Worse - his prosthetic arm and also his real arm.
I heard stories from friends who immigrated to Canada from central american countries about police who would stop them for false charges, seeking bribes, or just plainly robbing them as a normal part of life. At least those police had a slightly less ignoble motivation of greed than the apparently pointless maliciousness under the guise of official bureaucracy that these state funded thugs have.
The infringed upon will get a generous settlement (Old + Disabled + Police Brutality), the City has to pay it out, and the officers that knew they were breaking the laws get a paid vacation.
Qualified immunity should be revoked (and turned into the city joining the infringed in their lawsuit) against the arresting officers if they are the cause of multiple settlements.
He says criminal charges against him were dismissed when his attorney showed âevidence and videotapes from the arrestâ to a prosecuting attorney.
Thatâs fortunate. I wonder if where the video came from.
Nobodyâs pointing out the obvious other weirdness here? That apparently to even drive in Utah you need a Utah driverâs license and that not having one is an arrestable offense?
Pretty soon, The Onion is going to have to become a legit community newspaper reporting on local softball games and the weather. They clearly canât compete in todayâs news environment.
I was wondering about that myself. But, if you read the linked article http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/02/03/man-claims-cops-broke-his-prosthetic-arm.htm you will find that the problem was that he had a Utah license that he had expire after moving to Colorado. The cop accused him of driving on an expired Utah license.
Baker claims that Stowe ran his license through a computer and then âinsisted that Mr. Baker was driving without a valid license because Officer Stoweâs search of his database revealed that Mr. Baker had previously possessed a Utah driverâs license.â
Bakerâs Utah license expired in 1988, he says, after he moved to Colorado.
Stowe âpersisted,â however, and told him that his Colorado license was invalid because he did not have a Utah license, Baker says.
He says Stowe ordered him out of his car and arrested him for ââdriving on a denied license, fail[ure] to stop, expired license, [and] cracked windshield.ââ (Brackets in complaint, which cites a police report of the incident.)
It explains in the article that the he previously held a Utah driverâs licence â which expired in 1988 â before moving to Colorado. The police were suspicious because (according to them) he should have still had a licence from Utah, even though he hadnât been living there for two decades. Because people donât actually move and then go back to visit? Donât ask me to explain that piece of fantasy, apart from the obvious that they were looking to teach someone a lesson for defying their authority.
It seems even weirder when you read the original article:
Baker claims that Stowe ran his license through a computer and then âinsisted that Mr. Baker was driving without a valid license because Officer Stoweâs search of his database revealed that Mr. Baker had previously possessed a Utah driverâs license.â
Bakerâs Utah license expired in 1988, he says, after he moved to Colorado.
Stowe âpersisted,â however, and told him that his Colorado license was invalid because he did not have a Utah license, Baker says.
So, if I understand that correctly, he actually had a Colorado license, but he also needed a valid Utah license, even while not living in Utah�
Iâm really quite confused. You need two state licenses to drive in Colorado?
This article makes me continue to maintain my strict non-Utah visiting stance.
They arrested him for not having an up-to-date license? Then they broke his arms. Thatâs some fine police work there, Lou. My impression of cops as hairy gorilla-esque thugs grows stronger daily.
The police in Utah kill more people with firearms than any other demographic in the state. Between them and Arizona there is little desire for a cross country roadtrip.
There is a system that generally works when you move from state to state. You give the new state your old license, they do some paperwork and whatnot, then give you a new DL from the new state. They automatically notify your old state so they can cross you off their list.
So⌠because of paperwork?
And if not, the police put you on the rack, apparently.
Because the police officer is apparently an idiot.
Also confirms my strict non-USA visiting stance. 
Not suggesting weird bad stuff doesnât happen elsewhere, but at least the police are generally more polite and unarmed where I live. 
Pulled over for a âcracked windshieldâ? That could very likely be code for âdriving a vehicle with a Colorado license plate.â As in, a vehicle from the Legalized Pot State.
Utahâs not the only state, neighboring or otherwise, targeting Colorado cars. I know Colorado drivers pulled over as far away as Arkansas for less than âcracked windshieldâ where police were looking for something greener.
Utah is actually quite beautiful. The central areas are also generally considered to have the darkest skies in north america, so if you want to see the milky way itâs a prime location.
The people that live there? Avoid 'em as much as possible. At least in general, Iâm sure not everyone in Utah is insane but itâs just safer to assume they are.
