PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Honestly, if a cop gave me a ticket I'd just pay it and keep my truck the way it is; It's my truck and unless I'm putting other people in danger, I think a title in my name allows me to do whatever I want to my truck...

 

Oh I know; I spent $500 in lawyer's fees back in January 2019...

You remember that story?

 

For the people who don't know, a girl I know got kicked out of her apartment and was facing sleeping on the street; One of my friends agreed to let this girl crash at her house. We loaded her stuff into my truck and I drove her to the friend's house.

I had to go straight at an intersection where I was used going left; I had just gotten off work at the detail shop and was tired, I had Pink Floyd playing on the radio, and I had an intoxicated female in the shotgun seat yammering in my ear.

I zoned out and treated a red light like a stop sign; Looked both ways, waited three seconds, and went through a red light at a deserted intersection at midnight.

Long story short a sheriff's deputy (not a regular cop) in a prisoner transport van was approaching the intersection from my left and saw me go through the red light.

 

What I think pissed off the deputy is when he asked me if I knew why I pulled him over, I told him no, and he thought I was being a smartass; Truth is, I was running on fumes after a long day at work and legitimately did not realize I had gone through a red light, and also I have Aspergers Syndrome so I can sometimes come across as a dick without meaning to...

The deputy just took my license and insurance and went back to his van without even trying to get my side of the story, and I was pissed; My assumption was that the deputy had seen me leaving a bar at midnight and was fishing for drunks. I had in fact been at a bar, but I'd only been drinking nonalcoholic beer so I was sober; Whether or not I'd been drinking never came up during this traffic stop.

 

So, I was livid at what I saw as being harassed when I was simply trying to being a good person and take a friend in a shitty situation someplace safe; I called my parents, and it was cold that night so I left the engine running so I could keep the heat on for me and my friend, so my Bluetooth picked up the call. I had my window cracked, and I said a few not-so-nice things about the deputy who'd initiated the traffic stop and the situation in general, including my belief that I was being harassed for leaving a bar at midnight; My dad's theory is that the deputy, and later the cop the deputy called, overheard my rant and decided to show me no mercy...

 

So, apparently the Bucks County Sheriffs Office and the Central Bucks Regional Police Department have two different unions, and to avoid stepping on the each other's toes, deputies of the Sheriff's Office will pull people over if they witness a traffic violation but call a regular cop to write the ticket...

 

So, after my passenger and I sat there for a good twenty minutes, a marked CBRPD Tahoe pulled up and the cop goes up to the sheriff's van without first approaching me; Another five or ten minutes go by and the cop finally comes up to my truck and gives me a $140 ticket. My response was to say "Dammit!" and the cop very rudely said "Calm down, you're being recorded." He then told me I almost caused an accident; I did go through a red light, but it was at midnight, and I treated it like a stop sign or a malfunctioning signal. I did not blatantly blow through the intersection, I certainly did not almost hit any vehicles or pedestrians (because there were none, aside from the sheriff's van that appeared after I'd gone through), and my dashcam proves all of this...

The cop then said that if I took it to court, that he and deputy so-and-so would be there to testify against me; This really made me angry, but I kept my cool

I name-dropped the influential attorney who owned the bar where I worked, and I kind of sounded like an ass when I did, but it worked out.

I called the aforementioned lawyer the next day, and paid the retainer; He knew the cop who'd issued the citation, talked to him, and arranged for me to get a charge that wouldn't result in points on my license

 

I still do not know exactly what strings my lawyer pulled, but the sheriff's deputy didn't show up for court, and another cop showed up in place of the one who'd written the ticket; The judge didn't even question the charges...

I will admit that I did something wrong, but given the circumstances I should have been given a warning or at least a reduced charge from the beginning; Nobody wants points on their driver's license, but after my interaction with that particular cop I wanted to be avenged.

I have relatives who are police officers, and I wholeheartedly support law enforcement as a whole; However, I've had what I would describe as a very love/hate relationship with the Central Bucks Regional PD ever since I got stopped by them back in March 2013 for taking pictures.

 

Your house is pretty sweet; Unlike the Christmas decorations on the house, which I try to do almost immediately after Thanksgiving, I generally wait until a couple days before Halloween to decorate the house accordingly. One thing I'll never understand is why people carve their Jack-O-Lanterns up to a month before Halloween, which inevitably results in the pumpkin rotting, and then they have to get new pumpkin and carve it again; Waste of money in my opinion...

 

Chris, I don't know if I ever told you about this, but I want your opinion...

Ever since I was stopped by the police in March 2013 for taking pictures, being asked for ID triggers me; I am currently talking to my therapist about how to get over this...

 

It has gotten better, especially in the last five years, but unless I'm trying to buy beer or get into a bar it triggers very bad memories. I don't know if it's an autism spectrum thing or just a "Charlie" thing, but I've never been arrested before, EVER. I have no criminal record! With the exception of a traffic stop in May 2006 when I was 17 where I didn't get a ticket, I had ABSOLUTELY NO CONTACT WHATSOEVER with law enforcement of any kind between the traffic stop in May 2006 and the photography incident in March 2013, so that's almost seven years; Four cops, including a plainclothes detective, showed up in three police cars for a report of a guy taking pictures! I was not searched, handcuffed, or put in the back of a police car, and the responding officers were quite professional, but I was shaking because I was so terrified...

The cops asked me all sorts of questions, many of which I felt were none of their fucking business; I was also asked to show them pictures on my camera, which I felt violated my constitutional rights, but I complied because I didn't want any trouble.

 

That incident led to a disdain for law enforcement that lasted until October 2015 when I got hit by a drunk driver; Believe it or not, the drunk guy hit my truck in the same jurisdiction, probably half a mile from where I got stopped for taking pictures. The old bastard accused me of running a stop sign, and I was freaking out, but the police arrested the guy and didn't even see the need to give me a warning so that restored my faith in law enforcement.

But yeah, I'm putting it out there; Almost nine years since this happened, being asked for ID in any situation other than buying alcohol or enter a bar triggers me and I have flareups about it from time to time. The fact that I worked at a bar for more than four years, and as a result know how bad things can get for the bar if an underage patron obtains alcohol, probably something to do with why getting carded to buy booze or get into a bar doesn't bother me that much...

I've also been pulled over more times than I would care to admit, and when a cop asks to see your license and registration, it's different than "Can I see some ID?"

I've gotten out of two traffic stops with just a written warning, and the others ended with reduced charges and no points, so it's all about being respectful to the police

 

So your chickens are picky eaters?

 

Yeah, there's one at Falls Township Community Park in Levittown on October 16th that's specifically Halloween themed! I'm also going paintballing with the neighbors that day!

 

So I've lived in Warrington Township since March 2016 and the police are pretty cool; They are very big on building a positive relationship with the community, and for example their K-9 officers go to car shows a lot and let the kids pet the dogs.

I've been pulled over three times in Warrington for minor infractions, and two of those times I just got a warning...




I went to high school with a Warrington cop, though I'm class of 2007 and he's class of 2010...

I bumped into a Warrington cop at a local gas station last December and point blank asked him if the Christmas lights on my truck were legal; He said "No, but you're fine." As long as you're respectful and not blatantly breaking the law or putting others in danger, they really don't give a shit!

 

You mean Wicked Effects?

 

Shows were rigged, right?