer.

Does PRIDE really justify abusing your power just to get in a screaming match with some random civilian?

[PixiStix]

Maybe you should call the sheriff's dept~ They might like to know if some crazy dude is impersonating a cop or if the crazy dude truly is a cop! Either way, it's not good-