No much of a chance he'd get the drop on a guy who's already got his piece out. He would have been shot trying.

Although I agree that this video footage captured a sequence of events that perhaps appear unreasonable, we must remember that it only shows partially what truly transpired, up until the time of the stop. We don't know the rider's criminal background, his driving status, or as to why this video begins midway with him just casually "cruising" down the highway. Not to mention that we only see what's in front of the camera. I'm not defending nor condemning anybody here, just focusing on the facts. To base decisions or make assumptions on partial evidence alone is pointless, futile, and stupid.
Just keeping it real.

 

Dam right he would have been. LOL..
Ever try to get your gun out in full gear? Yeah, you're pretty much toast unless you practice every day like a ninja and open carry it.

The rest of what you said is spot on, incognito.... which is why I really didn't dwell too much on the gun part.
Now going to his house and taking his computers and cameras, etc....and charging him with a felony that carries 5yrs for recording the ride/arrest seems a little bit suspicious and unreasonable to me. Don't you think?
Obviously, there could be a few other details surrounding this, but we're just discussing why it may have happened. (if you know what I mean)

I mean, the guy paid his fines for the tickets or whatever (according to the news) and he wasn't arrested for warrants or anything, so what do you think the deal was with the felony charges after the fact?

 

Pre-emptive strike, trout. Tossing those charges on him gives them leverage in case he tries to file a civil suit. Watching the longer video, the guy did hit speeds of 120+ mph.

Now I did say elsewhere that I felt the cop was justified in pulling his weapon and he was wrong in not identifying himself first off. I said he was justified because he was solo, he was entering an unpredictable situation that was potentially dangerous (350+ lbs of bike pointed directly at him) and he never pointed his gun directly at the rider.

In not identifying himself first out, he did make the situation dangerous. Someone cuts me off and jumps out of the car I'm thinking "Rip the throttle". Actually I'd prolly think that 2-3 seconds after my wrist already did it. Reaching like he did, without identifying himself, would prolly make me aim the bike at him before ripping the throttle and jumping off (better to lose the bike, gain a chance to draw and not get shot).

One thing about the longer video tho. Something made the rider look back and pull over. Can't tell what. But he knew he needed to stop for a reason.

 

if you were to even try and pull a gun on that cop yood be in a coffin....fact

 

Initially I didn't see the news video. It's probable that simply recording the event is not what's in question, for the State Attorney would have to prove "intent". What's not going to help his case, is that he published it on YouTube, without the officer's consent (MD requiring consent from both parties being recorded). If you look at the video, you can even see the license plate on the car. I think that would make anyone upset. Unfortunately for the film maker, if it's in the law books, and he broke that law, they have every right to prosecute him for it.
Funny how a simple traffic stop can turn into such a brujaja

On a side note, the average household income in MD was $70,545 in 2008! ...and in 2009 has ranked highest in the country for its 3rd consecutive year.

 

See, this is where I wonder if there would be the question of whether consent was needed. I know in PA we have the same consent law, but there have been many cases where police have lost this battle in court because the reasonable expectation of privacy doesn't apply to peace officers while doing their jobs. As for the license plates.... well, that's a tough one. I'd imagine that each of the owners of each car in the vid could go after him, but it's not likely. (and I'm not really sure if they could?)
I don't know for sure if a state owned vehicle can be legally photographed or not, either, but I'd imagine it could be?
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

As far as MD being a rich state, sure it is. Maryland is also in the top 3 with Cali and NY for the highest cost of living in the lower 48.
Taxes are high, property is expensive, blah blah blah.

They also don't believe in citizen's gun rights. The state decides who can protect themselves, and that's nobody. (Unless you're a doctor, lawyer, pharmacist, or are otherwise well connected)
They actually had an interesting hearing this month about granting reciprocity to us PA CCW peeps. Let's just say that the spokeswoman for the MSP would probably be in jail right now if she'd been under oath. Trash talking the surrounding states police forces, and outright lying about several key issues.

Regardless of their anti stance, they were number 2 in the nation in murder and robbery in 2009!! They placed 6th in vehicle thefts, too!
Way to go, guys!!

Yeah, I have no desire to live in that state whatsoever.

 

Wierd guy+Reguler NON Police car +Gun from where im from equals get the hell out of there and high tail it to a Police Station to be certain.But it's good he didn't Since it WAS a crazy cop with a gun.

 

This is the thing that gets me... It looked pretty clear to me in the video that he looked back (actually sat upright, turned his body, and looked left and back behind him) at the trooper behind him as he was exiting on the offramp and that, to me, said he had acknowledged he was being pulled over... and proceeded to calmly slow and stop. It was kind of quick, but I couldn't see lights flashing on the trooper's car, though it definitely resembled the classic crown vic cop car.

I guess all I'm getting at is that to me he just wasn't showing any indication of running and I'm not sure the trooper had actually made the move to attempt to pull him over yet or if he was just following for a bit before he went for the guy. (I'm sure we all know how cops like to do this)

You're quite right Incognito. We don't have all the info and the video is def one-sided in it's perspective... as fellow bikers we are very biased to empathize with the guy... it just seems like a scenario that, if nothing else, requires very careful investigation and consideration. I think in the end both sides could have handled it better. The guy for driving like a total a-hole, and the undercover cop drawing a weapon on an unsuspecting motorist without at least identifying himself. Hopefully this is used as a learning experience both in forming police procedure and making some bikers more wary about being delicate and humble dealing with the police.

It'll be very interesting to see what other information comes out and what, if any, action the prosecution decides to take.

 

funny thing to all this is that if everyone was filming their pull over, every stop wood be by the book...

 

Most stops are filmed nowadays... by the cop's cruiser. Good luck getting that tape if its incriminating in the least towards the officer