Why Run?

[Robert_in_NY]

My neighbors behind me have a winery and every year they have a small festival with a large fireworks show. Before their festival I cut a friends field for hay and then they open the field up for parking. This year I couldn't get all the hay in before the festival started but I had half the field picked up and was going to pick the rest up the next day as rain was forecasted to come in early that afternoon. So the next day comes and I am driving the baler over to the field and there is a state trooper parked about a half mile from the field and won't let me thru. I explain to the officer that I need to get that hay picked up (another 800 bales) and it is going to rain. He tells me that the most I can do is call the dispatcher. Talk to them for a while and was told they can't allow me thru yet. This was at 9am.

So here is why I couldn't go thru. It appears that a couple guys (I went to school with one of them) were riding an ATV and a dirt bike on the road with no helmet. The state troopers stop them because of this. Just a simple traffic stop. Well, the one I went to school with jumps off the dirtbike and takes off running and gets caught in my friends front yard. The other guy on the ATV takes off down the road with the ATV. However, the troopers belt got caught on the rack of the atv and was dragged down the road for a mile. He ended up shooting the guy while he was being dragged and ended up getting untangled from the ATV in front of the field I was haying. The guy that was shot was 25 and continued on down the road and hid in a field. He called his wife who was at the guys house who owned the hay field and told her he was shot but was ok. A little while later he tells her he isn't doing so well. Finally the sheriffs find him and he gets flown to Erie, PA and dies. Why he didn't just turn himself in once he was shot is just another brillant move by this guy.

The guy who was caught was nailed for just about every possible infraction possible including having drugs on him. He will get in more trouble for running then all the other infractions combined. The other guy is dead and for what? Because he didn't want to wear a helmet and got stopped for it. I still just shake my head at the stupidity displayed by some people. Take your lumps as they come but don't make them worse by being stupid.

Now because of this, there is a widow as well as some broken up parents. The officer who shot him is being investigated (to see if he really needed to shoot) and depending what they decide might have ruined his career. So how many lives did this guy affect on a drastic level.

I had thought about removing the tag line from all of my post but this guy just reassured me that stupid people are still out there. And for the life of me I still don't understand why these guys tried to run for such a petty infraction. At most they would have got a ticket for no helmet and insurance. At the very least they would have been given a warning because of the occasion. Instead one is in jail, the other in the mourge.

I was finally allowed to go to my field at noon and was fortunate the rain kept east until we were finished.

 

[Deerlope]

That is indeed a sad story. The trooper was improperly trained as to what he should do in a traffic stop. He should never have been standing that close to the ATV, because he never would have if it had been a car,truck, etc. The boys may have had some impaired judgement for one reason or another. They were wrong and so was whomever trained that trooper.

 

[Bird]

That is indeed a sad story. The trooper was improperly trained as to what he should do in a traffic stop. He should never have been standing that close to the ATV, because he never would have if it had been a car,truck, etc. The boys may have had some impaired judgement for one reason or another. They were wrong and so was whomever trained that trooper.

Fred, I think you're assuming something not in evidence. I'd say you're probably right about the trooper and his training, but we don't know enough to make that judgment.

But, yes, it's a sad situation, but unfortunately, not all that uncommon.

 

[riptides]

Sad story.

"Why run?"

Fight or Flight - one of those basic human instincts.

-Mike Z.

 

[dmccarty]

Robert,

Stupid is as Stupid does. Why did they run? Who knows. They where scared? They are conditioned to run by movies/TV/etc? Its the fight/flee response? They thought they could get away? One runs so they just goes as well? Some or all of the above?

It happens all of the time. People don't know the penalties for the crime in many cases. And they just don't think. Most criminals are thinkers. They are doers. They react.

I would not say the officer was not trained correctly. Sounds like Stuff Happens. From what was posted I would not think he will have criminal legal problems. He might get sued but if he has done the right things he should be ok though given the circumstances I would not call his actions unreasonable.

Later,
Dan

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Wanna drive yourself crazy? Try to reason why people do the things they do. It's impossible for a rational, law-abiding citizen to understand why some people insist on creating their own demise.

We live about an hour drive south of Louisville Kentucky. There has been numerous police shootings in Louisville in recent years. There is a group of "concerned citizens" who speak out AGAINST the police every time it happens. They claim the police aren't justified in using deadly force. (I'm thinking they don't use it ENOUGH) It's so simple. Don't break the law. IF you're caught breaking the law, OBEY the police. If you don't, what gives you the right to be upset when they do use force? I'm right on the verge of getting "political" here, so I'm jumping off the soapbox.

NEXT.

 

[Birdhunter1]

As for teh officer shooting the guy that took off and happened to snag the opffficers belt loop and had already drug him a mile down the road and was still dragging him...... if it were me I'd assume my life was in danger and would do all that was possible to protect my life that was endangered, and yes that means I would have shot the ATV driver who was dragging me!

I hope stupidtity does not prevail and the officer is not charged with shooting to protect his life!

 

[rox]

Yeah, me too I would have shot.

What is there a particualr mile marker, like you are supposed to accept being dragged for 2.6 miles and then it is okay to shoot but you msut not shoot before 2.6 miles ,you are to suck it up and be a man about it and not complain as you are dragged along?

What other alternative did the cop have, but to shoot? Yelling "Stop I'm a police officer" apparently didn't do the trick in this case.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Sad story.

"Why run?"

Fight or Flight - one of those basic human instincts.

-Mike Z.

Fight or Flight? I was raised to take responsibility for my actions. If I break the law then I accept the fine and go about my life. I don't endanger myself or others and I am sure most everyone on here is the same way. I just find it hard to believe that a young guy(who served 4 years in the Marines) would not just take responsibilty for his actions. Instead he is dead and he left a lot of people wounded for various reasons. Fight or Flight doesn't fit in this situation, only stupidity.

 

[Deerlope]

I really have to wonder how the trooper got his belt caught in the ATV rack. Was he only 4'2" tall!!!!!!! I sure that we will never know what really happened, we will only be told what sounds good to the public. The trooper did have the right to try to save his own life. He may have tryed to fire only a warning shot so the guy would stop. I got to stop before I get on a rant.