Career Criminal Gets Life… for Shoplifting?

If all you read were headlines, never got into details; that’s what you’d come away thinking. The Houston Chronicle needed a hook to pull attention to an article about a paroled murderer who was convicted of robbery at a Wal-Mart store; started out as shoplifting until he fought with and injured the store’s security officer.

My first reaction was to laugh at the thought of this schnook having to explain to fellow inmates his latest crime spree, “I was shoplifting some music”. They’ll probably laugh at him until he tosses in how he’d been convicted of murder and spent time. He and his brother set up an ambush, pretending to be broke down on the side of the road. A young couple on their honeymoon stopped to help; the newly wed husband was murdered and they tried to rape the new bride; but she escaped with a couple of bullet wounds. They wanted to help someone stopped in traffic, a simple act which ended in murder.

I heard something on the radio the other day regarding the percentage of police officers killed while conducting a “simple traffic stop”. The problem with such a statement becomes clear when you put the two thoughts together; officer killed during traffic stop. I couldn’t find the article in print; however, I searched the internet “officer killed during traffic stop” and came up with a never ending list to back up such a statement.

I’ve had two friends, fellow police officers who lost their lives on the job. John Salvagio was killed while writing a traffic ticket for no insurance when he got hit from behind, thrown 30 or so feet in the air by a hit and run driver and splattered all over the freeway.

Jimmy Irby got shot in the face during a traffic stop. The fellow who murdered my friend was convicted and sent to prison. Fifteen years and several appeals later a federal judge agreed this POS may not have gotten a fair trial, the POS claimed he shot in self defense , on a traffic stop?

No, there’s nothing simple about a traffic stop; wish folks understood how using such a phrase trivializes one of the most dangerous activities a police officer does. I have several long time friends still wearing the uniform, may God protect them from the dangers of becoming complacent during the mundane task of writing a traffic ticket.