Already day two of the work week…and for some of you lucky ones, its only the FIRST day of your work week!! Weather looks good for today, its a bit warmer so enjoy as these type days are becoming fewer!!
Okay – Its Tuesday which means its time for another segment of “Too Bad Tuesday”. I picked a ripe one from the crime tree this week boys and girls… But before we begin, here is my disclaimer:
"All persons i
n these segments are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, we reserve the right to change the names of those involved (if names are used at all) to protect the innocent"
So… Here we go…This week we look into the acts of a man that apparently wanted a police car… he wanted all the pretty twinkle lights, and we assume he liked the way everyone Ooowwwed and Ahhhheeeed when they saw his twinkle lights light up…Now, This man did not do like the rest of us that wanted a car with twinkle lights, by going through the usual channels of taking test after test with different police agencies…being run through obstacle courses and backgrounds and polygraphs… then – if lucky enough to be chosen spend 5-6 months eating, breathing and memorizing all aspects of law enforcement so that finally we could be graduated and have a badge pined on us … so that we could finally use our twinkle lights, only to find out we had to endure a six to eight week Field Training Program … usually with some salty old officer who could care less that we just went through hell and back just to use twinkle lights… because there was NO WAY he was letting us use HIS twinkle lights before he showed us how to properly use twinkle lights in the “REAL WORLD”… I mean- its just ridicules what you have to go through just to use a simple set of twinkle lights, what in the .... Ohh….Ohh, …I’m sorry …I’m sorry!!... I just went on a little rant remembering my early years!
… Any way, the point is that this individual decided he was going to short cut all that testing and academy bling-blang by simply installing twinkle lights on his own vehicle…In many ways, he commissioned himself as his own special kind of super hero… I guess he figured he would fight crime on his own… in his own special way….just him and his twinkle lights… now, I don’t know if he had a fancy super hero name…But for the sake of this segment, lets call him “IMPERSONATION MAN”… Impersonation Man put lights on his pick up truck …I mean, EVERYWHERE on his pick up truck…in the vehicles grill, headlights, tail lights and under his trucks tailgate… they were all our favorite colors too…Reds, Whites and Blues…
So, Impersonation Man was apparently having a pretty routine day, until, that is, he drove through Naugatuck, he noticed something odd, something that apparently only a twinkle light super hero could notice… “Impersonation Man” instantly activated his twinkle lights and quickly sprung into action…he threw his vehicle into reverse, screeched his tires as loud as he could (…I’m assuming he hadn’t progressed up to the “Whoo Whoo” siren as part of his super hero kit yet…) – “Impersonation Man” accelerated up the road in pursuit of what ever dastardly deed of crime he observed through his super hero vision….
Now, the story takes a weird twist here… you see, our own officer Burns and sergeant Poundstone just happened to be at the same intersection when they observed this entire event unfold in front of them (… and no – I can not confirm or deny if they were in the act of purchasing or consuming “D” words at the time, from the very close in proximity “Dunkin “D-Words” at the same intersection… But know that if they were – I’m positive they were delicious!!)
Officer Burns and Sgt. Poundstone activated twinkle lights of their own (…Fully legal and authorized by Connecticut state statute mind you…) and pulled “Impersonation Man” over.
Upon speaking with “Impersonation Man”, he explained that he was not a police officer and that he did not have any permits for his twinkle lights… but that he was in fact “cut off” by a phantom black vehicle… this is when he sprung into action.
So here it is … the “Too Bad” part of our segment… “Impersonation Man” was placed under arrest and his vehicle was confiscated…twinkle lights and all!! ….So here are the lessons to be learned this “Too Bad Tuesday”:
A) Connecticut General Statute 14-96q( c ) states that it is illegal for any motor vehicle, other than a school bus to display flashing lights that are not intended to indicate a turn (Excluding “Hazard flashers”) unless the flashing lights are approved by special permit from the DMV Commissioner under the authorized colors, specifically outlined under the special permit. The Statute goes on to describe example purpose for use of various colors of flashing lights as follows (This list is NOT all inclusive): “YELLOW” – Wreckers, Mail Delivery, Escort Vehicles…, “RED” Stationary “Fire-Police” vehicles at scene of fire, Rescue Vehicles, CEO or EMS vehicles, Ambulances, Fire Marshalls and directors of Emergency Management vehicles…, “GREEN” – Volunteer Ambulance Associations…, “White” – Used in conjunction with other authorized colors on ambulances…
B) Do Not use ANY unauthorized flashing lights on your vehicle
C) …and most importantly…Do Not commission yourself as a superhero of any kind
That’s it… there you have it, another segment of “Too Bad Tuesday” is in the books… Hope you enjoyed and learned – and remember… we are only a phone call away!!
Have a Happy and Safe Tuesday everyone!!