Posted on 03/26/2009 9:16:03 AM PDT by Big_Monkey
ANO, Texas - A police officer was put on desk duty after pulling over an NFL player rushing to see his dying mother-in-law in the hospital and holding him in the hospital parking lot as she died.
Dallas police officer Robert Powell stopped Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats' SUV outside Baylor Regional Medical Center during the early hours of March 18 after Moats rolled through a red light. Moats and his family had gotten a call saying his mother-in-law was dying.
Video from a dashboard camera inside the officer's vehicle, obtained by Dallas-Fort Worth station WFAA-TV, revealed an intense exchange in which the officer threatened to jail Moats.
He ordered Moats' wife, Tamishia Moats, to get back in the SUV, but she ignored him and rushed inside the hospital to see her mother, Jonetta Collinsworth, 45, and was by her side when she died a short time later. She had breast cancer.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcsports.msnbc.com ...
GESTAPO baby. American style Naziism brought on by left-wing radicals is now in full swing
There were no winners in this story.
But, those cops see a great number of people who die in car wrecks due to speeding and red light running. They are calloused to driver’s excuses. You would think he would have them park, accompany them inside and then ticket them as they were at the hospital already.
Again, no winners and a sad story. I don’t take sides on this one.
Uh, well, a dying parent is an exceptional moment. What happened to “protect and serve”? The proper thing for the officer to do is to escort him to the hospital SAFELY.
I equate this to a mother about to give birth. Do you stall the driver to the hospital while she gives birth in the backseat? Sorry, time is of the essence in this situation.
I'm in purchasing. People lie to me all the time too. But I still hear them out first and give them the benefit of the doubt.
I’m with you on this. We received such a call about my mom a year ago February. Had not my husband ran a red light WHEN ALL TRAFFIC WAS CLEAR, we would have missed the last cognitive moments of her life.
This cop needs to be a desk jockey, if he has no more sense and compassion than that. It’s amazing the boob didn’t shoot his wife for disobeying orders!
If anyone wonders what being black in Texas is like, this article is a perfect example. If you do not believe this to be true, spend an afternoon at a Texas courthouse and check out the scene in the courtrooms. If you’re white, you’re excused, and if you’re black, they throw the book at you.
I’ve been there and seen it for myself. I was shocked and appalled.
That’s about the dumbest thing I’ve read in years. What state do you live in, princess?
Excuse me, would you mind explaining what is dumb about my statement? Once I understand why you think my statement is "the dumbest thing I've read in years," I may be able to respond. Thank you.
Er, so you’re basically stating that Texas is full of racists. You are quite dumb if you believe that. The question is “what state do you live in?”. Thank you, cupcake.
To be clear, I'm as white as new driven snow. But, I think it would be incredibly naive to believe that there's not a racial component at work here. The guy is in the HOSPITAL PARKING GARAGE. He's not on a side street headed towards his mothers house. The nurse (two different nurses) come out to explain to the cop the circumstance and the urgency of what was going on. The cop did nothing.
Do you honestly think that if the NFL player was Tony Romo, in the exact same circumstance, that the cop wouldn't have treated him differently?
From what I've seen, the Texas criminal courts have their fair share of racists, if by "racist" you mean the white boy gets off and the black boy goes to jail, that's for sure. If you'd like to include yourself in that group, I can't stop you. As I suggested, spend an afternoon in your local courthouse and see for yourself. But you won't go, will you?
Born and bred in Houston. Is that acceptable?
And, finally, your constant use of the word "dumb" is revealing. I'm glad I'm only "quite" dumb, not "extraordinarily" or "unbelievably" dumb.
I think someone needs a hug.
“Do you honestly think that if the NFL player was Tony Romo, in the exact same circumstance, that the cop wouldn’t have treated him differently”
First of all I an not a great Tony Romo fan, but I think he would have received more favorable treatment, but I also think Emmit Smith would have received more favorable treatment because he is a well known NFL player. I hate that this happened to this family, I just get tired of the race cards being played. If the policeman this this because of race he has no right being a policeman.
Yeah, right. Just like any other state. Sure. I’ve spent enough time in Texas courthouses to know that what you say is ridiculously exaggerated. You made a stupid statement, but I can find it in my heart to forgive you, since we’re paisano (both from H-town).
I think your Emmit Smith point is well taken. But, after watching the local Houston news story, it seems clear, to me at least, that there's something very personal about the way the cop is behaving. And it was behavior that was exhibited the instant the cop stepped out of the car and saw the driver.
Now, maybe the cop is an environmentalist and hates people who drive SUV's. Or, perhaps the cop hates sick people and the hospital location sets him off. Maybe the cop hates speeders and traffic light runners - but, the final destination is a hospital, not the clearance rack at Macy's. Just a little common sense on the cops part would have allowed him to conclude that there's a medical emergency involved.
No. For me the only logical conclusion based on the events and the cop's behavior as captured by his own dash-cam, is that the cop was prejudiced against black people. Nothing else explains the cops disturbingly personal ill-treatment of Mr. Moates.
I have not seen the footage, but like I said before any type of racist should not be on the police force.
What you have here is a cop who is overly sensitive to what he obviously thinks is Contempt Of Cop. Maybe he was just having a bad day but it looks as though he has a bad case of control-itis. If they let this cop keep his badge they’d better give him some sensitivity training. I don’t know what they can do about his judgement though.
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