Paying For The Gas Would've Been Cheaper!

[BrenDAnn]

One from my manager today. Apparently, while I was having my nice three day weekend, coworker R had someone drive off without paying for gas. Thankfully, R was paying attention and wrote down the license plate number and called the police. Here's where it gets... special. The police tracked the person... well, people, there were three or four in the car... down. Driver proceeds to pull off the highway, into the fire department parking lot, and try to drive through the grass between that and the shopping plaza next door in an attempt to get away. Wisely, they stop when the cop turns his lights and siren on. Not so wisely, said driver decided to argue with said cop... for nearly half an hour.

Mistake 1: Owner of the car had a suspended license. This nearly got him arrested, except for the fact that he wasn't driving.

Mistake 2: The cop asked who pumped the gas. The woman driving admits she did. Said woman then proceeds to refuse to pay for the gas she pumped.

Mistake 3: Woman argues with cop for a good half hour or more. There are threats thrown in and everything. Special, like I said.

End result: Woman gets a nice shiny pair of silver bracelets and a trip downtown to the iron bar hotel. She will, as a result, have to pay fines and restitution. Paying for the gas in the first place would've been cheaper... and smarter... and less time-consuming.The kicker? She asked the cop, if she paid for the gas, would he still take her to jail. The cop replied that yes he would, because she had been so argumentative, then asked AGAIN if she was going to pay. Nope. Not paying. Well, she will be now. Eventually. I really hope that forty-two dollars in gas was worth a police record and all the fines involved!

[Racket_Man]

I had that happen a couple of times when I worked at a gas station.

We had a decent video camera system so I could look at the video and get a license plate. One time I gave the police a "good description" of the drive off. The woman who drove off was wearing a shear top and a semi shear bottom. When I talked to the cops I gave them the license plate number and offered to "prove" the woman in question by telling them the color of her under-ware.

[EricKei]

b/g - Part of what I do at our little newspaper is to collect (public-record) arrest/mugshot releases.

One thing I've never understood is the seemingly overwhelming desire of people who are driving a> without a license at all/it's suspended, b> without insurance, c> with expired tags/inspection stickers, and/or d> with illegal drugs/weapons, et al, to speed, blow through stop signs/red lights, drive recklessly, etc. All of these things make the cops MORE likely to notice you and pull you over, not LESS.

The sad thing is how often these things show up on an arrest report. It's almost never just Reckless Driving....95% of the time or better, it's RD plus no license plus expired tag plus drugs plus warrant for Failure to Appear/Pay, yada yada yada.

[dalesys]

... the color of her under-ware.

Don't you mean under wares?

[BrenDAnn]

Oh,but EricKei, those are the ones that make me laugh the hardest. I mean, it must take quite a bit to amass that amount of sheer stupidity, right?

[Grendus]

b/g - Part of what I do at our little newspaper is to collect (public-record) arrest/mugshot releases.

One thing I've never understood is the seemingly overwhelming desire of people who are driving a> without a license at all/it's suspended, b> without insurance, c> with expired tags/inspection stickers, and/or d> with illegal drugs/weapons, et al, to speed, blow through stop signs/red lights, drive recklessly, etc. All of these things make the cops MORE likely to notice you and pull you over, not LESS.

The sad thing is how often these things show up on an arrest report. It's almost never just Reckless Driving....95% of the time or better, it's RD plus no license plus expired tag plus drugs plus warrant for Failure to Appear/Pay, yada yada yada.

Ahh, but you're thinking like a normal person. There's a correlation here - people who drive recklessly and people who have a suspended license/drug problem/no insurance/illegal weapons both often have impulse control and/or decision making problems. People who are disciplined and/or make good decisions rarely get involved in either.

[sirwired]

Yeah, SC's never seem to have learned the valuable life lesson: There is no situation in which arguing with a cop will improve the outcome. It doesn't matter who is right, wrong, or an a$$hole. On the one side is you, and on the other is the person with shiny bracelets, a gun, a ticket book, and a possible fun-filled trip downtown.

I will say one thing, at least the owner of the car was actually paying attention to his restrictions and wasn't driving the car. I wish the penalties for driving on a suspended/revoked license were MUCH higher... (at the least some jail time.)

[Chromatix]

…and on the other is the person with shiny bracelets, a gun, a ticket book…

…and the ability to call in backup in large numbers if required.

[BrenDAnn]

I talked to coworker E, who was on cleanup duty the night this all happened. He said when the deputy came in to finish up paperwork, he told R about them taking the lady in and having her clear her pockets, etc, as they do. She had all kinds of cash in her pockets, more than enough for the gas, the deputy said. That being the case...Well... Face, meet palm. A lot.

[XCashier]

She had all kinds of cash in her pockets, more than enough for the gas, the deputy said. That being the case...Well... Face, meet palm. A lot.

Ah, the Stupid is strong in this one. Well, she got what she deserved. I'd like to think she learned her lesson, but we all know better.

[Jim]

It's so bad in the Memphis area, I don't know of a single place that does not require pre-pay in some form.

[BrenDAnn]

I knew someone would bring that up sooner or later, Jim. I wish we'd go to all pre-pay or pay-at-the-pump only, but alas, corporate doesn't see the wisdom in it like I do. Though maybe if we have a few more cases like the one in the OP....

[Argabarga]

You can also count me in as one of those people who wonder where exactly it has ever ever EVER been demonstrated that the cops will go away if you just YELL and them and be uncooperative.

The way these clowns act, it's like youtube is full of "cop gives up in frustration, LOL" videos.....

[manybellsdown]

You can also count me in as one of those people who wonder where exactly it has ever ever EVER been demonstrated that the cops will go away if you just YELL and them and be uncooperative.

The way these clowns act, it's like youtube is full of "cop gives up in frustration, LOL" videos.....

I got out of a ticket once by having the flu. My tags were expired due to an error on my part (sent the wrong amount to the DMV and had to send more money), got pulled over, told the cop "I am really sick so you might want to stay back from my window."

He handed the license back and said "I'm going to give you a warning and go douse myself in hand sanitizer."

A FAR more effective technique than arguing, but I can't say I recommend it.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Ah, the Stupid is strong in this one. Well, she got what she deserved. I'd like to think she learned her lesson, but we all know better.

If she's like the majority of the stupid we have in our area, she'll make a repeat appearance at the GreyBar Hotel. I like to think of these folks as "Selectively Stupid."