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Posted by: kwflatbed

The Associated Press

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee- A Tennessee judge gave a college student a driving lesson in court this week: don't correct the police.

Clay Palmer, a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, honked his car horn when he saw a policeman turn on blue flashers to pass through a red traffic light. The officer then turned the flashers off after moving through the intersection.
Palmer said officer Matthew Puglise then stopped his patrol car and issued him a ticket for honking his horn for no reason -- a violation of the city noise ordinance.

The charge was reduced to a warning Wednesday when he went before a judge who told him he acted wrongly.

"The horn blowing is not the real problem here, it's that you were trying to correct the police and they didn't need correcting," Judge Russell Bean said.

Palmer left traffic court saying he still believed officers were abusing their authority.

"I see this cop with his blue lights come screeching up beside me and I didn't know what was going on," Palmer said. "Before they got to the next light, I could see they turned their blue lights off."

Officer Puglise said he was helping fellow police track down a speeder when Palmer saw him pass through the red light.

Judge Bean said Puglise was right and Palmer was wrong.

"I expect officers to follow the rules like everyone else," Bean said.


Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

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Posted by: Andy0921

yeah people always assume your just abusing your authority if you have to flip your lights on for a quick second when trying to get through traffic to another call

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Posted by: JoninNH

stupid kid

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Posted by: frapmpd24

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwflatbed "The horn blowing is not the real problem here, it's that you were trying to correct the police and they didn't need correcting," Judge Russell Bean said.

I wish more judges would remind the lemmings of that fact.

Quote:

"I see this cop with his blue lights come screeching up beside me and I didn't know what was going on," Palmer said.

He didn't know what was going on??? Good, than maybe he should have just kept driving and kept it that way.

Quote:

"Before they got to the next light, I could see they turned their blue lights off."

Oh my God! A police officer shutting his/her lights off when there is no longer a need for them . Where the lights get shut off really should not be a concern of this fool.

A perfect example of the public being too nosey and thinking that "they" can do it better.... Let Mr. Palmer give his opinion about the officers driving...only after he has completed the police academy.

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Posted by: CJIS

And this effects the kids life how? Glad the Judge didn't side with this kid.

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Posted by: jasonbr

Maybe the kid was trying to pull the LEO over to make a citizens arrest.

heh heh heh

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Posted by: USMCTrooper

What is that dumb cop thinking? The kid knows more than he does....he went here:

http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/...e_law_0804.asp

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Posted by: JoninNH

Quote:

Originally Posted by USMCTrooper What is that dumb cop thinking? The kid knows more than he does....he went here: http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/...e_law_0804.asp

LOL. Problem with that "law school" is it's actually approved by the State of California... if you graduate from that school you can actually sit for the bar exam in CA.

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Posted by: secret squirrel

What an IDIOT!!!

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