It seems to me that if I were suspicious enough of someone to point a gun at them, I wouldn’t believe anything he said. Especially if he were dressed like a pizza delivery guy and claiming to be a cop - that would set off my bullshit detector even though in this case it was true.
Well, there are legitimate reasons to point a gun at someone; hyperbole aside, I can’t think of any U.S. jurisdiction that would allow you to point a gun at a pizza delivery person, even if you didn’t order a pizza. Honest mistakes do happen, as in, “Sorry, you want 123 Oak Lane, this is 123 Oak Road.”
So, if I were on this guy’s jury, I would agree that the charge of “pointing-gun-at-cop” is unjustified, but if it were that or let some paranoid, gun-toting loon* go free, I would think real hard on the matter.
*I say this as an ardent gun-rights supporter. But I don’t support irresponsibility. When it happens, I say “Book 'em!”
And your average Dominos Delivery Man can’t SAY “I’m really an off duty cop?” Is there some burden of proof here, or can anyone say it, hoping to diffuse an uncomfortable situation?
That would be impersonating a police officer if someone wanted to get sticky about it.
What about the Louisiana case I cited on page 1? In that case the homeowner didn’t just point a gun at the guy, but actually shot and killed him, and he was acquitted outright. So there is at least one jurisdiction where you could do that.
I think we’ve lost track that this homeowner didn’t order the pizza. So who did, and does this particular homeowner have a history of people doing this kind of thing to him? Seems to me the OP was going for the Schadenfreude we get when reading stories about the guy who tried to rob the room full of cops, or room full of judo experts, or the 72 year old marine that beats up the mugger.
In this case it just seems the HO overreacted and the delivery guy/cop reacted how he was trained. Seems they should warn this guy and send him home. Seems a bit heavy handed to slap him with a felony.
Anecdote having no real bearing on the thread: I was once approached by a person in plain clothes, told they were with the ABC*, and asked for my ID. I told him I wanted to see his ID first. He was none to pleased but showed me a badge and photo. They were just out doing spot checks on local bodegas.
*ABC is the California version of the Liquor Control Board in most other states.
I am not a lawyer, but I do know that in Louisiana, the law is based on the Napoleonic code, not on English common law, so you have lots of things that are legal in Louisiana but not so in the other 49 states (and however many territories we have), and the reverse.
Thank you. I remember both of those stories and still smile when I think about them.[/hijack]
I suspect that California (especially in the vicinity of Los Angeles) is less likely to cut a homeowner slack for pulling a gun on a pizza guy. A jury would be unlikely to rule that the wielder had a reasonable expectation that a guy dressed like a pizza delivery guy, carrying a pizza box represents a threat of imminent death or bodily harm, either to the homeowner or to any bystanders, had there been any.
Depends upon the pizza company.
A guy dressed as a pizza delivery guy carrying a pizza box does pose a threat of being a stripper in disguise, however.
Don’t ask me how I know this.
Of course I won’t. It depends upon the pizza company.
It surprised me that an LAPD officer would be moonlighting as a pizza delivery guy anyway. Don’t those guys generally get $50 - $100 dollars an hour or so doing private security work? At tany rate, you certainly don’t expect 'em to be delivering pizza. I would have been dubious myself.
We had an off futy policeman as a security guard at the library where I worked. I don’t think he made any more than I did.
Well, maybe things have changed. I had occasion to become friendly with quite a few policemen in the mid-seventies who routinely got $25 an hour working concerts, security, even stopping traffic so employees of large companies could get out into traffic at quitting time. (This was in a fairly large midwestern city with a population of around a million people or so.) They had a sort of agreement with each other not to work for less, less it screw things up for everyone.
I thought pizza delivery joints had some kind of verification system to make sure they weren’t getting pranked, yes/no?
Man, I could sure go for a pizza right about now…
He’s actually the fourth cop I’ve personally known who’s moonlighted as a pizza delivery man. The other three all worked for the Bakersfield, California PD. My sister’s ex-husband is a high-ranking federal LEO with 30 men and women working under him. At one time he also had a paper route.
Sometimes when you do the same kind of work day after day, for a second job you want a change of pace.
Ah, for the good old days, when unions were more effective…
And the verdict is…time served (two days) and a $1500 fine. :rolleyes: And a COLLOSSAL verbal ass-reaming from the judge. Dumbass basically tried to play it off like he was just defending his property, and the judge came back with something along the lines of “yeah right, numbnuts—he was DELIVERING A FUCKING PIZZA!” Dumbass didn’t have much of a reply to that one. The judge also told him that he had the power to strip him of any ability to ever legally possess a firearm in the state of California, but he was going to cut him some slack, and did he (Dumbass) realize how damned lucky he was that he (the judge) was being so magnanimous? Dumbass didn’t have much of a response to that one, either. But hopefully the stupid shit will think twice before pulling a gun on the next Girl Scout who comes to his door selling cookies.
One never has much choice when a Judge tells you how brilliant he is and how stupid you are.