Anyone else think this has to do with race?? No offense but I’m starting to think so…
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Cop prevented RB from being with dying relative–Associated Press
Updated: March 26, 2009, 2:01 PM EST PLANO, Texas (AP) – A police officer pulled over an NFL player rushing to see his dying mother-in-law, drew his gun, threatened the player with jail and held him in the hospital parking lot as she died, officials said Thursday.
Moats has played for the Eagles and Texans after being drafted in the 3rd round in 2005. (Harry How / Getty Images)
Officer Robert Powell told his commanders he drew his gun but did not point it, Dallas police spokesman Lt. Andy Harvey said. That was disputed by the wife of Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats.
"He was pointing a gun at me as soon as I got out of the car," Tamishia Moats told The Dallas Morning News, which first reported that Powell unholstered his sidearm.
The Moats family did not return messages left by The Associated Press.
Powell, who has been reassigned to desk duty, stopped 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 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.
"Get in there," said Powell, yelling at 27-year-old Tamishia Moats, as she exited the car. "Let me see your hands!"
"Excuse me, my mom is dying," she said. "Do you understand?"
Ryan Moats, 26, explained that he waited until there was no traffic before proceeding through the red light. When Powell asked for proof of insurance, Moats grew more agitated and told the officer to go find it.
"My mother-in-law is dying! Right now! You’re wasting my time!" Moats yelled. "I don’t understand why you can’t understand that."
As they argued, the officer got irritated. "Shut your mouth," the officer said. "You can either settle down and cooperate or I can just take you to jail for running a red light."
The exchange soon ended and Powell returned to his cruiser to write a ticket. A few minutes later, another officer approached Powell to tell him a nurse said the mother-in-law was dying right then and Moats needed to get into the hospital.
"All right. I’m almost done," Powell said in response.
When Moats and Collinsworth’s father entered the hospital, they learned Collinsworth had died, The Dallas Morning News reported in Thursday’s editions.
The Moatses, who are black, said they can’t help but think that race might have played a part in how Powell, who is white, treated them.
"I think he should lose his job," said Ryan Moats, a Dallas native.
The ticket issued to Moats was dismissed, Harvey said.
"There were some things that were said that were disturbing, to say the least," he told the Dallas Morning News.
Powell told police officials he believed he was doing his job, said Dallas Police Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson.
(Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9383080/Cop-prevented-RB-from-being-with-dying-relative?MSNHPHCP>1=39002)
before anyone corrects me—ethnicity, not race.
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Tags: associated press, breast cancer, collinsworth, cop, dallas fort worth, dallas morning news, dallas police, desk duty, dying mother, Eagles, Football Player, getty images, houston texans, intense exchange, Lt, mother in law, nfl player, plano texas, police officer, police spokesman, red light, regional medical center, Return Messages, robert powell, ryan moats, wfaa tv
I can’t fathom why this cop was acting this way. He either has a severe lacking of social skills, or he is racist. Any human being with basic decency would immediately assess the situation, see that the people are not a threat, and release them. It takes seconds to see and understand the situation and say "go, go go"… instead he says that the situation is no excuse to run a red light. One day that cop will be in that very situation. It happens to us all.
No excuse… flat out wrong! That cop really needs some in-depth common sense training! Not to mention COMPASSION!
It’s a bad deal but they were breaking the law, you wouldn’t even be hearing about it if he wasn’t a football player.
I don’t believe the officer was necessarily wrong–the situation was stressful for sure. I certainly know that many persons have died from drivers who were rushing for an emergency. I worked in an ER and routinely saw family members drive into the lot recklessly, endangering other lives and their own, thinking a relative was "dying", only to learn the relative had nothing more than a indigestion, a head ache, or a small cut.
The officer really had no way to verify the story and did some things right. I think the concern was that the officer should have simply taken this family at their word and said "ok, go see your dying Mom". Of course I was in the ER that night when 3 guys and a girl came in and shot their "dying relative" and four of our security guards dead. In my ER over 5 patients were shot to death by "concerned relatives". So I think the police officer did more things right than wrong, and only now that we can prove the family was telling the truth that we realize the sadness and empathize with the family.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090224/NATIONAL/1035242/1010/NEWS
http://www.wlwt.com/news/17400903/detail.html?subid=10100221
http://www.lhj.com/style/covers/red-light-running/
If he waited less than a minute for the light to turn GREEN, he could of saved 13 minutes of time dealing with the officer.
If you get pulled over, why would you jump out of your car? Of course a cop is gonna pull a gun on you. Stay in your car. (nothing to do with race)
The cop should of collected insurance later though. After he learned the situation he should of let them go. He was wrong for that.
I love this. Race? The guy ran a red light, a stop sign, did not pull over for police at a high rate of speed, and hopped out of the car after pulling in the parking lot. Police hear lies all of the time. Of course and officer is going to verify a story. Go to the officer down memorial page and read the stories, you will understand why an officer is careful. If he had stopped and explained his situation to the officer, he probably would have made it with a police escort.
Of course this turns into a race issue. Name one indication from that video that this officer was racist? I
First I’m a white male who like the man in the video say’s yes sir to any officer. In my life from a small child to well into middle age I have seen very few policemen who have not been bullies and threatened people (all people), often times while calling them liars and being physically abusive. The problem here is that this hot headed officer is just one in a million. Common sense should have told the officer that he was heading to a hospital and wad therefore a medical situation. Put a gun and a nightstick on a cop and so often that bullying commander attitude comes out. I have seen so often on TV clips where people have phoned to the police headquarters on their phone or on the officers phone saying "Help me this guy is crazy". And I have done it myself. Of course this guy was wrong, but the problem is it is such common practice for them to be adrenaline junkie hotheads who think that their out to save the world that this will just be overlooked.