Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Well, He Got Him!

If only he was in the General Lee

I bothered to read the story..............

The guy in the pickup was also the local retard, When I read that I was sure it was going to be one of a handful of members here but that didn't pan out.

Well who haven't we seen lately?

What I don’t understand in a lot of cases is why it is necessary for officers to endanger themselves and the public at large by continuing pursuits, in built up areas especially, for cases where no indication that a clear and present danger to the public will continue after a pursuit is terminated. No knowledge of why this guy was fleeing, but he died, a cop nearly did, and large numbers of folks were exposed to serious risk in the effort to get him. Hope it was worth it.

I am not a cop, never been one, so have no frame of reference to work from other than seeing one guy doing stupid things in traffic with usually several cops doing what appears to be the exact same things right behind him. Things that are hugely risky for anyone, including the cops themselves. Have seen cops locally just back off when a person runs, and the cretin gets arrested later without incident at home, because some savvy cop got his plate number and they just went to his house. I realize this is not always a workable strategy, but it seems to be a pretty good one when it works.

Had the same thought. That was so Dukes of Hazzard.

Wonder what that trooper was thinking when he launched?

You KNOW there was at least one Crown Vic., otherwise they would have all broke down.

Browsing around, the fleeing driver was one Justin Battenfield, 34yo, brand new (to him) truck, living on social security on account of a mental disability.

Well, it appears he is no longer a drain on society, nor a menace to the motoring public. Prayers for the Trooper's full recovery, and his Sergeant's typing fingers.

Well, it appears he is no longer a drain on society, nor a menace to the motoring public. Prayers for the Trooper's full recovery, and his Sergeant's typing fingers.

Some folks have a hard time seeing the big picture because they don't see it every day. I have let many go before I got involved in as much as a common traffic stop because the risks didn't out weigh the rewards. You will never hear about or see anything about those kinds of near stops because they don't generate news or even a traffic ticket. But, there comes a time when you have to stop someone because they are dangerous or because they are doing dangerous things. Most are just violating a traffic law. The last kid shot in Minnesota was wanted on a felony armed robbery warrant. Did your local media tell you that ?

George Floyd was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of several drugs including meth and fentynal. He was a collision just waiting to happen but it appears Officer Chauvin got to him first. Stop him or let him go ?? I say officer Chauvin deserves a Life Saving's award for getting that guy off the street and out of his 4000 pound deadly weapon. Officer Chauvin deserves to be recognized for that act alone. I have no heartburn that George Floyd died while under the influence of several highly dangerous drugs. Some of which he just swallowed to hide as the officers approached his vehicle.

If we stopped making traffic stops then NO ONE would stop for any reason. No traffic laws would ever be enforced. Except when we respond to a traffic collision. (I hated doing traffic collision reports) And there will be many of those. And, many of those would be operating while under the influence of something (drugs or alcohol) or driving while under suspension or even barred from driving. Someone has to be enforcing driving laws because driving is a privilege that must be practiced by people who are willing to abide by the written laws. At least 1 out of 10 drivers was/is under suspension or driving while barred every minute of every day. You know they have no insurance and don't really care what your rights as a safe driver or other occupier of the roadway are. Your God given rights to be safe and unharmed mean absolutely nothing to them.

Literally thousands of cars passed by me every day and only a relatively few got stopped. Pretty much everyone else was safely driving within the confines of the law. Why, because someone was enforcing traffic laws reminding them that they can lose their privileges to drive if they are not doing it in a safe manner. Your elected representatives have defined those confines in a Legislative act or law. But, sometimes you have to take that extra effort to stop and apprehend those who refuse to behave like civilized men and women.

You said the "cretins get arrested later". Yes, if the driver can be identified that happens. No ID, no arrest. How do you ID ?? You stop and get a look at them and you get a drivers license or some other form of identification. Our world revolved around the stop and getting an ID in order to do our job. NO ONE gets arrested just by a car description alone. Driver ID is required.

I was a police officer for 32 years. I arrested approximately 25 drivers a year during the years I was working the night shift. I was only in on 2 chases in my career. One I let go and the other was 2 kids on a motorcycle. They chose to drive into a wet bean field and all I had to do was walk in and get them. (I got my shoes muddy and wet. That pissed me off) I let hundreds go because the risk was too big to try to make the stop. Many didn't know just how big of a break they got because I chose not to do risky things to get behind them. But, there were some that may have been worth the effort. We will never know.

One more story. I was doing a ride along with a County deputy one night. We heard on the radio a deputy who was trying to make a traffic stop on a early 60's Corvette that was just getting onto an Interstate highway ramp. The "chase" lasted about 30 seconds. The driver of the Corvette took off and left the deputy in the dust. Traffic stop over. Less than 10 minutes later we get a call about a bad accident at an interstate exit just a few miles from us. We get there about the same time as the rescue gets there. The passenger in the car was DRT. (dead right there) The Driver had an obvious severely broken neck but was struggling to breath. The top of the 1963 Corvette including the windshield were about 20 yards away under a gasoline hauling semi. Nothing below the dashboard had as much as a scratch on it. Someone took some time to rebuild and restore this Corvette.

The passenger was taken out and put on a back board and loaded into a second rescue vehicle. He was going to the funeral home. The driver was being treated while he was still in the car. He had a partial can of Budweiser between his legs and he did not spill one drop out of that can. That is until one of the rescue guys pulled it out from between his legs and threw it onto the floor board of the car. I wish I would of had a camera with me just to get a picture of that beer can between his legs.

The two occupants of the Corvette were brothers. The brother riding was DRT. The brother driving had just finished restoring the car. They were out celebrating. The driver dies 2 days later. The chase "started" about 15 miles and less than 10 minutes away from the ending. It seems the Corvette came off the ramp and sieved itself underneath the gasoline haulers tank. If they would of ducked under the dash, they would both be alive today. The only good part about this story is no innocent persons were hurt. Other than a truck driver who was pretty shook up over the whole deal and was reported as a driver in the State accident report.
kwg

Good post.