Someone who should have thought a little more

Have you ever been stopped by the police?

It's OK, most of us have. When you got stopped, though, were you given a ticket? If so, did you try to fight the ticket, take defensive driving, plead "nolo contendre", or any of the other customary options to resolve the violation?

If you did any of these, then congratulations! You did what was expected and customary, and most likely that ticket is no longer a part of your life.

Oh, but did you also lose several thousand dollars along the way? Do you think maybe that bad cop who gave you a ticket stole your money? Well, if so, you should give your next actions a lot of thought before you carry them out, because law enforcement takes a dim view of responses that are atypical.

Bexar County constables say [Alberto] DeLaTorre accused one of their deputies of stealing $5,000 in cash from him during that stop. An investigation yielded a different story.

According to the warrant, the 36-year-old was clocked doing 79 miles per hour in a 45 miles-per-hour speed area. Deputies say he was pulled over. The deputy reportedly smelled burnt marijuana coming from the vehicle. He says the argumentative suspect was asked out of his vehicle. He was then ticketed and released.

On Jan 11, the perjury suspect filed a complaint against the deputy alleging cash was stolen from his car during the traffic stop. The warrant says constables reminded him that the traffic stop was recorded on a patrol car camera. DeLaTorre allegedly stuck to his story and emphasized that law enforcement was corrupt.

Investigators say they reviewed the patrol car video and found nothing to support the man's claim.

(from KENS-5)

Note the term "perjury suspect" that the news story uses. That means the authorities did not like his lying to them, especially after they had given him a chance to take his story back after being reminded about the presence of video cameras.

That guy is lucky he was released at all during the initial stop in December. Going nearly 80 mph in a 45 zone, with a smell of marijuana wafting around your car? That's almost begging to be taken in for a free tour of the booking facilities before the night is out. But the constable who pulled him over was nice enough to let the guy go with a ticket, and for his gracious leniency he gets repaid with an accusation of theft.

I hope that officer continues to be lenient to people he pulls over, despite the treatment he got from this suspect. Most traffic violators aren't out to make life difficult for police officers, and almost none of them would go to this much trouble to get back at them.

I hope he remembers that. Especially if he happens to pull me over someday.