Upside-down shirt cyclist arrested
INDIAN RIVER SHORES, Fla., Nov. 15 (UPI) — Police in Florida said they arrested a cyclist clad only in an upside-down shirt and boxer shorts who smelled like he had defecated on himself.
The Indian River Shores Department of Public Safety said an officer on patrol Nov. 3 saw Sergey Smirnov, 54, swerve into oncoming traffic from a northbound bicycle lane, where he had been riding south, TCPalm.com reported Thursday.
The officer said Smirnov, who smelled of booze and feces, was wearing a button-down shirt upside-down.
The officer told Smirnov he would be arrested if he was seen riding in the street again, and he was arrested about an hour later after again swerving into traffic and nearly striking a patrol car with his bicycle.
Smirnov was arrested on a disorderly intoxication charge.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2012/11/15/Upside-down-shirt-cyclist-arrested/UPI-34821353004183/#ixzz2CKGTG7VD
He got off easy. Perhaps the officer didn’t realize the cyclist could have been charged with DUI? Disorderly intoxication is only a misdemeanor.
Typical police incompetence – assuming a cyclist is a pedestrian.
Sounds to me that the reason for the stop was not being in the bike lane and that after the stop, the officer piled on the drunk and indecent items. We shall never know if the guy would have been stopped had he stayed “in his place.” Perhaps my cynicism is higher than normal today…
Eh, cops look for legal but ‘weird’ stuff all the time when looking for drunk drivers. Stuff like doing 20 in a 35 on an empty road. Though one hopes leaving a bike lane in itself isn’t such a behavior.
The first stop was after he was going the wrong way in the bike lane, definitely illegal. If this cop saw that he was obviously drunk, ‘would be arrested if he was seen riding in the street again’ is a legitimate restriction, though incomplete (riding drunk on the sidewalk is just as illegal). The second stop was after ‘swerving into traffic and nearly striking a patrol car’, and if this is not an exaggeration, it’s definite ground to test for drunkenness.
If he was riding in only an upside-down shirt, couldn’t he also be charged with ‘Driving with an improperly secured package’?
This guy is no Rosa Parks.