Posted on 05/19/2012 6:41:19 AM PDT by marktwain
John Nix pulled out his cell phone after spotting what he thought was a gang of thugs mugging a man in the parking lot of a North Carolina shopping mall last week.
The former city council candidate ended up in jail after the men who were in street clothes turned out to be cops arresting a suspected shoplifter.
They thought he was taking their picture.
According to the Kinston Free Press:
Nix said one man quickly walked up to him, showed a police badge, and asked: Can I help you?He told the officer he could not help him, but wanted to find out what was happening.
The officer told him to back up.
I didnt even have time to respond, Nix recalled. He had me flipped around and in handcuffs, and was going through my pockets.
He said the officer accused him of trying to use his phone to take pictures of the takedown of the individual, who was a suspected shoplifter.
Nix, who is facing one count of resisting a police officer, said he wasnt even trying to take pictures, but dial 911.
Not that it should matter.
Can a cop legally interfere with a 911 call by interuption of an uninvolved bystander?
I bet he gets a wad of taxpayer money.
Under cover cops are arresting a shoplifter? They were probably shaking down a druggy and didnt want any pictures.
see something say something
right
they got ya commin’ & goin’
“They were probably shaking down a druggy and didnt want any pictures.”
OMG!!! That could NEVER happen...no, NEVER!
No, he cannot, and this bastard full-well knew it. Just another Dirty Harry wannabe.
His badge should be yanked and he should face charges.
Well, apparently he was taping them. He posted a video the police attempted to delete.
Who cares if he was taping them.
Oh the thugs who should be in jail. Yeah i guess so
You better wash your mouth with lots of soap after that comment....punk.
delayed /s
It is best never to have anything to do with the cops.
Interaction with them usually causes one to suffer discomfort and indignity.
I was broken into recently and felt an obligation to tell the cops clearing the house that there were guns in the house. I was worried if the jerk was still there he could use them against the cops. They seemed more interested in me after that. I regret telling them. I think theres a law in florida sayin u are a criminal if someone steals a gun from u.
I think the way around this problem would be to have a “real time video posting” website, so that the video would go directly to the site while continuing to record. Thus the recording would continue until interrupted the the officer, and could not be destroyed after confiscation of the recording device. They would be just destroying the backup.
As a safety feature, the website might use a “6-hour delay” before reviewing and posting, so that if you contacted them with a pass code, you could delete the video without it being reviewed or posted. If you did not, they would look at the video, and either post it, or if they observed criminal activity in it, forward a copy to a different law enforcement agency.
It's happened to me as well and the real down side is that you wind up in their books or tribal knowledge as causing them a problem.
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