lake mead labor day story

[Nubbs]

Now it gets interesting. I tell them that there must be better things that they should be doing on a Labor Day weekend than giving a family a ticket for raising their flag too slowly on a near empty section of the lake (it was about 6:30 pm) I had already seen plenty of stupid druken behavior that weekend. I facetiously tell them that they should be proud of themselves and that they are doing a real bang-up job. Deputy Richard Allen of the Mojave county Sheriffs department tells me that if I won't be quiet he will bring me on his boat. I tell him that's fine and that he can give me an alchohol test while he's at it because of course I have not had anything to drink. He demands that I get aboard the sheriff boat which I comply with. After more discussion during which I continue to disagree with him he tells me that if I do not shut-up and be quiet he will arrest me. I at no point swear or yell at him but but I continue to voice my point of view. He places me under arrest.
The ticket was probably uncalled for. However, it looks like the rest of the bs could have been avoided if you had just swallowed your pride and kept your mouth shut. What did you expect the cop to do?

[Schiada76]

Lets see now.
The officer you dealt with, on a Labor Day weelkend at 6:30 PM has already by just a wild guess dealt with a minimum of 100 complete assholes, drunken idiots, and complete imbeciles. Maybe his patience was just a little bit thin YA THINK?
Sets a nice example for your kids doesn't it? Aww kids that flag isn't that important blah blah blah.
The kids in our boat and any other observer better have that flag up every time a skier is down immediatly or I'll be all over them because the one time they think it's no big deal and it turns out to be it'll be MY responsibilty.
How about you take some responsibilty for your own actions?

[XFactor]

Sorry about not getting that flag up quicker sir... thank you sir, I'll be sure to take care of that ticket ASAP... you guys have a nice evening...
No drama... and you can go back to the ramp and bitch about the cops instead worrying about the safety of your family.
I tend to agree with this approach. I'm not sure I would address them with "yes sir" and "no sirs" but I would defianatly avoid confrontation. Address your issues in court. That's what a judge is for. I don't think a judge would agee with your side of the story. Face it, you broke the law. Take your medicine.
Sometimes it doesn't seem fair that you receive a ticket for doing 75 on the freeway when people are going by doing 80+ but the fact is you broke the law.

[HCS]

At one of my favorite lakes to boat at there was this ranger (note) was this ranger everyone one refered to as the lake Nazi.
He was persistant in harassing just about everyone on the lake for a full summer.
He pulled me over for the late flag issue one time also.
Anyway to keep it short. After hundreds of complaints filed about the guy they removed him from his tour duty on that particular lake.
It may be worth your time to file a formal complaint just so they have it on record for future references.
Good luck in court. :argue:
HCS.

[3 daytona`s]

Lets see now.
The officer you dealt with, on a Labor Day weelkend at 6:30 PM has already by just a wild guess dealt with a minimum of 100 complete assholes, drunken idiots, and complete imbeciles. Maybe his patience was just a little bit thin YA THINK?
Sets a nice example for your kids doesn't it? Aww kids that flag isn't that important blah blah blah.
The kids in our boat and any other observer better have that flag up every time a skier is down immediatly or I'll be all over them because the one time they think it's no big deal and it turns out to be it'll be MY responsibilty.
How about you take some responsibilty for your own actions?
Schiada, I won`t start an argument withyou,everyone has there opinion,, the daughter isn`t responsible for the flag, yes maybe the Deputy had a long brutal stressful day but that`s his job, law enforcement is putting up with A-HOLES once in awhile.I believe this guys story and yes the law gave this family a memorable LABOR DAY 2006 IMO

[XtrmWakeborder]

Wow alot of people on here saying swallow your pride... What do you think would happen if everyone just "swallowed their pride" and didn't voice their opinion or challenge authority?.... Thats pretty sad to hear.

[Kilrtoy]

Interesting......
the best place to plead your case, is in court.
I will leave it at that...

[socalmoney]

On Saturday I, my wife, and our three teenage kids were returning from Sandy point to Temple bar where we had launched that day. About ten minutes from Temple bar one of the kids fell while wakeboarding. At the time
there was only one other boat moving across the channel in the opposite direction and about 1/4 mile away. As the other boat started to approach us we recognized it was the sheriff and belatedly got our flag up. The sheriffs (two of them) took my daughter on to their boat and gave her a citation ($98). They return her to our boat.
Were you lazy with your flag most of the day? Often cops will watch you or keep an eye on you and may not make contact right away but will have the attitude, "if I see him do that one more time, he is mine". Also it is a holiday weekend and you do have a child in the water. Cops often don't take that lightly.
Never get arrested in front of your kids. That is just bad policy. My wife can get a temper when it comes to her Ex, I told her if she ever goes to jail because of it, I won't bail her out.
As far as court, if you can prove that your actions did not impair their ability to do their job you should fine. If the officer can articulate how your actions made it difficult to conduct business, your screwed whether you used foul language or not. There is no penal code for rudeness. You should be able to say what ever you want to a cop so long as you are not threatening him. Just remember, they can get creative if they want you in cuffs.

[Tequila-John]

Was there anything wrong with expressing your opinion? No! However when he told to to be quiet or he was going to arrest you should you have kept going? No! Although you were not wrong by expressing your opinion you were wrong for letting it spiral out of control in front of your family. What does this show your children???? It may show them it's ok to talk back to law enforcement. Do you really want that? Maybe expressing your opinion and then letting it go until they (cops) left and discussing the sad actions of the specific officer would have been better. Sad situation all the way around and I'm glad your family is safe which is the most important thing. Good luck to you on this. Just my .02 :idea:
I agree with you 100% He was told looks like 3+ times to be quite and he didn't.

[thumbs]

I facetiously tell them that they should be proud of themselves and that they are doing a real bang-up job.
Sounds like you were pissed that you got caught breaking the law as petty as it may seem. For all he know you never put up your flag. It needs to be a habit every time someone is in the water the flag goes up. I bet if it was not a LE boat the flag may have never been raised.... I hope I'm wrong on this one.
Deputy Richard Allen of the Mojave county Sheriffs department tells me that if I won't be quiet he will bring me on his boat.
So you kept running your mouth? Did ya think he was going to give you milk and cookies once you were on board?
I tell him that's fine!
Becareful what you ask for... you just might get it. In this case it looks like you did.