Image via CBS Texas/YouTube
A Texas man got himself into hot water after he “pulled over” a deputy on a motorcycle for patrol and read the cop the riot act for what he decided was reckless riding. For obvious reasons we don’t recommend anyone do this sort of thing, but it’s what happened next to this guy that just makes us facepalm, hard.
Actor Frankie Muniz didn’t fare so well in his NASCAR race over the weekend.
First off, the guy got onto the highway in his Ram pickup and started changing lanes when he said a Collin County deputy came speeding past him at around 100 mph. The Ram driver claimed he almost hit the cop, which scared him.
When the deputy exited the highway, this helpful citizen decided to follow him, honking his horn when they were both stopped. That led to a verbal confrontation between the two with the Ram driver expressing his concern.
When the deputy said he was “responding to a call” the Ram driver asked why he wasn’t going Code 3 (that’s lights and sirens). He apparently thinks cops are required to do that in such situations, which might not be true, depending on department policy.
But here’s where things really took a turn. The Ram driver says after the deputy left he hung around and chatted with a construction worker about how badly the deputy was behaving instead of continuing on with his day. Then the deputy returned, citing him for improper use of his horn.
Technically, in most states you can’t honk your horn just to get someone’s attention or because you’re mad. Cops don’t cite people for that much, at least in most areas, but it is the law and this guy admitted to breaking it.
It gets even better: when the deputy ran the Ram driver’s info, it came back that he had a warrant for his arrest. Oops.
In some ways it’s ironic that the guy who’s lecturing the cop about being responsible is himself not free from error. But it’s also just so typical of people who want to patrol others for no good reason. Long story short, the guy got arrested, his truck was impounded, and he ended up having to pay a fair amount of cash as a result.
We’re not sure which is worse, the fact this guy tried patrolling the deputy’s behavior by honking and acting like a Karen or the local news station behaving like this story is some sort of gotcha for the cop. While the deputy might have been a little petty in this situation, we kind of can’t blame the guy.
Imagine if someone showed up at your place of employment and without any knowledge of what you’re doing just started to criticize your work. You’d be hard-pressed to not lash out or at least laugh in the person’s face.
Our advice is if you see a cop driving/riding in a way you don’t like, record it. Then post it on social media, send it to your local news station, or file an official complaint. But don’t chase down the cop and try to lecture him. Nobody likes a Karen.
Image via CBS Texas/YouTube
