Austin Cops Run Amok

I lived in Austin for many years, many years ago. At that time it was a relaxed, mellow place full of rednecks and hippies who were happily co-existing. Even the cops were cool, turning a blind eye to many instances of minor 'victimless' crime. I should know. I was the beneficiary of those blind eyes on more than one occasion.

But time marches on.

Today's Austin cops seem to have evolved into the modern antithesis of the Officer Friendly that I so fondly recall. Two examples follow.

Busted For Jaywalking

City police officers arrested a woman around 10:45 a.m. Thursday for failing to provide identification after she was stopped near the intersection of 24th and San Antonio, outside Big Bite Pizza and Grill.

Advertising senior Chris Quintero, who witnessed the arrest, said Austin Police Department officers were working at the intersection when the woman jogged across the block.

“I was sitting at the Starbucks at 24th and San Antonio,” Quintero said. “Then I hear a cop shout at an innocent girl jogging through West Campus with her headphones on.”

When the woman did not stop, the officer grabbed her by the arm and quickly placed her in handcuffs, Quintero said.

“She repeatedly pleaded with them, saying that she was just exercising and to let her go,” Quintero said.

In footage of the incident that Quintero filmed, the woman can be seen attempting to get up from the ground and being kept down by police officers.

“I was doing nothing wrong,” the woman said from her position sitting on the sidewalk. “I was crossing the street.”

There are, of course, two sides to every story. The cops' version is different than the one reported above. Regardless, wouldn't their time be better spent working on violent crime instead of busting jaywalkers? And based on the original video, it appears that the Austin cops would benefit from a little jogging themselves. I guess in the time since I've moved away the Austin police have morphed from Officer Friendly to Officer Doughnut.

In our second example, we have an Austin driver arrested for DWI in spite of the fact that he blew a 0.00 on the breathalyzer.

...Texas resident Larry Davis ran either a red light or stop sign (reports vary) in his Buick in the city of Austin. Despite his insistence that he had had only one drink, he was put in handcuffs and arrested for driving while intoxicated. Then, when he was given a Breathalyzer test by the AustinPolice Department, he blew a 0.00. Nonetheless ... Mr. Davis spent the night in jail.

While at the station, Mr. Davis agreed to give a blood sample as well, to prove he was not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. The results would later come back 100% negative.

So why was he arrested? Because, the cops say, that while standing on one leg, he “swayed,” and “needed his arms for balance.”

Boy, am I in trouble. I have trouble standing on one leg even when stone cold sober.

(The Austin paper) reports that people, including Davis’ attorney, Mr. Betts, have characterized Austin PD’s drunken driving arrests as “overzealous.” They noted back in 2011, that Austin’s Travis County has, “dismissed a higher percentage of drunken driving cases than other major Texas counties -- in part because prosecutors said police filed weak charges or prosecutors allowed suspects plead to other crimes."

As for Larry Davis, he will now spend the next few months getting his arrest record wiped clean. In addition to that, he will file a grievance against the Austin Police Department and the officer who arrested him...

Sounds like he has a pretty good case, especially given that prosecutors dismissed his case completely.

That story reminds me of the one about the juggler who got pulled over for speeding.

When the cop asked the driver why he was speeding, the driver answered that he was a magician and a juggler and he was on his way do a show that night in a town a couple of hundred miles away and didn't want to be late.

The cop told the driver he was fascinated by juggling, and if the driver would do a little juggling for him that he wouldn't give him a ticket.

The driver replied that he had sent all of his equipment on ahead and didn't have anything to juggle. The cop said that he had some flares in the trunk of his squad car, and asked it they could be used. The juggler stated that was fine, so the cop got out three flares, lit them and handed them to the juggler.

While the man was doing his juggling act, a car pulled in behind the squad car. A drunk got out and watched the performance briefly, then went over to the squad car, opened the rear door and got in.

The cop observed him doing this and went over to his squad car, opened the door and asked the drunk what he thought he was doing.

The drunk replied, "Might as well take my ass to jail. There's no way in hell I can pass that test."