Catbox_95
15+ Year Contributor
- 789
- 15
- Oct 24, 2004
-
Conroe,
Texas
A little long, but an unbelievable story.
My friend and I searched and searched for over a year for a 1992 Z28, low miles, excellent condition inside and out, near stock, fair price. As easy as this may sound, it wasn't. We finally found one in Wisconsin (we live in Texas), and got a trailer ready to make the trip when the guy selling it decided last minute to sell it to someone local. So, frustrated and ready to take a huge road trip, we got lucky and found one in New Jersey, 25 hour drive each way. My wife is going to have a baby any day now so I had to stay behind, and Scott (my friend who bought the car), his girlfriend and her brother left just this past Friday.
They get to New Jersey and pick up the car. It's in better condition than the seller even let on, and it was a great deal. Very, very excited, they leave right away to return back to Texas. Just an hour and a half later, in Maryland, they get pulled over for "crossing a solid white line" with the trailer while making a turn.
The conversation proceeded as follows:
Cop: Got any mariuana?
Scott: No sir.
Cop: Any cocaine?
Scott: No sir.
Cop: Any heroine?
Scott: No sir.
Cop: Anything at all that I'm leaving out that may be considered illegal?
Scott: No sir. But I do want to be upfront with you and let you know that I carry a current Texas Handgun License and I have a handgun in the truck.
Cop: Can I see it?
Scott: Yes sir. Here's my handgun license, and the gun is in the glovebox. I would rather you go get the gun out of the glovebox yourself if you don't mind.
Cop: Thank you, I will.
Cop gets the gun, takes it back to his car, gets back out and puts handcuffs on all 3 of them and makes them lay on the ground. 4 other cop cars show up, Scott gets put in the back of one. DRUG DOGS show up. They search and search, and the dogs are showing NO signs of anything amiss. The cops proceed to make the drug dogs jump up on the hood of the Z28 they just picked up and walk all over the car!
Still, no signs of any drugs, but the cops insist on tearing the entire truck apart, speaker box, seats, everything. Then they have the drug dogs get back up on the Camaro and search some more, scratching it yet even more.
Then, they haul Scott off to jail. WTF?!?! So there's Scott's girlfriend and brother, sitting there on the side of the road having to put the truck back together, trying to figure out what the hell to do next.
Long story short, Scott stayed in jail until 9:00 that night, got bailed out with $5,000 wired to Maryland by his parents, has to re-appear in Maryland on Sept. 19 for court, where he will get a minimum 30 days in jail.
Has our country just gone absolutely totally mad? Ok, ok... I know. It's illegal to have a gun in Maryland. But in Texas, it's perfectly legal. Scott has no prior convictions and was as cooperative as could possibly be. Even after explaining that the reason he had it was because it's just always in his truck and also driving across the United States with his girlfriend and $7,000 in CASH makes him feel a little uneasy.
IMO, this cop was an absolute prick. This was VERY unprofessional. As a law enforcement agent, it is his job to be able to decide what proper actions he should take. Scott's honesty and forth-coming cost him 30 days in a Maryland prison, at least $5,000, hours and hours of travel time, expenses in travel, and not to mention a scratched-to-hell Camaro that took a year to find in perfect condition.
To me, this is like pulling over an 80 year old lady because she was going 57 in a 55, pulling her out of the car, beating her down because hey, she might have a weapon. And hey, I guess since technically she broke the law, she deserves every bit of it.
Scott did manage to point out to his lawyer, who resides in Baltimore, that yes, while Texas allows the carrying of a handgun and Maryland doesn't, it's a little ironic that Baltimore currently has the highest murder rate in the United States! Seems to me that the cops there are barking up the wrong tree. If this is the kind of crap you guys up north have to deal with, DAMN do I feel sorry for you guys. It's like a whole other country up there!
The lawyer is excited to take Scott's case for reasons that I can't explain just yet but you probably have an idea as to what they might be.
My friend and I searched and searched for over a year for a 1992 Z28, low miles, excellent condition inside and out, near stock, fair price. As easy as this may sound, it wasn't. We finally found one in Wisconsin (we live in Texas), and got a trailer ready to make the trip when the guy selling it decided last minute to sell it to someone local. So, frustrated and ready to take a huge road trip, we got lucky and found one in New Jersey, 25 hour drive each way. My wife is going to have a baby any day now so I had to stay behind, and Scott (my friend who bought the car), his girlfriend and her brother left just this past Friday.
They get to New Jersey and pick up the car. It's in better condition than the seller even let on, and it was a great deal. Very, very excited, they leave right away to return back to Texas. Just an hour and a half later, in Maryland, they get pulled over for "crossing a solid white line" with the trailer while making a turn.
The conversation proceeded as follows:
Cop: Got any mariuana?
Scott: No sir.
Cop: Any cocaine?
Scott: No sir.
Cop: Any heroine?
Scott: No sir.
Cop: Anything at all that I'm leaving out that may be considered illegal?
Scott: No sir. But I do want to be upfront with you and let you know that I carry a current Texas Handgun License and I have a handgun in the truck.
Cop: Can I see it?
Scott: Yes sir. Here's my handgun license, and the gun is in the glovebox. I would rather you go get the gun out of the glovebox yourself if you don't mind.
Cop: Thank you, I will.
Cop gets the gun, takes it back to his car, gets back out and puts handcuffs on all 3 of them and makes them lay on the ground. 4 other cop cars show up, Scott gets put in the back of one. DRUG DOGS show up. They search and search, and the dogs are showing NO signs of anything amiss. The cops proceed to make the drug dogs jump up on the hood of the Z28 they just picked up and walk all over the car!
Still, no signs of any drugs, but the cops insist on tearing the entire truck apart, speaker box, seats, everything. Then they have the drug dogs get back up on the Camaro and search some more, scratching it yet even more.
Then, they haul Scott off to jail. WTF?!?! So there's Scott's girlfriend and brother, sitting there on the side of the road having to put the truck back together, trying to figure out what the hell to do next.
Long story short, Scott stayed in jail until 9:00 that night, got bailed out with $5,000 wired to Maryland by his parents, has to re-appear in Maryland on Sept. 19 for court, where he will get a minimum 30 days in jail.
Has our country just gone absolutely totally mad? Ok, ok... I know. It's illegal to have a gun in Maryland. But in Texas, it's perfectly legal. Scott has no prior convictions and was as cooperative as could possibly be. Even after explaining that the reason he had it was because it's just always in his truck and also driving across the United States with his girlfriend and $7,000 in CASH makes him feel a little uneasy.
IMO, this cop was an absolute prick. This was VERY unprofessional. As a law enforcement agent, it is his job to be able to decide what proper actions he should take. Scott's honesty and forth-coming cost him 30 days in a Maryland prison, at least $5,000, hours and hours of travel time, expenses in travel, and not to mention a scratched-to-hell Camaro that took a year to find in perfect condition.
To me, this is like pulling over an 80 year old lady because she was going 57 in a 55, pulling her out of the car, beating her down because hey, she might have a weapon. And hey, I guess since technically she broke the law, she deserves every bit of it.
Scott did manage to point out to his lawyer, who resides in Baltimore, that yes, while Texas allows the carrying of a handgun and Maryland doesn't, it's a little ironic that Baltimore currently has the highest murder rate in the United States! Seems to me that the cops there are barking up the wrong tree. If this is the kind of crap you guys up north have to deal with, DAMN do I feel sorry for you guys. It's like a whole other country up there!
The lawyer is excited to take Scott's case for reasons that I can't explain just yet but you probably have an idea as to what they might be.
crossing a white solid line with the trailer? give me a freakin break. I touch the solid lines all the time when I turn and I don't have a trailer attached and I never get any crap for it. I mean is that really a traffic violation?
Indeed.
We will keep you updated.
