No License

I'm pulling into the Kangaroo Mart on Creedmoor Road. As I cruise up to the pumps I notice a black guy, his head wrapped in a do-rag, walking to a Jeep Cherokee. He sees my patrol car and suddenly looks like he's seen a ghost. He immediately turns away and quickly hops into the Jeep. His exit out of the parking lot couldn't have been faster but, unluckily enough for him, he failed to give a signal or come to a complete stop. And his behavior was like a beacon, "Stop my car! I don't have a license! I probably have warrants!"

I pull him over and he launches into a tirade. "Why did you pull me over? A black man can't drive without getting pulled over. "

I run his license and, of course, its suspended. Not only that, he's failed to appear in court thirty eight times before , so issuing him a ticket is a lesson in futility. He won' t come to court. I approach and ask him to get out of the car. As he pulls out his wallet a blunt wrapper falls out.

"Do you have any weed in the car?" I ask.

"Why would I have weed? Just because I'm black I smoke weed?"

"No, I just noticed you dropped your blunt wrapper on the ground."

"That ain't mine," he says, his face twisted into a snarl.

"Whatever," I say. Then I arrest him. While I'm searching the Jeep he calls his girlfriend. She shuffles up to the scene from their apartment, which is no more than one hundred yards from the store. She's thirteen months pregnant, sweating profusely, hyperventilating, and followed by a four year old girl. "Ya'll need to quit messing with him. He ain't done nothing. He was just going to the store to get a pack of Newports before I go to work."

Are you hearing this? The guy has a suspended license and numerous convictions for driving without a license. He's failed to appear in court thirty eight times so he knows if he gets arrested for driving he'll have a massive bond. But he's too lazy to walk one minute to the store. He'd risk everything to drive rather than walk.