Videos, photos, blog post by John Hoff
What a night it was at Penn Ave. N. and West Broadway! I received a phone call about 5 PM from a new friend. He'd just visited Megan Goodmundson and myself at Megan's house. We sipped some wine, talked about photography, mostly, and then he was headed to some art thing. A few minutes after leaving he called me. There had been a spectacular vehicle accident at West Broadway and Penn Ave. N.
My friend was the first witness at the scene, calling police moments after the impact. He saw a white truck speeding along Penn Ave. N., laying on the horn from "several house lengths" away from the intersection of Penn and West Broadway, as though to say...
"Get the (expletive) out of my way. I'm not stopping for the red light!"
But the white truck did not clear the intersection. It smashed into a white Jeep Cherokee, license plate 501 BKX.
When I reached the scene, neither driver was present. I saw an ambulance leaving, apparently not empty. My friend could not confirm whether the driver of the white truck had bailed and fled on foot. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the license plate of the white truck which caused the accident.
A flatbed wrecker on the scene hauled away the Jeep. I personally picked up the detached front bumper and placed it on the flatbed, so the bumper and license plate wouldn't be lost to the driver, who wasn't there to watch out for their own property.
The tow truck driver thanked me. And that's when I saw the three crackheads being arrested.
At first, naturally, I thought the arrests were part of the accident. However, officers on the scene stated the arrests--which happened right in the middle of the accident scene--were not related.
There were three arrestees, all total, though one of them quickly went in a police vehicle. He is visible at the very beginning of the first video. He is a tall, slim character and Megan states he is, almost certainly, the same person known as "Push Up Man" to a few residents in the area of the Jordan Pond, because he was often seen doing push-ups, grunting dramatically out in the middle of the street between bouts of jogging, trying to maintain his super ripped post-prison physique. Megan witnessed officers on the scene search the mouth of "Push Up Man" and the ground around him.
The other two individuals get a lot of face time in the videos. At one point you can see an officer pull out what he announces to be a vial of suspected crack. At another point, the male being arrested (the shorter one, not "Push Up Man") protests at my videotaping his arrest, saying it's embarrassing, and a police officer agrees it may be embarrassing but I have a right to stand on a public sidewalk and take pictures. You can hear me say, "God bless the Fourth Precinct." Twice.
We left the scene before the arrests were resolved, figuring police might release the (alleged) crackheads, and we didn't want to interact with them if police weren't present.
As we were leaving, we saw something wonderful which I will share with readers in my next post: public art has been installed at the new bus stop in front of the Five Points Building. As gritty as tonight was, progress was apparent at West Broadway and Penn Ave. N., and the police were doing a great job catching the (alleged) bad guys.
My friend was the first witness at the scene, calling police moments after the impact. He saw a white truck speeding along Penn Ave. N., laying on the horn from "several house lengths" away from the intersection of Penn and West Broadway, as though to say...
"Get the (expletive) out of my way. I'm not stopping for the red light!"
But the white truck did not clear the intersection. It smashed into a white Jeep Cherokee, license plate 501 BKX.
When I reached the scene, neither driver was present. I saw an ambulance leaving, apparently not empty. My friend could not confirm whether the driver of the white truck had bailed and fled on foot. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the license plate of the white truck which caused the accident.A flatbed wrecker on the scene hauled away the Jeep. I personally picked up the detached front bumper and placed it on the flatbed, so the bumper and license plate wouldn't be lost to the driver, who wasn't there to watch out for their own property.
The tow truck driver thanked me. And that's when I saw the three crackheads being arrested.
At first, naturally, I thought the arrests were part of the accident. However, officers on the scene stated the arrests--which happened right in the middle of the accident scene--were not related.
There were three arrestees, all total, though one of them quickly went in a police vehicle. He is visible at the very beginning of the first video. He is a tall, slim character and Megan states he is, almost certainly, the same person known as "Push Up Man" to a few residents in the area of the Jordan Pond, because he was often seen doing push-ups, grunting dramatically out in the middle of the street between bouts of jogging, trying to maintain his super ripped post-prison physique. Megan witnessed officers on the scene search the mouth of "Push Up Man" and the ground around him.
The other two individuals get a lot of face time in the videos. At one point you can see an officer pull out what he announces to be a vial of suspected crack. At another point, the male being arrested (the shorter one, not "Push Up Man") protests at my videotaping his arrest, saying it's embarrassing, and a police officer agrees it may be embarrassing but I have a right to stand on a public sidewalk and take pictures. You can hear me say, "God bless the Fourth Precinct." Twice.
We left the scene before the arrests were resolved, figuring police might release the (alleged) crackheads, and we didn't want to interact with them if police weren't present.
As we were leaving, we saw something wonderful which I will share with readers in my next post: public art has been installed at the new bus stop in front of the Five Points Building. As gritty as tonight was, progress was apparent at West Broadway and Penn Ave. N., and the police were doing a great job catching the (alleged) bad guys.
13 comments:
Did you now it is illegal to film the police performing their duties? You may have broken the law.
How is it the dumbest commenters so often manage to get here first?
Your idiocy speaks for itself. I can totally understand why you wish to remain anonymous.
Do I "now" you ask?
No. I don't "now" that at all.
May have broken the law by videoing police officers???
HA!!!
That sounds like something said by idiots who file frivolous lawsuits.
I don't think this law has been passed in MN, but it should be. Those first responders have enough to worry about without citizens getting up in their face while they are protecting us.
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-illegal-to-video-cops-txt,0,5743261.story
GBT4P
I'm pretty sure that law, if it's been passed anywhere, won't withstand the very first constitutional challenge it faces in the courts.
And as we usually do, we will be following up with these arrests and sending those suspects copies of your blog along with your name, address, and photo in case they do have a desire to interact with you.
The 1st amendment of the US Constitution allows us that freedom of expression too.
Run yourself ragged, troll. If one of those alleged crackheads can give me solid evidence of who you are, maybe I'll slip him five bucks so he can go to a truck stop and buy himself shower. Getting five bucks from me for proof of your identity is about the best he's going to do, lord knows he won't get anything valuable from you, big talking troll.
Johnny now has to worry that two bit crackheads will be mistaking nuggets for the ice melt on his sidewalk.Distractions, distractions.
It's not illegal in MN to video tape cops... just like a regular citizen out on the street, we have no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public area... In some states, it is illegal, but I don't agree with that law.
Besides between the city street cameras, squad car cameras, cameras on the bus and private security cameras we generally assume we're always on camera. Everyone can now be big brother. No worries, play fair!
-just a cop
Let me get this straight, the State Patrol, the city, the county police etc are all putting cameras in their cars, does that make them illegal for filming themselves carrying out justice? If I have a surveillance system and a cop makes a bust with in camera rang and my system films it, do I get busted?
OK, I know I'm not the hottest coal in the fire, did I miss something here?
You didn't miss anything. The comments about how it is or should be illegal to tape police are just stupid.
I might add, though, that the police probably like it a lot more when they're being taped by individuals who are very supportive of their work. God Bless The Fourth Precinct.
My girlfriend, Megan Goodmundson, expressed a soft hearted pity for the man being arrested who expressed that he was "embarrassed." I hope that his moment in the spotlight makes him rethink his life choices and get on the right track. If he has a drug problem (which appears to be alleged) he needs professional help. He should seek it out.
The vehicles looked totaled! That's probably why the truck was towed.
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