Posted on 05/01/2013 9:18:08 AM PDT by Altariel
ames Eades of Augusta is charged with obstruction of a police officer, stemming from an incident during Operation Thunder, but he says there is much more to the story than that.
Eades says that he and a friend were driving down Alexander Drive early Friday morning when they came to an Operation Thunder Checkpoint on River Watch Parkway. What happened during that stop lead to Eades getting arrested... and he says it's all because he didn't roll down his window all the way
"We saw what appeared to be an accident scene. A couple of police cars with blue lights, a car carrier and a couple of cars sitting around with no lights on," says Eades.
James Eades says he pulled a u-turn to avoid what could be a traffic delay, but as it turns out, the police presence wasn't from a car accident, it was actually an Operation Thunder checkpoint. So when officers saw Eades turning around, they went after him.
"When he turned his blue lights on I immediately pulled over to the side of the road, put my window down about halfway," says Eades.
Eades says the officer told him to roll down his window all the way. He says he didn't want to roll it down anymore than it already was, and that's when the officer told Eades he was obstructing his investigation.
"I think in this instance the guy didn't want to let the window down, didn't want to talk to the officer and didn't want to give him the information. So when you don't give the information you can be charged with obstruction on a traffic stop," says Lt. Amelio Lamkin of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.
Eades says he was arrested and charged because he didn't roll a window down. He says he wasn't doing anything illegal, he was just protecting himself. But police say you have to cooperate with officers during traffic stops.
If you come to a road block, police say the best thing to do is to roll down your window all the way, put both of your hands on the steering wheel, and if you have to look inside of your glove box, make sure you let the officer know that before you do so.
Avoiding a road block is a big no-no and if you do so, you will be pulled over. Eades says Operation Thunder is nothing but an intimidation game in Richmond County.
"It's obviously to cite and arrest as many people as possible, and to raise as much revenue as possible," says Eades.
But the Sheriff's Office says it's about safety
"Our overall goal is to lower the number of crashes, lower the number of injuries and lower the number of fatalities in Richmond County," says Lamkin.
Eades says his bond was $1,300 and he says his court date is set for June 20th, where he will fight the charges.
As for the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, Operation Thunder will continue through May and as of right now, Lieutenant Lamkin says traffic fatalities are down 23%.
And no, I don't have to wait in line. Not in a free country. I'm free to turn around and say "hell with this crap, I've got better things to do".
I'm not a fan of 'official' oppression. Some folks here on FR are.
/johnny
/johnny
“Avoiding a road block is a big no-no and if you do so, you will be pulled over.”
This is a lie. The courts have ruled that they have absolutely no grounds to stop you for avoiding a police roadblock, as long as you obey the traffic laws when you do so. If you make an illegal u-turn, like this guy, then you’re screwed.
“just be honest with me”......
“Well, I don’t normally kiss and tell but...I slept with your wife and your mother”....
This is where they will give you a ticket for distracted driving, and most likely a speeding ticket as well.
thank goodness, these kinds of checkpoints are not legal in Texas.
Some resources:
A sign or device should be placed to provide advance warning stating why motorists are being
stopped. The U.S. Supreme Court has found that visible signs of the officers’ authority generate less concern and fright on the part of lawful travelers, and is therefore less of a subjective intrusion (United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 643 [1976]).
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/enforce/LowStaffing_Checkpoints/images/LowStaffing.pdf
Challenging a drunk driving checkpoint §18:7 Attacking and Defending Drunk Driving Tests http://www.jamespublishing.com/books/adt.htm
November 1990, DOT HS 807 656, The Use of Sobriety Checkpoints http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/Checkpt.html
July 2001, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Impaired http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/impairedjuly/whatsnew.html
October 2002, DOT HS 809 063, Saturation Patrols & Sobriety Checkpoints
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/saturation_patrols/SatPats2002.pdf
Operative word in LEO’s angle is “fast”. Never admit to going “fast”.
Granted, the line of answering I propose will ^always^ provide you a citation and a court date at which you can defend yourself. The choice is yours.
For the most part, if I’m speeding, I own up to it to LEO and take my ticket. I draw the line at “random” stops or generic enforcement efforts (Amnd 4 & 5).
Hey...there will be NO common sense questions on a good police-hating thread. Jackbooted thugs, all of them. Every single police officer exists only to shoot your dog and harrass you while you do perfectly legal things.
;-)
Having gone through my share of police checkpoints, I can see why they'd look at this guy a little suspicious if he did a sudden U-Turn. Every one that I've been through is in a really inconvenient spot. No turnoffs, U-turns are difficult to impossible, usually on a hidden curve or the back side of a hill, and so on. I wasn't there, so I dunno. But it does raise a red flag.
I must confess....I really really like you. Every time I read your posts I always think of your story.
You are a true manly man (you remind me of the song “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone”). Thanks for that!
Nope, 49 out of 50. :)
Really? What state, Hawaii?
Well they do the “Click It” campaign here too (New Hampshire), because 17 or unders still have to have belts. But that is all; NH is the only state that does not mandate seatbelts for adults.
This could turn out to be a long thread for you . . .
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