Almost lost my truck today.

[team39763]

I guess I don't really hold the cops at fault....they were actually pretty cool...but they had to trust the troopers word over mine.  They couldn't explain how I had a cold motor less than 20 minutes after they claimed I was racing.  Trooper flores was just mistaken about the burnout.  He was 30yards from me when I stopped at a speedbump at a gravel salesman's house(dusty as crap).  My exhaust is dumped towards the tires, so it kicked up a lot of dust along with the huge stall I have....it looked and sounded like a smokey burnout.  But there aren't any marks anywhere. I'm headed over to the troopers house soon to talk to him and clear things up.  Me and him were actually buddies...I respected him and he respected me...until this happened. Watch this video and picture the road fully covered in gravel dust....tons of smoke.  In the vid I had full exhaust pipes, but yesterday I just had headers with my turndown mufflers pointed at the ground.  When I looked back from the speedbump I actually thought I blew a headgasket because it was so smokey.  Sorry for the long posts ya'll.  I'll cut them shorter.

[DnStClr]

I guess you have to look at street racing from the lawman's point of view to understand why they were harrassing you..it's their duty to keep the streets safe at all costs. Looks like you were in their sites this time. you're right- it's basically just simple harassment. The cop knew he had no hard evidence to make an arrest, and it's just one of those things you're going to have happen- to take the fall for another guy's fun. . I guess all good racers become notorious on the streets. Looks like you made the list.
Congrads!

[team39763]

LOL. I never really thought of it that way...kinda puts a positive spin on it.

[team39763]

The Trooper just called and said he believed me the moment he touched the cold motor.  Someone in town made a false complaint and mentioned my name and truck racing at a certain road around 7:00 however nearly 8 witnesses saw my truck parked in the same spot from 3:45 until 9:45.  He told me to just be careful and that he's still cool with me and doesn't want to see me get in trouble over something stupid.  The burnout he thought he saw was just a dust cloud from under my truck...the time he "saw" us racing was from 6 years ago, and the noise he heard was me trying to go up hills with this huge stall.  He also mentioned that he knows my buddy was the one racing through town, but he just hadn't caught him in the act yet.  Man I'm glad I got that cleared up...I was worried for a sec that I was gonna be labeled as a street racer and a liar.

[fitz]

Glad to hear that you got this mess cleared up.
Keep in mind that while people mean well by giving legal advice about what the cops can and can't do, the law's vary from state to state.
I'm sure that SGTDEL and BEASTIE will agree with me on that. 

[Lt.Del]

As a supervisor in law enforcement, I will say this; every law enforcement officer has a supervisor.  And, when a complaint comes in against an officer, that officer is presumed guilty until proven innocent--I.A. must get involved and the officer must have his ducks in a row.  What I mean is this, you can complain that what you experienced was harrassment.  It sounds like it was. Big shot cops with power showing who's boss on the street. I've seen young officers do this all the time until they are put in their place.

Some cops take things like not catching someone in the act as personal.  They will learn not to take anything from work personal or they simply will not last long in the field--take it from a 19 year veteran.  

Keep a notebook.  After a meeting such as what you had, record everything verbatim that was said with who said it and date and time.  It sounds like you will fill up a notebook in no time...keep it in your glovebox.  If the same cop is continually harrassing you, demand, as a taxpayer, to have a meeting with his supervisor.  If you actually get a ticket that is nonsense by this cop, bring the notebook to court with you. Bring witnesses too, whatever.

Talking to a judge without any citation is a waste of time.  Judges don't supervise police. They will not voluntarily become a "middle man" between a citizen and the Sheriff.  The sheriff is elected, trust me, they want to get reelected which is why I said all officers' complaints againsts againsts them means they are guilty unless they prove themsleve innocent of the complaint from the citizen.

[beastie_3]

Fitz is right, as far as the actual penal and traffic laws go. Search, seizure, detainment, and investigation all have the same rules in every state. I dont think he was trying to harass you, but I think he wanted to put a little scare in you (which i think he did) so that if you do think about showing off a little, you'll think twice.

Cali has real stiff penalties for convicted street racers and it really doesn't take much for a LEO to bust you on it. Even spectating is illegal, here, anyways. They can even stop you to inspect your engine without probable cause or reasonable suspicion. No warrant needed because it is not a search. One illegal piece of equipment and bye bye. There have even been grants given to departments to combat street racing. Most cars get taken and crushed.

And don't take what we say on here, as far as legal information, as correct information. I am not authorized to give legal advice. Everything I say is my opinion and experience. I am not a sworn law enforcement officer or lawyer, nor do I pretend to be. I suggest you talk to your local highway patrol/trooper department for clarification on laws pertaining to the jurisdiction you are in. A copy of local penal and vehicle codes can be good reading. Knowing the elements of each law can keep you/get you out of trouble.

SgtDel has good info as well that I agree with.

[Irish_Alley]

To me it seamed like he was trying to scare you to confess to doing it maybe he did think it was you maybe not but it was reported as you being the driver. we too have a lot of super cops aka "barney fife" as we call them even when we work in a hospital watching over inmates we have hospital security telling us how to do our job and they try to give us S.O.P.s we just laugh at them like sgt said they wont last long if they don’t change. I had this one young cop just open my door cause I had a dash mat on he couldn’t see my vin he didn’t look hard enough to see the cut in the mat to make the vin visible but without saying he was going to open it he just yanked it open even though I had my arm resting on the door. They are the ones that give the rest of us bad names

[team39763]

That's Trooper Flores' nickname...Super Cop.  I've always known him to be a straight up guy who upholds the law at all costs, that's why I really respected him and valued his friendship.  But when he came over acting like I was a lying sack of scum, I was blown away.  He was saying he saw me commit the crime with his own two eyes, but couldn't explain the stone cold motor and the fact that every witness he talked to said the truck was parked at the time the crime happened. I was gonna go to our county judge to see if she would atleast make a record of what happened as far as him making up facts and then later admitting that he was wrong.  How am I supposed to defend myself if an LEO can freely make up facts like that.  If my motor had been hot from moving it to the other side of my house, I probably would have gone to jail for something I didn't do.  Like I said, I called the sherriff when something similar happened years ago and they wouldn't let me make a complaint...they said "sherriff's busy and yes you can be cited for something you didn't do even if we didn't see you do it". But everything is cool now...Sonny has no problem with me, but my buddy with the Camaro is about to get slammed.

[topp]

...they said "sherriff's busy and yes you can be cited for something you didn't do even if we didn't see you do it".

No LEO can do that.

They have to either see it themselves, be radioed by another LEO, or have a video.....

[team39763]

According to Zavala County...it can be done.

[fitz]

No LEO can do that.

They have to either see it themselves, be radioed by another LEO, or have a video.....

  With all due respect this is what I mean when I said to be carefull about receiving bad legal advice on line.
  Say for example some drunk jerk is driving 100MPH in a 20MPH school zone and he kills a couple of  kids that were crossing the street in a crosswork and several people witnessed it. Do you honestly believe that the police would not issue a citation because they did not see it themselves, have it radioed in by another officer, or have it on video?.
  Team 39763, again, I'm glad that you got this cleared up. Now what are your plans to get that truck into the 10's on the motor?

[Lt.Del]

that is why there are things called witness subpoenas.  A summons can be written in good faith as long as there are credible witnesses and a reason to beleive.  Then, the courts will get to the bottom of it to declare guilt or innocence. 

[team39763]

Right now the plan is to knock off another 200 pounds and get the correct stall converter.  I'm planning to do fiberglass leafsprings and manual rack&pinion steering conversion.

[team39763]

Wow, they tore me up on the cop forum.  They mostly refused to answer my questions about this situation other than saying quit street racing and follow the laws(and stop whining LOL).  Obviously I wasn't street racing and I was following the laws...Trooper Flores said so.  My problem is that if I would have moved my truck back to my house and the engine was warm, the story that Trooper Flores fabricated would have stuck and I would have been in trouble.  I had no idea LEO's could fabricate a story and present it as fact and evidence to the investigating officer who was on the scene. Sgt. Del is that true? I HAVE to tell the truth but the officer is allowed to lie to other LEO's about witnessing the crime in question and having evidence of it?  The same situation almost happened again yesterday, but my truck is parked and blocked in by some other cars so they knew it wasn't me.