Posted on 06/21/2012 1:28:03 PM PDT by marktwain
NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE
DALLAS — It was Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and Chris Moore — riding southbound on Stemmons Freeway in Dallas in a pack of 50 to 100 sport bikes — was pulled over while traveling below the speed limit.
"I didn't expect that at all," Moore said.
Officers were out in force that weekend, working to prevent another shutdown of a Dallas freeway like the one on Memorial Day weekend 2011 that ultimately led to three arrests.
So why was Moore pulled over?
Dallas Deputy Sheriff James Westbrook said he wanted to see what was on Moore's camera.
MOORE: "Was I doing something wrong? What am I being pulled over for?"
WESTBROOK: "The whole group of you guys."
MOORE: "No. I was not, individually. How can you pull me over?"
WESTBROOK: "The reason you're being pulled over is because I'm gonna take your camera and we're gonna use it as evidence of the crimes that have been committed by other bikers."
MOORE: "I have not committed any crimes, and you cannot take my personal property from me, sir."
WESTBOOK: "That's fine. Need to see your license and registration."
Moore's lawyer, Hunter Biederman, reviewed the recording.
"Here this officer decided to just go rogue and pull over the first guy he saw with a helmet camera on," he said.
The way Moore sees it, it's not illegal to have a video camera. But when the Deputy returned, he arrested Moore for having a concealed license plate.
WESTBROOK: "You're under arrest for your license plate being obstructed. Place your hands."
MOORE: "Are you kidding me, dude?"
WESTBROOK: "Place your hands behind your back."
As Moore continued to protest, the deputy lost his patience.
MOORE: "Why'd you pull me over in the first place?"
WESTBROOK: "Have a seat, okay?"
MOORE: "Sir. Sir. What you did to me was not right. You know it."
WESTBROOK: "I'm going to ask you one more time to have a seat."
MOORE: "That's f'ed up. Where's my bike going?"
WESTBROOK: "Sit down.I'm telling you to chill out."
Westbrook is then seen on the video shoving Moore into his squad car and slamming the door forcefully.
In a written statement, the Sheriff's Office said Moore was stopped because of a concealed plate. The video was confiscated and turned over to the gang unit as evidence.
Moore's bike was impounded; then he spent eight hours in jail — all of it, he says, on a charge that was made up after the fact.
"Completely shocked at their behavior," he said.
Not at all justified. But these punks shut down a major highway last year to do stunts so the cops were extra sensitive that weekend. Bad move on the cop’s part. There are other ways to stop these types of riders from being morons.
Much would depend if you had an out of state plate. Even then, you would normally be given the option of posting the entire amount of the fine as bail, and would then be let go.
If his plate was concealed, he should have just left them in his dust.It didn’t say what he was riding, but a lot of the Jap bikes have a plate placement that is unreadable.No way a cop in a car is going to catch one if they run
If his plate was concealed, he should have just left them in his dust.It didn’t say what he was riding, but a lot of the Jap bikes have a plate placement that is unreadable.No way a cop in a car is going to catch one if they run
I wouldn’t be too sure. It depends on what size it is. 650 or 750 yes, but a 1100 or bigger no way in hell. For the hell of it, I out ran my brother on my Vrod - 1130cc, both of us were shocked at just how fast that thing is.
Not from the factory they don’t. I live in Dallas and ride primarily Japanese bikes and all of them came with the license plate clearly visible below and/or behind the taillight per the DOT and import regs, often mounted to a rear fender or splash guard. Those bikes you see with the hard to see plate mounting location have had a ‘fender relocation kit’ or ‘fender eliminator installed. They definitely didn’t come like that from the factory or the dealer.
By the way, right or wrong, the cops do have the legal option to not issue you a citation and to take you to jail instead, with your vehicle impounded pending investigation or simply to take it into custody. It is legal.
This was Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, not Dallas Police. DPD would have at least made sure to pull everyone over together then sort everything out. They know better than to single out one guy.
Dallas County SD isn’t so smart. And the elected sheriff is an openly lesbian Latina Democrat who has problems getting her jail to pass inspection despite tons of money being thrown at it. And Miz Lupe Valdez is up for re-election soon. Imagine that.
This was Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, not Dallas Police. DPD would have at least made sure to pull everyone over together then sort everything out. They know better than to single out one guy.
Dallas County SD isn’t so smart. And the elected sheriff is an openly lesbian Latina Democrat who has problems getting her jail to pass inspection despite tons of money being thrown at it. And Miz Lupe Valdez is up for re-election soon. Imagine that.
I recently had my bike impounded by DPD in the aftermath of an accident in which I was taken to hospital. While some of the staff at the pound were less than friendly, many of them were helpful. When I returned to claim my bike, there was no damage to it other than what had been done in the accident (minor, and I keep crash bars on it) and they had carefully parked it (and the other bikes I saw near it) so that it would not be damaged by other vehicles around it. It did not disappear, get seized, auctioned off, or anything else.
Mind, DPD has a lot of flaws and problems, but when they do get things right, they don’t deserve to be shellacked for it. (DCSD uses the DPD impound yard.)
MEPS and the old FCC office were in Dallas, so that's my excuse for going into the county.
Corrupt. Just like most large city/county governments. Think John Wiley Price.
/johnny
You mean the same JWP that’s gotten busted and is under indictment now? We’re having some success in flushing the place out - once Laura Miller was gone, for example, DPD was able to stop having those “show of force/rolling roadblocks” on 75.
You mean the same JWP that’s gotten busted and is under indictment now? We’re having some success in flushing the place out - once Laura Miller was gone, for example, DPD was able to stop having those “show of force/rolling roadblocks” on 75.
I told the Chef Instructor that had proudly invited me that I'd rather (redacted) and blew cigar smoke in his face.
Frigging (redacted).
I don't think much of Dallas county or the city itself. Surrounding areas vary.
/johnny
I wouldn’t say those charges are automatically false - I know of this group of idiots and the guy’s bike was probably a rolling exhibit of probable cause. I want to see the dash camera from that cop car to see what the bike looked like.
This officer screwed up and stomped on the biker’s civil liberties to start, I won’t argue that one. But he could have done the same thing, legally, by just changing the order of operations - he should have arrested the guy for the equipment violations then searched the rest including the contents of the camera as incident to taking into custody and impoundment.
I agree...the cops are govt workers...just like the military...in the end, if times are bad,they’ll follow their paychecks and relish the power trip....
By the way, here’s the dashcam from another unit involved in the incident though not the actual arrest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_bFKtx42AM&feature=player_embedded#!
Next year they need to pre-position some fire hoses and blast them as they go past. That would clean things up.
“these bikers are a saftey hazard.Last year shut down central expressway.With over hundred so called bikers spray painted crap on hiway,were doing stunts and stupid craqp.DPD is justified in the actions.IMO”
This biker was there last year?
He was breaking what law this year?
Oh, wait, no evidence he was there last year and broke no law this year. He was just a biker.
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