Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Texas woman arrested after failing to stop and talk to police officer
upi ^ | April 14, 2014 | Evan Bleier

Posted on 04/14/2014 9:51:13 AM PDT by JoeProBono

WHITEHOUSE , Texas, A Texas woman who was approached by a police officer who was “acting suspicious” was arrested after she failed to stop and talk to him.

Melissa Bonnette was out for a walk on Friday morning when a Whitehouse Police Department officer pulled up alongside her on a motorcycle and asked her to talk.

The officer, Shawn Johnson, allegedly approached Bonnette because she was walking on the wrong side of the road.

"I thought that maybe he was flirting," Bonnette told KYTX. "I just thought it was odd, I thought it was odd. I wasn't really sure but I felt uncomfortable because there wasn't anyone around. He just crept along beside me on his motorcycle and he started saying, 'Hey ma'am! I want to talk to you. Hey stop, ma'am! I want to talk to you.' Then my anxiety rose even higher.”

Bonnette refused to stop and began jogging away from Johnson. He then got off the bike, tackled her and put her in handcuffs.

"Normally if a police officer pulls up, in my opinion, it's awful odd for somebody just to take off and not want to speak to the police officer," said Whitehouse Police Chief Craig Shelton. "And he had a lawful reason to be there and to stop her."

No charges were filed after the arrest.

"I really don't want to live in a town where something like this could happen to a law-abiding citizen," Bonnette said. "I'm not going to be able to walk anymore, and that's sad because I enjoy walking every day. But I'm terrified. It was just so traumatic."


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: abuseofpower; arrest; donutwatch; motorcycle; police; policeabuse; shawnjohnson; smallpenis; walking
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-130 next last
To: DCBryan1

Yep, bunch of muscle heads in that shot!


61 posted on 04/14/2014 10:29:35 AM PDT by jaydubya2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: DCBryan1

A six shooter and a good aim could take care of the lot of them


62 posted on 04/14/2014 10:31:15 AM PDT by jrg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: conservative98

Having thought about it a bit, I think the lady was correct that Officer Johnson was in fact hitting on her, rather than trying to inform her of her unsafe walking.

Which explains his lame “Do you live in the area” opening question and her feelings of discomfort. Women should always listen to the uh-oh instinct.

And what is a motorcycle cop doing patrolling a residential subdivision in the first place? The only traffic it gets is walkers and the mail truck.


63 posted on 04/14/2014 10:31:48 AM PDT by Valpal1 (If the police can t solve a problem with violence, they ll find a way to fix it with brute force)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: DCBryan1
Interesting little slogan on the screen.

Intelligent Target Systems
"Don't always know what you're up to
But we know what you are up against."

Fascinating!

That is a rather aggressive way of looking at the world.

64 posted on 04/14/2014 10:33:31 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: JoeProBono

I thought that facing traffic while walking was a ‘recommendation’ not a law? If it is a law I would love to know what the statute for it is?


65 posted on 04/14/2014 10:33:36 AM PDT by The Working Man
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DCBryan1

The picture looks like a poster for “I never saw a donut I didn’t like.”


66 posted on 04/14/2014 10:34:46 AM PDT by BuffaloJack (Freedom isn't free; nor is it easy. END ALL TOTALITARIAN ACTIVITY NOW.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: cyclotic

problem is cops’now watch criminal minds, law and order - pick one of several, rookie blue, flashpoint, the closer, without a trace, ncis, and others - that show “cops”doing a whole bunch of crap they can’t do. but it gets put into their minds and citizens’ minds they can do what tv shows them doing.

all the tons - tons - of cop shows are brainwashing. why so many cop shows? to make people feel like home is prison and cops can treat you likea crimial anytime they want. lookmat all the shows on where they do just that. and the peoplemthey target are always guilty and they always get them in under an hour.


67 posted on 04/14/2014 10:35:34 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: JoeProBono
He just crept along beside me on his motorcycle and he started saying, 'Hey ma'am! I want to talk to you. Hey stop, ma'am! I want to talk to you.'

It is one of the perks of being in law enforcement. It is a great way to meet women. Attractive women often have to show their identification to police. Unattractive women, hardly ever.

68 posted on 04/14/2014 10:36:18 AM PDT by oldbrowser
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Valpal1
...although I suppose he could cite her for creating a traffic hazard.

Could... but;

There wasn't any traffic. The woman said that is why she was worried, as there was no one else around.

The Officer was more likely to be the source of any 'traffic hazard' while moving along at walking speed on an OBVIOUS police motorcyle (according to the Chief of Police).

Exactly, forthright communication would have prevented the entire debacle.

I think it was forthright at the first, then decayed as the Officer realized this woman wasn't going to make getting her address and phone number easy.

Her statement was that he first said, "hey, do you live around here ?

Had he been concerned about some supposed (yet unproven) law that says you must walk into incoming traffic, he would have said something like, "Mam, are you aware you are violating the law?"

He was hitting on her, and when he was refused, he used his "power" to take out his anger on her.

He could simply have used the "power" of his motorcycle to outrun the woman, parked it and got off, waiting for the woman to reach him.

69 posted on 04/14/2014 10:36:56 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: TexasGunLover

“Ma’am, did you know you are walking on the wrong side of the road? Let me pull out and watch for traffic so you can cross over”

why in the world wouldn’t a POLICE OFFICER just SAY that?

My hunch as a woman - he was trolling (just like she suspected) and got pixxed when she ignored him.


70 posted on 04/14/2014 10:38:18 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: JoeProBono

Good thing she wasn’t walking her dog...


71 posted on 04/14/2014 10:38:19 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (The Second Amendment is NOT about the right to hunt. It IS a right to shoot tyrants.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: backwoods-engineer

there are three-four guys on top of you destroying your shoulders and they keep screaming stop resisting and your arms don’t bend the way they’re pulling on them. they may deal with some effing animals but they canbe too. zero tolerance policing is assinine. not using common sense’is assinine. it’s wht turns average people against all police.

i know when shtf i will not be helping any cops out. too concerned they willhave already lumped me into the enemy category at that point.


72 posted on 04/14/2014 10:39:28 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: The Working Man

Here you go ...

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/TN/htm/TN.552.htm

see 552.006


73 posted on 04/14/2014 10:41:10 AM PDT by dmz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: Lazamataz
“Am I being charged with a criminal offense ? Am I being detained? Am I free to go?”

Pretty hard to say with your face shoved into the ground and a 250 lb. cop on top of you.

74 posted on 04/14/2014 10:43:24 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: UCANSEE2

Yeah. I understand. This isn’t America at all anymore.


75 posted on 04/14/2014 10:44:16 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Early 2009 to 7/21/2013 - RIP my little girl Cathy. You were the best cat ever. You will be missed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: JoeProBono

Suggested soundtrack for this thread: Aerosmith, Walk This Way.


76 posted on 04/14/2014 10:44:50 AM PDT by Moltke (Sapere aude!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TexasGunLover

All he had to do was SAY LOUDLY, “Ma’am, you’re walking on the wrong side of the road, please for your safety, go to the other side”, thank you!

BTW: Is there a law about which side of a road one should jog on?


77 posted on 04/14/2014 10:47:50 AM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (0bama's agenda—Divide and conquer seems to be working.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Valpal1

The real ‘elephant in the living room’ is ...

if the cop was really pulling her over for walking on the wrong side of the road, why didn’t he turn on his LIGHTS and SIREN that the Chief of Police proclaimed PROVED that the man on the motorcycle was a cop ?


78 posted on 04/14/2014 10:49:44 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: anyone
The dangerous road where Melissa Bonnette, walking on the wrong side, was tackled, handcuffed and arrested by a police officer in Whitehouse, Texas [near Tyler, about 90 miles southeast of Dallas]. . .

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

79 posted on 04/14/2014 10:51:55 AM PDT by deks (Sent from my BlackBerry Q10)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: Bubba Ho-Tep

It’s not just a Texas problem. There are jack-booted thugs hiding behind badges all over the country.


80 posted on 04/14/2014 10:52:58 AM PDT by al_c (Obama's standing in the world has fallen so much that Kenya now claims he was born in America.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-130 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson