Photo: Courtesy Photo
Let's admit it, we've all thought about using a speed camera or a traffic light camera as a photo booth at one time. It's just one of those things you find extremely amusing when you're a teenager, but you tend to stop seeing its humorous part later on in life.
Well, some people never grow up, and if we needed any more proof, here it is: this is a picture of an unidentified man wearing a Grinch costume as he drives a sheriff's patrol car through a red light in Victorville. What do you think happened here? Did someone steal a police car wearing a Grinch costume and then rolled through a red light while waving at the camera? Did he get dressed after stealing the car? Is Grinch real? Does his mother know about this?
The real story behind the snap is a lot more cynical than any of this. It would appear that the man in the suit isn't a bank robber making a run for it in a police car, but an officer of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The deputy had allegedly broken the law on purpose just to get the picture as a souvenir.
When you're the one in control of the printing machine as well as deciding who gets punished for their deeds and who doesn't, we guess it's even more tempting to use the traffic camera system for your own amusement. But this deputy will probably not be smiling at the sight of the picture as it was just presented in court as evidence in an ongoing civil trial against the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
NBC Los Angeles details the situation saying that Deputy Brian Moler - who is one of the plaintiffs in this case - declared that the image pictures one of his colleagues and that no actions were taken against the perpetrator at that time. He, together with two other colleagues, is seeking damages for whistleblower retaliation.
Whatever happens, the one thing that matters to the rest of the people who aren't directly involved in this lawsuit is that somewhere in this world, there is a photo of a man wearing a Grinch costume waving at the camera out the window of a police car as he's running a red light. That's the only thing you need to take out of this story.
The real story behind the snap is a lot more cynical than any of this. It would appear that the man in the suit isn't a bank robber making a run for it in a police car, but an officer of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The deputy had allegedly broken the law on purpose just to get the picture as a souvenir.
When you're the one in control of the printing machine as well as deciding who gets punished for their deeds and who doesn't, we guess it's even more tempting to use the traffic camera system for your own amusement. But this deputy will probably not be smiling at the sight of the picture as it was just presented in court as evidence in an ongoing civil trial against the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
NBC Los Angeles details the situation saying that Deputy Brian Moler - who is one of the plaintiffs in this case - declared that the image pictures one of his colleagues and that no actions were taken against the perpetrator at that time. He, together with two other colleagues, is seeking damages for whistleblower retaliation.
Whatever happens, the one thing that matters to the rest of the people who aren't directly involved in this lawsuit is that somewhere in this world, there is a photo of a man wearing a Grinch costume waving at the camera out the window of a police car as he's running a red light. That's the only thing you need to take out of this story.
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