The mother of Takara Davis, 13, was in shock as she rushed with Takara to surgery after she was hit by a car on her way back from school. Takara was in a coma and doctors were rushing to save her life when a Las Vegas police officer pulled Kellie Obong aside . . . to hand her a ticket for her daughter’s jaywalking.
Takara was trying to cross the street to catch up with friends when she was struck. While she was being prepared for surgery to stop internal bleeding, the officer felt it was an appropriate time to inform the mother that Takara was jaywalking and would have to appear in court on March 6th. Takara had been placed in a medically induced coma to save her life when the officer gave her mother the summons.
Apparently being put in a coma and nearly dying is not enough punishment for jaywalking for this officer. Even if he or she felt compelled to issue a citation, I cannot imagine how such compulsion would carry over to a hospital bed and a distraught mother. There may be good reason to establish responsibility for liability purposes for the driver, but that can be done without a ticket, or (if a ticket is deemed necessary) a personal service at the hospital bed.
While most police have far greater humanity and judgment, it is astonishing to see these scenes in hospitals (here and here and here) particularly for such minor offenses.
I met a woman who was imprisoned for a week for failure to eat all her Rice Krispies by the expiration date while her hamster was being treated for cystic fibrosis.
That “officer” has no shame. That reminds me of when corporal Manuel Sanchez would brag to us at the police academy how he repeatedly pulled over a woman (like 5 times) just to mess with her.
and it bugged me how he kept telling us the story of his one single fight over and over and over again. He kept us until about 600 pm re-telling that fairy tale.
When you have despicable “cops” like these who just want to hurt people, who needs criminals?
pete,
Hollywood is on line one. Have a cigar.
“Weekend at Bernies 3”
“Courtday for Bernie”
WHAT’S next, the local cops issuing tickets at the MORGUE, with the grieving survivor liable if the corpse doesn’t show up in court?
Bastard….
hate to say it but the citation is most likely for insurance purposes for the auto driver.
BBB,
Your comment at 7:22pm was worth sharing … another consideration.
Here in Cleveland, especially by the Cleveland Clinic, jaywalking can be ticketed but, and this is the weirdest thing … pedestrians have the right of way … cab drivers complain about it all the time … if a pedestrian steps onto the road, doesn’t matter where, the cab must stop and grant right of way. Strange?!
if she had wadded up the ticket and shoved it…down his throat. i don’t believe there’s a jury around that would have convicted her.
I have been looking to see if I could find any updates on Takara’s (her aunt says she goes by Kari) condition. The only thing I could find is that they were trying to ween her off the ventilator. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.
I took the time to read a lot of the comments left at a Las Vegas TV station’s website. Many of them are not worth sharing, but I found this one provoked a thought that none of us have yet considered.
“It sounds as if the mother is quite accepting of at least the possibility of her daughter jaywalking, but I would agree with her that perhaps the officer might have been able to find a more appropriate time to deliver the citation. Of course, it might also be argued that had the officer opted instead to mail the citation to the mother, it might have arrived after a loss of her child, which could only make matters worse. Perhaps after such a tragedy, there really is no ideal time for such things.”
Even if we grant that the ticket had to be served for whatever legal purpose, the officer could have easily handled it. Wait for her to come out of the room or whatever and say, “I’m very sorry about your daughter’s accident and I know this is a terrible time, but I’m legally required to give you this citation.”
I’ve found that most people can be reasonable if you apologize and explain your actions.
When i was in an accident years ago, I received a ticket by registered mail. I went to court, fought it and won. But the officer did not issue me or my husband the ticket while I was in the hospital. Not enough information my ass. There is no excuse for this.
rafflaw wrote:
“However,that also includes whether the daughter was actually guilty of the jaywalking charge.”
rafflaw,
As you rightly say, there are too many unknowns. For all we know, the driver could have been intoxicated…
As Buckeye said, NEI…
mahtso,
You are correct that we must not jump to any conclusions. However,that also includes whether the daughter was actually guilty of the jaywalking charge. Did the officer witness the accident or did he/she react to just speaking with the driver? Don’t officers have the ability to use discretion with a misdemeanor?
Yes to what Buckeye said, including, “not enough information”…
Perhaps the ticket was necessary for legal purposes, but unless the ticket needed to be served within a short time frame and couldn’t be delivered any other way, this seems callous.
On the other hand, we have only the Mother’s version of what was said, and how it was said, and she was understandably distraught. NEI
“I’m not even sure the police department, or the officer, had the discretionary power to do what we all think would have been the right thing. It may be the City Council, or the State Legislators who should be receiving the brunt of our criticism.” (BBB)
That is an excellent point.
Blouise,
“do you think Police Departments understand that in these criticisms we are trying to help them, not hurt them?”
I sure hope so. In the instant case, I’m not even sure the police department, or the officer, had the discretionary power to do what we all think would have been the right thing. It may be the City Council, or the State Legislators who should be receiving the brunt of our criticism.
I’ve been looking for the Las Vegas/Nevada statutes, ordinances, and court rules, but I have not yet been able to find what I’m looking for.