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I pulled a drunk over last night

sempercarry

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Interesting night last night. I was driving back to Bangor from Tacoma on my usual weekend libo run when I came up behind an obvious drunk driver. I did the whole good samaritan thing and called 911 and followed him while giving the dispatcher sit-reps. We eventually pulled off the freeway and onto sedgewick road where it became extremely obvious to him that I was following him.( I darted from the far lane to the off ramp) It also became extremely obvious to me that the state troopers may not get there in time when the guy went the wrong way UP an OFF ramp. He had to go over a grassy median to do it, and when he realized his mistake he turned around and came DOWN the ON ramp. Thats when I parked my Bronco in front of him. I was concerned that I was putting myself in a situation where I may have to draw or even use my CZ SP01 but fortunatly the police pulled up about 20 seconds after the guy started getting pissed that I was there.:? They were happy, I was relieved and everyone got home safe.
 

fetch

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sempercarry,
Not to be to critical, but what are you doing? You reported the driver, yet you chased him down. Then put your self in danger. I don't get what you did.
 

Task Force 16

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fetch wrote:
sempercarry,
Not to be to critical, but what are you doing? You reported the driver, yet you chased him down. Then put your self in danger. I don't get what you did.
In many circles, it's called making a "citizens arrest". The OP didn't have to draw his weapon. I suspect that the LEO that arrived were thankfull that they weren't responding to a serious vehicular accident.
 

fetch

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TF16, I am fully aware of "citizens arrest" and its implications. I have been a victim of a drunk driver. What I am getting at is "The OP did not have to draw his weapon", but put him self into the situation where he might have to. We were not there, only sempercarry can say. It is good it turned out the way it did.
 

okkid

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Why is it there is always cut down on someones post?
He got a drunk driver off the road so good job.
 

sv_libertarian

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okkid wrote:
Why is it there is always cut down on someones post?
He got a drunk driver off the road so good job.
It was the title of the post that I said made me cringe. Not the post, or the idea of getting a drunk of the road, but the title.
 

sirpuma

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okkid wrote:
Why is it there is always cut down on someones post?
He got a drunk driver off the road so good job.
+1

While it is putting ones self at risk of injury or worse, getting a dangerous drunk driver off the road is a good thing. When I used to work armed security in SE NM I used to have to deal with lots of drunks. Even worse, I dealt with drunks that were high on coke and armed. When I got the help of regular people to handle them, I was grateful.

Another company I worked for down there, unarmed at that, had me patrolling in a retired cruiser that still had the radio. I had an incident and had to call the cops, the officer told me to use the radio and call him by his call sign. He really wanted my help in that area. Of course when I told my boss what the officer said, he told me that if I touched the radio I'd be fired. He was a douche bag.
 

fetch

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+1
While it is putting ones self at risk of injury or worse, getting a dangerous drunk driver off the road is a good thing. When I used to work armed security in SE NM I used to have to deal with lots of drunks. Even worse, I dealt with drunks that were high on coke and armed. When I got the help of regular people to handle them, I was grateful. Another company I worked for down there, unarmed at that, had me patrolling in a retired cruiser that still had the radio. I had an incident and had to call the cops, the officer told me to use the radio and call him by his call sign. He really wanted my help in that area. Of course when I told my boss what the officer said, he told me that if I touched the radio I'd be fired. He was a douche bag.
-1
sirpuma, you miss the point. You were tasked with your job to do what you did. sempercarry was not, he acted on his own. Therefore your story is irrelevant to the topic.
 

holeinhead

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Kirkland, Washington, USA
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Triple Tap wrote:
sirpuma wrote:
While it is putting ones self at risk of injury or worse,
I call that being a hero !
+1

Maybe not the smartest thing to do if he was just looking out for himself. But willing to lay down your own needs for the good of others is noble.

And I think part of sirpuma's point was while he was doing his job, it was great when someone who was not obligated as sirpuma was, stepped up and helped.
 

Johnny Law

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sempercarry wrote:
Thats when I parked my Bronco in front of him. I was concerned that I was putting myself in a situation where I may have to draw or even use my CZ SP01 but fortunatly the police pulled up about 20 seconds after the guy started getting pissed that I was there.:? They were happy, I was relieved and everyone got home safe.
Nice job Sempercarry! I always appreciate it when citizens are willing to jump in and help out.

Following a suspect is no problem, while leading in the Police to your location (although dispatch will usually tell you to stop following for CYA purposes). Many people still contiue to follow, and in the big picture it helps the Police catch more bg's.
My only words of caution in this situation are these.
The part that is a little sketchy is when you blocked him from driving any further. MANY times this leads to the bg ramming the blocking vehicle (typically a Patrol car) and at that point you have to decide if he is actually trying to harm/kill you, or just trying to get away. I've seen several bg's get shot right there, but in the case of a citizen, a jury is going to decide if you went too far, as youwere not tasked with apprehending bg's. If you shot the bg, a jury might well say that you needlessly put yourself in harms way and caused the altercation, and find it not justified. This is the risk one takes in this type of scenario. Just some food for thought.
 

sempercarry

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Johnny Law wrote:
My only words of caution in this situation are these.
The part that is a little sketchy is when you blocked him from driving any further. MANY times this leads to the bg ramming the blocking vehicle (typically a Patrol car) and at that point you have to decide if he is actually trying to harm/kill you, or just trying to get away. I've seen several bg's get shot right there, but in the case of a citizen, a jury is going to decide if you went too far, as youwere not tasked with apprehending bg's. If you shot the bg, a jury might well say that you needlessly put yourself in harms way and caused the altercation, and find it not justified. This is the risk one takes in this type of scenario. Just some food for thought.




That crossed my mind when I was doing it but I decided the benifit outweighed the risk. To be so intoxicated as to not realize that you are going the wrong way up an off ramp is an accident waiting to happen and I had no clue as to when a trooper was going to be there. I came to the conclusion that if his lowered s10 was going to ram my Bronco from the front that I was going to be perfectly safe as I have a 6" lift and 35" tires.....more than likely he would have burried his hood into the bottom of my front bumper. And to answer your question fetch....I am a US Marine and I am more than capable of handling myself in any violent confrontation, andmore than that I have been trained to the point of being called an EXPERT (the words of my C.O., not mine)on the application and justificationof deadly force as well as the ins and outs of the continuum of force. I think I stayed out of it as long as I could but seeing sombody that drunk and knowing that I could have stopped him before he killed somebody and didn'twas not something I was ready to live with. And the troopers were very happy that I did what I did.Also, If you don't have anything constructive to say I suggest you quit posting, sirpumas post was just as relevant as everyone elses.
 

Task Force 16

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I have to wonder what it would be like if more non-LE people were willing to step up to do the right thing when needed?

With LE angencies accross the nation suffering budget cuts and furloughing officers, It may get to the point that LAC's may have to step up more to help the LEO's that are left.
 

jchen012

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It was his life that he wanted to put in danger. I don't have a problem with that. I'm sure he knew the risks when he decided to follow the driver.
 

sirpuma

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holeinhead wrote:
Triple Tap wrote:
sirpuma wrote:
While it is putting ones self at risk of injury or worse,
I call that being a hero !
+1

Maybe not the smartest thing to do if he was just looking out for himself. But willing to lay down your own needs for the good of others is noble.

And I think part of sirpuma's point was while he was doing his job, it was great when someone who was not obligated as sirpuma was, stepped up and helped.
Bingo. Even though I was paid (poorly at that) to take the risks, I was very grateful for the help of civilians when they stepped in.
 
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