Dave1982
09-16-2008, 04:52 PM
Herein, another tale from one of my police friends, the same one I featured in this story. (http://www.customerssuck.com/board/showthread.php?t=33487) I was reminded of this by a previous discussion about whether police can issue tickets on private property.
First the background, for those not from New England.
Fireworks of ALL types are illegal in Massachusetts. Everything from bottle rockets to aerial shells, even simple stuff like sparklers are illegal to use, possess, or import into Mass.
Of course, it is inevitable that there is a great deal of smuggling of fireworks into the state, especially around the Fourth of July. For the most part, local police departments turn a blind eye to this, unless they receive a complaint or someone starts a fire with them or something (the state troopers, though, are notorious* for their extreme measures to seize fireworks as they come into the state).
Several years ago (I believe it was 2003) my friend was working on the Fourth of July when a complaint came in that someone was launching roman candles out of a window at passing and parked cars!. Yes, they were shooting roman candles AT CARS!!:eek:
Needless to say, this isn't the sort of thing they can ignore, so my friend and three other officers (including a sergeant) responded to the call. They decided to approach the house on foot, and got there just in time to witness another fireball spew out a window and splatter against the paintwork of someone's car door.
To say that this drew a strong response would be an understatement. As my friend put it, they "charged up the front steps of the building like it was a World War II infantry assault" and entered the house. I don't recall how they gained entry, but I believe the door had been left unlocked, since he didn't mention breaking the door down or being "let" in.
One occupant panicked and attempted to flee by running out the back door and jumping a fence into the neighbor's yard. Unfortunately for him, he landed in the row of rose bushes the neighbors had planted on their side of fence. He was quickly caught. :devil:
Inside, they found that the homeowner had been throwing one hell of a party. In the kitchen, a typically sized kitchen table crammed EDGE TO EDGE and piled high with fireworks of every description. In the dining room, an even larger table crammed EDGE TO EDGE and piled high with a wide assortment of beer and liquor bottles. :drink:
One of the officers went upstairs and found the two idiots who'd been firing the roman candles out the window and brought them downstairs. Amazingly, they had somehow avoided igniting the drapes and the couch that was arranged underneath the window.
As it turned out, both of those idiots were not only roaring drunk, but were also under 21. :doh:
The sergeant confronted the homeowner.
Sgt: Name?
Homeowner: *starts babbling about how it's not his fault and he didn't know what the guys upstairs were doing blah blah blah*
Sgt: Shut UP! I don't want to hear a WORD out of your mouth except the answers to MY questions! You have NO IDEA how big this fine is gonna be!!! NAME!!!
Now, he didn't mention anyone being arrested, but because of the seriousness of the stupidity these morons displayed, and the fact that one of them tried to run, they did fine the homeowner for everything under the sun that they could, from the fireworks to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, everything. In fact, they went through more than an entire book's worth of tickets!!!! :eek:
And for those wondering, a standard Commonwealth of Massachusetts ticket book contains 25 tickets. :D
*Notorious because they have actually broken the law doing this and gotten themselves arrested by New Hampshire State Troopers! Also, it's no great secret that they keep all the confiscated fireworks for themselves and their friends to set off. :rant:
First the background, for those not from New England.
Fireworks of ALL types are illegal in Massachusetts. Everything from bottle rockets to aerial shells, even simple stuff like sparklers are illegal to use, possess, or import into Mass.
Of course, it is inevitable that there is a great deal of smuggling of fireworks into the state, especially around the Fourth of July. For the most part, local police departments turn a blind eye to this, unless they receive a complaint or someone starts a fire with them or something (the state troopers, though, are notorious* for their extreme measures to seize fireworks as they come into the state).
Several years ago (I believe it was 2003) my friend was working on the Fourth of July when a complaint came in that someone was launching roman candles out of a window at passing and parked cars!. Yes, they were shooting roman candles AT CARS!!:eek:
Needless to say, this isn't the sort of thing they can ignore, so my friend and three other officers (including a sergeant) responded to the call. They decided to approach the house on foot, and got there just in time to witness another fireball spew out a window and splatter against the paintwork of someone's car door.
To say that this drew a strong response would be an understatement. As my friend put it, they "charged up the front steps of the building like it was a World War II infantry assault" and entered the house. I don't recall how they gained entry, but I believe the door had been left unlocked, since he didn't mention breaking the door down or being "let" in.
One occupant panicked and attempted to flee by running out the back door and jumping a fence into the neighbor's yard. Unfortunately for him, he landed in the row of rose bushes the neighbors had planted on their side of fence. He was quickly caught. :devil:
Inside, they found that the homeowner had been throwing one hell of a party. In the kitchen, a typically sized kitchen table crammed EDGE TO EDGE and piled high with fireworks of every description. In the dining room, an even larger table crammed EDGE TO EDGE and piled high with a wide assortment of beer and liquor bottles. :drink:
One of the officers went upstairs and found the two idiots who'd been firing the roman candles out the window and brought them downstairs. Amazingly, they had somehow avoided igniting the drapes and the couch that was arranged underneath the window.
As it turned out, both of those idiots were not only roaring drunk, but were also under 21. :doh:
The sergeant confronted the homeowner.
Sgt: Name?
Homeowner: *starts babbling about how it's not his fault and he didn't know what the guys upstairs were doing blah blah blah*
Sgt: Shut UP! I don't want to hear a WORD out of your mouth except the answers to MY questions! You have NO IDEA how big this fine is gonna be!!! NAME!!!
Now, he didn't mention anyone being arrested, but because of the seriousness of the stupidity these morons displayed, and the fact that one of them tried to run, they did fine the homeowner for everything under the sun that they could, from the fireworks to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, everything. In fact, they went through more than an entire book's worth of tickets!!!! :eek:
And for those wondering, a standard Commonwealth of Massachusetts ticket book contains 25 tickets. :D
*Notorious because they have actually broken the law doing this and gotten themselves arrested by New Hampshire State Troopers! Also, it's no great secret that they keep all the confiscated fireworks for themselves and their friends to set off. :rant: