« on: April 27, 2005, 04:13:39 PM »
Aspiring Police Officer Arrested For Reckless Driving
FHP Puts Up Airplane, Strategically Positions Officers To Catch Man
POSTED: 5:31 pm EDT April 25, 2005
UPDATED: 10:29 pm EDT April 25, 2005
After weeks of helplessly watching one motorcyclist speed by, going the wrong way in rush hour traffic, the Florida Highway Patrol has finally gotten their man.
Police said they simply got tired of watching David Carpenter endanger himself and everyone else on the road every day. So, on Monday, they put an airplane in the sky and troopers at strategic points along the highway on which they said Carpenter is usually spotted on his motorcycle, and it paid off.
The Story In Pictures: Police: Man Drove Motorcycle Dangerously
Police caught Carpenter at his apartment after he went on a ride that veteran troopers said was the wildest they had ever seen.
Police said Carpenter tormented them for weeks.
Carpenter refused to comment on the way he rode his motorcycle. Police said Carpenter did his talking through his motorcycle itself, by bending the license plate back to make him untraceable and riding at speeds that police said made it impossible to catch him, a common problem for police dealing with speed bikers.
Troopers said Carpenter dodged and weaved his way through rush hour traffic every day, practically daring police to stop him.
"He's playing a game, and there's no winners in that game. And it ended the best way it could've possibly ended," Sgt. Al Reyes, of the Florida Highway Patrol, said.
Police said Carpenter's Monday morning escapades topped everything they had seen him do before.
The Florida Highway Patrol had troopers on the lookout and its airplane watching from the sky as Carpenter got off Florida's Turnpike at 41st Street, saw a trooper and doubled back the other way. Police said he was traveling over 100 mph southbound in the northbound lanes.
"That shows just how desperate he was to try to elude us," Lt. Julio Pajon, of the Florida Highway Patrol, said.
When troopers got to the apartment to which their airplane had led them, they found Carpenter outside but were not sure if he was their man. Police spotted the motorcycle inside the apartment through a window after a dog moved the blinds.
Before his arrest, Carpenter had applied to become a state trooper and would have taken his Florida Highway Patrol test in a few weeks.
"Well, ironically, he would've shown up next week, possibly on that motorcycle," Reyes said.
Obviously, there will be no law enforcement career for Carpenter, NBC 6's Ari Odzer reported. Carpenter, whose wife works for a South Florida police department, is charged with aggravated assault for nearly hitting two drivers, aggravated fleeing and reckless driving.
Police spotted the motorcycle inside the apartment through a window after a dog moved the blinds
Ratted out by his own dog! Must have been a POLICE dog!
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Topic: Aspiring Police Officer Arrested For Reckless Driving (Read 2375 times)