Positive LEO encounter in CA

[disneyr]

I carried in California for many years and while doing so tried to stay "under the radar" in or out of the car. I always did my best not to give any LEO a reason to pull me over. The only time I was pulled over was when I was being deployed to Panama PCS and had the windows of my Nissan Pathfinder tinted in another state for use in the tropics. I was on leave in California before shipping my vehicle out of Alameda to Panama and flying out myself.

I was on I-5 driving north through Tehema county when a CHP facing the other way on the other side of the large median crossed quickly and turned the whoopie lights on. I wasn't speeding but there were no other cars on the road so I new he was pinging on me. I pulled over, rolled down completely the front and back windows and sat there with my hands on the wheel. The male CHP came up from behind on the passenger side with gun drawn pointed down on his right side. He peeked in my rear passenger window saw my hands then asked why my windows were tinted. I told him I was a military officer and was shipping my car to Panama within a week. He asked for my registration (I still had Cal plates) driver's license and military ID. I gave them and my military orders to him and he went back to his car. After about 5 minutes he came back with a fix-it ticket and said I would have to pay the fine (as I recall about $50) and verify that the tinting was removed from the front windows before I could clear the fix-it ticket. I told him the car would be out of the country and the state within a few days. He gave me some attitude and said "well you better get this ticket cleared quick or you won't be able to ship the car"! I knew he was wrong on this, the military doesn't give a rat's ass about tickets or even license plates when shipping cars. If you have the orders, they ship it.

I ended up going to the CHP office north of Redding, CA for a possible chance of clearing the ticket w/o having to remove the tinting. Worth a try right? I asked to see the senior officer and a CHP captain came out to the front desk to talk to me. I showed him my license military ID and my orders and explained the stop for tinting. He looked at my orders and the first thing he said was "Hey, my son is in the Army and is deployed to Panama! Small world!" Can't get much luckier than that! He said he would take care of the ticket and he did. No fine, no tinting removal required.

I was carrying the whole time with a ccw issued in Shasta County but nobody ever asked me about a weapon. Good times!

[CathyInBlue]

Were you in uniform? A military man in uniform almost looks out of place without a sidearm.

[disneyr]

Were you in uniform? A military man in uniform almost looks out of place without a sidearm.

No not in uniform. Jeans, tennis shoes, t-shirt and a jacket if I recall correctly. I agree about a uniform looking a little out of place without a sidearm though. :)