Legitimate traffic stop or abuse of power?

[justaguy]

It's all on video in the link.

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article ... 95&catid=2

A state trooper stopped a Hudson man and arrested him for evading an officer. But the man says he was simply looking for a safe place to pull stop with his kids in the car.

Sam Salter was packed in his mini-van heading home to Hudson after at family New Year's Eve party in St. Paul.

Salter was headed eastbound at about 10:30 p.m. when a trooper put on her lights and sirens behind him. He was in the far left lane and immediately signaled to move to the right.

He says he got to the far right lane and there was nowhere to pull off because the shoulder was ice and snow and he wanted a safe place to pull over with his kids in the car, and it was dark.

He immediately got on the 61 exit and at the end of the exit takes an immediate right to a road. The trooper, Sgt. Carrie Rindal, thinks he is evading an officer and does a PIT maneuver on him (rams his van) to force him to stop.

He then and jumped out screaming, "What are you doing? I have kids in the car."

With her gun drawn and pointed at Salter, the trooper then pats him down with screaming kids in car and takes him to squad car to inform him he is under arrest and going to jail for the felony of evading an officer.

The kids stayed in van until mom arrives to pick them up.

Salter was taken to jail where he stays for almost two days. His kids ages two, three, six, all saw the altercation with the trooper and are traumatized.

Salter was not charged with the felony by Ramsey County because the county attorney said there was insufficient evidence that he was fleeing.

He was left with $1,500 damage to his van, a ticket for illegal lane change and a $140 towing fee.

Rindal is not on paid administrative leave and has been a trooper for 11 years.

[jgalt]

She needs to be held personally liable for the damages and suspended - at least. Entirely unacceptable...

[Widge]

She needs to be held personally liable for the damages and suspended - at least. Entirely unacceptable...

Yup, and she needs her Crystal ball to be examined, as well as her night vision equipment, it's obviously not working correctly - unlike everyone else's.

Okay, now all the MMQbs and self-appointed traffic stop experts can pile on - I'm out of this one.

[nyffman]

Pretty thin skin today Widge. Instead of taking your toys and going home, I was hoping you could shed a little light as to why that was reasonable of her to bump the guy when it seemed that he was slowing down to stop rather than run away. And, the thing with the gun, while he did exit the vehicle and yell at her, didn't seem to have a weapon of his own. But, whatever. Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

[ComradeBurg]

I'm curious on three things. The first thing is when the trooper's lights came on did the van speed up or give any other indication that there was no plan to pull over? Second is did the van at least flip on the hazard lights to give some kind of indication that he was pulling over or at least planning on it? The third thing is how fast was he even going?

Honestly I think police officers get over zealous at times but at the same time when the lights come on you need to pull over. Most officers would understand if you told them you were looking for a safer place. Most people wouldn't come out of their vehicle screaming "What the Hell are you doing?" to an officer right away either.

Honestly it looks like both parties screwed up here.

[jgalt]

Sorry Widge, but there is no acceptable excuse for the officer to intentionally damage the citizen's private property, at least not for what is being portrayed as a traffic stop. None.

Now, if we find out that the officer was pulling the mini-van over because a vehicle matching it's description was reported to be involved in some type of violent crime, or some other similar situation, then my tune will change considerably. My best friend is a police officer and I've heard years worth of stories about the situations he's had to deal with, so I'm not at all unsympathetic to what an officer has to face doing their job. But this looks like the officer was simply mad / upset / pissed off that the mini-van didn't stop as quickly as she would have liked. That is a problem that needs to be dealt with harshly.

I've said my peace, and will wait to see if there is anything more to the story. Hopefully there is more to it that this, and I'll happily make my apology.

[ttousi]

.....will wait to see if there is anything more to the story.

[DeanC]

I thought it was against established procedure to execute a PIT maneuver without back up. Same goes for a felony stop.

[Tutmos]

She simply needs to be fired and liable for the damage and trauma caused. Clearly she doesn't have the judgment and temperment to be an armed law officer that could mistakenly take a life in the future. Why is it that I imagine her in the situation with her gun drawn and aimed at this father with her finger on the trigger doing one of those little stress squeezes like the woman officer in the video that's been floated around?

I don't mind an officer roughing up someone a little that's being a dick or acting risky but this is just suggestive of her poor judgment. I'm better she was eager to show off her "manly skills." Shouldn't there be a dash cam of all this that would tell us exactly what happened?

[mrmuko]

I have friends and family that are POs. First IANAL I honestly feel when I watched the video that he in no way tried to evade the officer. He signaled his turns, said he decreesed his speed and felt it was unsafe to stop on the side of an icy shoulder on an interstate on New Years eve with his three children. He pulled off the highway and then got pited as he was stopping. I would not have gotten out of the vehicle but would have certainly been pissed if a cop ran into me. Legitmate stop maybe but I would say excessive force was used to make the stop. But remember IANAL OR a JR or anything other than an individual who has to make a decision based on the information provided.


Widge maybe you can help me with this one legitimate question
Is there a statute that says how fast you need to pull over? Can an individual decide that he/she does not feel safe and pull over in a different location i.e not on the interstate in the middle of nowhere. Is it appropriate to pull off the road at the next exit and say pull into a gas station mind you not speeding but following the laws of the road?

Roast away justa if you want but you are never wrong so I will bow out.

[DeanC]

Dash Cam video: http://gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/ ... 1021811607

Does not look good.

[DeanC]

but I would say excessive force was used to make the stop

How about attempted criminal vehicular homicide?

[Tutmos]

Just watched the dash cam. WHAT AN ABSOLUTE F'ING MORON!!!!! How is someone that f'ing dumb allowed to carry a gun and drive a state squad car? Great, now this clown is going to cost the taxpayers millions for being so stupid. The blaring music while tooling around on New Years eve is really going to help the jury's image when they add all the zeros on to the award.

She needs to be fired immediately. The longer the state patrol keeps her the worse it's going to be as it will appear to the jury that they're protecting their own, no matter how incompetent they may be. They really need to upgrade the educational requirements for these people. This is a stain on the state.

[lenny7]

Dash Cam video: http://gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/ ... 1021811607

Does not look good.

I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt until I saw that video. What f'ing idiot! He's going 5mph and is moving on the shoulder when she hits him!!! How the hell is that evasion!?!!?!

The thought of her with a firearm and a badge is scary. Put her on parking meter duty.

[DeanC]

Watch the timer on the dash cam. 61 seconds from light bar activation until the stop. Evading my ass.