Oregon Cop Turns School Zones Into Fraud Zones

I was a military policeman in Saigon in 1972, so I know a little about police work. A military policeman’s motto is, “assist, protect, defend.”

(MCMINNVILLE) - An Oregon state police officer, David Peterson, waved me over at random, lied to me about why he pulled me over, then gave me a citation for doing something that he completely fabricated. Based on the number of people in court fighting officer Peterson’s tickets, I assume he often tells tales of fantasy under oath to get convictions. And, I am certain there are thousands of victims like me that will take the same action as I am. Keep reading........

This officer then lied in court, describing a new situation that is completely impossible under the laws of physics. The judge ignored the laws of physics and found me guilty. It is unbelievable, but true. I am not alone. The courtroom was full of people, due to charges Peterson also appeared to have fabricated. Two years ago, at about 20 years on the job, this officer was demoted from sergeant to trooper. Why? I can only imagine. The officers own testimony describes a fictitious occurrence that completely violates the laws of physics. In 42 years of driving, this is my first speeding cite/charge outside of a 55 mph freeway zone. There was no traffic in front of me at the time, and I had a line of cars behind me because I was the slow vehicle, and the officer stated in court that he used the laser gun on me because the traffic had cleared for a distance.

I purchased from the court, a certified copy of the court testimony on a cd. The cd is available to anyone. Give me your mailing address and I will send a copy to you.

The following are notes I wrote the evening of 2-18-2010, and are the absolute facts of the incident:

I was driving East on hwy 22 in Grand Ronde, 3pm Thursday 2-18-2010, and was given a citation by officer David Peterson. The court date for this citation was held on 5-10-2010.

I saw flashing lights at a school zone and slowed down to under 20 mph before I passed the sign. A couple hundred feet past the lights, a police officer took a step into the roadway in front of me, appearing to block my vehicle with his body, and waving his arm. I started to make a right hand turn at the corner, but he stepped back out of the roadway and waved me forward, keeping me on hwy 22.

Next, the officer came over to the passenger window, that I just rolled down, and pushed a laser gun through the opening, which read 60.

I told the officer that I hit my brakes when I saw the flashing lights and slowed down to 20 before I passed the lights. He said, “Yeah, but you were going 60 in a 45 a half mile back.” The officer took my licence, insurance, and registration, and moved his car from about 30 feet away, hidden on the side street, to a position directly behind my vehicle on Hwy 22.

Somewhere in the middle of these trips, he stated I was going 62. I reminded him that his gun said 60.” He nonchalantly said, “60-62," like they were both the same speed.

Then officer Peterson wrote up a citation for 62 mph in a 20 mph school zone. I reminded the officer that I was going 20 in the school zone. The officer then stated, “The school zone goes back a half mile.” The school zone is only a couple hundred feet, not a half mile.

After the officer handed me the citation and told me what the charge was, I had to ask him 3 times the amount of the bail. He acted like he was too embarrassed to tell me the amount of the bail, instead just kept saying, “You should show up in court and ask the judge to reduce the fine because you have a clean driving record, rather than just mail in the bail.”

Odometer readings were taken between the intersection of Grand Ronde Road, East to where the speed sign changes the speed between 45 and 55 mph. Speed signs on both side of Hwy 18 are 3/10 mile from the intersection, therefore, officer Peterson’s first statement to me that I was doing “60 in a 45 a half mile back,” is not possible. A half mile back is the area where the road makes a gentle curve to the right, so my vehicle could have been visually blended in with the outbound traffic.

The distance between the intersection and the speed signs (55 West bound and 45 East bound) was verified once on 3-24, and three times on 3-25, by myself and a friend using the trip odometer on a 2006 Toyota Corolla.

Four photos of the area were taken on 3-24-2010 and made part of the court record.

Based on what happened on the citation day, I had no idea what officer Peterson was going to say in court on 5-10-2010, so I wasn’t completely prepared. Peterson tried to explain under oath, why he showed me a speed on the gun of 60mph, and wrote the citation as a speed of 62mph. Peterson stated that he took the 62mph reading as I was crossing the point of the school zone flashing lights, then took a second reading of 60mph. He testified that he showed me the second reading because he couldn’t turn his laser gun back to the previous reading. This testimony bothers me on many levels. It didn’t happen, and there is no way under the laws of physics that it could have happened. One of the photos I gave to the court was a view east showing the flashing school lights on the right side of the photo, and a mini-van turning at the corner where the officer was standing. Officer Peterson testified that I crossed that flashing lights line at 62mph, then he aimed his gun at me again and got a second reading of 60mph.

Starting from the moment Peterson pulled his laser gun trigger, got a reading of 62mph, made a decision to pull the trigger again, pulled the trigger again, got a second reading of 60mph, made the decision to wave me over, took several steps to or into the roadway in front of me, situated the laser gun into one hand, waved at my truck vigorously with the other hand, from the point I saw Peterson waving his hand vigorously, made the decision that the officer was trying to wave me over, initiated my 315 foot braking procedure, stopped my vehicle in time and started to turn the corner of the intersection because the officer was blocking the roadway in front of me with his body, the officer stepped back, waved at me again to go forward and not turn the corner—that all the above was possible under the laws of physics in about 150 feet.

I was a military policeman in Saigon in 1972, so I know a little about police work. A military policeman’s motto is, “assist, protect, defend.” I would be willing to bet that any cop in their right mind who got the laser gun reading of 62mph in a school zone, would immediately do everything in their power to bring that vehicle to a stop, rather than waste time taking a second reading. Wouldn’t you?

My main point is that at 62mph, a vehicle is traveling at almost 91 feet per second. At 60 miles per hour, a vehicle is traveling exactly 88 feet per second. Officer Peterson testified under oath, that he took a reading of 62mph at the flashing lights, re-aimed his gun, pulled the trigger again, got a reading of 60mph, all while my vehicle is traveling at an average speed of about 90 feet per second. I don’t know laser guns, but even at light speed and a fast trigger finger, all that laser gun action should have taken officer Peterson a minimum of at least five to eight seconds, and my vehicle would have traveled 450 feet. Then add the seconds Peterson took to walk out to the intersection and do the arm waving routine. According to the Oregon motor vehicles drivers manual, page 33 in the 2005-2007 edition, a vehicle traveling at 60mph takes 315 feet to stop. The reality is that at 91 feet per second, my truck would have driven past officer Peterson before he could have pulled the laser gun trigger the second time. This is all grade school level math and physics. It didn’t really happen, and Peterson knows it didn’t happen, but officer Peterson doesn’t have the basic mental understanding of physics that his sworn testimony would have put me at least 500 feet, and maybe 1000 feet past the intersection he was standing in, waved me over in, and I stopped in.

Judge Horner, and/or his fact finders, also apparently don’t understand the laws of physics any more than the average 8y/o, as they apply to motor vehicles. Two days after the trial he mailed me a letter finding me guilty.

A cop lies under oath to steal money and nobody in Oregon government thinks it’s a big deal. It is the culture of the Oregon government, especially the police departments.

The State Police don’t care. Judges don’t care. The media apparently doesn’t care. Jesse Jackson cares about Oregon police murdering people, but he is powerless to change the political culture in Oregon.

In court, Judge Horner made it a special point to ask and clarify with officer Peterson, about the fact that I was alone in the vehicle, as if to make sure there were no witnesses.

Too bad Oregon cops don't have a conscience. Yeah, they stole $724 from me, and since the cop had a firearm, I call it armed robbery.

What is the cost to have the KATU employees, the KOIN employees, the Seattle Times employees, the Columbian newspaper employees, the Olympian newspaper employees, the Willamette Week newspaper employees, the newswithviews.com employees, the Willamette Media newspaper employees, dailybuzznow.com, and others, to look into this matter?

What is the cost to have the White House employees read the complaint I sent to President Obama?

What is the cost to have the employees of the US Department of Justice look in to the matter?

What is the cost to have the dirty state cops' immediate supervisor look at the issue?

What is the cost to have the NW State Police regional manager look into the matter?

What is the cost to have the State Police main office read my letter, write a reply giving me the freeway finger, read my rebuttal letter, and then talk to the employees of the Governors office after I sent them the letter?

What is the cost of the employee of the Governors office to call the above mentioned cop, then write me a letter?

What is the cost to have an employee of the Oregon Attorney Generals' office send me a letter with a packet of forms to complain to the DPSST (cop training) and the judiciary review board regarding the judge?

What is cost of the DPSST employees to read my complaint, and then read a second request via certified mail a couple months later?

What is the cost to have the judiciary review board answer my letter, then bring this matter to the full review board at their next meeting, then write me another letter with their decision?

What is the cost to have the Oregon Department of Transportation go to the site and check the school zone measurements, and then write me a letter with the results?

What is the cost to have a dozen or so attorneys look into this matter? They tell me that most (over 50%) cops lie under oath to get convictions.

What is the cost to have the Lincoln City Visitor & Convention Bureau, the Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce, the Tillamook Chamber of Commerce, the Spirit Mountain Casino Marketing Manager, and other related web sites to look into this matter?

My trip to the Oregon Coast that day was to look at real estate because my better half wants to retire there some day. Because of my false prosecution, that now will never happen. So what is the cost to the sellers of real estate there? What is the cost to the merchants at the Oregon coast because I will never again drive my truck to the Oregon coast, and our family members will never drive their vehicles to the Oregon coast to visit us? The money I will save alone in vehicle costs will be substantially more than the $724 that was stolen from me. Many times over. The Oregon coast is a nice place to visit, but it is not worth running a gauntlet of dirty cops to get to!

What is the total cost of all of the above, and what is the cost to have people read the letters I will continue to write?

What is the LOSS to Oregon, from the thousands of other victims that have taken the same course of action as I have, and the thousands more victims that will take that same course in the future?