NFL Player stopped by cop; what is the law regarding emergencies and red lights?

George A

I am going to play devil's advocate here. But, before I do, I agree, the officer did have other options available to him & did not handle the situation adequately.

One thing none of you have acknowledged- this incident happened just days after 4 police officers in CA were murdered. And how did that whole incident start? By a driver in a vehicle running stop lights & trying to elude the police. I can only guess here, but I would not doubt it one bit if those officers chasing Moats didn't wonder if the driver or any of the other occupants were trying to see if they could copycat the incident in CA .

Moats didn't just run one or two signs/lights, it was quite a few from radio & news reports I've read & heard.

Moats is trying to get his wife to her dying mother in the hospital. The police see it as a vehicle with numerous occupants fleeing & eluding the police.

Moats finally stops & in his haste to try to explain to the officer what is going on, quickly exits the vehicle & approaches the officer in a manner that could be deemed as aggressive or threatening & fails to obey the officer's commands to remain inside the vehicle. His wife & the other occupants also exit the vehicle, disobeying the lawful orders the officer is issuing to all of them. And all the while, they are just upset & trying to explain to the officer what is going on.

Since the actions of the occupants can be seen as threatening & aggressive, the officer was in the right to draw his weapon. Moats' wife was reported to have rushed up to an officer, & even though she may have been trying to explain what was going on, the manner in which she did it most likely appeared threatening. (Again those officers could have in the back of their minds their fears/thoughts about the CA incident just days earlier)

From that point on, Moats, his wife, the other occupants of the vehicle & the police made a lot of errors that snowballed into them failing to get to the bed of his dying mother-in-law before she passed away, and a failure of the officer in getting the situation under control quickly.

And too, it could have gone from bad to worse to completely disastrous. I have to give the officer points for having the restraint to not shoot. With the size of Moats, compared to the size of the officer, the number of people exiting the vehicle and approaching, possibly even be considered rushing the officer in a manner that could be considered threatening or aggressive, the repeated failure of all occupants of following the lawful orders of the officer,had the officer fired his weapon, it is very possible that the officer's actions to shoot could have been justified.

If the officer was determined to give Moats citations for his actions, once the officer knew why Moats & the others in the vehicle were acting as they were, he could have easily taken his license, registration & insurance card, followed them into the hospital, to allow them to get to his mother-in-laws room & allow the family their time with her for the last time. This could have worked for all concerned- it would have allowed the officer, Moats & the others time to calm down, allow time for the adrenaline rush of the situation to subside & allow the family to be together & would have given the officer time to consider the best option to proceed from that point forward with.

Did Moats deserve the citations- yes, he violated numerous laws, his driving may have placed people in harms way.

Should the citations be dismissed- yes. In this incident, I would be surprised if the citations are not dismissed.

Should the officer be fired- no. A reprimand, counseling, sensitivity training, even a demotion can be warranted for his actions, but unless he has a history of making bad decisions, shows hostility, bias & possibly even racism towards the public he serves, then a termination of his job isn't warranted.

Sorry this is so long. But like I said , I was going to play the devil's advocate here.

sgoldperson

I think the cop was an idiot to treat him like that. No problem with him being stopped. No problem with writing a ticket. My problem is that this happened in the parking lot and the cop was informed that the guy's mother in law really was dying. In this situation a cop with a little compassion would have taken his license and let him go in the hospital. Just tell the guy you will turn his license in to the front desk with the ticket. Seriously I'd be ok with that if I was the one getting the ticket, at least he would have still got to be there in time and the cop could have given the ticket. Now if it isn't life or death, or labor, then you should follow all the laws. In the other cases yes you should get an ambulance, as they are given a little more lee-way in "breaking" the rules AND they have staff that can help. Now I've never been in that situation so I can't say what I'd have done.

Add: I totally agree with George, and the tickets were revoked/charges dropped whatever you want to call it from my understanding.

Friendly Stranger..

I have heard this story myself, and I hope that the cop involved in this is fired. The NFL player was rushing because of a family emergency. The cop had no right to stand in the way of that emergency. He was rude and it was uncalled for. Yes it is reasonable to speed when you have to take someone to the hospital. The cops should be aware of those situations and they should be trained to respond properly. The officer was not trained for that, nor did he respond properly and I hope he loses his job. The NFL player deserved an apology for that. It wasn't fair and you should never stand in the way of a life or death situation. I think that if someone is in a life or death situation, laws such as running a read light may be permissible. It should be in a sense but the problem is, you will be pulled over for it because you as the driver have no way of letting other drivers know of what is going on. But again the officer shouldn't have given him a ticket and he shouldn't have stopped him for a lengthy period of time, not to mention how rude he was.

tuffy68

I was shocked when I read this story. That cop is an a**hole, for sure.
I hope he gets fired.

Buster M

http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/viewarticle.cfm?article_id=3718

EDIT: I strongly agree with "Tuffy".

rottendog93

If someone is in need of emergency medical care, call an ambulance. The last thing someone who is injured or having a heart attack needs is some hyped up driver transporting them.
With an ambulance the care begins when they arrive.
And what is an emergency to you is, simply put, their job.
They deal with the situation with practiced disciplines void of HYPED UP
emotions. This is safer for all concerned.

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