Now hold it right there you two.
Posted on 10/22/2015 4:35:39 PM PDT by Enlightened1
A Chesapeake park ranger was caught on camera pointing his pistol at a couple. It was a confrontation that started because the couple left a city park after closing time.
“I was hoping he wasn't going to shoot at us,” says Dylan Newton, who recorded a 7-minute video of the ranger. “With all the things going on in the media with cops using excessive force and all these videos coming out like that's the only thing running through my head like I’m going to be one of these people.”
Newton says it all happened Sunday night at the city's Northwest River Park off Indian Creek Road.
Newton says he and his girlfriend had gone on a hike and were driving out a few minutes past the park’s 6:15 p.m. closing time when the ranger stopped them.
Newton says the ranger asked him three times to turn off his car and hand over his license and registration. He says he asked several times why he was being stopped and who the ranger was, but he got no answer.
“I turned off my car, my hands were in my lap, I proceeded to put my hands on the wheel and I saw him reach for his weapon,” he says. “So I turned my car on because I was genuinely terrified for my girlfriend and myself at that point.”
Newton says he panicked and drove away onto Indian Creek Road, as the ranger followed.
“He almost T-boned me off the road into another car and he immediately jumped out of his car and continued to point his weapon at me and my girlfriend for about 15 minutes until police showed up,” Newton says.
Newton was charged only with misdemeanors: Trespassing, failure to stop and failure to provide identification to an officer.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtkr.com ...
Did they have a stolen picnick basket?
You know, I was thinking, that’s a very, very good question.
I guess the Park Ranger thought they were “Terrorist”, and he felt his life was “threatened” when the young couple tried to leave the park shortly after closing.
Now hold it right there you two.
Why not show his license and registration? Why argue at dusk alone with an armed man?
These things are paper and can be easily replaced if stolen
What happened to the notion of a public park, for the public? Not like this was a top-secret military installation or nuclear test site. The park ranger should be fired and barred from working at a park again. Too many hot-heads staffing positions that used to have smiling friendlies. Hope that ranger falls off a cliff and busts his bones. The couple was simply leaving the park after a hike, not trespassing!
Its fun to use all those new weapons Uncle Sam has bought our public servants.
And the best part is there’s unlimited ammo.
So he was in the park after closing time, refused to provide id, and fled from the stop. Three kinds of stupid.
Give them your id, take the ticket, and fight it in court. Unless, of course, you have active felony warrants. THEN you do what this guy did.
I doubt he’s the one that set and posted the hours. You ought to see a doctor about that hysteria.
No - he's just the douche who drew down on a pair of hikers.
No, he drew down on a couple who fled a traffic stop.
Park Rangers aren't what they were. Nowadays they're armed and stupid.
Sometimes they're armed, stupid, drunk and asleep:
Leaving a few minutes late does not justify the park ranger pulling out his gun, in my opinion.
I was at the library near closing time last night. If I had been a few minutes late in leaving, would it have been appropriate for the security guard to point a gun a me? I can’t really think of any times when it would really be necessary for law enforcement to act as if leaving a few minutes late was sufficient cause for pointing a lethal weapon at someone.
Funny, the article has him clean - that is before he encountered this guy. Do you have any evidence whatsoever that the guy had any felonies or any warrants "active" or otherwise?
We have a tough, dangerous job.
Our brother cop did not get up that morning with the goal of becoming involved in an officer-involved shooting.
The dog needn’t be large to have a lethal bite —good shoot.
If you’re REALLY not up to no good you won’t mind me taking a look, right?
What, are you a hippy..?
Still mad about that ticket, 10 years ago..?
We’re just doing our jobs.
Police SOP’s are well-established —the police violated the rights of no one.
Civvies have their story, sure —we’ll have to get BOTH sides of the story...
The key thing is for us to go home safely at the end of the shift.
Next time you have an emergency, just call the ACLU.
We have to make split second decisions —you’re being unfair.
Don’t paint us all with the same broad brush.
I don’t think you understand just how highly we are trained.
We’re the thin blue line, what, ya want anarchy..?
The investigation showed the police followed department procedure.
You must just be a cop hater.
Ever been a cop? Then you’re unqualified to judge us —walk a mile in our moccasins.
It’s cops vs. the bad guys, and if you’re not for us, you’re AGAINST us.
You’re asking about something that’s the subject of an ongoing investigation —no comment.
We can’t comment on topics of ongoing investigations.
ANY NEW ONES...?
When's the last time you had a gun shoved in your face for leaving a public park? Would you be laughing?
They is a National Park Police and NOT a Combat Zone. This is where families, couples, etc... go to site see and relax. Again this is not Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq.
Park Ranger are not Green Berets, Army Rangers, Delta, Navy SEALS, Marine Force Recon, SWAT, the FBI or any other Police that face real danger from people on a daily basis.
Perhaps this Park Ranger has seen one too many movies, and likes to pretend he is some sort of super hero? This is simply a young couple leaving a park a little late. Most likely they were “having fun” in the woods like many of us did in the past. This young couple is not Al-Qaeda okay?
When I get stopped by cops, I turn off the ignition, given them my driver’s license when asked, and don’t make sudden moves with my hands. So I’ve never had a cop shove a gun in my face. In fact, more often than not, I haven’t even ended up with a ticket, just a ‘take it easy’ or ‘get that light fixed’.
If you don’t run around with a chip on your shoulder, and don’t cop an attitude with cops, your life will get a lot simpler.
Personally, I don’t believe that the cop pulled a gun on this dude before he ran. 1) the dude didn’t say that the cop did, (the quote is “ I saw him reach for his weapon,”) and 2) if the cop really did have a gun on him when he ran, this cop probably would have opened fire.
Now after he had to jump back in his car, and chase them down and force them to stop, he did hold them at gunpoint until backup arrived.
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