The video below shows a curious police chase. Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Carrie Rindal says that she was forced to ram the van of a man attempted to flee in his van and then succeeded in arresting him. The only problem is that Sam Salter was only suspected of an unlawful lane change and his flight was for only one mile at a slow speed. Salter had his children in the van and says that he was trying to find a safe place to pull over when Rindal rammed his van and came at him with his gun drawn.
Salter ended up in jail for two days while his kids had to be picked up at the jail. Rindal did $1500 damage to his 2001 Toyota Sienna van, and endangered his three children, ages 2, 3 and 6, who were in the van. Yet, after reviewing the tape, the prosecutors admitted that they saw no evidence to support Rindal’s claim that he was fleeing an officer. There is of course no reason to do so since he had not committed any crime and he had no alcohol in his bloodstream.
The exchange between the two reveals the mindless approach of Rindal:
Salter: … I really didn’t expect you to hit my car. … I just thought it was extremely unreasonable….
Rindal: OK. What we do is called the P.I.T. maneuver.
Salter: It was fairly obvious.
Rindal: No, it wasn’t fairly obvious. That’s why I did the P.I.T. maneuver.
Salter: So you thought I was going to slow down and then take off because I was obviously slowing down and pulling over? You hit me when I was next to the curb so I don’t know where you thought I was going.
Rindal: Well, you kept driving. …
Salter: I drove from the corner to here.
Rindal: You drove all the way from 94 and Earl to here.
Salter: Right, which is the safest spot to stop between where I saw your lights.
Rindal: Well, that’s why we are in this spot that we’re in, Samuel. When you see red lights and sirens, you don’t keep on driving and driving and driving [so] you decide where you are going to stop. We decide that.
Salter: I understand that, but I feel that I [didn’t] have a safe place to stop between where I saw your lights and here.
Rindal: OK, well that’s why we’re at where we’re at, OK? Next time, maybe you’ll realize that we decide where the safe spot is.
Salter: I’m not a criminal. I’m not trying to evade you. I was not trying to run away.
Rindal: OK. I don’t know that. All I know is that I’m behind a vehicle that’s not stopping when my red lights and siren are going.
Salter: … I slowed down and I pulled to the side and I was looking for a safe place to stop. That corner on 61 seemed to me hidden from the rear as you went around it. It’s slippery. I didn’t want to stop on a dime. I was really trying to be safe.
Paul Gustafson, a spokesman for Ramsey County attorney’s office simply announced: “It was our belief there was insufficient evidence to prove that the suspect was knowingly fleeing police, and that is what he had been arrested for.” Yet, they mailed Salter a ticket for an illegal lane change.
Of course, the department has taken no action against Rindal who rams the car of a citizen, brandishes her weapon without apparent cause, terrorizes children, and then files a baseless charge. As in the recent Chattanooga case, the lack of action taken against the officer raises a troubling question of a double standard for officers and citizens engaged in wrongdoing. While Rindal should not be criminally charged, her actions raises serious questions over her fitness to serve as an officer.
The only way to get the Minnesota Patrol to seriously police its own ranks may be a civil lawsuit in this case. The video below shows that the use of a PIT was unwarranted and that the arrest was bogus.
For the video and full story, click here.
I think this trooper should submit to a drug test. She obviously was not in a reasonable and rational state of mind. I also question the reaction of the back up officers that showed up and were giggling with her about the whole deal. A pit maneuver on a vehicle going 5 mph and coming to a stop is never justified.
All previous comments on this thread sum up my own thoughts exacty, so I will just add that Youtube has hundreds of videos of state troopers who pull people over at night and then get hit by passing traffic. Sam Salter was trying to do Trooper Rindal a favor and in return got a gun in his face and a ride downtown. Imagine the trauma inflicted on his kids by her actions.
Not all state troopers are like this, however. I lived in Texas and was stopped dozens of times by Texas State Troopers, and every single one of them was a gentleman and a professional.
Bad cop…bad cop.
When I see lights asking me to stop, I slow down, put on my turn signal to notify the officer that I am aware that they are pulling me over, and find a safe place to pull over. Sometimes I’ve driven for a bit until I find a place that is safe. Not once have I either been rammed or had the officer verbally chastising me for not pulling over immediately. Not only that, but people are encouraged to find a safe, lighted place for their own safety since people have posed as police officers in order to commit a crime. This officer was completely out of control.
“This lady abused her position and put the family members in jeopardy of injury such as whiplash.”
‘This lady…’????? Rindall was a WOMAN???????????????????? Rindall looks like my old Uncle Bernie after years of living on beer and bologna sandwiches. Geeeesh. Take her badge away and get that menace off the streets of MN.
Let’s look at this situation logically. You are in MN on new year’s eve and it’s obvious there is snow on the highways and roads. The MN tropper says that someone needs to stop immediately which is impossible by nature. Traveling 50+ mph would have meant the trooper’s car would have ended up in the backseat of the van if you want to take the law literally. This man did the right thing by looking out for the safety of his family. Not only that, but it’s obvious that this man was pulling over because of the VERY slow speed at which he was coming to a stop, while using his turn signal. This lady abused her position and put the family members in jeopardy of injury such as whiplash. I would hope that, at the least, this lady would be reassigned to a desk job and not allowed to interact with the public unless she receives some training or somehow proves she can make better decisions.
Thanks, Minnesotan. Consider them told.
Tell them what you think — look up the phone numbers or email addresses here for Carrie Rindall, Minnesota State Patrol Chief Mark Dunaski, Assistant Public Safety Commissioner Tim Leslie, etc:
http://www.mail.state.mn.us/phonebook/
Find other superiors here:
http://www.dps.state.mn.us/OrgChart/DPS_Org_Chart_Jan_2009.pdf:
Flash:
“The Minnesota State Police are a group of dedicated, hard working, and brave, men and women that do a wonderful job for the people of our state. Trooper Rindal has proven unworthy of the uniform… and should resign.”
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My sentiments exactly. For every crazy lain-brain stop like this, thousands are executed without incident every day. Most of the cops are fine people, out doing a job. The problem are the insecure and the zealots who must prove who is in control all the time. I think this officer needs retraining, and if she refuses, she should resign.
This is truly an unfortunate situation. I will state right off that the officer in question should be reprimanded, possibly fired, or at the very least stripped of rank and taken off of the street ( AKA desk job) AND not allowed to carry a weapon. She exercised such incredibly poor judgment that her actions are inexcusable. After she found that the van was not being driven by a gang banger on a drug run, she should have lightened up and had some concern for the children. Just because she had a badge did not give her the right to treat this family so incredibly bad. If I were doing the investigation of the incident I would go back over every complaint ever lodged against her over the years and look at each situation in a new light. Given the same situation regarding the time of night, the traffic level, the speed of traffic, and the location, I would have done just as the gentleman did to keep his children safe. The police got a law passed to make everyone move over, it’s a good law, but drunks and people messing with cell phones and such, still rear end them at high speed. Let’s say he did pull over on the highway… and a drunk rear ended the patrol car, driving it into the van and killing the children… would Ms. Rindal be happier because her authority was absolute and obey he must?
What a crock. He should sue her for assault with a deadly weapon.
Her claim that he wouldn’t pull over is so transparent, the CHASE! lasted all of one minute – at all times slowing and signaling while pulling out of harms way. The Minnesota State Police are a group of dedicated, hard working, and brave, men and women that do a wonderful job for the people of our state. Trooper Rindal has proven unworthy of the uniform… and should resign.
Whollieb…
Ha.
Profiling gone wrong. This is a hockey mom car.
Wow, I’ve led officers over half a mile looking for somewhere to pull over. I’m glad they didn’t freak out like this.
AAhh
Mike Spindell said it better than I ever could!
BIL,
You hit the mark.
“But that’s what you get when you train POLICE instead of training PEACE OFFICERS.”
Officer Rindal conducted herself the way she was trained to respond. It’s New Years eve, she doesn’t know if Mr. Salter is intoxicated, and thats why he can’t just pull over.
It’s a huge training opportunity. Police are conditioned into an “us vs them” mentality. Until the education and preparation of police officers shifts to peace officers this is the response we’ll continue to get.
Balancing “We serve and Protect” with cops getting to finish their shift and go home to their families is the equilibrium were both looking for. A friend in the Public Defenders office here in Chicago says there are 50-60 felony arrests every day. That’s a lot of people who can’t manage their energy in a mature way.
Mespo & Buddha,
I agree with everything you’ve said. What I would add to it is that I think the training (amen to the Gates allusion)emphasizes the officer’s potential for encountering dangers and by doing that makes them overly alert for signs of it. In truth police work, even in the big cities is much less dangerous than they or TV would have you imagine. Added to this is the group acculturation that a new officer undergoes, usually from those most cynical about the public. Those good officers, that are peace officers, are more likely to be laconic about their careers since they are people trying to absorb and learn from their experiences.
If you add the above, to the guns, rifles, shotguns, tasers and batons that most police are equipped with, the individual officer is easily seduced into a feeling of superiority and alienation from the public. With that mindset comes incidents like this in which the officer clearly reacted so badly that her job should be at stake.
Sue. Strip the officer of her privilege then you can get her on torts.
“Rindal: OK, well that’s why we’re at where we’re at, OK? Next time, maybe you’ll realize that we decide where the safe spot is.”
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Apparently that would be in a jurisdiction far from Peace Officer Rindal. I hate bullies, especially uniformed and badged ones.
And a lot of the bad behavior? I contribute directly to the influence of former head of the L.A.P.D., Darryl Gates and his militarization of the L.A.P.D. being adopted as a correct model.
PITing a van full of kids for a lane change violation? That woman’s crazy. She shouldn’t have a badge or gun. You wonder why many think patrol officers are as bad as criminals and have zero respect for them? It couldn’t be garbage behavior by officers like this going unpunished, could it? But that’s what you get when you train POLICE instead of training PEACE OFFICERS. Police are useless – jackbooted thugs used to intimidate based on a military model. Peace officers have high utility. The only reason law enforcement organizations don’t just collapse pall mall is that DESPITE the training, many of them DO understand the distinction and ACT LIKE PEACE OFFICERS – as I suspect our good friend and man of conscience FFLEO did while on the job. They act like peace officers, doughnuts or not, because they are 1) sane and 2) get “it”. Unfortunately, most of them leave the street and end up as detectives when some of that talent IS needed on the street. But it’s morons like this one that give you ALL bad names. She shouldn’t be a cop. She should work for someone like Blackwater where unconstrained aggression is not only approved, but encouraged. Yeah, let’s attack first and think later! And then, when busted, let’s act like douche bags! Genius. You want to fix this Chattanooga? FIRE HER. PAY FOR THE VAN. BEG FORGIVENESS. And I do mean beg. As in grovel. Problem solved.