Author Topic: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw  (Read 1299 times)

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Offline Confederate Kahanist

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Dallas police: Officer drew gun during traffic

stop of NFL player outside hospital


Watch the dash cam video:

http:​/​/​www.​dallasnews.​com/​video/​index.​html?​nvid=​345572&​shu=​1

12:17 PM CDT on Thursday, March 26, 2009

By STEVE THOMPSON and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News

The Dallas Police Department confirmed Thursday that an officer drew a gun on NFL running back Ryan Moats and his wife after he stopped them to give them a ticket even as they begged to hurry to the bedside of their dying mother.

As he rushed his family to the hospital, Ryan Moats, 26, rolled through a red light. A Dallas police officer pulled their SUV over outside the emergency room at the Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano.

“He was pointing a gun at me as soon as I got out of the car,” said his wife, Tamishia Moats. “It was the weirdest feeling because I’ve never had a gun pointed at me before under those circumstances.”

Seconds later, Ryan Moats and his wife explained that her mother was dying inside the hospital.

“You really want to go through this right now?” Moats pleaded. “My mother-in-law is dying. Right now!”

A Dallas police spokesman said that Officer Robert Powell told his commanders that he drew his gun, but did not point it. Lt. Andy Harvey said it is not unusual for officers to draw a gun without pointing it. Drawing a gun is not unusual in traffic stops where officers feel threatened.

Officer Powell could not be reached for comment.

Powell, 25, spent long minutes writing Moats a ticket and threatened him with arrest during the incident.

“I can screw you over,” the officer told Moats. “I’d rather not do that.”

The scene last week, captured by a dashboard video camera, prompted apologies and the promise of an investigation from Dallas police officials.

“There were some things that were said that were disturbing, to say the least,” said Harvey.

Moats’ mother-in-law, Jonetta Collinsworth, was struggling at 45 with breast cancer that had spread throughout her body. Family members rushed to her bedside from as far away as California.

On March 17, the Moatses had gone to their Frisco home to get some rest. Around midnight, they received word that they needed to hurry back to the hospital if they wanted to see Collinsworth before she died.

The couple, along with Collinsworth’s father and an aunt, jumped into the SUV and headed back toward the hospital. They exited the Dallas North Tollway, just down the street from the hospital.

Moats turned on his hazard lights. He stopped at a red light, where, he said, the only nearby motorist signaled for him to go ahead. He went through.

Powell, watching traffic from a hidden spot, flipped on his lights and sirens. In less than a minute, he caught up to the SUV and followed for about 20 more seconds as Moats found a parking spot outside the emergency room.

Tamishia, 27, was the first out. Powell drew his gun and yelled at her to get back in.

“Get in there!” he yelled. “Let me see your hands!”

“My mom is dying,” she explained to him.

Powell was undeterred.

“I saw in his eyes that he really did not care,” Tamishia Moats said. “Honestly, I don’t think I cared that he had a gun pointed at me. My train of thought is that I’m going to see my mom in the hospital before she dies.”

Tamishia Moats and her great-aunt ignored the officer and headed into the hospital.

“It was almost like a movie,” she said, “It felt like we had robbed a bank or something.”

Ryan Moats, who stayed behind with the father of the dying woman, said Powell also pointed his gun at him. He said he put his hands on the car because he was afraid that he might get shot.

“I put my hands on the car so he couldn’t say I reached for something,” Ryan said. “He didn’t ask me to put my hands on the car. I just did it to try to protect myself. I was pleading with him.”

He tried to explain the situation to the officer.

“I waited until no traffic was coming,” Moats told Powell, explaining his passage through the red light. “I got seconds before she’s gone, man.”

Powell demanded his license and proof of insurance. Moats produced his license but said he didn’t know where the insurance paperwork was.

“Just give me a ticket or whatever,” he said, beginning to sound exasperated and a little argumentative.

“Shut your mouth,” Powell told him. “You can cooperate and settle down, or I can just take you to jail for running a red light.”

There was more back and forth.

“If you’re going to give me a ticket, give me a ticket.”

“Your attitude says that you need one.”

“All I’m asking you is just to hurry up.”

Powell began a lecture.

“If you want to keep this going, I’ll just put you in handcuffs,” the officer said, “and I’ll take you to jail for running a red light.”

Powell made several more points, including that the SUV was illegally parked. Moats replied “Yes sir” to each.

“Understand what I can do,” Powell concluded. “I can tow your truck. I can charge you with fleeing. I can make your night very difficult.”

“I understand,” Moats responded. “I hope you’ll be a great person and not do that.”

Hospital security guards arrived and told Powell that the Moatses’ relative really was upstairs dying.

Powell spent several minutes inside his squad car, in part to check Moats for outstanding warrants. He found none.

Another hospital staffer came out and spoke with a Plano police officer who had arrived.

“Hey, that’s the nurse,” the Plano officer told Powell. “She said that the mom’s dying right now, and she’s wanting to know if they can get him up there before she dies.”

“All right,” Powell replied. “I’m almost done.”

As Moats signed the ticket, Powell continued his lecture.

“Attitude’s everything,” he said. “All you had to do is stop, tell me what was going on. More than likely, I would have let you go.”

It had been about 13 minutes.

Moats and Collinsworth’s father went into the hospital, where they found Collinsworth had died, with her daughter at her side.

The Moatses, who are black, said Wednesday that 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 who attended Bishop Lynch High School and now plays for the Houston Texans.

Powell was hired in January 2006. Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson said Powell told police officials that he believed that he was doing his job. He has been re-assigned to dispatch pending an investigation.

“When people are in distress, we should come to the rescue,” said Simpson. “We shouldn’t further their distress.”

Collinsworth was buried Saturday in Louisiana.
Chad M ~ Your rebel against white guilt

Offline Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2009, 02:11:55 AM »
You can't blame the cop after what a gorilla did to four of his brothers in Oakland. He ran a red light, plain and simple.

Offline Confederate Kahanist

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2009, 02:27:36 AM »
You can't blame the cop after what a gorilla did to four of his brothers in Oakland. He ran a red light, plain and simple.


Oakland is a different story.  Though this cop was just plain unreasonable when he didn't let the NFL player see the dying mother in law.  Your right.  He shouldn't have ran a red light. 
Chad M ~ Your rebel against white guilt

Offline Xoce

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2009, 02:33:55 AM »
That is MESSED UP.
 >:(  I've had to deal with arrogant PIG cops like this before.

Other cops are fine, honorable and courageous.

SOME, like this powell character, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE NOT.
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Offline ag337

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2009, 03:09:29 AM »
I saw this on the news and I have to say that this policeman was beyond unreasonable.

I know there are a lot of racial stereotypes that the police need to deal with, but this was just plain wrong.  After the nurse and the security guard came out of the hospital and confirmed that the story is valid, he should have dropped the issue and walked away.

This should have been a judgement call on the part of this policeman instead of wasting time and lecturing this NFL player and his wife.

Offline nessuno

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2009, 04:53:30 AM »
I'm not going to sit in judgement of the cop.
I'm sure he's heard a million and one stories. ::)
I wouldn't want his job for all the money in the world.

He made a bad judgement call.  It happens to the best of us.  I can understand why he did.

Be very CAREFUL of people whose WORDS don't match their ACTIONS.

Offline Dr. Dan

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2009, 11:28:54 AM »
I saw this on the Lou Dobbs show on Friday...
 
From one angle, this NFL player did the appropriate thing, did not threaten the cop, was curteous, and didn't go around saying, "Hey I'm an NFL player, I deserve better treatment."  And on this one hand, we should encourage this type of behavior for all people who get pulled over by a cop...whether it is running a red light, going a little too fast, or whatever.

And the cop had a right to pull over the guy for running the red light.  I don't know what actually really happened that caused the cop to pull out the gun, but technically because the vast majority of schwartzas are violent and disobedient when they get pulled over, I don't blame this cop for taking stronger measures.  Yes, it is unfortunate that it happened to this fellow who was up to something innocent (hopefully).  But it's not the cop's fault...it's those "AFrican Americans" that have created a bad taste in everyone else's mouth.
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Offline Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2009, 04:30:04 PM »
Agree completely with Dr. Dan.

Offline P J C

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2009, 06:45:05 PM »


The Moatses, who are black, said Wednesday that they can’t help but think that race might have played a part in how Powell, who is white, treated them.



I had tons of sympathy for them until this stupid comment.
"A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but a foolish man's heart directs him toward the left." Ecclesiastes 10:2

Offline ChaimBenMordechai

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2009, 09:18:37 PM »


The Moatses, who are black, said Wednesday that they can’t help but think that race might have played a part in how Powell, who is white, treated them.



I had tons of sympathy for them until this stupid comment.

"I be stopped 'cause I be black! Mah po' mama be dyin' and dis racist cop be stoppin' me 'cause i be black! FREE OJ!"

Offline HiWarp

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #10 on: April 01, 2009, 01:39:04 PM »
Looks like the cop resigned.  Seems a bit excessive.  I wonder if he was "asked" to resign.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090401/ap_on_re_us/nfl_player_stopped
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Offline ~Hanna~

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #11 on: April 01, 2009, 01:46:56 PM »
The cop had to chase this guy with his siren and lights flashing, the buy kept on going until he got to the hospital and then expected to not have to talk to the cop about it.

Perhaps if the guy would have stopped way back earlier, the cop would have been more understanding. But no, he had to chase this guy....so perhaps he was a bit irritated himself after all of that....

That is my 2 cents. :laugh:
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Offline Dr. Dan

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #12 on: April 01, 2009, 02:18:40 PM »
absolutely right, hanna

a few years ago i was with my religious friend in AC and we were hurrying back to be able to take a friend to a yardsite for his father.  Got pulled over, pleaded with the cop, still got a massive ticket and moved on...I didn't try to get away from him until northern NJ...so goes to show, when a cop needs to pull you over (for the safety of others), you pull over.

NObody really should feel bad for the NFL player...he should have pulled over...
If someone says something bad about you, say something nice about them. That way, both of you would be lying.

In your heart you know WE are right and in your guts you know THEY are nuts!

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Offline Dr. Dan

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #13 on: April 01, 2009, 02:21:11 PM »
and you know what else is funny?  The fact that everyone is praising this football player for not reacting angrily like an idiot! I'm sorry, anyone in their right mind should know better not to act like a nut with a police man with a gun...It's come to a time that eveyr other black person acts like an idiot when a cop pulls them over that now it's a matter praise when he acts civilized.  I'm sorry, acting civilized is not teh part that should be praised, it's the part when those go past acting civilized and sacrifice for others and help those who are in need for help in something..  The person who is praised for doing a righteous act shoudl simply say, "There is no need to praise me..."
If someone says something bad about you, say something nice about them. That way, both of you would be lying.

In your heart you know WE are right and in your guts you know THEY are nuts!

"Science without religion is lame; Religion without science is blind."  - Albert Einstein

Offline ~Hanna~

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #14 on: April 01, 2009, 03:09:11 PM »
Yes, the police are not mind readers.....  :laugh:

For all he knew, the guy was transporting 5 kilos of cocaine somewhere and had an AK-47 in the front seat.

he just had to way of KNOWING the guy had a dying mother in the hospital.

How on earth was he supposed to know all that?

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Offline ChaimBenMordechai

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Re: Cop pulls gun on NFL player rushing to see his dying mother inlaw
« Reply #15 on: April 01, 2009, 04:08:59 PM »
Looks like the cop resigned.  Seems a bit excessive.  I wonder if he was "asked" to resign.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090401/ap_on_re_us/nfl_player_stopped

I wouldn't be surprised. Guess they figured Jesse and Al would be down there to start tsuris so the made him quit to stop it.