Posted on 04/14/2014 9:51:13 AM PDT by JoeProBono
WHITEHOUSE , Texas, A Texas woman who was approached by a police officer who was “acting suspicious” was arrested after she failed to stop and talk to him.
Melissa Bonnette was out for a walk on Friday morning when a Whitehouse Police Department officer pulled up alongside her on a motorcycle and asked her to talk.
The officer, Shawn Johnson, allegedly approached Bonnette because she was walking on the wrong side of the road.
"I thought that maybe he was flirting," Bonnette told KYTX. "I just thought it was odd, I thought it was odd. I wasn't really sure but I felt uncomfortable because there wasn't anyone around. He just crept along beside me on his motorcycle and he started saying, 'Hey ma'am! I want to talk to you. Hey stop, ma'am! I want to talk to you.' Then my anxiety rose even higher.”
Bonnette refused to stop and began jogging away from Johnson. He then got off the bike, tackled her and put her in handcuffs.
"Normally if a police officer pulls up, in my opinion, it's awful odd for somebody just to take off and not want to speak to the police officer," said Whitehouse Police Chief Craig Shelton. "And he had a lawful reason to be there and to stop her."
No charges were filed after the arrest.
"I really don't want to live in a town where something like this could happen to a law-abiding citizen," Bonnette said. "I'm not going to be able to walk anymore, and that's sad because I enjoy walking every day. But I'm terrified. It was just so traumatic."
2. How is walking by a road illegal anywhere? Accept highways I can understand.
There must be more to this. But tackling a woman for walking?
What is it with cops and no hair? Look, I’m a thug?
One of those guys approached me for a job, I’d send em packing. Try professional FRIENDLY appearance.
Once he sensed her nervousness, instead of following her, he just stops the bike, gets off it, turns on the PA system full volume, and tells her, MA'AM I'M A POLICE OFFICER, YOU NEED TO STOP AND COME HERE AND SPEAK WITH ME.
Problem solved..
Knock knock
Who’s there
Police I want to talk
How many of you are there?
Two.
Talk to each other.
Apparently in Texas there is a law. Which shows how we have way too many laws, and therefore the Police can pretty much stop you and detain you and waste your time and intimidate you any time they feel like it, and if you in any way ignore them, they can arrest you for “resisting”.
Interestingly, this is what it used to be like for blacks in the south — a dread fear that a cop would come up and make up some charge against them, and harass them.
Now, we live in an age of equality, where the cops can do the same thing to everybody, not just minorities.
Good grief. I grew up in a small town and a road of that nature would have people walking down the middle - let alone on the “wrong side”. Cop too big for his britches or hitting on her - take your pick.
Actually, I now believe she was not violating the law.
It is not certain. But note this: I could not find in the statute the definition of “highway”, but in another section of that statute, it used the phrase “public street or highway”, indicating that “highway” is a subset of all streets. And normally a highway is a road that has certain controls.
The section on walking on the right says “on a highway”, not “on all public roads”. And it says “where possible”, which suggests the entire idea of walking on a specific side is more of a recommendation than a hard and fast law.
Also, the section on crossing in the “middle” of a block (jaywalking) also seems not to apply, so she could move back and forth on that road.
I will note that I always walk on the side of the road facing traffic so I can see my imminent death. No, seriously, so I am not surprised by a car coming up. But I do move to the other side when idiots walking their dogs are walking the wrong way, because i like to give dog-walkers a large berth since dogs are unpredictable.
One time, someone had a particularly yappy dog, so I did what I do when I am confronted with a yappy dog, I confronted the dog in a firm but friendly manner, and the dog owner yelled at me that I was intimidating and upsetting her dog, which was standing in the middle of the road not on a leash. I almost said “Hey, I can call Animal Control if you can’t handle your dog”, but I didn’t.
I thought you were gung-ho on that.
He didn’t arrest her for that. Or anything actually, it’s the typical attention grabbing headline that’s actually a lie. Detained her, and talked to her, and let her go. And if she’d have actually bothered to stop and talk to the guy in uniform saying “ma’am I’d like to talk to you” she wouldn’t even have been detained.
PLease note that I was not posting the statute because I believe she was worthy of being stopped. I just looked it up so I could poke a bit of fun at our friends from Texas, who like to remind us of how much more free they are than the rest of us poor saps (well, except for maybe the Alaskans). All in good fun, though, as there are arbitrary and stupid people in all of our 57 states.
Seems pretty clear to me that the cop felt disrespected and then did what he did to make himself feel more relevant.
And I’m with you. I like to face my death head on, so walking against the traffic for me. That all of my walks are on old fire roads/logging trails keeps the traffic down.
Then you may lose some good employees. I’m naturally bald and shave off the excess. My last interview included the cue ball look. Friends tell me it knocks years off my perceived age and I’m about at the point where that matters.
That pic screams “lack of genetic diversity”.
Must have been a shallow gene pool.
“Then you may lose some good employees. I’m naturally bald and shave off the excess. My last interview included the cue ball look. Friends tell me it knocks years off my perceived age and I’m about at the point where that matters.”
Maybe, maybe not. I’d rather loose employees than clients and customers. Cops deliberately cultivate a thug look, far more than just a cue ball. Anyone who looks like a bouncer won’t work for me.
“RESPECT MUH ARTHORITY AND DROP YOUR PANTS!”
Do you think foot patrols would be feasible in the 'burbs?
The recommendation is that, walkers walk against traffic, and bicyclists ride with the traffic.
In many jurisdictions the bicycle rule is enshrined in the law. I am not too familiar with the walker recommendation being enshrined in the law unless for safety reasons.
If we can get constitutional carry and very hard prison sentences, HELL YES!
My wife got nervous with me riding a bike, so I bought a cell phone so if I got run over I could call her and let her know I was dead.
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