So what can a cop do in this situation...

[RagingBITCH]

So I was driving home tonight from hanging out for a friends birthday...guy behind me gets right on my ass (literally about to hit me)...then passes me and cuts me off (with very little room to spare). I get pissed, flashed my lights, honk, guy nails his breaks and I have to avoid him. Needless to say, I get pissed, pass him and speed a little bit to get away from this asshole.

To sum up, after I get by him, I get in the right hand lane to slow down and cool off. Guy pulls up next to me with his interior light on...looks to be a cop (can't tell what city, doesn't appear to be Dallas or a Plano (where I live) cop, but looks like a cop)...he's motioning at me, yelling, pointing his finger, looks like he's telling me to pull over.

I really don't know if at the time where he tailgated me and nearly hit me from behind that if he got my plates, but can this guy do anything after the fact? The guy pissed me off...nearly caused an accident on me twice. I admit, I sped and tried to avoid him after he cut me off...he thought I was racing him so he kept on weaving through traffic trying to cut me off again or something...just there's no fvcking valid reason why you should hit me from behind, then cut me off and slam on your brakes.

But anyway, is there anything this cop could do if he did have my plates?

EDIT - guy was driving a brand new Altima w/ paper tags and not a squad car. Guy was wearing a cop uniform - didn't appear to be a security guard uniform, but an actual cop uniform of some sort.

 

[Baked]

And then...

 

[Ronstang]

I would have flipped him off and ignored him. In fact I had a cop try to flag me over in his Bronco many years ago and that is exactly what I did. He is off duty, he has no authority to pull you over for a traffic stop unless you are foolish enough to comply. There is NOTHING he can do because you have no way of knowing if he is a real cop or not and only an idiot would actually stop. He might try to mess with you when he is on duty but that is highly unlikely also.

Something similar to what happened to you happened to my old neighbor once. That dipshit cop had the balls to follow the guy home pulling up right behind him in his driveway. My neighbor rolled out of his car onto the driveway and immediately had a loaded AR-15 trained on the idiot's chest. Needless to say he went on his merry way.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
I would have flipped him off and ignored him. In fact I had a cop try to flag me over in his Bronco many years ago and that is exactly what I did. He is off duty, he has no authority to pull you over for a traffic stop unless you are foolish enough to comply. There is NOTHING he can do because you have no way of knowing if he is a real cop or not and only an idiot would actually stop. He might try to mess with you when he is on duty but that is highly unlikely also.

Something similar to what happened to you happened to my old neighbor once. That dipshit cop had the balls to follow the guy home pulling up right behind him in his driveway. My neighbor rolled out of his car onto the driveway and immediately had a loaded AR-15 trained on the idiot's chest. Needless to say he went on his merry way.

Ahh, well good to know. Just scared the crap out of me, my heart was pounding and I was shaking. I don't think I've ever been that frizzled/jittered to be honest. I was pretty pissed. He wanted me to pull over I think until someone behind him started honking at him...then he sped up and I got off on the next exit.

 

[Kalvin00]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
He is off duty, he has no authority to pull you over for a traffic stop unless you are foolish enough to comply.

WWWell..... he does have the authority. A peace officer is a peace officer at any time. If he has a red light or other lights, you are required to pull over.

One would have a valid excuse for not stopping, however, if they are in an unmarked car and not in uniform. (This is Cali law, I imagine small differences exist between states)

 

[Iron Woode]

what on earth makes you think he's a cop?

I have never seen cops driving like that.

Besides, he had no lights, siren or even a radio to call in other units. If he was really a cop, you'd have been surrounded by several squads with guns pointing at you.

The best thing you could've done would be to have called the cops on him. Get his plate and report him as a possible drunk driver and that he was threatening you.

I'm sure that would have made his day.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
what on earth makes you think he's a cop?

I have never seen cops driving like that.

Besides, he had no lights, siren or even a radio to call in other units. If he was really a cop, you'd have been surrounded by several squads with guns pointing at you.

The best thing you could've done would be to have called the cops on him. Get his plate and report him as a possible drunk driver and that he was threatening you.

I'm sure that would have made his day.

Well he was a cop because he had a uniform on. Didn't look like a security guard uniform...looked like a regular cop uniform. But was driving a brand new Altima with paper plates (definitely not a squad car)

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: Ronstang
He is off duty, he has no authority to pull you over for a traffic stop unless you are foolish enough to comply.

WWWell..... he does have the authority. A peace officer is a peace officer at any time. If he has a red light or other lights, you are required to pull over.

One would have a valid excuse for not stopping, however, if they are in an unmarked car and not in uniform. (This is Cali law, I imagine small differences exist between states)

Sorry....unmarked car, even with lights flashing, are not going to get me to stop and NO judge would hold it against me. Any idiot can buy those lights at any number of places these days. If it is not an obviously marked police car you should NEVER stop. Too many crazies out there these days. An off duty officer may still have authority but NOT to make traffic stops in his personal vehicle.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
what on earth makes you think he's a cop?

I have never seen cops driving like that.

Besides, he had no lights, siren or even a radio to call in other units. If he was really a cop, you'd have been surrounded by several squads with guns pointing at you.

The best thing you could've done would be to have called the cops on him. Get his plate and report him as a possible drunk driver and that he was threatening you.

I'm sure that would have made his day.

Well he was a cop because he had a uniform on. Didn't look like a security guard uniform...looked like a regular cop uniform. But was driving a brand new Altima with paper plates (definitely not a squad car)

no way he's a cop.

I know lots of cops here. None of them would have bothered with this crap. They would have called in other units.

Odds are he's either some rent-a-cop or an impostor.

Did any cops pull you over after this? Or visit your house?

 

[Hellotalkie]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: Ronstang
He is off duty, he has no authority to pull you over for a traffic stop unless you are foolish enough to comply.

WWWell..... he does have the authority. A peace officer is a peace officer at any time. If he has a red light or other lights, you are required to pull over.

One would have a valid excuse for not stopping, however, if they are in an unmarked car and not in uniform. (This is Cali law, I imagine small differences exist between states)

Sorry....unmarked car, even with lights flashing, are not going to get me to stop and NO judge would hold it against me. Any idiot can buy those lights at any number of places these days. If it is not an obviously marked police car you should NEVER stop. Too many crazies out there these days. An off duty officer may still have authority but NOT to make traffic stops in his personal vehicle.

Agreed lol

 

[Kalvin00]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

An off duty officer may still have authority but NOT to make traffic stops in his personal vehicle.

Doesn't matter whose car it is. Here, if it has a single red light, you HAVE to pull over. Only thing is you can't get charged with evading if you don't pull over right away because of the uncertainty if it's a real POV.

 

[Gamingphreek]

The police officer cannot do anything if I am understanding this correctly.

He would have to be in a car registered with or in affiliation with the Local PD. He cannot call on duty to pull someone over while in his own personal vehicle from what I understand-- He can handle extreme situations if he happens to see them and responds appropriately; however, if that was indeed an unmarked car with an on duty police officer you could get in trouble.

Were there any lights or siren at all. No-- you cannot pick up flashing blue and red lights anywhere, nor can you pick up a siren just anywhere. If you feel uncomfortable you can lower your speed, turn on your flashers and cruise to a well lit, public area where you feel comfortable pulling over. But blue-red lights and/or siren mean you MUST pull over.

-Kevin

Edit: From your description, though you could have handled it better, it sounds like this this was not a police officer and had no business doing what he was doing-- You should have gotten HIS tags and reported it... that behavior is inexcusable no matter what.

 

[Kalvin00]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
No-- you cannot pick up flashing blue and red lights anywhere, nor can you pick up a siren just anywhere.
-Kevin

I beg to differ. I know of at least one website that offers lightbars/lightsticks and other items that are found in patrol cars, and anyone can buy them.

Why? Because they aren't illegal to own; just illegal to use them unlawfully.

 

[Kirby]

Could of been an angry stripper.

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
No-- you cannot pick up flashing blue and red lights anywhere, nor can you pick up a siren just anywhere.
-Kevin

I beg to differ. I know of at least one website that offers lightbars/lightsticks and other items that are found in patrol cars, and anyone can buy them.

Why? Because they aren't illegal to own; just illegal to use them unlawfully.

Yup. You can have all that stuff on your car so long as you don't impersonate a police officer.

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: nkgreen
Could of been an angry stripper.

Hot Cops?

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
No-- you cannot pick up flashing blue and red lights anywhere, nor can you pick up a siren just anywhere.
-Kevin

I beg to differ. I know of at least one website that offers lightbars/lightsticks and other items that are found in patrol cars, and anyone can buy them.

Why? Because they aren't illegal to own; just illegal to use them unlawfully.

Yup. You can have all that stuff on your car so long as you don't impersonate a police officer.

You can always call 911 on a cell and have them verify it's a police officer before pulling over, that'll avoid any potential legal trouble.

 

[Captante]

As a tip for you which applies regardless of wether he was a cop or not, it usually isn't a good idea to allow the crazy road-rage guy to get behind you again once he's passed you ... under most circumstances you are more in control of the situation from behind since it gives you the option of allowing the nut-job to speed past an intersection or exit & then you duck off losing him, plus its much easier to keep an eye on him that way!

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
No-- you cannot pick up flashing blue and red lights anywhere, nor can you pick up a siren just anywhere.
-Kevin

I beg to differ. I know of at least one website that offers lightbars/lightsticks and other items that are found in patrol cars, and anyone can buy them.

Why? Because they aren't illegal to own; just illegal to use them unlawfully.

Yup. You can have all that stuff on your car so long as you don't impersonate a police officer.

No sir. Even if you are able to obtain them, it is illegal to mount them on the top of your car. Additionally, if you mount them anywhere else they must have a cover over them. The bottom of the car or a visor is not enough, there must be a physical cover.

Additionally flashing blue and red lights are illegal anywhere. You can own non-flashing ones, or other colors at your will, but you cannot use them while the vehicle is operating.

-Kevin