YOu meet interesting people when cars rear-end you

[Lee Bruns]

Hank got a front row seat to a car rear ending me at an intersection Today. Minor tweak to the rear fender of the bike, easy fix. But my yelling profanities at the driver who hit me has resulted in my being charged with disorderly conduct. Seems it was an off ducty officer that was yelling at me to get back on the bike and clear the road. He wasn't 'helpful' enough to stop and try to solve anything , jsut stayed in his SUV, drove past and charged me with disorderly conduct. So, what do you suppose is the correct language  and voice tone to use towards someone that hits you with their car? Apparently shouting profanities at them was not correct, though, even now it just feels right.

[Bogus Jim]

Disorderly conduct for cussing? That's BS... tell the judge you were in the Navy.

[Hank]

Oh.. NO WAY..  That is completely ridiculous.   I'd think you have the right to be just a little pissed and give someone a verbal beating when they attempt to run you over.

[greatbuffalo]

Not sure of the legality here. How can an off duty officer charge you when he is not in uniform or an official vehicle or identified himself as an officer and rendered no assistance. Very interesting, and the disorderly conduct? It was probably a friend of the officers that you were yelling at. I would fight that one.

[Lonesome Dave]

Well, you asked!  Legalities: In the State of South Dakota any adult person can make a citizen's arrest.  DC (disorderly conduct)  is a class 2 misdemeanor and therefore must be witnessed by the citizen or arresting officer.  In this case, it's an "off duty" officer who will have to write a statement of what he saw and heard.  The responding officer will do the paperwork, but he can't testify to the crime.  He didn't witness it, he may add to it, or testify to your demeanor but not the actual DC.  Either person could make the arrest, but it's very rare for Joe citizen to do something like that.  An officer who's off duty already knows the elements of the law and can make an arrest.  And, because he is a known officer, at least to the court system and his fellow responding officer, the arrest would be made with very few questions.  Once again, he's the one that witnessed it, and he's the one making the arrest. 

Now as I see it the real question, at least when you go to court, is when did you realize he was an off-duty officer.  If he never stopped or got out, but just told you to clear the road, it doesn't sound like he was there very long.  You can also tell the judge how upset you were about the possibilities of being killed or hurt, and it simply took you a while to settle down.  Questions to the arresting officer might be, "How long was I standing there yelling?  What did I say, when did I stop, how long were you there?  And, have you ever been rear-ended while sitting still or better yet, have you ever had anyone shove you in the back and it didn't make you mad at least briefly.?"

Now before I would ever make a DC arrest (back in the day) you had to push my limits or elements of the law a long ways before I would make the arrest.  Why?  Not because I was such a nice guy.  But the DC law is very open to interpretation.  So when I finally decided it was time to go to jail, everyone would agree, except maybe the bad guy.  That often would make for long reports, because I had to write everything down, but I never lost a DC arrest either, or more importantly, I didn't have go to court much. 

So, with all that said, look up the Disorderly Conduct law.  Remember, state law might be different than city ordinance so find out which one you were charged with.  Read them.  Get a copy of all the reports.  Read them and decide for yourself if you met the elements of the law.  But, even if you did, you can still plead to the court about how frightened you were at the time.   Hope this helps, Lonesome Dave

[JoniJo]

Officer insert officers name here , you are a moron!         Sincerely, JoniJo

[agspecialties]

You did much better then what i did one day when i got hit for the back.
I seen it coming and was ready for it, but i took a hell of a hit. I picked myself up off of the ground, took off my helmet and throw it through the windshield of the car that hit me.
When the officer asked me why I did it, I told him it was better then pulling the guy out of his f'ing car and pounding the shit out of him.
I was not ticketed for nothing. The guy was ticket and arrested for DUI.

[Dr Psyko]

I got rear-ended by a 16-year-old kid.  I didn't see him coming at all, I just heard a big bang, found myself tumbling and sliding down the street, and in a flash alongside me I saw my motorcycle sliding with sparks flying.  The kid pulled over, and I remember the adrenaline rush when I stood up.  I was yelling, many passersby jumped in to see if I was okay, and bought me some time to cool down.  We exchanged information, and the kid left.  The next day I got a phone call from the father, asking if I had actually yelled at his kid.  I told him that I had, but that was much less a punishment than what I had really wanted to do to him.  He thanked me for not punching his son, but assured me that his son had endured a far more vicious tongue lashing from him, then anything I could have administered.

[Osnabrock]

I'm glad that you're OK.  I can understand your frustration. 

[Lee Bruns]

Well, court date is set for June 12. I would be most thankfull for anyone would could come and observe the freakshow. I think an audience filled with riders in riding gear, and holding helmets would make an impression. I get the impression, my charge is more of an anti-motorcycle rider charge as anything. The whole thing seems so absurd.