Need Help! Royaly Screwed!!
 

:( :( :eek: :eek: :confused: :ah:

Ok guys, so here is the deal and I still don't know what to do.

On September 1st, 2009 I was segregated. pulled over, and harassed by a Police officer from the neighboring town (Orland Hills). I was just coming home from school around 11am, traveling eastbound on a 4 lane street (2 lanes each way) I was in the right lane. Off the corner on the northside of the street I was traveling a cop had a black couple in a white older civic hatchback pulled over. I made my right hand turn south at the light, went up 6 blocks and saw police lights passing 4 cars that turned behind me.. and pulled me over. The street I was on (traveling east) was the dividing line for my town (Tinley Park) and the town this police officer served (Orland Hills) He chased me down 6 blocks into my own town.

After he pulled me over he harassed me and threatened to arrest me. His reason for pulling me over, Squealing tires. Now I had my convertible top down, no music, and 3 cars turned behind me. I didnt squeal my tires. No one did.

I was to the point where I actually called my towns nonemergency number and had them send a squad car out because I felt uncomfortable from my treatment. After the cop gave me the ticket, I had to follow him back to his station/village hall to pay my $75 bond in cash.

Outside the building... he changed his attitude and told me that if I originally told him that I coach football (peewees) for that town (Orland Hills) he would not have wrote me a ticket.

I went in, paid my bond... then decided to talk to the Deputy Chief of Police for Orland Hills.... and guess what. He harassed me and treated me like a little punk with a rap sheet a mile long. I honestly wish I recorded the conversation as he would now be suspended for the way he yelled at me and what he said to me. Also a harassment lawsuit.

Now I have been pulled over around 20 times because of my age (19) and my car (my Boxster) Never have I been treated the way I have and I knew it was wrong. Being young I do expect to be looked down upon and targeted because of my age and car to some extent. This was just overboard and I would never go above and beyond to do what I did next without good reason. I went and filed 2 formal complaints, one for the officer and one for the deputy chief.

I then talked to the Village Manager... explained what happened. He told me he would take care of the ticket and not to worry about it.

FAST FORWARD TO Yesterday....

I received a letter in the mail from guess who??? None other than the Secretary of the State saying that because of that ticket (squealing tires) and a speeding ticket I got over 14months ago....

MY LICENSE IS TO BE SUSPENDED FOR 1 MONTH... guess when? 11/03/09-12/03/09. I got the letter 5 days before my license is to be suspended.


Now my problem.
I never got a court date on the ticket.
I was harassed. Two times.
I was told the ticket would disappear.
I filed 2 formal complaints.
The video evidence from the squad car will support me.

With out my license... I will FAIL this entire semester of school that I paid for. (I drive to my school that is 15 miles away 7-9 times a week) Also I WILL LOSE MY JOB because I cant drive.

Now I only have 3 days left to do something about it.


The back of the sheet said I have to go back to the courts where the ticket was done to appeal it or challenge it... but how do I do that? I had no court date, no judge, or anything.

I already went back to the Village Manager and the Mayor... guess what, they were both in down town Chicago for depositions. I left a message yesterday morning... 2 days now went by, and no word back.


WHAT DO I DO??? Do I get a lawyer? Do I file harassment suits? How do I stop this from happening??? :confused: :confused: :confused:



Any help or anyone in the chicagoland area who know a good lawyer or can do me a favor would have my deepest gratitude and I would owe them a few. Remember, I honestly was targeted because of my car and my age.... and now Im getting the shaft out of no where again. Ohhh the joys of being 19 going on 20.

hire a lawyer for sure. he may be able to get the suspension lifted or get you a provisional license to travel to/from school and work. with only a few days left though it might be hard to do. but yes a lawyer for sure.

19 and pulled over 20 times? that might be a reason. get a lawyer and hope hes good

Get an attorney. It's possible that with your explaination of treatment from law enforcement, if you go to the court house they might just arrest you for failure to appear.
Ken

the 1st question a good attorney will ask you is what is your past driving record like.

Your age and what you drive might have gotten you pulled over 2 or 3 times unfairly...BUT 20 TIMES??? At age 16 I drove a 1973 240z - I was pulled over once - and learned my lesson.

Once your past driving record is brought up, your word against this policeman's isn't going to work.

Time to start thinking about public transportation - buy a good bicycle, learn the bus and train lines...

...if you go into court claiming all those pull overs were because your were 19, they'll go harder on you....instead, think about taking an aggressive drivers training class - if you show up to court with a certificate that you finished a class like this, and take personal accountability for your driving, they might go easier on you.

And get the best attorney you can afford.

You may not believe it, but yes I have been pulled over that many time and most of them either were for harassment tickets that ended up being dropped in court or just to check my license and registration. Ive only had one ticket on my record which was a speeding ticket for being 7mph over the speedlimit on a highway.

It isnt the way I drive, and yes I can blame it on my age and my car.

I do believe you've been pulled over that many times, but it wasn't for harassment - it was your driving. But it doesn't matter if I believe it - any sane judge & juror won't believe you, with your record.

My understanding is, in Chicago, it's 3 strikes - not two...are you sure there's not a ticket you're not telling us about? for them to pull your license, you had to be driving recklessly, or have more tickets from your 20 pull-overs.

Nope, not at all on the driving. Just like some people have won the lottery two times in a row, its nearly impossible to believe but its happened. Same thing with being pulled over as many times as I have. I only have one ticket on my record besides this "squealing tires".

I just got a copy of my driving record 3 weeks ago for my new job and that was the only thing on it. Also the sheet informing me about the suspension only had that speeding ticket and the squealing tires on it and said

"THIS ORDER IS HEREBY ENTERED BASED ON YOUR HAVING BEEN CONVICTED OF NO LESS THAN TWO OFFENSES AGAINST THE TRAFFIC REGULATION GOVERNING THE MOVEMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES COMMITTED WITHIN ANY TWENTY-FOUR MONTH PERIOD."

1. 8-22-08 SPEEDING 5-15MPH OVER
2 . 9-01-09 SQUEALING OR SCREECHING TIRES



Many people would say its my driving habits, but it isnt for someone who rarely speeds and loves the right lane like it was my long lost puppy.

hmmmm, adam, very odd here - you're statement above doesn't match you're statements on this board from the past. I don't think you're being very truthful with us...sadly, until you stop blaming others (ie, "the man") and start taking some personal accountability, you're going to get pulled over again, lose your license longer, or worse, hurt someone.


driving isn't a right, it's a privilege, and your privilege is being taken away because the state has determined that you are a risk to yourself, and others...time to learn and grown from the message they are sending you, if not for your own health, but for those you share the road with. :cheers:

So because I was targeted and harassed, which video evidence from the squad car would prove, I lose my license because Im a risk to myself and others for being harassed and making a public nuisance.

That sounds so right does it not?


Unlike some people, I may talk a game yes because Ive been an athlete all my life but also remember not to underestimate me for my intelligence. I know right from wrong and when I can let lose and when not to do something stupid.

I have a 3.85GPA with 21 credit hours (normal full-time is 12-15hrs) I scored a 34 on my ACT a few years back, I turned down a full ride to Stanford, and now I go to Loyola University.


I believe it is you sir that need a lesson in open-mindedness and one who should take a step back and not pre-judge someone before you actually know more about them. How would you feel if the exact same thing happened to you? Now how would you feel if I took the same tone and attitude with you as you are with me? I rest my case. :cheers:

You're young, in denial, and taking your life, and the live of others at risk. Pulled over 20 times and someone as smart as you claim to be can't see that the problem isn't you?

I just pray that you don't hurt someone before you grow up...this next month will be a good time to do some reflecting, and think about what it means to drive more responsibly.

A police officer did when I was 16, and he got thru to me - at first, it felt like harassement, but then I realized, he was trying to help me.

Common sense isn't something you should get upset about. And an officer trying to explain to you that you could kill someone isn't harrasment, he's trying to save your life, even if you can't understand it now, adam.

Dude, No offense (which means I will probably offend you) but, You need to change your driving habits, residence, or just sell the car. 20 times pulled over is just stupid. Even if half were harrassment, statistics alone say you get away with 80% of your crimes of driving and that means you broke the law at least 20 times per each stop(give or take a few).

With that said, you should get a lawyer, if you cannot afford one... (JK), you can call down and see if there is a weekend class or community service you can take inlieu of points. I do wish you luck, but you and your car are apparently "Marked". You can most likely get driving privledges for school and work. Forget about a jury's or judge's sympathy. You drive a porsche and they don't so you deserve everything you get to them. You need to learn to game the system. In my town, ed and me are great fishing buddies, oh by the way ed is the local PD sarge and he likes miller lite (free miller lite that is). :D

Good luck and remember, you control your own destiny! :cool:

"SQUEALING OR SCREECHING TIRES"
I don't get this the only place I've ever gotten my tires to do this is on the track at high speed through a 180 sweep that was slightly off camber. I've yet to have this happen on my Boxster on the street or back road twisties. All I can say is you must have done something to get attention to yourself and if you didn't switch to PZero's and paint your Box a light color. :cheers:

When I was 17, my first car was a Corvette. I was pulled over twice, both times an appropriate bust. Never again pulled over.

Now, what are the chances of that happening?

Harrassment? What harrassment. :D

At only 19, you're not old enough to use the cheers emoticon :D ;)

Seriously though, definitely hire an attny whose is known (a/k/a connected) w/ the jurisdiction you live/must appear in.

Also, seriously consider changing your car and driving habits to become severely more conservative than you think you already are. There are some of us on the board who have 7, 8, 9, 10 or more times the years driving experience than you possibly could at 19. As one of those, who is a known fast/aggressive driver logging 20-25K miles per year, I can honestly tell you I have been pulled over 7 times total in my driving history. 4 resulted in citations, 3 were "earned", 1 wasn't but I had to just suck it up and pay (out of state and not worth the hassle plus 0 pts to my home state).

Glad to hear you're a good student. Keep at it b/c it will pay off for you in the future. Think 4 for 40.

Good luck :)

I appreciate how people believe I have bad driving habits or Im not as conservative as I say. Honesty is a rare thing in this world, but ignorance is bliss and in abundance.

Ive never squealed my tires... my Falken FK-452 285/40/17s Pretty close to track tires. Now couple that with making a 15mph right hand turn on a warm summer day, warmed up tires, and no elements.

When you bring your problems to a forum of strangers, who were not there to see what happened, you are going to get mixed reactions. Suck it up that's a part of growing up. It appears to me that you have been given some advice here and I can't understand what more you are expecting. It seems to me that, as some people have suggested, your option is to hire an attorney to represent you and provide you with a venue to tell your story and try to legally get you off, or a reduced sentence. For you to have so many altercations with the law, you have to admit, does seem to point the finger at your doing something to get attention. I got a ticket the first week I had a license, got a suspension for a month and never got another ticket until I was in my late forties and I was a wild child, I just knew where to be wild and where not.

Onshore provides solid advice. As a wise man once said: "that which goes not kill me, makes me stronger!"

you're previous posts show you're not honest about this, and your driving style.

when your case comes up, you're going to say the same thing the 200 kids before you said..."your honor, they harassed me, and pulled me over because I was 19"....then the judge will ask you about the 20 other times, and the court room will start laughing at you.

Bring a camera to court...and please post the dashboard video here - if it was harassment, I'll paypal you 500bucks...

My thought is not how you can afford a Porsche @ 19, but how the Hell you can afford the insurance with 20 citations or such? No need for a response as it was a rhetorical question. If for some reason you are correct and you didn't deserve any of the 20, I have to ask "Did you knock up the judges daughter?", Cause if not, somebody must be out to destroy you!!

I do wish you luck and suggest you talk to a lawyer for your options. no judge in his/her right mind wouldn't grant you driving priveledges for school or work, unless you are on your 3rd DUI. :cheers:

my question is. how do you get pulled over so often without a citation? every time i have been pulled over since i was 16. i have gotten a ticket. you must be one luck guy! wish i had that kind of luck when i was 16 would have saved me some serious dough :cool:

20 pull overs is a bit excessive, but I will believe you and say get a lawyer for sure.
Being a teen and driving means the world is against you. I'm 17 and driving a Boxster, and nobody likes it except my own family.

If you have proven that you were legitimately caught once for speeding, and that the other 19 times were in fact harassment, you at least stand a better chance at getting this cleared. If in fact you have been harassed THAT many times, I'd call the city council or your representative and file a complaint, this goes beyond just some cops.

Boo-Hoo... What a friggin Whiner!

You drive a Porshe at 19 (which M&D presumably supplied you with) and you want to call foul at the cop?

Give me a break!

Yea, I'm sure the cop singled you out... fabricated the whole thing to up their monthly quota on the supposition that you'd NEVER fight it and have M&D pay the fine!

God Damn Him! How dare he???

Surely, you, and your social prominance, have demonstrated that you are above the law as it is applied to mere social men!

I mean, your SAT scores alone PROVE that you are above a momentary lapse in judgment!

I think they should fire his ass and revoke all of his hard-earned pension and send him packing if not for justice, than to merely teach him a lesson.

'Course that is just MHO.

:cheers:

You should be pulled over and ticketed - multiple times - for turning down a full ride to Stanford. Sorry, had to say it. :barf:

pulled over 20 times!! I think it is about time for you to sell the Boxster and buy a older Ford Escort. Maybe then you will not be "Targeted" by the police.

Yes, being pulled over about 20 times most people would call excessive or me drawing attention to myself. Well being 19 and a Porsche is enough attention but the typical stereotype for a Boxster is a 40yo white upper middle class american not some kid.

Most of the times I have been pulled over was just to check my license and registration, which they legally can do in Illinois. Most of you wouldn't believe me if I told you I was pulling into my neighborhood and had a car patrolling through it and he pulled me over 3 houses down from my driveway just to check my license because he thought I was pretty young to be driving.

I bought my car at 16. I paid for half and the other half was a birthday present. Unlike some people I started a job at 14 and had 2 and a half years to save. But yes I do have nice parents to pay for the other half. Since then I pay for ALL maintenance and insurance.


All in all I was just looking for advice on how to handle what has happened to me as stated in the first post of the topic. I guess Ill end up getting a lawyer Monday and go from there.

My daughters friend is a little older than you but graduated from Villanova with a 4.0 in Engineering,went to work for GE with a sizeable bonus, fullfilled his contract and is now at Drexel working on his PHD in Electro Chemical Engineering. He doesn't drive a Porsche because he probably didn't start working till he was 15 because he was a NCAA swimmer. He now coaches swimming. He probably has been pulled over more times than you and didn't think he deserved any of them. He whines for a week when he does get pulled over. I was with him once and he should have been pulled over. Brains do not preclude stupidity. Most older people realize that a person is the sum of all his good and bad points, youth assumes that one good point ( fair grades) makes all other things dissapear. Stop Whinning. JMHO Ed

You guys are incredible! Do you really believe that most cops are clean? I hunt and fish with a club of around 35 guys of which the majority are cops. Let me tell you, the sickest individuals are them. They brag about their abuses and using the law to their benefit. In other words they exaggerate in order to bust individuals. Their envy of money and nice cars is incredible. They feel that the world owes them something and that people that have worked hard to get were they are all trust fund babies.

Get a good lawyer and sue the heck out of them. Maybe he will loose his job and have to go to school or like most of these clowns end up in Burger King. I'm tired of everyone living with the rose colored glasses on. The truth is that the entire country is becoming a fascist state were cops are free to abuse their power.

I know what your replies will be so save your time and don't bother. Continue living in Mayberry with aunt bee. You still believe that we are living in the same country were right and wrong was the real law of the land.

By the way, no tickets for me since I was 25 and driving a modified Miata. They do target you when you are young and have a sports car. And yes, they do have quotas to make. The easiest ones to bring up to a judge are the young guys with sports cars because the reaction is predictable. No one is innocent until proven guilty any more!

The record you see is different than the one the judge has in front of him/her when you are in the courthouse. The judge gets the full unedited list. You have "a tough row to hoe" as the saying goes. If it were the same cop or the same 2 cops stopping you but if it's 20 different cops, you are going to have a hard time getting anyone to think 20 different officers are all harassing you. It's very likley some of them were routine stops because you do look suspicious. However for sure some are deserved. I know that when I go from my F-150 to my 986, if I'm not taking turns at 1.5-2 times the speed I'd drive the truck at it just feels slow. If I take a 35 MPH corner at 45-50 it's still so far below the limits of the car I dont even consider that "spirited driving". What you think you're driving and what you're actually driving could be 2 different things. when i drive my truck (dd) my kids always ask me why I drive so slow. When I drive my 986 I have fun that's what I bought it for. Having said that I'm selective where I have my fun which is why I've not had any tickets/accidents in the box. My son has a prerunner truck for a daily driver. He has been pulled over and ticketed 2 times but both were when he was in my stock clean F-150. The first he tried to tell me I was going with the flow and not the fastest. My reaction "yeah right". The second was different and I helped him get it dismissed when it smelt fishy. If he got pulled over even 10 times, as a parent I'd have done somehing earlier. If I really believed it was just the car, a change in the dd would be in order.
Ken

OK, lets remember that this is the Internet. All that is posted may not be entirely true or is simply the poster's version of what he wants to write.

Yet, the issue here is simple. 20 times or 1, this guy has this one issue to resolve.

I think that all are suggesting that if he has ANY chance of a positive outcome, he needs a lawyer.

The rest is just like poking a dying animal.

It is not pretty anyway you cut it.

:D

yes. For the past 5 years I have been a volunteer deputy for my town. I spend 16 hours per week with officers of the law.

The majority of them got into the field because they enjoy helping people. Like any field, there are bad apples - but my experience with them has shown me that these guys and gals are a cut above.

kiosko, I think you should do some "ride alongs" if your town has them...it'll help you understand the men and women in blue a little better.

Well said Fred.

I must admit, I have been pulled over more times than I care to remember since I have had a license. Some well deserved, others not, sometimes fined, other times not.

I have received fines from some of the nicest, pleasant and patient officers in the force, and I have also come across some absolute bastards. Just like any group of people, some are nice and others not.

To suggest that all police are corrupt is ridiculous and is perhaps the weak defense of someone who spends far too much time on the wrong side of the law. We also must not have blind faith in these people either, as the force has it's fair share of bad apples.

Just last night I was stopped for a "random" check, only because I was driving through a low socio-economic area in a Porsche. It was an inconvenience I didn't need, however it is how it was done that upset me. The police drove very close behind me, and used their high beam which dazzled me with the reflection in the mirror. I could not see it was a police car, and they were just trying to bait me to drive fast and then they would have an excuse to write a ticket. Instead I slowed down, suspecting it was a police car, and did not give them an opportunity to push me into speeding. Then again, perhaps it is the benefit of experience that I didn't play into their hands.

By the same token, I have had good experiences with traffic police, even when they have resulted in fines that were deserved.

Just remember they are crafty buggers sometimes, and the key to keeping out of trouble is more about playing the game and outsmarting the police rather than having to be an ultra conservative driver. At the end of the day, we have nice cars so why not enjoy them by driving the way Dr Porsche intended.

When I was in my late teens I had long hair, a beard and rode a motorcycle. I was pulled over multiple times without good reason (they usually claimed they wanted to to check to make sure I had the motorcycle endorsement) but frankly it didn't bother me. I was always polite and gave the cop my license with a smile, never once did I get a ticket and they usually reciprocated my demeanor. You more often than not get what you give.

Interesting reading for sure, Mr. Express, just curious, do you have a powerful stereo and if so do you play it loud? How bout the exhaust, is it loud? Something you are doing is catching the attention of law enforcement, now assuming you "don the halo" you say you do behind the wheel, there must be some other activity other than a nice machine that is making you stick out; you need to identify it and eradicate it.

I have to chime in on this one.

I am a criminal attorney - 10+ years of experience. What I am about to say is NOT legal advice - I don't know your exact situation, nor do I wor in YOUR jurisdiction, so I am NOT an expert in the laws that apply to YOU in YOUR state - so I am just speaking in "general" terms about driving offenses. Every case is different.

First, I'm not going to cast stones and accuse you of being a speeder. When I was 19, I had my fair share of citations for speeding...not as many as you apparently have had.... but I also didn't have a Porsche when I was your age either...

In terms of what a person in your situation should do - Hire an attorney. THEY can give you solid legal advice as to what you should do. You can explain your situation to them, in total confidence, and they can best advise you how to proceed. There are lawyers that specialize in traffic cases and DMV hearings. If your privilege was suspended - you have the ability to request a hearing with your local DMV and contest the suspension.

If you can't afford to hire an attorney to actually represent you, you could just go in for a consultation and get advice. Someone in your area would likely meeet with you for a reasonable fee and advise you - they would know YOUR local rules/regs/laws.

What is true here in CA may not be the case in your state. A local professional will know what is best for YOU in your area.

Just a word of caution, however, if you truly are suspended, you should VERY cautious about driving until you get this resolved. here in CA, driving on a suspended license is a misdemeanor. In CA, if you are cited for driving on a suspended license, the police CAN tow and IMPOUND your car. the impound can be for a MONTH. That means the car is HELD in impound for 30 days, you are NOT permitted to retrieve it - and impound fees RACK UP into the thousands while your car sits there. It becomes very expensive just to get your car back from teh tow yard. Plus, the new offense carries more points than the average speeding ticket - resulting in even more suspensions of your privilege to drive. Given your propensity for being pulled over - driving while you are suspended sounds like a BAD idea as you will just dig yourself into an even deeper hole.

Just speaking in terms of "bang for the buck" however, If the suspension was only a month - honestly, by the time you hire someone, they schedule a hearing, and you get it resolved, your suspension may already be over, so you have to assess the "value" vs the "cost" for going that route. It may simply not be worth it.


Get good legal advice in your area....and try to slow down. :)

Here's my advice.
First thing on Monday morning, start calling all the lawyers you can find in the phone book. Get to talk to as many as you possibly can for free that very day.

Once you have a game plan from the lawyers, do an internet search on the ones you like the most, to see who has the best and worst press of all of them. Pick the one with the best looking internet history overall.

Once you have your lawyer and situation under control, go to the DMV place that gives you license plates for your car, and get new ones. As soon as you can do this, the better.

Sometimes, police officers will put a license plate into the system to be pulled over and questioned at any time the plate is spotted. This might have happened to your plate after so many run ins with the police, and so few actual convictions.

If you get a new plate on your car, it might take them a while to get your new plate in the system, and start bugging you again.

Some police jurisdictions have a computer system that identifies license plates as their camera runs all the plates that it reads as the cop car runs through traffic. If there's a warrant out for the owner of the car, or the registration or insurance is lapsed on the car, the computer system flashes a message to the police officer, and pulls up the plate info, for the officer to conduct a traffic stop of the car.

I'm not 100% saying that this is what is happening, or that the police put a flag in the system on your car, but I am saying that it is a possibility.

Change your plates.
See what happens.

BC.

I am almost positive you can't get plates under suspension. We had that problem at our dealership. People under suspension or without a DL would come in to buy a car and we would have to put in somebody elses name.

So you get your license suspended for a month for 2 infractions within 2 years?? Yikes, you've got some harsh regs!

Pay no attention to all these old men on the board telling you the cop is right.

So you got pulled over 20 times? Wow! :rolleyes:

I wish I could say that when I was 19.

Between the age of 16-18 I got 18 TICKETS! I once got pulled over 3 times on the same night. And one time, the same cop ticketed me twice on the same night at two different locations! That guy was a jerk.

When I was 16, I had hair down to my waist and drove a bright orange 74 Challenger blaring heavy metal down nice suburban neighborhoods at 3:00am, -and I had a big mouth when I got stopped. I also thought that all the cops had a bad attitude. ;)

Fortunately for me, back in those days I lived in a communist county where public officials such as Justices of the Peace did not like to work too much. So the courts were backlogged for 18 months at least, sometimes a lot longer, so the cops often did not show up for court or had forgotten too much.

The Ontario regime had a point system back then. But if the ticket was less than 15km over then there were no points deducted. Most of the cops wanted to avoid court so they could eat more donuts so they usually reduced the ticket to 15km. So, a couple times I got one to admit he reduced the ticket, which is an "improper charge" that has to be tossed out. :cheers: