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."
“acting suspicious” is like “loitering” and “disorderly conduct.”
ANYTHING the officer wants them to be.
There is no legal definition, and can never be.
Absolutely no reasonable suspicion for a stop. Certainly no probable cause for an arrest. A citizen is free to walk away from a ‘mere encounter’ with a LEO.
Bring a 1983 civil rights action, bring in the FBI. Most importantly, make sure the mayor loses his job. That is the best and most effective way to bring about peaceable change. The politicians hire and promote untrained, idiotic and arrogant people in law enforcement positions. They must be held accountable.
Well she may have trusted him if there weren’t so many reports of cops, cavity searching, raping and beating women!
I’m a guy and wouldn’t trust any Cop! Besides he should have stated his business. That sounded like a hit on to me!
Exactly, forthright communication would have prevented the entire debacle.
However, I am not aware of any laws that actually prescribe or prohibit which side of the road you can walk on, although I suppose he could cite her for creating a traffic hazard.
Standard instructions from our 'government' are that one is to walk along the 'oncoming' side of traffic.
This way, if someone hits you, you get hit head on and suffer more injuries, but if you live you can ID the car that hit you.
: )
I always wonder why Texas is considered such a bastion of freedom around here when you read stories like this on such a regular basis.
New Texas state motto: "Walk the way we say, or else."
lol
Is it ILLEGAL in Texas to walk on “the wrong side of the road”? Was she on a limited access highway where pedestrians are prohibited? Where is the violation of STATUTE? If not then why chase and tackle someone?
The cop has the right to be there. He has the right to initiate a CONVERSATION with a citizen. The citizen is under NO obligation to participate in the conversation. The police have no authority to do anything about it absent reasonable suspicion of a crime.
This kind of crap leads to bad case law and bad relations with the public.
The cop’s sense of power was threatened by the bad lady.
Flee from a man on a motorcycle screaming, "I want to talk to you." Why didn't the officer pull ahead, get off his motorcycle and do what he needed to do, AS HE HAS BEEN TRAINED TO DO?
The cop could have told her she was on the wrong side of the road as easily as he told her he wanted to talk to her.
He wanted more than to tell her she was on the wrong side of the road. That could have been done in 3 seconds.
I am in Texas and have never been cited. Headlights blind me at night so I walk on whichever side and cross pretty randomly too
Last night, I watched a couple episodes of Adam-12 on Netflix. Back when Protect and serve meant something.
Reid and Malloy were at a school doing a PR presentation. A student, Tony was keeping to himself. The Principal was talking to Reid and Malloy about Tony and they walked up to the young man who was cutting something with his pocketknife. Tony was not arrested, suspended or even talked to about the knife. Later, he was discovered with a handgun. His parents were fighting and he was afraid that his dad may use it, so he took it to hide it away. The cops gave the gun to his father and the father realized he had to work on being a better dad and husband.
SWAT was not called out, no one walked away in cuffs.
As I recall, Adam-12 was very realistic for its time. Perhaps new officers should be made to watch a season or two.
“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,”
This is delusional in 2014. These idiots act like Rambo and are surprised when citizens don’t treat them like Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife.
That pic of those ‘cops’... I see a GANG with smiles on. Their job isn’t to ‘Protect and Serve’; it’s to ‘Collect Revenue and CONTROL the populace’.
That’s Amerika, 2014.
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