Posted on 04/22/2008 9:54:33 AM PDT by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
Bryant returned to his seat, and says shortly afterward he watched a restaurant employee hand the officer a plastic bag before he left. Unfortunately for Officer Stensgaard, Bryant had recently passed the Oregon bar exam, and decided to pursue the matter further.
"If he had acknowledged and corrected his error, we could have avoided this whole thing," says Bryant. "But instead, he kept watching basketball and told me he wasn't doing anything wrong."
Now, using ORS 153.058, Bryant—as a private citizen—has initiated violation proceedings against Officer Stensgaard. Bryant alleges Stensgaard was in violation of state statutes on illegal parking, illegal stopping, obeying parking restrictions on state highways, and illegal operation of an emergency vehicle or ambulance—the violations carry fines totaling $540.
(Excerpt) Read more at portlandmercury.com ...
Did he pay for the takeout, or was that one of his privileges too?
Young snot-nosed law-yer gets an early start on changing society for “the better”, which is to say, like HE wants it.
He sounds like one of those first semester know-it-all college students.
He’ll be shilling for Hillary in no time too!
Bryant is an idiot!
The cop has a point about being near his vehicle. If it were parked some distance away, that would delay a response to an emergency call.
The worm is turning, albeit slowly.
What's next? Increased use of the "i" word?
If you believe that, I have here a wonderful selection of bridges from which to choose. All wonderful investments, you can be sure...
Vehicle infractions are not crimes. They are infractions. You'll notice he's not facing any jail time, just a fine. A ticket that I'm certain this guy would have gleefully handed out to one of us mere peon citizens in a heartbeat should we have exhibited the same behavior.
If an officer instructed you to park your vehicle in a restricted space, it would not be a violation. Well the officer instructed himself to park in that space. Police cannot be too far removed from their vehicle and parking in a restricted space at the instruction of law enforcement is not a violation.
Your logic is flawed, could an officer tell himself to go rob a bank and that would make it legal???
Ya, but is he useful?
and the world is a better place already....
In California, he could have used the Private Attorney General act to seek the fines to be paid TO HIM! Much more profitable to be an @sshat in California.
There is actually a law firm whose biggest client is an anonymous guy who goes to every public place of accomodation (ie, stores, businesses, offices, etc) to see if they are posting the ‘carcinogen notice’ warning signs. If they aren’t posting them and one of the millions of cancer causing agents like floor cleaner are present, the law firm files suit and collects the fine PLUS their attorneys fees. Lots of 7/11s around the state have been nailed as well as nail shops, doctors offices, public schools and a variety of other medical office parks. It’s quite a living you can make doing this.
I was driving through a grocery store parking lot when a private company ambulance came up behind me and turned on their siren. I pulled over. They went around me and parked in a regular parking space, got out, and went shopping. They had scared the cr@p out of me for no reason.
Excerpt of Oregon Revised Statute 153.058
“153.058 Initiation of violation proceeding by private party. (1) A person other than an enforcement officer may commence a violation proceeding by filing a complaint with a court that has jurisdiction over the alleged violation. The filing of the complaint is subject to ORS 153.048. The complaint shall be entered by the court in the court record.
1. (2) A complaint under this section must contain:
(a) The name of the court, the name and address of the person bringing the action and the name and address of the defendant.
(b) A statement or designation of the violation that can be readily understood by a person making a reasonable effort to do so and the date, time and place at which the violation is alleged to have occurred.
(c) A certificate signed by the complainant stating that the complainant believes that the named defendant committed the violation specifically identified in the complaint and that the complainant has reasonable grounds for that belief. A certificate conforming to this section shall be deemed equivalent of a sworn complaint. Complaints filed under this section are subject to the penalties provided in ORS 153.990.
(3) Upon the filing of a complaint under this section, the court shall cause a summons to be delivered to the defendant and shall deliver a copy of the complaint to the district attorney for the county in which the complaint is filed. The court may require any enforcement officer to serve the summons.
(4) If the complaint does not conform to the requirements of this section, the court shall set it aside upon motion of the defendant made before the entry of a plea. A pretrial ruling on a motion to set aside may be appealed by the state.
I wish we had a law like that in Florida...
Well the officer instructed himself to park in that space.
********************************************************
Yeah sure...
And they instruct themselves to speed home at the end of their shifts ...
And they instruct themselves to intimidate people out of their way by tailgating ...
And they generally drive like morons and trash a car by 60 to 100,000 miles that would last 200-300,000 for me or you (but hey .. we’ll gladly buy them a new one whenever they want!)
but my favorite was an Altamonte Springs cop who drove off the road through a sign while viewing internet porn on his in-car laptop.
From another post:
Many news outlets have taken an interest in my court case against Officer Stensgaard. This is a healthy public dialogue and I encourage it. It should be noted that the Portland Police Bureau has a policy that officers shall obey all laws. The law in Oregon states that emergency vehicles are exempt from traffic laws only in certain circumstances. None of the exemptions apply to this case because Officer Stensgaard was not responding to an emergency or pursuing a violator of the law.
I love that ... every police department should have the same policy.
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