Spinglo Sponglo! wrote:
I've been stopped by the police 3 times. But never arrested. I perhaps should have been for the last one...
Same here, once for speeding, once for blatantly going through a red light, and once for overtaking on a solid white line. In each case *they let me off*. I genuinely don't understand it - I was like "it's a fair cop, here's my license" etc and they were just interesting in telling me off. Got breathalised on the red light one but that's it.
Before all this I did get stopped on my mountain bike in Aberdeen while at uni. I'd just been to the cash machine so had my bike up on the pavement. I kind of walked astride it back to the road (this was on the corner at a crossroads with lights), while putting my wallet back in my pocket. My direction was clear so I bumped back on to the road and carried on at normal high rate of knots. After about 3 blocks a police transit with about 12 coppers in it slams up on the pavement ahead of me and the WPC driver and a friend jump out and basically corner me. The WPC claimed that I'd been riding on the pavement, gone though a red light across a pedestrian crossing, failed to stop when signalled by a police officer and this was best bit, that I'd then "made an obscene gesture" at the cop van and her personally (which I hadn't even seen).
I was so outraged / terrified by these lies that I didn't have an explanation at all other than sort of winding up to spit all kinds of fury, at which point I was told that they weren't busy and were quite happy to throw me in the cells for the hell of it.
After intimidating me a bit more they too let me go and told me to not to do it again, and it was only later I realised what the obscene gesture had been: I had indicated to turn right just after getting back to the road. You know, sticking your arm out and looking over your shoulder? Apparently they'd never seen or heard of anyone doing that before.