A cop flipped over a pregnant woman's car because she didn't pull over quick enough.
Not only is what she did not wrong, it's what you're supposed to do: turning on hazards to indicate you're complying and pulling over at the next safe place to do so…
This man is still a cop. pic.twitter.com/kvNEeEmdf6
— Stephen Ford (@StephenSeanFord) June 9, 2021
The woman is suing state police, which seems quite justified.
Dashcam video from the trooper’s patrol car shows as soon as the blue lights go on, the driver, Nicole Harper, slows down and moves into the right lane.
Harper then turns on her hazards, which is what the Arkansas State Police “Driver License Study Guide” instructs drivers to do when there is not a safe place to stop.
Harper is suing state police, claiming the PIT maneuver on her vehicle was negligent and using excessive force.
Add to this that it is well known that PIT maneuvers are extremely dangerous when used on trucks/vans/SUVs because the high center of gravity of those vehicles can cause them to flip over.
This wasn’t a bank robbery suspect or a vehicle with a bunch of warrants out on it, this was incredibly dangerous for no reason other than the cop wanted to use his fancy police driving skills.
This cop needs to be sued personally, left destitute, then thrown into a dark hole for a very long time.
Instead, nothing will happen to him because qualified immunity is bullshit.
I will agree that the PIT may have been uncalled for, but she kept on driving for 2 minutes after being given the gumball lights.
You refuse to stop for 2 minutes (pretty blinkers on notwithstanding) and you just escalated yourself to a Felony Stop.
The shoulder was narrower than the width of the vehicle. I wouldn’t have stopped either.
If the shoulder was too narrow to stop safely, I too would not have stopped, but I would have slowed to 25 or 30 mph, not 60. That said, the cop was wrong to perform a high speed PIT maneuver. Qualified immunity should not protect a cop who is negligent. The police should have reasonable protection for honest mistakes, made while performing their duties, it should not protect a cop from the consequences of negligent behavior, nor should a cop on an ego trip be protected when he violates the rights of a citizen just because he has a badge and a gun.
I made sure to watch the video again before posting this.
—
A PIT maneuver IS considered deadly force in every jurisdiction of which I am aware.
Mere refusal to stop the moment lights are activated does not constitute a deadly threat justifying deadly force in return.
She put her hazards on, acknowledging the attempt to stop her.
No safe place yet. Jersey barriers all over on both sides.
So the officer did a PIT. Put her right into the left side Jersey barrier, and flipping the car. With oncoming traffic.
This was not a failure to yield. This was an egregiously excessive use of force, and outside any UOF guidelines of which I am aware.
Qualified immunity should (note: SHOULD) not be in play here.
All the cop has to do is say he thought she voted for Trump, and he’ll get a raise and a medal, even if he’d mag-dumped into the car.
But remember, Blue Lives Matter!
There have been plenty of times, on country roads in broad daylight, that I’ve gone 5 minutes or more looking for a safe place to pull over and let hastier traffic pass.
This particular case was on a freeway, but, with those walls, it looks like there was pretty much no safe place to pull off before the next exit. I’ve been on freeways like that, and, for someone who worries about contingencies (what if I run over a stray bit of metal trash and lose a tire?) the lack of safe places to stop can be very disconcerting.
`bullhockey. She did the right thing and I’ll tell you right now publicly that if that were my pregnant wife in that car I’d have already found out where he lived and justice would have been served. He used deadly force when it was NOT called for. Badge and a gun syndrome!
I disagree, Miguel. If she was a robbery suspect, or known as armed or dangerous, PIT might be called for. This was a speeding stop. Speeding, for God’s sake. And it was clear that she was not trying to escape. She’s looking for a safe place to stop.
Were I young, female, and alone, I would not stop along the side of the road rural and alone without calling 911 first to confirm the person behind me was who they claimed to be. And I’d stay on with 911 through the stop, and video the entire interaction.
This was entirely unjustified. Sue him into the poorhouse. And charge him with what in my jurisdiction would be aggravated battery.
1) I already agreed the PIT was uncalled for.
2) You know she was not a robbery suspect like the cop did…after the fact. So that cannot have any relevance
“2) You know she was not a robbery suspect like the cop did…after the fact. So that cannot have any relevance”
WUT. He was the one who initiated the stop. He knew EXACTLY why he was pulling her over – for speeding. So that fact has 100% relevance.
There is absolutely ZERO reason for the PIT. There is exactly ZERO reason for failing to stop for 2 minutes with slowing down and blinkers raises to a felony stop. I just don’t understand this thought process.
I do no give fuck, I’m not stopping on the side of a highway if there is no way to get fully out of the travel lanes, especially at night. That is insanely dangerous and you’d think a police officer doing traffic duty would appreciate that every second you are on the side of the highway is one more second that you can be hit.
I have a friend who was killed under similar circumstances, stopped on the side of a highway and hit.
To me, a pit is lethal force. They are no more justified in this than they are to pull out a gun and begin firing.
You won’t stop? So what? They have your tag number. Speeding alone is not such a serious crime as to justify ramming someone with a 2 ton weapon at speed.
She was clearly slowing down. She acknowledged her intent with her signals. She felt that she needed to pullover in a safe place, not blocking the roadway. My husband and I watched the video and we would have done the same. There are regularly deaths of police officers caused by people who don’t seem to notice the flashing lights and drive down the lane as if nothing and no one was there. She was thinking of others. There is absolutely no reason for that kind of maneuver unless the driver were a danger to others, and there was no indication that she was. She’s on a freeway with concrete walls — if it was two or three minutes to get somewhere where she could pull over safely, what is that in the scheme of things? She and her baby could have been killed. If other drivers had come along behind them, they could have been killed. Her car is totalled. And for what? For speeding and inconveniencing the officer by making him wait too long? If he was really that upset, he could increase the charges on her ticket. His maneuver was unbelievably excessive, and I don’t want my government to be able to risk the lives of the people they supposedly serve unnecessarily and with total immunity.
Meanwhile, Arkansas State Police posted on social media 4 days ago with a picture of a wrecked squad car and captioned it with a reminder for people to slow down/move over/be safe around emergency vehicles. They are, rightly, getting absolutely drug in the comments. Personally, I hope the woman and the family own every personal asset the (hopefully soon to be ex) Trooper has and that the rest of the settlement comes out of the ASP retirement fund.
The dude initiated a PIT at an unsafe speed and escalated to lethal force with no good reason. Fuck him, he’s got no business with a government issued badge or any weapon more dangerous than a dollar store water pistol.
The video is freaking amazing. I would be ok with defunding this cop.
Note to self: the next time I am driving through Arkansas, stop right there in the middle of the road if pulled over.