I knew I had read something like that but it must have been the time contninuim head warp...couldn't have been the Maker's Mark.
It's a mountain out of a mole hill deal. He pleads to criminal mischief, gets the truck back, loses the lights, washes and waxes a few police cars. Story for the grandchillin'.
There's some super nice sh*t at the local auction here. There's no shortage of cars here. I guess being a dumbass is contaigious. Maybe it's the water...
Interesting. Because this section classifies it differently. http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2010/843.081 According to court records, he's been charged with 843.08, which is personating an officer. So the question will come down to whether the DA feels like they have enough evidence to sustain the charge or if they will plea bargain it down to the misdemeanor.
It's a non-criminal violation to have them on your vehicle. Using them to pull people over is when it becomes a felony. It's the action that is a felony, not the equipment used to perform the action. Linda like having a pipe is legal until you smoke crack through it.
they dont take you to jail and have you turn your car over to the state because of a noncriminal traffic violation.
There's a reason they didn't charge him with the lights violation. Having blue lights on your car is one thing - they nail the neon peeps for that a lot I'm sure. Using flashing red/blue lights is a whole different deal - and why he was charged with the first offense.
Yeah, I forgot for a second that there actually a charge already in place, so 843.08 is what he's getting nailed with. Now its whether the DA feels he has enough evidence to sustain the charge and wants to push it or whether he plea bargains it down. It'll also depend on how good a lawyer Bubba has, which given his $, I imagine he'll have someone 'decent'. LOL
Eyewitness testimony of two state patrol officers and a county officer is going to be more than enough. Now the DA may plead it down but it won't be due to an issue with evidence. He might have gotten away with it if it were just some car full of tourists but in this case he is well and truly screwed if the DA is in a bad mood.
He attempted to pull their car over.... that's not just having blue lights. If that's not impersonating an officer, I don't know what is. Bad move, but live and learn.