2 high speed bike chases in 2 nights

So I do not know what is going on up here in North Lake Tahoe, but on both Friday and Saturday nights sport bike riders have led cops on a high speed chase. Saturday I was almost killed by a CHP officer cutting a corner while in pursuit of the bike. The cop was doing about 75 in a 35 using all four lanes to make the turn while trying to catch the guy, he was about 7 seconds back. I was about 2 inches from getting clipped by the cop while I was on my bike. I had to throw my underwear out. One of the cops later rolled his car into a light pole at the entrance to Squaw Valley while trying to make a corner behind the bike. He was flown to reno on a Helicopter.

 

Those idiots that run make the rest of us look bad. It's not worth your life over a ticket. Most police departments have a very limited pursuit policy. I'm surprised that those chases went on as long as they did. Usually, once they get a helicopter up, they just wait until the bike stops and arrest the guy at his house. Glad you weren't clipped -Mac-. Be safe.

 

Wow, that was a close call for you... Only a true idiot would run from the cops and put EVERYONE in danger. Hey, maybe it's something in the pristine lake water up there (now that even fish aren't allowed to swim in) that are making people crazy (tounge-in-cheek)?!?!

 

While I don't condone running, I definatly don't like when the CHP's put other people's lives in harms way for the sake of writing a stupid ticket.
Look at what this "get 'em at all cost" policy accomplished. An officer is now in the hospital, and he didn't even catch the "perp", even after chasing him into a canyon.

Hey MAC ... you ever come over towards Pollock Pines? Ice House Rd, Grizzly Flats Rd., Highway 193? I see that you ride dirt too. If you'd like to help out, I'll be putting together a trail work party for the Strawberry Trail.

PAR518, Come on up and join us for a ride.

 

man those guys are probably thanking Joey for his getting away from the po-po thread..


all kidding aside running from the cops is LAME, glad you didn't get hit though! Underwear is cheaper to replace than your life..

 

Shame on the biker for running, but SHAME ON THE PROFESSIONALS for doing more damage! A trained professional should never cause more damage than what could have occurred in the original incident. The goal is to keep the roads safe and prevent accidents. Causing more accidents is not justified and the officer who crashed should probably lose his job for that. Luckily for that cop, the light pole's family cannot sue him personally in civil court. Cops are way behind in safety culture and minimizing collateral damage. I lost a good friend thanks to that "invincible" way of life.

 

In all likelyhood the perp wasn't afraid of a ticket as much as he was toying with the cops. IMO they are equally stupid. You cant catch a determined bike with a car (at least not a cop car) so if you dont have a chopper with eyes on, you are wasting your time and risking other peoples lives.
As much as I hate these guys running for giving us a bad name, I hate the "Im a badass cop" mentality even more. If I get a ticket, I cant decide what is worse, paying the fine or dealing with the smug "I got you, im a badass" attitude. But I will admit, that is certainly not all cops, I have had some super polite even nice guys give me tickets or warnings too. I guess I just dont like tickets.... weird huh.

Most of all, Mac, I am glad you are ok!!!

 

while i couldnt agree more that only a true IDOT would run for a officer, however a officer putting lives in harms way for the sake of writing a stupid ticket is a true IDOT also !!!! both sides need to except responsibility, as they are lucky they did not take out our friend.
I wonder how Barney fife feels today after hitting the pole.
hey did they even catch them ? its sad you all most got taken out what was it a full moon ?

 

no matter how fast the bike is, radios are faster

 

I am sure the injured cop is going to answer for his actions. There will be an internal investigation. But where is it proven that this guy on the sport bike was just going to get a ticket? Maybe he was running because he stood to suffer capital punishment for the offense he had committed. I know that is a long shot but who knows?

None the less. the police must ensure the safety of public even if they are chasing a mass murderer. Unfortunately cops are human. Adrenalin is running rampant during this type of a situation. Less than seasoned ambulance drivers, firefighters, and any emergency responder will get tunnel vision when the stress level is elevated to the point that it often is. All of these professionals tend to be goal minded. The vast majority of the time we want that. Sometime we don't.

Police have to chase the bad guy. But they must weigh all the consequences of their actions like a firefighter rushing to a fire in a huge vehicle weighing tons, and going through red lights with the lights and sirens/ For all of them, they ar of no use to anyone if they do not get to where they are trying.

We have to be careful in what restrictions we put on our people. Do we want an ambulance to drive the speed limit and wait at red lights when we or our loved ones are suffering a heart attack.

The end result here Mac is I am glad you are OK and I hope that officer comes along and learns from his mistake.

 

Randy, I must say i could not agree with you more on all the issues . my brother is a Sheriff and i have a great deal of respect for the Law however there still needs to be some restraint when chasing a piece of shit , like the publics safty ? and i said about the rider getting a ticket because of the previous post, i did not really think it would end there. Tim (speed)

 

If you want to do something about it, file a complaint :wink: .

I would, if a officer put my life in danger (& I have a boat load of family in Law Enforcement), & my LEO family agree's !

When his review comes up, & he has enough complaints, he could be prevented from being promoted & or stop him from a pay increase.

That will remind him not to be a Hot Shot Jockey & real in reality where it hurts most - the pocket !

 

Speed and Everlos T,

I think it is probably extremely common for people to think that when police are chasing someone, it is for a minor offense so when I made mention of whether this was a ticket or something more serious, it was for the purpose of discussion.

Right now there is a public hearing going on here in the Vancouver area where police are being kicked about the use of Tasers. Transit Police are taking a big hit because the media is reporting that they are tasering people for not paying a transit fare.

Well that is not really the case. That may be why the initial contact was made. Police have a duty to enforce laws. Public have a legal responsibility to do certain things when police are dealing with them while it is alleged that they have committed an offense, even failure to pay a transit fare. If a perp runs from police who are trying to write a ticket, then the perp has escalated this into a criminal offense of Obstruction which here in Canada is an Indictable offense. You in the States would call it a felony. So the tasering of a perp in these cases is not for the fare evasion, but the criminal offense the perp has escalated this into.

Is this the way we want our police to work? I think so myself but I know we will never all agree on that one.

 

Agreed. With the hundred of thousands of LEOs out there, really it is a very small few that give the rest of them a bad name. Much like our complaints about some of the squids. Hey! Sport bike riders are human too. Where did you hear that before?

 

I realize this might sound kind of hypocritical since I started that infamous dealing with the po-po thread but the issue is if you ban tasing/caning/whipping then the law itself becomes null and void. Sooner or later people are gonna realize, hey all I gotta do is run and they won't chase me!

Then the police would be relegated to the mall security guard where all they can do is yell at you. There are some truly dangerous and stupid drivers that shouldn't even be driving a walker. If we allow those idiots to just drive as fast as they want anytime then the roads would be anarchy full of flip-flop Gixxers.

There is a time and place for a spirited ride like on a country road in the middle of nowhere but not in a school zone, rush hour, or anything where you could endanger others. What the police truly need are better tactics to catch them other than raw speed. Seriously, I don't even know why the police even bother with chases since I've heard of a lot of successful "escapes".

 

Unfortunately Tahoe doesn't have helicopters- too expensive. they do have motorola, and that's faster than anything flying, even a bullet. the bikers may have gotten away today, but incidents like these just highlight where law enforcement need training (like coordinating between CHP/Sheriff/Police via radio), they will get it, and then the next time the runner/s will get caught. the runner may not want to get caught but theres more police who want to catch them. the odds aren't good for runners.

 

Cat's outta the bag.


Here's my ass wipe


So now I can say. For those who in other thread say they know what it is like to be the police, just because they have done some Police volunteer woork, or have worked in enforcement in a limited capacity, or they have read somewhere where the reliability is unknown, I can say a few things.

If you haven't gone to a call, found a new born stuffed in a green garbage bag, stuffed in a suitcase, with a sock in its mouth and having been put into storage for 2 years. You know squat. This was two weeks before my first was born.

If you haven't gone to see your wife in the hospital a couple days after your first was born and the nurse in emerg. calls you aside and asks you to go to the morgue to look at a S.I.D.S case, you know squat.

If you haven't gone to an accident scene where 3 out of five passengers in a car all from the same family are dead, and a 5 year old little girl is screaming because her leg is broken, then you know squat.

If you haven't gone to a postmortem on a 16 year old and seized bullet fragments from is heart, you know squat.

If you haven't gone on Christmas day to a home to find someone has put a 12 guage to their head, you know squat.

If you haven't dealt with a person with mental health issues, and she douces herself with gasoline, then lights herself on fire and burns to death, then you know squat.

On the same token, if you haven't thought outside the box while the police operator is on the phone with a suicidal person, and you had telephone operator put a quick trace on the call allowing you to arrive at a fast flowing river in time to speak with this person to make a difference, then guess what. You know squat.

This is really a minuscule photo of what my 25 years was like. It would take pages and pages to tell you of the exceptional things I have dealt with, both good and bad. And by no means do I ever presume to think that my service was anywhere near as tough as many LEOs out there. I think of mine as mundane in comparison.

I retired having put in 25 great years serving you and the vast majority of you thank me for what I did. I made mistakes. I have always said that a mistake is the greatest learning tool so long as they are not repeated, and you learn from them. I would not change my choice if I went back in time. I did not come from a family of LEOs. I was the first and I have a nephew in San Bernardino that has followed suit. My son has not and I am fine with that.

That career gave me the opportunity to see good and bad in people, mostly good I am pleased to say. It gave me the opportunity to expand my life's experiences which I would not have changed for the world.

I have chased people, called off chases because I felt they were putting the public or myself at risk. I have fought with them. I have even sat and socialized with some of them outside of work.

I have been quarantined for S.A.R.S. I have been on the anti HIV protocol and could not be intimate with my wife for a month. (She probably liked that). I have had 3 back surgeries, went through a bout of temporary paralysis, not knowing if I would walk again, broken two arms, two feet, dislocated ribs I think 4 or 5 times, and dislocated a shoulder. Al separate occurrences. This too is a small part of what has happened to me.

That job, in part, gave me the opportunity to donate Bone Marrow to a father of two whom I never met. It gave me the opportunity to have compassion, understanding and tolerance, which I must say, I have seen some instances where this is lacking in these posts from time to time.

So if you were not a full time LEO, don't insult me by telling me you know what my job entails.

But the best part of all this, is my pension bought my VFR. The fact that I have a VFR, and the fact that you are reading this, on this site means we have somethings in common. The beauty of this is that if you don't agree with me, then that really is OK. Not that I rally care anyways. I am a Scot.

There.... Now I have vented I feel soooo much better. Sorry for venting.:soapbox: Time for Heineken.

Sorry Stuke. This was not directed at you but its your fault anyways.. Just for that I am going to have two Heineken's.arty2: