Jessie Vigil's 2007 Mustang appears like a police car. He said he decorated the car like the one in the �Transformers� movie to make his 7-year-old son, Thomas, happy.
Posted on 03/13/2008 8:35:02 AM PDT by Cagey
Jessie Vigil drives in a car marked “police.” The vehicle is painted black and white. On the top is what appears to be red and blue emergency lights. But Vigil is not a police officer.
His pseudo police car has local law enforcement agencies concerned, but so far, he has not been found guilty of any crime.
Last summer, Vigil started decorating a 2007 Mustang to look like the police car in the “Transformers” movie. He did it for his 7-year-old son, Thomas, who loves the movie.
“My intent was to re-create the movie car,” said Vigil, a 35-year-old disabled veteran from the war in Iraq. “When I came back from Iraq, I tried to spoil him (son). I wasn’t the best dad before.”
Those who look closely can tell it’s not a police car. On the side is the slogan, “To punish and enslave,” rather than the usual “To protect and serve.” Also, instead of urging the public to dial 911 for emergencies, Vigil’s car has an inscription, “Dial 411 for theater information.”
At first, car was marked with “Transformers police,” but Vigil has since changed that to simply “police.” He has also added what appears to be blue and red lights, but he said there are no actual lights.
Vigil, who lives on Alamo Street, said he called the district attorney’s office and spoke with Chief Deputy District Attorney Joe Ulibarri. Vigil said Ulibarri tried to discourage him from making his car look like a police unit, but the attorney couldn’t find anything in the law that would prevent Vigil from doing so as long as he didn’t act like a police officer.
Vigil said he was cited for unauthorized markings at a DWI checkpoint recently, but the state police officer dismissed the charge.
Vigil acknowledged that his car is controversial. “People have mixed feelings on this,” he said.
Ulibarri said there is a state law that prevents people from mimicking state police cars, which are black and white. But he noted the state police actually sell their cars to private citizens without changing their colors. “Are we violating our own law by not repainting them?” he asked.
He said the state law is “pretty vague” and that state police don’t drive Mustangs.
“I don’t think this guy has any intent to mimic a state police officer. I’m not hearing that he is causing a problem and arresting people,” Ulibarri said. Vigil said if an officer pursues a citation, the matter could be tested in court.
“It will be a fun one for a judge,” he said. “We’re monitoring this situation closely.”
State police Capt. Craig Martin said he was aware that Vigil was cited for unauthorized markings at a DWI checkpoint south of Las Vegas on Interstate 25 but not sure why the officer dismissed it.
“We’re concerned for the safety of people who think he is an officer and think they may get help from him.” he said. “People around town know who he is, but not those people on the interstate.”
Jessie Vigil's 2007 Mustang appears like a police car. He said he decorated the car like the one in the �Transformers� movie to make his 7-year-old son, Thomas, happy.
That has a ring to it.
[snip]
“I don’t think this guy has any intent to mimic a state police officer.
Of course not. He has intent to mimic a police car in a movie. Totally different.
This shouldn’t be allowed. If you let this guy imitate a police car for his son, then you have to let the rapist, shakedown artist and mob boss imitate a police car too.
This guy should imitate a transformer instead. That would be way cooler than a police car.
So every time this guy is out driving he has to be behind people driving 5mph under the speed limit?
No thanks.
"Pimp My Ride"
So he's not really modifying it to look like it does in the film.
And he should admit why he's doing it: he's doing it for himself because he thinks it looks cool and because it probably clears the highway for him when he drives.
If you think you can repair your relationship with your child by tricking out your car, your relationship with your child is pretty irretrievable.
I know of a guy who would put one of those temporary sirens unmarked cruisers have on top of his car - he wouldn't turn it on, just slap it on top of the car.
As soon as the person he was tailgating in the left lane looked into their rearview and noticed the siren, they would merge right - allowing him to zoom past.
What you got in this here bottle, boy?
Heh, I think you could be right. Maybe the guy lives in an area with lots of 4-lane highways rather than a mostly 2-lane area like what I live in. Here, you get behind a school bus and your travel time triples.
Sadly, that's not too far from the truth these days.
Why would anyone think they'd get help from a police officer?
Elwood: It's got a cop motor, a four hundred and forty cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks, it was a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas. Whaddya say? Is it the new Blues Mobile or what?
Fix the cigarette lighter.
Too funny...He ought to add, "To tax you into submission". And, "When seconds count, the police are minutes away.
My number is 555-FOLICE. People keep calling me to report prowlers.
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