Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 23, 2006 12:47:58 GMT -5
01/22/2006 - WASHINGTON -- A D.C. police officer is caught riding down a street with his legs dangling over the side of a cruiser.
An eyewitness photographed the officer as he rode on the hood of a police cruiser on I Street in Northeast at 5 p.m. Sunday. A second squad car was also following the police vehicle.
Jason Lamberton said he took the photos from the second-floor window of his house. After taking the photos, he entered them along with some comments on a friend's Web site through his computer. The site features a web log for deaf people.
Lamberton, who is deaf, is also a math whiz and calculated the speed of the cruisers at about 27 mph above the posted speed limit.
Slideshow: Images From Scene
With the assistance of a translator, Lamberton gave an interview to News4.
"Luckily, I had my camera in my pocket when I saw the cop cars whizzing by with sirens blazing. The officer was riding on the hood of patrol car number 162, laughing as it ran past the stop sign on I Street," said Lamberton.
When asked about his reaction, Lamberton replied, "Oh, my God. I thought it was stupid -- lack of common sense."
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department is now investigating safety issues relating to the incident.
"We don't let citizens ride on hoods, and we shouldn't do it. It would be considered conduct unbecoming an officer if a cruiser ran a stop sign or was racing down the street," 1st District Cmdr. Diane Grooms said. "It could result in a suspension if an officer was involved in horseplay. If not, a reprimand would be put in the officer's jacket documenting this inappropriate behavior."
Grooms also said the officer admitted he rode on the hood of the cruiser, and said it was done because he needed to be transported to his squad car about two blocks away.
Police told News4 that if a normal citizen in the nation's capital were to be seen on top of a car, an officer would be required to give him/her a ticket and cite the person behind the wheel for reckless driving.