Running from the cops (advise, similar experiences, anything, all welcome)

[Tainted (OP)]

Let me start off by saying, this really is a post for a friend, not me. I'm not saying that for legal reasons, it's the truth.

Anyways, my buddy has a suspended license, lives at the edge of his county, which is backwoods, loves to give 1yr in county for drivin on suspended, shitty place to live. My boy was out on bond for drivin on suspended, tampering with evidence, poss of xanax, poss of soma. they wanted him to do prison time, but after some back and forth he got them down to 1yr in county and they deferred his sentencing until after xmas.

Cut to the other day. He lives with an older lady (hes 45, shes like i dunno 60 maybe, chill as fuck, but doesnt do drugs, but is cool with him doing them, they got a weird friendship arrangement i dunno) Anyways, they have a car, registered in her name, she is a elementary school teacher. So, the other day, she left the truck for my buddy since he had to work at noon and would be waking up dopesick. She went out of county, has plenty of alibi witnesses, credit charges, etc. to prove it. So, my buddy took the truck, drove literally 5 miles down the road, got a pill, but on his way back, he says he came to a complete stop at a stop sign, but didnt pause for like 5 seconds, but didnt roll it either. So, he made a left, cop coming the opposite way banged a u turn. got up on his ass. he approached another stop sign (his street, he lived about 3 miles up the road) and the cop lit him up. His windows have really dark tint, so you can't see in. So he fuckin FLOORED it. cop chased him for like 2 minutes then stopped (clearly got his plates)

well, he lives outside city jurisidiction, so he raced home, locked the gate at the entrance to his property, put the truck hidden (Hes got a lot of land and barns and shit), sprayed the engine block down to cool it off, went inside his house (which was still covered with plywood due to the hurricanes) so 45 minutes later, a county sheriff and a city cop showed up at his gate. THey sat at the gate for like 20 minutes and left. This was over the weekend.

So far, they haven't tried to come back, they haven't interviewed the lady who its registered to, they haven't done anything. He doesn't mind catchin the charge, since he'll take it to trial and get acquitted, they cant prove he was driving (my dealer just did the same thing, got acquited) but he doesn't want to get arrested before hes supposed to turn himself in on this other shit.

But, they haven't interviewed anyone yet. When they do, the lady was gonna say she was out of county, leaves the keys in the truck, but the battery was dead and it wasn't running when she left, shes got plenty of proof it wasn't her. My buddy doesn't know what to say, if anything. I told him to keep his mouth shut and say nothing, only way they can prove he was in the car is if he admits it or if they catch him in a lie (plus thats another felony charge, lying to the policE)

Anyone been in similar situations? I'm interested to hear the outcomes. MY buddy had asked me to post online and see if I can get any genius ideas off the interwebz. We're hoping, since it's a small town, that they have already assumed it was my boy driving, they def already know hes about to goto jail, so hopin that they're just not going to pursue it. Somehow, I think that's probably unlikely, as the cops in that county are fucking assholes and the judges just love to bam people.

[Dog Food]

He shouldve ditched the car somewhere and got a ride home, had her call when she got home if she came home sometime that day to report a stolen vehicle.  That woulda cleared up any blame at the owner or other person living there.

Cops arent chasing high speed chases in my major city anymore, just basically get the license plate and follow up if its not a stolen plate or something.  Too many innocent people get hurt trying to chase someone going 100mph in a city around residential areas and shit.

Id say if the car isnt reported stolen, she will have to answer to who has the ability to drive her vehicle, and if he was just stopped and charged while driving this same vehicle, they may try extra hard to get him for it.

I was caught on radar from a cop on the bridge going over the highway doing 110 once a few years ago. My dude had just given this dopeboy in a horrible neighborhood some good fake 20s except they ran out of blank paper and had to use paper that had a few very light colored clouds on it.  Figured it was about midnight, hed never notice till were gone. Well he gets to the end of the side street and as im turning around in a driveway the dude slams on the brakes.  Well that was a fat 15 min chase goin 70 on 35mph main roads, thru red lights and over double yellows, over front yards kind of a chase.  I didnt know this area and he kept catching up to us every time we lost him.

Ended up driving right next to a cop car with him a couple cars back for a lil until i could cut away while he was blocked in.  Got to the on ramp and floored it to get radared on the bridge above the highway. I could see his lights wayy back getting on the highway and the first exit was kinda around a turn in the highway so we got off real quick. both lanes there were blocked at the red light with 3 cars in both lanes, so i hopped the curb, went thru the grass around em to go zig zag the neighborhood streets there and park somewhere to get well.  Never got us idk how.

But its not worth it, risking your vehicle and your life to split a gram between 2or3 people. Those dumb d boys risked all that (with dope and a gun in his car) to chase someone over what they probly paid 70 bucks for to be risking 10+ years over.  Like they dont remember what a cop is.

[Tainted (OP)]

yeah they didnt report the car stolen that was my first suggestion. he did get arrested in the truck like not even 2 months ago by the same police department.

when if irst talked to him he had an idea, which imo is REALLY grimey and im not sure how i feel about it, but about a month ago they had someone living with them, stole a bunch of shit from them, money and just shit around the house and disappeared (still in town just lives elsewhere) plus ne ver paid rent like they were supposed to. so my buddy was thinkin about saying either 'im not the only person who lives here, i wasn't home, keys were in the truck, dude still lives here' or something like that. he said dudes a scumbag, but i dont know that im cool with that, yeah dude stole from you but i dont wish prison on m worst enemies and he didnt do something worthy of going to prison over. plus if they were to say that, and then dude has an alibi like i was in a gas station on other side of town on surveillvance camera (which everywhere has now) then my buddys gonna get another charge for interfering with police investigation.

this was the first time my boy ran from the cops though, hes been to prison multiple times, jail for DWLS a bunch, reason he ran is #1 he was dopesick w/ a pill (which alone wasnt enough) but the fact hes on bond for the few months and then hes doin a year anyways, he dont wanna start the year early.

[dizzle]

my advice would be to tell them nothing. Like, literally, say I don't know what you're talking about it wasn't me. And leave it at that. They'll push him to answer questions, but if I were him I'd say "it wasn't me. I'm not answering any other questions without a lawyer"


"where were you on xyz time and date"

"I'm not trying to be difficult but I have learned from past encounters with the law that I should have a lawyer present when answering questions. I would like a lawyer, please"


"what were you doing at xyz time and date"

"Again, I'm not trying to be difficult, but I would like a lawyer"


They can't PROVE it was him unless he gives them the evidence to do that. If he starts saying shit like "well, I was at so and so's house" or some lie, then they catch him in a lie, then they can charge him a lot easier. LITERALLY SAY NOTHING but "it was not me, and that is all I have to say"

see, the burden of proof is ON THE COPS to prove IT WAS HIM. It's not on him to prove it wasn't. Understand? The more he says, the easier time they'll have proving that. That's it. It up to them to prove it. Don't make it any easier on them. Also, I'd tell him to wipe his phone just in case they come and snatch it up with a warrant and try to do a GPS history or some shit on it.


They can't arrest him for that, it's not his car, and he has nothing to do with it. Matter of fact, he doesn't even have a license. He knows better than to drive a car without a license. Anything else, lawyer.


But seriously, they'll do all kinds of trick shit to try to get him to talk, he needs to appear helpful, and nice, while not answering any questions. have him say something like "the last time I had to answer questions I ended up getting charged with something I didn't even do, so I refuse to answer any questions without my attorney." now, he may have to get one. As I believe the state can't appoint one until he is actually arrested. Oh, also, if they "ask him to come to the station, just to talk" say no, I'm not comfortable with that. I have PTSD form police encounters and don't feel comfortable doing that. They cannot MAKE you come to the station. They can trick you into it

"Mr. soandso, we found your dog, it was hit by a car but we got him and he's OK, come to the station to pick him up"   <--- This DOES NOT have to be true, they are allowed to lie to get you there. Once you're there, they can charge you even if they don't have enough proof, they're allowed to charge you "while investigating", BUT, they cannot come to your house and snatch you without an arrest warrant, and in order to get one of those they need to be able to prove it was you, in order for a judge/DA to sign that warrant.  ya dig?


now that being said, in today's police state, they may just charge him anyway, but he may be able to beat that IF HE CAN KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT. Anything he tells them, they'll end up using against him.

If they ask where the truck was at such and such time and date, he should say "I don't know, it's not my truck." well why don't you know? "it's not mine, I have no idea where it was or who was in it"

Don't try to offer other people as candidates. don't try to mislead them, simply say, "I don't know, and I'm not comfortable answering any more questions"


ANYTHING YOU SAY CAN AND WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU    <-----Ain't that the fucking truth?

[Chip]

great advice, dizzle !

[DeadCat]

Agree withthe others; Your only words should be "Talk to my lawyer."  Volunteer NOTHING. Offer no excuses or alabis or ANYTHING. Make them talk to th eproverbial brick wall.

Remeber in the US the burden of proof (of guilt) is entirely on the state to prove. Innocence is presumed by law.

However it should also be noted that especaill with regard to drug and "terrorisim" issues these rules are being ignored.

Don't worry in a few year they will just dispatch a drone to follow your vehicle and photoraph where it goes and who gets out and bio-recognition software will "prove" the identity of everyone involved. It will be like red light cameras every tim you leave a windowless room sealed electronically with a Farraday cage.

We ar building the infrastructure for a total control police stare. A statement that only a few years ago sounded like paranoid scenece fiction but today is accurate.

[Z]

If its too hard to prove, and not a high priority, then the cops might just drop it.  Dont make it easy for them to arrest him by accidentally giving them evidence.

The girlfriend could prove it wasnt her and claim she leaves the keys in the car.  That way it could be anybody, and the burden is on the pigs to take it further then that.

[Spiral]

My advice is to follow dizzle's advice -

[dizzle]

What eneded up happeneing here? Can you fill us in a bit on the outcome of this?


I'd bet 10 to 1 that they pressured him, and he talked, he said some lie or gave them an "alternate suspect" and they caught him lying and charged him.

[Tainted (OP)]

What eneded up happeneing here? Can you fill us in a bit on the outcome of this?


I'd bet 10 to 1 that they pressured him, and he talked, he said some lie or gave them an "alternate suspect" and they caught him lying and charged him.

Nada, the police came that one time and haven't been back, but he's in bond awaiting sentencing in January for something else and it's a really small town the cops know it was my buddy and not the lady who owns the car, but it doesn't look like they're gonna come after him, unless their waiting for him to be in county (Jan he's going away for a year/county time for driving on suspended and possession)

[crimelaw]

I am an attorney and agree with Dizzle.  I would like to  elaborate on the subject.  When law enforcement ask you any questions you don't want to talk about it is best to say you want your lawyer and that you do not want to talk at all. Saying you want your lawyer present will invoke your 6th Amendment right to cousel, adding that you do not want to talk to them at all invokes your 5th Amendment right to remain silent. It's always important to invoke both rights.  It can be as simple as saying you don't wish to talk and adding that you must have your attorney present during all questioning.
Regarding this situation, my bet is that the police will wait until your friend is in jail to question him. They will have access to him and to stop them from all further interviews or interrogations he must invoke both rights. He can simply state that he is invoking his right to remain silent and his right to have an attorney present. One thing you don't when you are locked up is to have daily visits by the cops. Other inmates might get the wrong idea about why he is having those visits! However, if you invoke your 6th Amendment right to cousel and your 5th Amendment right to remain silent all questioning must stop. This is especially true if you are in custody.
Trying to talk his way out of this situation by making up a story will only open a door to more questions and limit his options if he is ever charged.
Additionally, I know this is off topic but I must remind everyone that you should never give consent to anything! Police are always trying to get people to waive their rights without knowing. I cannot stress enough how often I have seen this happen after a traffic stop. Cops like to ask if you have any drugs or weapons in the vehicle and after you say "no" they ask quickly "then you don't mind if I have a quick look?" Never give permission for them to search your car or home! Simply say "I do not give you my consent", if they ask why, nicely say it is your right and you do not wish to waive your rights. You can say you heard a lawyer give that advise on a tv commercial if you are pressed. This is also true when they are at your door. Do not invite them inside or give them permission to enter if they ask if they can "just step inside to talk."  Once you have given consent you lose your right to complain about anything they see, or find.
Remember, don't give them reason to stop you in the first place. Drive safely, wear that belt, and check all your lights and signals. Many possession charges start with a simple traffic stop! Know your rights and use them!

Hope all goes well with your friend.

[gnossos]

Binge watch as many episodes of Cops as you can. I feel like I learned a lot from that show about how to deal with getting pulled over.

[OpiXPO]

I have to disagree with you on that. Cops is terrible to the point that I refuse to watch it. The cops act very different in front of the camera, and fairly often things cops say on that show is inaccurate. The best way to learn is by speaking to a cop directly, doing ride alongside, or by becoming a cop. Shows are there to make money, not instruct the public how to behave when a cop lights you up.

[gnossos]

I have to disagree with you on that. Cops is terrible to the point that I refuse to watch it. The cops act very different in front of the camera, and fairly often things cops say on that show is inaccurate. The best way to learn is by speaking to a cop directly, doing ride alongside, or by becoming a cop. Shows are there to make money, not instruct the public how to behave when a cop lights you up.

I completely agree that the cops act different in front of a camera vs. real life. I guess I should be more specific about what I meant: I just feel a little better prepared getting lit up (especially with dope on me) after watching so many others make mistakes like fidgeting around in their car or acting nervous that's a cue to the cops something's up.

[OpiXPO]

Put it down your sock. Having a person take off their shoes and socks qualifies as a strip search which can only be done in a jail/prison. Just do it when you get it and not when your about to get stopped or the cop can cite personal safety which allows for an exception to the strip search to a small extent, but enough of an extent to go into your shoes.