Iowa DOT Enforcement Officer Commits Harassment of Iowa Couple
March 29, 2009 138 Comments
We were coming home in our RV from a two week trip to the Southwest. Around 8 pm just as we turned onto Hwy 61 in our hometown, an IDOT patrolman pulled us over. My husband could not figure out why as he had obeyed all traffic signs and our license plate was up to date.
The officer did not ask for license or registration or insurance, instead he said he just wanted to know what the odd looking trailer we were pulling was used for. My husband replied that it was for a gyrocopter and he and the officer chatted for a couple of minutes during which it was explained that we lived north of town and were returning home after a trip.
All of a sudden the officer started asking what it was he was smelling and my husband said he didn’t know. The officer kept repeating, “What is that smell?” “What is that I smell?” over and over, and again and again my husband kept saying he didn’t know, because neither of us had a clue what the officer was talking about. Finally the officer said he smelled marijuana. We tried to protest and defend ourselves but the officer kept insisting this was what he smelled and we got a very bad feeling that we should not argue with him. He seemed very wired and was definitely aggressive and even menacing. In addition, the officer was acting alone and it felt strange because we had no witness to what was occurring.
Finally he asked if we would let him search the RV. Naturally we were not happy about this but gave in thinking that if we stood in the way he could become increasingly angered and try to impound our vehicle in order to get a search warrant. In addition, we had nothing to hide and were engaged in no illegal activity.
So the officer called for backup (his buddy who showed up to help was far more reasonable and professional) and we had to stand in the headlights in front of the RV while the first officer searched it. He was in there less than ten minutes and clearly did no more than a cursory search. Certainly if we had had anything illegal hidden in there he would never have found it.
When he came out with no evidence against us he proceeded to lecture my husband on Concealed Carry laws in Iowa. The only trouble was this officer was unclear on the laws– yet he had the temerity to become vaguely threatening about what he could have done to my husband if he wanted to. When we got home my husband called a sheriff’s deputy who assured him the IDOT officer was incorrect on the laws.
Anyway, the whole episode was bizarre. And if you could see us in our Class C RV–a retired couple one of whom has a beer occasionally and the other who is practically a card carrying member of AA– you would see how ludicrous this was. My husband was pretty upset not only at the invasion of privacy but also at having this happen in a town where his family has lived for four generations and where for more than forty years he himself had a respectable and lucrative business (from which the town and state benefited for years in the form of tax revenue!)
The officer did not apologize for accusing us of something we weren’t doing, nor even for taking up forty five minutes of our time. He said something to the effect that he’d thought we were carnival people (so carnival people are to be discriminated against?) and the other officer explained that IDOT has the right to pull over and question anybody they have reason to believe may be using their vehicle for commercial purposes (even if they do not have a commercial license plate and are not in violation of any traffic or registration laws.)
After a bit more discussion during which both officers continued to reveal their ignorance of gun laws, we continued on our way, never having had so much as an ID check. The feeling we got was that we were supposed to be grateful we were allowed to go home.
Here are the conclusions we came to after this occurrence:
- A driver ought to have the expectation that when travelling in a recreational NON commercial vehicle s/he will not be pulled over unless s/he has committed a moving violation or is operating with faulty equipment or expired tags.
- A driver ought to have the expectation that s/he will not be pulled over by the DOT on the basis of belonging to a certain group, type, color, or occupation.
- A driver ought to have the expectation that when pulled over by a DOT officer, s/he is asked for a driver’s license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance, all of which provide legitimacy for the driver.
- A driver ought to have the expectation that the DOT officer will be respectful and professional and will not harrass the driver with one question repeated over and over in an attempt to break the driver down to an admission of guilt.
- A driver ought to have the expectation that possession of a firearm with a Concealed Carry permit should not raise red flags or be cause for alarm on the part of the DOT. In fact, since a criminal background check is necessary in order to obtain a Concealed Carry permit, the permit should help establish credibility for– rather than suspicion of –the permit holder.
- A driver ought to have the expectation that the DOT officer is accurately apprised of all firearm laws, including Concealed Carry and laws concerning interstate transportation of firearms.
- A driver ought to have the expectation that the DOT officer will not lecture the driver with misinformation about these laws and make veiled threats about the driver’s non-adherence to these nonexistent laws.
- Lastly, if a DOT officer has made a mistake in pulling over, interrogating, and searching a driver’s RV, the officer should offer at the very least a thank you for the driver’s time. In addition, an apology is in order. Possibly also due is some form of reparation for treating a valuable citizen like a common criminal, and we are looking into that angle.
The irony in all this is that we had just travelled 3600 miles all over the Southwest and close to the border where we encountered many DOT, county law enforcement, state highway patrol and Border Patrol, and all of them treated us professionally and intelligently.
We had to come home to Iowa to be treated like dirt. That says it all to me.
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All those miles and to be greeted a few miles from home by a state DOT employee in such a manner is sad and scary.
We have a DOT officer with quite a bad reputation here in SWI. Hopefully he is the same one you met up with or else there are TWO such “OFF”icers.
Like the DOT officer knew where they lived….
What if he did… you might think he was harassing them
It is most certainly disgraceful the way that this “state” employee treated NH and her husband. I think what is even more telling is the comment made by his “back-up” that he had thought that they were “carnies’. Judging by this I would not hesitate to assume that this DOT officer and the State Trooper were intentionally targeting a certain subset of Iowa’s population. Needless to say discrimination is alive and well in the state of Iowa.
I have an issue that a DOT officer pulled you over to begin with since you are a non-commercial vehicle.
Did you happen to get his badge number?
Obviously they were doing something wrong.
Ms. Sawvell, If they were doing something wrong why was there no citation issued?
Your experience just ticks me off!!!!! Contact the DM Register and give them your story. That guy needs fired! Sorry for your horrible treatment.
We do not have his badge number but we have his name and phone number which I found on the internet. We also have the name and phone number of his boss. We plan to pursue this in a very big way. I have plenty of time!
I wonder if they do psychological profiles on these guys before they are hired to be law enforcement officers. I don’t think this Weigand could have a job in any other state. He’s just plain creepy and dangerous.
Go get ‘em, neighhay. It’s just a matter of time before we have no rights at all.
Yes, go get ‘em, neighhay- this is America not some police state! And it is Iowa, for Heaven’s Sake! Keep us updated. Tell us what we can do to help put a stop to this harassment!
So the pollice shouldnt help us when we do have a problem???
They should provide protection, but they shouldn’t harass honest, law abiding citizen’s
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Welcome to Iowa…… I find it worrisome with their ignorance of gun laws. That needs to be pursued for sure.
That Iowa DOT guy needs to go! Being cocky and rude is not what we need in our so called officials.
You have to be if we were all nice we could get away with anything
You sound like a person in need of the ACLU.
Eew, ACLU…..you made me throw up a little….Last thing any of us need is the ACLU. Anyway this has the reference to firearms in it and the ACLU doesn’t believe in guns and won’t be bothered by trampling of our 2nd Amendment rights.
Just like in any profession there are bad eggs. They need weeded out especially in law enforcement. The people who receive this treatment need to make sure it is dealt with by the LEO’s administration.
Also understand this sort of thing aggrivates other LEO’s just as much as it does you. Guys like this DOT officer tarnish the image for all.
I don’t believe their second amendment rights (if any) were trampled. I believe they were stopped without cause. Their rights to travel peacefully were infringed, at least according to the post. They were spooked into forfeiting their right not to be searched without a warrant which cannot be issued without probable cause. I don’t know what a civil liberties attorney would say, but I’d be asking if I was upset about the treatment.
dont listen to sawvell she is licing with a cop that is racis ok. If you want someones opinion ask me here is my cell number ok 712-202-6452 i would like to make friends. I have been accussed of many things with then the last two years by a fonda cop and a DOT officer i am not happy with them and will never be happy. Cops shouldn’t harrass and ppl like us should turn thier ass in to the top authorities. Who will be with me on this? I am tired of cops accussing me or stuff and i bet everone else is too lets do something about it and it’s time to do something. Who’s with me?
Wow. Talk about feeling violated.
Yeah lets talk about it and see how he was????
We’ve been told that after time a lot of people get calmed down over a situation like this and eventually they just let it go. Well, we are NOT letting it go. We are getting angrier by the second.We could barely sleep the first night and have both had trouble sleeping more than a couple of hours at a time since then. Plus I can hardly eat. I guess I must be on the IDOT diet LOL.
Getting rid of the bad eggs is a great idea but that will not compensate us for the outrageous degradation we suffered at the hands of someone I believe might be truly UNHINGED.
I am also concerned that law enforcement officers such as this are emboldened by the atmosphere the Obama administration is creating.
Come on lady! You can’t eat or sleep because you got stopped by a cop???? This sounds like someone is faking the famous neck injury in an accident case. And consider yourself lucky. Your permit for the weapon is only good in the state of Iowa. I wonder what the Border Patrol would have done if they caught you with it.
pull up your pants and get over it. An officer is trying to do his job and keep you safe while you are on the road and you have the gull to whine about it. I find it hard to believe that the officer just tossed you two to the side of the road and searched your vehicle with out a reason. Oh, I don’t like Obama either but what does he have to do with it??
Maybe you should look in the mirror, (CRAZYLADY HERE)
Sieg heil, PRO IDIOT.
brownshirt??? What name is that? Kinda childish the way you put that. I can be childish too…. “brownshit” Oh look i am just unmature as you are.
You are obviously in a family where there is one or more cops. This is a blatant violation of your civil liberties. Do we need to live a country that has the gustapo? If this cop would have acted halfway decent towards this couple, it would have been a different story. How would you like this guy barging into your house at 2 o’ clock in the morning thinking you were running a crack house? Probably wouldn’t like it and you would probably feel violated, and the first thing you would do is say your rights were violated. I like to see these people stand up for the dicks in this country, but when they get crossed by one they cower into their own little holes. You’re a jerk. The cop is a jerk. These motorists are the only people that are acting smart in this situation.
First, why cry about this online without some sort of solution? Did you lodge a formal complaint against the officer?
Second, why did you not assert your right and allow a search without proper warrant?
The more we allow “them” to get away with these shenanigans, the more “they” think they are entitled to do so. If you do not stand up for yourselves, you will surely be trodden upon. Also, igorance of the law not being an excuse works both ways.
This happened to you, maybe you should be more proactive in the defense of your liberties.
It’s called “airing out” your frustrations. Let people vent. It’s like an online counselor, except you don’t have to pay thousands of dollars for people to agree with you.
Will Wallace, your assumption that we are doing nothing except whining online is incorrect. We are lodging a formal complaint against the officer.
As to our being more proactive in defense of our liberties, you make a good point. However I am wondering if anything similar to this has happened to you..If so may be you did a better job than we did and I commend you for that.It is easy for me to imagine how i would handle an event before it occurs or Morning quarterback it !
Quite frankly this man was scary, he was by himself so we had no witnesses, and given the fact we were looking at having our vehicle impounded until he could get a search warrant (if indeed he could have) we opted for getting home as soon as we could and unloading our gear from our two week trip. Maybe that was the wrong decision or the easy way out, maybe not.
Sometimes it takes more than the first time to get something right. We are doing our best but thank you for your opinion, however unkindly (at least to my eyes) you seem to have expressed it.
It blows my mind that during all of that he didnt even run either one of your ID’s to see if there was any warrants out for you two. That would be the first thing i think would be the normal routine ID insurance registration then when it comes back clean go back to vehicle and least say sorry for the inconvience have a nice day. I dont know why he would pick on someone with a Iowa plate on now out of state big RV i could see maybe something. I didnt think they had a right to pull you over unless clear laws was being violated like speeding or wreckless driving. Good Luck hope you get the results your looking for. I personally would want him repromanded or fired and a written apology from the officer for a start !
How often do state cars run License??? Yeah maybe go to school and be a DOT officer and see how you can handle it.
Actually I asked that very question a state trooper that I am friends with. He said that he runs the plates on every stop. He said that you never know when you will come across an individual that has had an arrest warrant issued for them.
neighhay,
I commend you folks for very politely putting Mr. Wallace in his place. You constantly stated you were not letting this situation go away and I also commend you for that. It is scary when we read/see/hear things about the new President and his munchkins and I hope I can carry out my convictions if I am confronted as you two were.
I am so sorry about the unkind comments from W.W.
It is hard for some people to walk in anothers shoes and to not be judgmental. I can tell your husband and you were traumatized by this experience. People forget that dealing with irrational people is very threatening. Even Iowa citizens walk around without taking meds or have some disorder that makes them irrational.
Your post has generated much attention and I hope the end result is something that restores your faith in the law and in Iowa.
Thank you for your KIND words, Interested Iowan.
I have to say I am pretty disgusted and not being from here it is difficult just now to feel a lot of enthusiasm for this state. I must try to look at the bright side!
I think so many people across the U.S. are so generally ticked off right now that a story like this is just one more spark in all the anger. This is actually good because anger is a great motivator IF used circumspectly—that’s the difficulty of course.
When people are made aware of all the wrongdoing out there maybe they can direct their
energy into solutions that are based on something substantial rather than on the combination of grandeur and fluff we are seeing so much of lately.
Folks you were bitten by the War On Drugs and it’s so-called enforcers unfortunately.
This happens on a regular basis on the highways of Iowa and all over our great nation.
This cop was certain you were mules for marijuana. That is why he didn’t ask for any ID, or registration and insurance, he just wanted to snoop around the inside of your RV for pot.
He smelled something alright, the crooked cops always do! It’s their own crap!
Stop the war on drugs. It IS corrupting police departments and eroding our rights.
A suit is pending in Palo Alto Co. against the IDOT and one of their officers, Troug, for accosting a 64 year old farmer driving a grain truck. The incident resulted in the officer pulling his gun on the man, shoving it in his face and handcuffing him after harassing him in the hot sun for over an hour and a half. With the gun pointed at the man’s head the officer said, “I can do anything I want.” The man never said an impolite word or threatened the officer in any way. It was a pure act of intimidation and torture. The complete lack of evidence of any wrongdoing led to the phony charges he wrote against the farmer being dropped entirely.
Don’t expect much from the the IDOT “investigation.” We were told ours was the first complaint against this officer, but we know of others. Good luck anyway.
Wow are you in sane? So he had the gun in his face for a 1 1/2? And TORTURE? Maybe you should get out a dictionary and see what torture is. So here we have a farmer just strolling down the street and he gets tortured by a DOT officer. Oh yeah that happens every day. Come on people, obey the law and you have nothing to worry about. It not rocket science people.
They are FARMERS!! Of course they dont have to have knowledge…. All they have to worry about it spreding shit……
1 1/2 hours damn that is such a long time. I am sure he was standing there and didnt call for back up if he thought it was such a threat… the driver of the truck obviously did somthing wrong.
Yeah, I am sure he pointed a gun at the guys head for hours in the hot sun……
So i am wondering why this is a one sided blog?? Isnt blogs about your opinions?
Obvioulsy the driver of the semi had done somthing wrong if you wont allow the support for DOTs to be on here.
We will find out. This one is already going to court. So do you oppose a citizen suing the DOT and the officer when there has been wrongdoing on the officer’s part?
Thank you. It’s no fun to stick your neck out the way we are and get accused by some people in the general public who don’t have a clue what is going on with IDOT. I do believe that the agency knows exactly what kind of behavior its officers are engaged in and that this behavior is condoned. It is in many cases deliberate and malicious and in violation of civil rights laws.
here is a link to the court papers in the 64 year old farmer’s case, filed I think in the last few days http://ia-dotmv-police.info/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Chism_Petition_112508.338140735.pdf
SBuchanon, Can you point me in the direction to find out more about this case that you mentioned. I would be interested to see what similarities these separate events share. Please email your response to iowabrigade@hotmail.com. Thank you.
Maybe i can point you in the direction to get both sides of the story and not jus one side!!!!
The information that I received is in relations to the court case, Isn’t that official enough for you?
Maybe you should get both sides of the story… make your story real and not just doing oneside oh but that does not make sense
Mr. Wiegand is more than welcome to tell his side of the story, we are not stopping him from doing so.
You toured Texas and New Mexico, had a great holiday and get stopped entering Iowa! Perhaps our DOT is overstaffed?
Good thing you had the common sense to play the game or you’re right, could have got ugly.
It’s for this reason that this DOT person has to go! They go around creating “ugly” situations that most people can’t or will not handle in the calm manner you did.
What a waste of time to be confronted for no reason, no violations, nothing.
This person’s name needs to be made public. If they did nothing wrong then they should be able to stand up for themselves when the media firestorm hits.
Remember, the best way to get rid of cockroach is to turn the lights on.
It called a law
Don’t expect government people (like Nancy Fancy Pants Pelosi) to come to the rescue of legal, hard working, patriotic Americans. You in Iowa don’t qualify. You are here legally.
This whole scenario is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!!
This is a shame. You folks keep after this DOT worker until some straight answers come your way. No one should be treated this way. I think his position has gone to his head, or maybe he was looking for some drugs for himself. Good luck to the both of you.
Like the messed up ppl on here are you doing to tell you the truth lady….
Who knows how many other citizens have had to endure this jerk? Maybe this time the guy picked on the wrong people!
Sounds like you are not going to stand down, sweep your experience under the rug. Nope, you don’t sound like shrinking violets to me!
I am all for what you do to stand up and be counted for this injustice. Good luck and God Bless!
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This officer has a lack of discipline and if left undealt with could lead to something more serious down the road. His commanding supervisors should deal with this person immediately in some way. There is a steady eroding of discipline in law enforcement. Officers are acting unprofessional, becoming fat and out of shape. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed
Your post has forced me to think if I know my rights as a citizen if this type of incident ever happened to me. I think we must be about the same age and were taught by our parents to respect authority. The DOT employee does not deserve our respect.
It is evident to me that we must be informed as to the rights we have as Americans and be ready to stand up for ourselves. We can’t even trust the DOT for what they are to be doing in their daily work.
Your experience is so disgusting and really sad that our America has come to this.
Today The Des Moines Register has an article on our experience with IDOT law enforcement
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090331/NEWS/903310382/1001/NEWS
Give an ass wipe a car with some blinking lights and he thinks he can do what he wishes. Fire the son of a bitch as a lesson to the rest of those that want to take their authority too far.
Why dont you go to school and you can do the same thing….. If you have such a problem with it.
NH–
If you find out the perpetrator’s badge number, I would really like to know it. I was subjected to a very similar, though shorter, incident three day’s earlier in Cedar county and it would be interesting to know if it is the same rogue individual or if it is a systemic thing. The badge number is the same as the tag number on the squad car.
After I was stopped by DOT Commercial Enforcement, I was accused of being a liar about seven different ways when I stated that my one-ton dually with a dump bed was a personal, not comercial, vehicle. After the harrassment, he also acted like he was doing me a favor by “kicking me down the road.” His words.
And telling the harasser to get a search warrant might not have done any good. In my case, the perpetrator opened my truck door without warning or permission.
I hate to break it to all of your conservative conspiracy theorists, but this is not a national politcal thing. NH has a Huckabee sticker on the back of his trailer in the DMR picture. I have an Obama sticker on the back of my dump. We grew this one all by ourselves right here in Iowa.
Outside of the perpetrators’ actions, the only commonality that I see is that all of the harassment victims were gray haired senior citizen’s. Maybe it is an ageist thing. That sounds about right, the DOT perpetrator really reminded me of a middle school bully.
And, yes, I did call up the DOT in Des Moines and complain. The Captain there that talked to me was professional, polite and understanding.
Hang in there,
CCG
Are these Bozos actual law enforcement officers? Do they have the right to pull someone over? I’m a little confused here I guess.
David,
A little FYI here about the DOT and whether they are actual law enforcement officers. DOT officers go through the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy just like any other officer in the state of Iowa. Yes, the DOT has the right to pull over noncommercial vehicles. People have the misconception that because they concentrate primarily on commercial vehicles they don’t have the right to stop noncommercial vehicles. If interested go on the IDOT job website and read the job description of a Motor Vehicle Enforcement Officer. Also, while you are there, read what a Motor Vehicle Enforcement Officer has to learn vs your PD and Iowa State Patrol Officer. A Motor Vehicle Enforcement Officer, I believe, is the best trained officer in the State of Iowa. Believe me, there are MANY Motor Vehicle Enforcement Officers that are VERY professional and do their job EXCEPTIONALLY well!
These “law enforcement officers” are the ones who are confused, if you ask me. Aren’t they supposed to be making us feel safe instead of abused and threatened?
According to them, IDOT has more power to pull you over than regular patrol because IDOT can pull you over just to ask you anything, like maybe what is your astrological sign. According to them you do not have to have a moving violation, faulty equipment or an expired tag. If you interest them in any way they can pull you over and then they just get to wing it from there and stomp all over you.
THIS MUST BE CHANGED!
The Burlington Hawkeye is going to reveal this officer’s name tomorrow and word on the street is the guy has a really bad rep with TONS of complaints against him and truckers afraid to report him.
Big question: with what I learned today about him, why has he been allowed to keep his job?
He’s a fruitloop, all right
i was stopped in louisa county about two weeks ago by im guessing the same guy. he stopped me for speeding but continued to check paper work. he finally found a minor log book violation and took me out of service for 8 hours. after i talked to his boss, we discovered the law he wrote me up on, did not apply if i did not go out of state. this took 5 hours to reslove but he voided the log book ticket and let me go. i was not given an apology, thank you , kiss my _ _ _, or anything.this guy was on a power trip and way out of control. i did report the situation to his boss and also his boss’ boss. btw, his first question to me was , are you a terrorist? second one was , are you hispanic?
Sorry to hear about the problems your having with those guys. The reason the people from Iowa is having problems with them is because they have everyone from Missouri to scared to cross the state line. This has been going on for anyone with a missouri license plate of two years. They have cost the state of iowa thousands of dollars in revenue over the past two years. The fellow the owns the Keosauqua Sale Barn has lost thousands also because they sit on highway 2 on saturday mornings from 8-12, that is sale day,and just wait to find a missouri plate to harrass. Me and my wife go to Quincy,Illinois to buy building supplies for our own personal house instead of Menards in Burlington Iowa because of this. Good Luck with your fight,and bring back some of the law to the tax payers that pay these guys wages. But beware your fighting a very big state funded monster. Oh yah did you know that the IDOT is spelled wrong…..It should read IDIOT, boy I hope some of those guys are reading this. Good luck and best wishes!!
file a complaint with their department and move on. what’s the point in posting it in the papers? you are giving other law enforcement a bad rep making it sound like they are all alike. And to answer peoples questions dot officers go through same academy as everyone else and focus on that aspect, but still have all the same powers as any other law enforcement. Up in our part of the state our dot guys have a good reputation and and ironically enough one officer stopped a budget/uhaul type of van on I29 w/a man who was 60 and women in her 40s and found one of the largest weapon seizures ever in the state. Seriously move on w/your life I highly doubt your life was in danger that is such an over dramatic statement.
We are not giving other law enforcement officers bad reputations, it is the bad apples that is doing that.
The point in publisizing this occurrence is to ensure that justice is served. All too often the government turns a blind eye on injustices such as this. The more people know this happened the more likely it is that something will be done to correct the situation.
Neighhay you hang in there & keep fighting!!! This is going on with more than DOT officers, it is happening with other law enforcement officials too.
I saw the article in the Des Moines Register & stopped over for the full story. I’m sorry that this so-called peace officer terrorized you not far from home. He was just looking for drugs & money like The Wizard & Jerry mentioned earlier. It is sad that the police believe that it’s us (meaning police) against them (meaning everyone else). This type of attitude jeopardizes everyone’s safety.
Definetely pursue the issue until something satisfactory to you has been done about this officer. It will set an example to the rest, that the citizens of Iowa are tired of being treated like crap, just because a some people choose to break the law. Not everyone is like that, and stereotyping and profiling needs to end.
Word is, he has a compliant list that reads like a serial killer (serial harasser) and will be outed by the paper today. Make sure everyone finds out his address/telephone and provides him with the same Iowa welcome home treatment he has been providing Iowans for years. He must have a partner in crime in the Ottumwa area, or they all receive the same training on how to act the holigans!!!!!
Personally I am not into witch hunts if that is what you are suggesting—then I would find myself in the same boat as Mr. Weigand! We would just like to get some satisfaction from IDOT in the form of an investigation.
No matter what anybody might think of the events we’ve described, this was not a traffic stop that was conducted according to usual and customary procedure. That is what is so bewildering and yes SERIOUSLY disturbing.
John, we never posted any of this in the papers. And we did not ask for any publicity. A reporter from the Des Moines Register read this blog and called us up for more information. We have registered a complaint with the officer’s supervisor and we will be happy to move on with our lives once Major Lewis has dealt with the situation.
Meanwhile, by the way, we are now having people come to us with their stories and we are finding out that this particular officer has had MANY MANY complaints against him.
As for feeling my life was in danger, maybe to you that is a dramatic statement but I can assure you that was my emotion, and emotions are not right or wrong, they simply ARE. And it is never wrong to describe your emotions.
To clarify why I might have had those feelings all I can say is that this officer was very wired. His manner flipped back and forth from semi friendly to highly accusatory and intimidating. I am not sure if this was an interrogation technique he was taught or if this is his nature, but to be treated that way is in itself crazy-making and maybe that is the intention. It FELT (again, I am sorry, those pesky FEELINGS of mine) as if he might snap.
In addition the fact that no other officer was present made me feel this officer could/might do anything he wanted, after all he had already pulled us over for no reason.And lastly the fact that he did not seem to be conducting the pullover in a customary manner (i.e. not asking for driver’s license, registration, insurance, etc.) made me exceedingly nervous. There was nobody to witness what the officer was doing and he appeared to me to be out of control.
I felt much better when the second officer arrived. He was courteous and professional and did not make me feel unsafe or threatened. In fact for the most part the situation began to de-escalate with his arrival.
I am from a generation that was taught to respect and obey authority. Over the years I have had many friends in law enforcement and I understand that most do a good and conscientious job. But I believe an officer (from whatever arm of law enforcement) who acts like this OUGHT TO BE INVESTIGATED.
That is the main objective we have here.
PROIDOT, I am not sure you are strengthening your opinions by casting aspersions on my sanity and trying to undermine my credibility. That is a form of dialogue that usually leads nowhere in terms of establishing objectivity or discovering the truth.
For your information, we are fully aware that the laws concerning firearms differ from state to state. But you are incorrect in saying that the CCW is good only in Iowa. (That is what the IDOT officer tried to tell us and it seems that maybe both of you need to look it up!)
Maybe you are not aware there is a book , regularly updated, which lists the laws of each specific state. This is what any careful and responsible gunowner uses when travelling.
You may or may not believe this, but the officer did indeed pull us over for no reason, or because as he said he thought we were carnies. And the reason he searched our RV was because he said he smelled marijuana, which we could not say we had because then we would be lying. The officer found nothing ion his cursory ten minute search.
I appreciate your opinions but find myself somewhat dismayed by your crudeness. For your sake I hope that your ability to think is more refined than your words.
Proidot is obviously either idot, related to, or just a complete moron. Yeah, officers never ever violate anyones constitutional rights. Of course anyone and everyone who’s ever been pulled over is guilty. Wait a minute? If police never get the wrong person, and they never make mistakes, why do we have courts and where does the word “innocent” come from. Give me a break. I’m a retired military vet of 20 years, who served in both Gulf wars, and had spent the last 20 years defending the very freedoms this guy tried to stomp all over. I am 100% pro law enforcemnt, and 100% anti power abuser. This idot officer gets his rocks off harassing people, plain and simple. Oh yeah, and I’m sure that old farmer was a terrorist on a tractor. Just as I’m sure PROIDOT isn’t walking around with blinders on.
Oh, yes, Obama must have sent out a memo to all state DOT officers to have them pull over and harass Republicans. Wasn’t it Bush who apparently had never heard of Habeus Corpus
OFFICER’S NAME IS DARRELLL WEIGAND
Article on the incident in today’s Hawkeye http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/IDOT-controversy-040109
Meanwhile we are getting phone calls from truckers describing harassment by Weigand
If anybody would like to contact Weigand’s supervisor and ask that his badge be taken away—or maybe you would prefer that he keep it depending on your point of view—here are Major Ned Lewis’s phone numbers :
515 237 3247
515 250 3333 (cell)
e-mail address: Ned.Lewis@dot.iowa.gov
if you have ever had a bad experience with Darrell Weigand and want to go public with the story, contact John Mangalonzo at The Hawkeye at (319) 758 8136
or e-mail him at jmangalonzo@thehawkeye.com
John might also be interested in bad experiences with other IDOT officers
thats the guy that pulled me over,,,darrel weigand.
Really isnt that what cops do… pull ppl over… good one you are so smart!!
yes , he pulled me over. i was there and you werent so who would know more about the situation? you or me.
Another person comes forward with a complaint against Wiegand http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/IDOT-folo-040209
I think Wiegend needs to go!!! I live in Louisa County and have dealt with him before. Good luck on takeing him down! And PLEASE dont send him back to Louisa County…..
This guy is getting a real name out there for himself!! SOunds to me like we have a guy with a badge on a “power trip” being a local of Louisa County i can say that NOONE that has had an encounter with “Officer Wiegend” in this county has anything good to say about him at all. Its pretty bad when our local farmers wont even haul grain during harvest to the local elevator because of some DOT guy pulling them all over. And now he is harrassing elderly people?? I’m sorry but I think he needs the “BOOT” Wiegend once told me when I was bein pulled over that he has more power than any other law enforcement employee around, and that he would and could do anything he needed to do during the stop. PLEASE…… “WE DEFINETLY DONT WANT HIM BACK IN LOUISA COUNTY” do us all a favor FIRE HIM!!
Welcome to Iowa, law enforcement capital of the world otherwise known as, a good place to be ‘from’.
Yes !! I would like to have a debate on here.
Also there is not that many supporters beacause:
1. You are deleting the supporting comments.
2. People know what is right. They are not going to sit on here and give support Because they no that it is all bull shit. People on the positive side are obvioulsy smarter.
I am suprised if my comment is in here in 5 mins
CS69- If I was in charge of this site I would have not moderated your mean and vicious comments in.
But because someone let you in I take great exception on most of everything you have said- your less than clean language, your comments about farmers and more.
But as I have many valuable things to do I won’t want ANY more of my time on a mean-spirited person like YOU!
Guess what…. All my family members are farmers. Have been for many many years. I have nothing against farmers.
So tell me somthing there buckwheat, it is okay to write mean comments and start up this web page? I mean obvoiulsy you are only thinking about one side to this story.
Are you that sensitive that you can not handle “one” comment?? I mean there is almost 80 negatives on here about an IDOT? There are no postives on here because they get deleted. I think i am the only one that will stick up for myself.
So i am mean whatever and you do not think you are being inmature and mean to an officer that puts his line on the job everyday… bet you would support someone over seas….
CS69, How come you haven’t made any comments about how you obviously did not understand the laws about concealed weapons? You went on and on about it and how stupid people are and that they should know the laws. If you work in law enforcement, maybe you should take a refresher course on the laws or at least apologize and admit you were wrong.
Did i say i did? Him maybe you should stop assuming shit…..
How many states did you transport your concealed weapon? Guess the officer was more right than you wish to admit. I will be contacting these states to file the appropriate charges.
You’ve selected: Iowa. The following table lists the states that honor the Iowa Concealed Carry Permit. Iowa is a right-restricted state that issues non-resident permits. **The marked states require that you be a resident of the state who’s CCW you hold. Thank you for visiting the U.S. Concealed Carry Website!
For more information, go to:
http://www.state.ia.us/government/dps/asd/wp/index.htm
or contact your State’s Attorney General:
http://www.IowaAttorneyGeneral.org – (515) 281-5164
Iowa
States That Honor Your Iowa Permit
ALASKA* ARIZONA IDAHO INDIANA KENTUCKY
**MICHIGAN MISSOURI MONTANA OKLAHOMA SOUTH DAKOTA
TENNESSEE TEXAS UTAH VERMONT*
*Alaska and Vermont do not require permits or licenses. If you can legally own a firearm, you can carry
Truth Seeker, Your first link is broken and the second link provides no information on concealed carry permits. If you include links please make sure that they support your claims.
Truth Seeker- I get the picture of your threat of the people who were harassed and intimidated practically in their own back yard. You seem to be so high handed with your knowledge and wish to add insult to injury, so to speak.
It is no wonder that people keep these kinds of incidents to themselves because people like you rush to heap on more problems.
This is not the wild, wild west. It is Iowa. I doubt for much longer the Iowa that I have known and loved because the experience this couple had could happen to anyone at any time. It was abuse of power by someone who must relish in knowing he can dish it out to citizens only to have someone like you assist in the efforts to intimidate.
UGH!
CS69,
First of all, get a life. Sencond of all, if you don’t like how we moderate comments start your own freakin’ blog.
I need to get a life? Looks like all you ppl need to get a life. Let law enforcement do there job. If you think they do such a bad job why dont you go to school for it and see how good of job you do. By the sound of your intellagence level ….. looks like you wouldnt make it.
This is going to be the first and last warning. Any more name calling or verbal attacks on the commenter’s on this site and your post will be deleted. This goes for everyone. We are all adults here and we can debate the issue like adults.
By the looks of your intellagence level, you wouldn’t have made it either.
I think there is a little something that runs in certain families LOL
I’m just going to stick to the facts here and try not to get into a shouting match.
1) The IDOT is not in charge of enforcing laws in states other than Iowa. For example, if a person didn’t wear their seat belt while driving through every state in America, and then buckled it while driving through Iowa, the IDOT cannot issue them a ticket for not wearing it in Missouri even if the person TOLD the IDOT they weren’t wearing it. So this notion of what someone MAY HAVE DONE in some other state is irrelevant and nothing more than a bullying technique used by this officer, or, at best, a display of complete incompetence.
2) Truth Seeker– There are plenty of ways to transport firearms legally in almost every state without a Conceal and Carry Permit. Usually you simply have to have the firearm unloaded and out of reach.
Has anyone every thought about that guy that killed them 4 cops? Lets see here it was one simple traffic stop and ended in 4 families suffering forever. The IDOT officer had a reason to stop this motor home…. For one have you seen it?? Looks very suspicious. With all the travel of drugs on the highway yeah there is the best reason of all. Who in the hell cares if they were old. Does not matter the age of a person. If a cop thinks they have a hint on it there job title is keeping us protected….. and you know what…..Why the heck is the point of this blog.
Another thing what if the old people did have drugs in there vehicle. Now when an officer sees it driving on the highway do you think they are going to pick it up… maybe, maybe not. That is probably what they wanted. Now they can transport there drugs safely.
There could have easily been anything in that motor home. There could have been a small child in the lower parts, underneth and in the end everyone would be bitching about how an officer needs to be more enforceful. So either way the world has to make its judgemental comments….. Can we not just all get along???
Crystal Sawvill, cs69, Junior, or whatever you want to call yourself, Just what is suspicious about neighay’s RV? And if this officer was so worried about how dangerous this couple was why did he not run their license, why did he not call for back up?
In case you didnt notice we live in Iowa. They nearest backup is at least 15 minutes away.
SOOOO…. Tell my why an officer that has been trained for only himself.. sit in his squad.. and wait for his backup to come…… hmmmm
So if one of your family members or anybody was say… in a car that was on fire and an officer showed up on sceen… should that officer wait for his backup to show up sense the scene is very unsafe??? I bet your answer would be NO! That is what officers do jump in there right away make the scene safe for there back up. How do you not know he shot a text or something to one of his fellow officers saying be on traffic looks werid to me….. that is right you DONT!!
Changed the name to Junior because it fits me. Got a problem with it …call my lawyer
dont listen to the crystal sawvell she doesn’t know shit about cops she likes to hit on them to see what they will do. I have been accussed of stuff by the fonda cop and the dot officer who is also part time cop in fonda and i am getting tired of it. DOT officer should never point a gun at someone wide out in the open when there is traffic going by. That is so fucking stupid. Cops and dot officers need to respect everybody not just keep harrassing them for years. Dont listen to crystal because she will give your license plate number to her boyfriend the fonda cop. If anyone wants to have a friend please be my friend..
Well Junior, You are right I really don’t know what transpired in this guy’s head or his car.
You failed to answer my question. If this officer thought that this RV was so dangerous and suspicious why didn’t he run the license plate on this vehicle? According to a state trooper that I am acquainted with that would have been the first step. To see if the owners had a history of criminal behavior or to see if there were any outstanding warrants. That did not happen in this case, why?
Sounds to me like Junior is some kind of junior Weigand LOL (maybe, maybe not)
I don’t really think whoever this is is actually being helpful to Officer Wiegand.
By his/her attitude and comments this person is just making Wiegand look worse IMHO.
As you say Al s/he is bringing up questions that do not work in Wiegand’s favor. S/he is actually digging a deeper hole for the officer.
Wow CS69 what are u darryls son or what its not our fault he is a jerk on a power trip!!!!! GET OVER IT
Also notice the unusual spelling of “Junoir”
S/he is appears to be dyslexic, somewhat illiterate, or of French extraction.
I guess there’s really nothing WRONG with any of those descriptions, I am just making an observation.
Junior or whatever you are presently naming yourself- gosh…. you even love pointing out that the couple who were harrassed at length are “old”… that tells me a lot about you.
Your have a burr in some body part and you add a lot of negativity to an already awful situation.
Keep digging the hole- you’re proving to be entertainment at the very least.”
Have a happy day!
There is a reason why i spelt it like that. Just seeing how cruel one person can be for a person who can not spell. I think it is funny that you are that way. So i should start up a blog how people are cruel to handcap ppl who cant spell.
PS I feel very threatened by you i think i should tell a newspaper so i can have tons of ppl feel sorry for me.
As I mentioned, there is nothing WRONG with those conditions, I was simply making a clinical observation.
Don’t worry, there is not a human being alive who is perfect or couldn’t afford to have a bit more self esteem. We all just need to practice due diligence.
I have confidence you will be okay.
Neighay was not pointing it out to be cruel. Instead she was questioning the intelligence and maturity of your comments, which I must say do raise that question.
And please feel free to contact the media saying that you feel threatened by us. Let’s see where that gets you.
Where is it getting you all now?
Where is it getting us. It got the ball rolling on an investigation into this rogue officers actions. Also because of this more individuals that were afraid to speak out are coming forward with their stories. That is where it is getting us.
OOOOO is that what it is
Finally he asked if we would let him search the RV…. In addition, we had nothing to hide and were engaged in no illegal activity.”
That was a BIG mistake, people need to watch a video on your RIGHTS as a motorist and exactly how to handle such a stop and warrantless search of your vehicle;
In this reenactment, some college students make some very bad decisions when dealing with a routine traffic stop.
Notice how they waive all of their rights when dealing with the police officer. Where does it get them?
Be sure to check out my other videos for the correct way to deal with a traffic stop.
This video is created by http://www.flexyourrights.org and endorsed by the ACLU and other legal organizations.
Here’s the RIGHT WAY to handle such a situation;
The officer in the video is like a little old lady compared to the steroided up dude we got
Here is a link to the court documents filed recently in the case of the 64 yr old farmer with the IDOT enforcer’s gun at his head
http://ia-dotmv-police.info/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Chism_Petition_112508.338140735.pdf
The papers state that IDOT established an official policy of reckless or deliberate indifference… if not an official policy it was a practice of which IDOT and policy makers had actual constructive knowledge
This is the line we are getting from IDOT now…all their LEOs are Boy Scouts. We are having a meeting Monday with one of the commanding officers. He is going to get an earful and if we get no satisfaction we are considering the lawyer route.
Some cops are dicks and others will help you out and be fair.
I have no problem with law enforcement officers who act courteously, professionally, and within the law. I respect them and their authority.
But I will not tolerate an officer who acts with malice and violates my rights.
Neighhay, I agree with your April 4, 2009 comments. I respect good law enforcement officers, but too many of them here in Iowa are just plain Barney Fifes–Incompetent bumblers showing their ignorance. We are the taxpayers who pay for their outrageous pay, benefits, and retirement packages. It’s time someone sues their butts off. I think you’ll have to go to Des Moines to find a lawyer who isn’t afraid of the gubmint big boys, though.
All of these so called officers in the blue cars are nothing more than failed small town cops or prison guards out on a power trip. I have been pulled over 4 times in the last year by these bozos on a whim and everytime they find nothing but the most minor violation. I agree with Junoir, these guys know more about the law than any other branch of law enforcement, but only because they need to have the most excuses to pick up law abiding small business people and shake them down for “violations” to fill their pockets. Neighhay, you and Mr. Chism have my full support for your fight against these power mad clowns.
You are not alone !!!
I can’t believe I found this. I had a very similar incident occur to me and a fellow traveler. I was driving a 3/4 ton pickup and pulling a trailer with an off road vehicle on it and my friend was driving his 1 ton dually pick up and pulling an enclosed trailer with an off road vehicle inside. We were returning to Iowa from a trail ride at Hannibal Rocks Park , on Hwy 61and had just made it into Iowa and we were pulled over by a DOT officer. He made us both scale our vehicles and then made us pull around to the back of the facilities for “further inspection”. He said he didn’t have an issue with me but really addressed the enclosed trailer. He said we blew past his weigh station and that all vehicles over 10,000 lbs. must weigh. We said that we were non-commercial and that was when he started asking questions about sponsors and stickers on the vehicles and where had we been and he told us that the minute we crossed the state line, we were commercial. I argued that we were no different than somebody pulling a boat or camper and that we were recreational off road enthusiasts. That’s when he wanted to look inside the trailer. We opened the back door and he saw 2 empty gas cans and began telling us about all the fines we were subject to for each container that could possibly be hazardous and not tied down. He then proceeded to go to the side door and requested to look inside. Again, he started with the 1 quart empty transmission bottle and we were looking at a substantial fine for each occurrence and possibly impounding the trailer until somebody could return with a CDL and documentation. Because we were both labeled as commercial , because he said we crossed state lines, we were supposed to have log books and inspection documentation and insurance papers. Then he wanted to check the brakes on the trailer and he pulled the emergency disconnect cable and told my friend to put the truck in gear and try to pull forward, while standing between the truck and the gooseneck trailer. This is not a very safe place to stand, in my opinion, and the truck moved forward about 10 – 12 inches before it stopped. The entire time we were there was about 1 1/2 hours. It wasn’t until 2 semi trucks and trailers hit his scale, that he told us he was busy and we were free to go. No tickets or citations, no sorry I wasted your time, no “Welcome to Iowa !!” just an “I’m busy right now” like it was our idea to get harassed for an hour and a half .
Of course I called the DOT as soon as I could the next day, to find out if anything we did was wrong. The DOT officer told me that we were not commercial and we must have misunderstood the officer. I asked him, how could we have misunderstood the officer when he detained us for an hour and a half ? He asked what station we had been detained and knew who the officer was and reassured me that I must have been mistaken and that we were in no way considered commercial for crossing state lines with our vehicles.
What happened to us was on Highway 61 in Montrose just near the sheriff’s office (around 20(?) miles from the border.)
The incident with you certainly sounds very similar, and the territory you were in has been patrolled by the same officer who pulled us over without probable cause.
Officer Darrell Wiegand has now had more serious allegations made against him.
See http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Wiegand-assualt-080409
If the allegations against Wiegand are proved true, we certainly feel lucky we weren’t physically hurt .
I would suggest you contact IDOT again and register a formal complaint. Also you can contact Iowa Ombudsman with a complaint and Governor Culver’s office. Good luck
Howiebilt- thank you for sharing your story. the DOT are liars of the worst sort- covering up for their employees. None of them can be trusted. Please give us updates on your situation. I will be fearful if I am ever stopped by any of those people. Our lives are at risk.
Pied Piper, I agree. If you are ever pulled over by IDOT law enforcement, dial 911 immediately and get some local police to the scene.
I was puzzled by the fact that the officer never asked for our license, registration or proof of insurance. He was very persistent in telling me that I wasn’t a problem and that I could leave but I stayed with my friend to make sure he and his family were going to be alright. He had his wife and three young children with him and they were already frightened by the ordeal. After hearing these accounts, I am glad that I stuck around. The officer was clearly put off by my presence and I can assure you that nothing wrong would have taken place while I was there.
I treat everyone with the same respect they show me and I am sure that the rest of the DOT officers in Iowa are good people. I’m not afraid. Good luck to you neighay ! I hope that you and Mr. Howard are triumphant .
I have no doubt that what happened to the 71 year old by this IDOT cop, and what happened to others did happen, but then in reading the link to a news story on the Hawkeyes site about the trucker who got lost and asked for directions I couldnt help but think the guy telling the cop about the law, his rights etc etc was inflaming the situation and escalating it to the point where the cop slammed his car door and then arrested the guy.
The side of the road is NOT the place to argue your rights, the laws, rules or anything else, and seeing this cop getting agitated or pissy should have been a clue to just shut up and just answer questions yes or no and let it go. The place to argue or protest a ticket or to file a complaint is in COURT, not the side of the road!
I agree that the place to argue is not the side of the road. And in our case, I definitely clued in real fast to the fact that I should be completely submissive to this officer or there could easily be dire consequences (such as bodily injury to myself and my husband.) However the result of submissiveness was an inappropriate, probably illegal, search of our RV which by the way did not yield what the officer was looking for. In addition, I think an officer who is acting professionally should be able to listen to reason from a citizen. This officer clearly was not willing to reason with us and in fact we felt it was OUR job to deescalate the situation, rather than the other way around… it’s my understanding that law enforcement is supposed to be skilled in deescalation techniques!
New allegations against Officer Wiegand. http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Wiegand-assualt-080409
These allegations date back to 2005…and IDOT officials told us in April of 2009 that officer wiegand had no previous complaints against him. Go figure…If these allegations are proved correct, then my intuition that Officer Wiegand was a loose cannon who might do us bodily harm was indeed correct!!!!
In 1996 my son was placed under arrest and threatened here in Iowa a month and a half after we arrived here. We had spent our normal 6 months in Florida. The son’s car had been purchased at a collectors show, stolen and then retrieved all while in Florida. While he was face down on the ground he asked the officer to please look in the glove box at the records. With his pistol drawn on our son the officer was very intimidating as he yelled orders to our son. Several times our son pleaded “Please look at the paperwork in the glove box”. A friend of our son came driving up into the driveway telling me our son was handcuffed and being hauled into the county jail as he yelled “Go get my mom!” I went to the local courthouse and asked the sheriff what was my son being charged with? He was not exactly friendly. Knowing my son would be panicked after being handcuffed and arrested I asked, where is he now and can I see him. I wanted to know that he was okay. I had to become very insistent to see him, now. Finally the sheriff took us into where they were questioning him. I told one of the state police officers after he told me that our son was in possession of a stolen vehicle that he was in error. I also showed him the title, the receipt copies and registration receipts. One officer did apologize.
In the winter of 1996-97 our son driving our pickup clip the side of a car parked in a no parking zone during a snow storm. The local police gave him a ticket and the court dismiss the ticket.
In 1997 our son was working in Missouri and going steady with a girl from Creston. He had taken her to the fourth of July rodeo here and was taking her back to Creston when a car going about 80 passed him. His car had been back into a few days before by my nephew in our driveway so one side was crushed. The officer that pulled him over and was polite until he checked son’s license. At that point he wrote everything possible and then some on this ticket (a dozen bogus charges) and then hauled so to the jail in Osceola. It was a Sunday evening when son called me panicking over the claim that his drivers license had been suspended. it was the first time we had any knowledge of this so called suspended drivers license. The next morning I called DOT and asked what is the problem. DOT claimed my insurance company was not valid to do business in the state of Iowa. They had canceled son’s drivers license on a claim that our insurance was invalid. I called my Insurance broker in ST. Louis. He called the insurance company and then called me back. The claim was erroneous. They faxed me their documentation and I called DOT back again. After close to twenty minutes the gal told me how very sorry she was. I asked her to please call the court and let them know of your error and have son released immediately. She claimed she could not do that. I call the court and of course get a bit of a run around. I called the DOT offices back. Another fifteen minutes went by as I asked for her superior or someone that had the authority to officially recognize their error. This time I ask for them to please send a fax to the court. Son has been under arrest on a bogus charge for almost twelve hours. He has not had anything to eat since before noon the day before. I get to the courthouse and ask if they received confirmation of DOT’s error. They tell me yes they have. I ask them at this point where is he. They tell me he is still in lockup. I am still fairly patient at this point but that is not going to hold much longer. I am asking why has he not been released. Normally when you learn someone has been incarcerated on false charges you release them immediately. That is a reasonable expectation. Not in Iowa. It was another hour before I would see our son. He was white as a sheet. He had been puking blood all night. He asked the jailer for a few soda crackers or anything to put in his stomached and explained to the jailer that he has a herniated esophagus.(not eating for that many hours makes many people sick) He has had this condition his whole life. Nothing, no doing you would not want to give a claimed criminal a few soda crackers. Another hour and he is before the judge. She ask him on each charge how he pleads. He pleads guilty to now having a seat belt on as he did not. The rest he pleads not guilt. Finally out of the courthouse we go directly to the State Police office. My son speaks to a sergeant there. He hears the whole story and tells son that they would retract the tickets. he tells me it sounds like our officer got a little carried away. Son had admitted he was going 63 in a 55 and is willing to accept a ticket for his actual speeding amount. We leave the office and son starts telling me about the officer that gave him the ticket standing behind the door showing son his gun. He tells me the exact threats this officer had made to him while he was writing these erroneous charges down. Two weeks go by and the state police have not followed through with the agreement made in their office. Son files for a jury trial to fight these bogus charges before the time limit to do so runs out. Another month passes and the prosecutors office is still pressing these bogus charges, also telling me that officers do not lie or make mistakes. One suggested I revisit the state police. So I did. It was not the same understanding sergeant there we had spoken with before. I explained to this sergeant what transpired and the agreement that was made previously. He tells me that is not his problem and his officers do not make threats or bad charges. As politely as possible I tell him son and I both would like to see this resolved for son does not have to lose another day at work. It seemed a shame to cost the taxpayers a day in court for this when it could easily be resolved. The guy got a bit tacky at that point. He told me, “You do not know how it works!”. He then proceeded to tell me how he and his officers would be pursuing myself and my family from here on out. I told him he could very well do that but I did know exactly how it works and the attorney general, the governor and every state legislator would be receiving letters from me and I would not stand for any harassment what so ever from his department. He then started saying you mean to tell me that if any of my officers pull you or your family over you are going to consider it harassment. I told him if any of my family members or myself was actually doing anything wrong by all means pull us over and ticket us. Beware though we better be doing something wrong when your officer does pull us over though. Also if you want your officer to be proven a liar in court fine by me. We can do it. The man turned purple. His veins popped out in his forehead and he started yelling at me. He wanted to know exactly how was I going to prove his officer was a liar. I describe the whole situation in vivid detail from what was written on the ticket by his officer. The state police dropped the remaining charges. We did however have a local ex state police officer go by our house daily after that for a long time.
I could continue on and on about the threats and actions we have faced here in Iowa for several days. I do not have time to sit here and write it all in this post. Nor do you need to read an entire book on here about our experiences here. I will say it will only get worse if people do not stand up for each others rights and demand accountability and professionalism from public servants. That is correct they are public servants and they need to be reminded of that from time to time. As tax payers we do have the basic right and authority to demand that our public servants act like they are working for our best interest not gestapo’s. This is not 1935 Germany but it will become just that if the people are unwilling to take a stand for truth, integrity and justice.
Most people do not understand the DOT because in ones everyday life they are not relevant to the DOT’s inforcement.
The DOT jobs is to enforce commercial vehicle rules and regulation, vehicle weight, and State vehicle regulations. Everyone thinks this only applies to commercial vehicles as in trucks and buses, but it applies to all vehicles. If you tow a trailer with a pick-up truck your under DOT enforcement, so is any vehicle that tows a trailer, school buses, passenger vans carrying 16+ people, any vehicle carrying any form of hazmat, transportation of new RV vehicles, camper,horse trailers, and utility trailers. Since the everyday person feels DOT does not apply to them, they do not know the rules. Here is my advice, if you have a pick-up truck and tow any type of trailer, an RV vehicle that tows a trailer, drive a 16+ passenger vehicle, transport any type of hazmat any where for any length of miles, or carry cargo in your pick-up truck including dirt, stone, mulch, etc.. call your state DOT dept and learn the rules. Also while the federal DOT rules are consistence in every state, each state has their own DOT rules which differ from state to state. In some states pick-up trucks do not have to enter weigh stations in others they do. As for DOT officers you must understand their REAL job is to bring revenue into the state. They do this by knowing and manipulating the DOT rules. They will get you talking hopeing you will say the right things then before you know it you have a citation. Be pleasant and polite, if the officer is rude, call 911 and ask for a supervisor, video tape the officer, If the officer is going to accuse you of a violation ask the officer to show you the rules( they all carry a big green rule book that you can also buy at some truck stops or at JJ Keller) and last understand that DOT officers feel entitled to do any action they feel warranted to the situation. In their world you do not have rights. They can be tough, search your vehicle miss up your vehicle, think they see something when they do not, and they do not need to apologies, fix the mess or be nice. This is the world of the DOT. There are some states that are more DOT abusive then others they are TN,KY,IA,CA,OR,WA,OH,GA,NJ,CT
im very sorry 2 read about how they treated u. actually i found this cause i was looking around google for stories of truckers being harrassed in iowa. i am a trucker. we get profiled and taxed and repeated fines and are concerned every day and every night… and yes we loose sleep over it. millions of us. and we are being regulated right out of our trucks, homes, life savings. and where is the safety? there are so many safety organizations banded together against us it getting hard 2 keep up with the mess. lets start doing billboards with real safety messages and expose these hwy hypocrites. they treat us so shamefully… it matters. they want 2 rule your time, money, guns, whatever u got. and now they are targeting your children in classrooms with false doctorines of safety. absolute heresies! lies! have you forgotten america? safety is something that Christ assures you. not what what men force out of you. let’s remember the constitution. God and country. not like these athiest blasphemers rolling around in squad cars who believe that they are the definition of safety. and that believe their salvation is to get a section of a hwy or a bridge named after them. dear friends, if if its that bad for you, just imagine how bad it is for us truckers. i could tell you some really really bad stories…. when people stop letting it happen 2 penniless truckers then it helps everyone else cause according to the constitution all men are created equal. but truckers are made to be 3rd class citizens and people wonder why the abuse doesnt stop there, but lands on them as well. but it needs to stop there and soon. we’ve got lots of love for you america. we do it for you. dinner is present because we make it so, thru hard work. we neglect our own families so your needs will be met ontime. you look good in those clothes cause we bring it. you smell good after that shower cause we delivered your soap ontime. (and we delivered that showerhead too. and the water pipes, and the water heater, and everything else you see is present.) “IF YOU GOT IT, A TRUCKER BROUGHT IT.”