If this doesn't take the cake!

EDMONTON — A longtime chiropractor thought he was doing a good deed over the weekend, clearing sidewalk snow for area seniors with his ATV.

Then St. Albert RCMP showed up.

Dr. Jon Cooper, 62, runs the St. Albert Chiropractic & Massage Wellness Centre in St. Albert, just north of Edmonton, with his son, Dan Cooper.

Jon Cooper says he was clearing up the snow along the sidewalk when he became stuck in a massive snowbank around 1 p.m. Saturday.

His 35-year-old son drove a truck on the road and the pair used the vehicle in an effort to pull the snow-lodged machine.

The ATV is the same machine he uses every year to help seniors living in the nearby seniors' complex get to the local drug and grocery store.

"My son put the truck's four-way flashers on and he got out and directed traffic so no one would hit us," said Jon Cooper.

"We were just about ready to pull out the quad when the police showed up.

"I thought they would give us a hand because there was so much snow, but it just turned out to be a nightmare."

That's when the Good Samaritan was slapped with a $250 ticket after being charged with riding a quad on a public sidewalk -- a St. Albert bylaw violation, says St. Albert RCMP.

The amount of cash he paid for the ticket is on top of the $350 he paid to get his machine out of a police impound lot.

His son, who is considering hiring a lawyer over the case, was also arrested and is facing criminal charges, including resisting arrest.

"We told them what we were doing and they refused to listen to us," said Dan, 35, who also practices in his father's trade.

"I was telling an officer what we were doing and the next thing you know, he puts me on the ground and places me under arrest. I wasn't being aggressive or abusive."

Cpl. Laurel Kading, a spokeswoman with the St. Albert RCMP, says criminal charges are pending in relation to the case.

Kading says two officers had to act because Cooper's truck had a "near collision" with two other vehicles on the road.

"Our members weren't out looking for the ATV that day," said Kading.

"In this situation, it was the hazardous vehicle that started all of this."

Kading says Mounties still encourage people to help their neighbours by using shovels and snowblowers to clean sidewalks -- machines that are considered legal.

However, St. Albert RCMP Detachment is located a block away from Jon Cooper's practice on Bellerose Drive and chiropractor says his ATV snowplow has never been a problem with police until now.

"I will never go out there and do those sidewalks again, not after this," he said.

"We were just trying to do a nice thing for people."

No wonder a lot of people aren't real fond of the police. This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. Maybe the city should be charged with not keeping the sidewalks cleared instead? They have bylaws for that but I guess it only applies to home owners and not city maintained sidewalks! I hope the chiropractor and his son fight it. Dave

Okey, you are wondering why I am awake at 3:30 am, well, I fell asleep rather early and here I am!

I am still pondering your story, has something happened to this society, when an INDIVIDUAL assists another, he becomes the VICTIM!

I better go back to sleep and see if this story goes away, maybe it is a bad dream!

Think there was a movie once about a bridge too far. There is a saying that " once a copper, always a bast$%^."

Unfortunately, there's a**holes in all walks of life. It just really sucks when when people like this get into a position of power. These two chiropractors need to play dirty, just like the mounties are. The next time the sidewalks aren't clear, seems to me like it'd be a perfect time for a slip and fall, maybe right in front of the police station.

Sorry, but the cops were put in a really tough spot, and had to enforce the law.

You've got an illegally parked vehicle disrupting traffic, a vehicle that's illegal to operate on public roads, beached in a snowbank, and all kinds of angry inconvenienced witnesses.

He can't just let them off. The law is the law, and they got caught red-handed breaking the law. It only got worse when the son got mouthy with the officer.

"I wasn't being aggressive or abusive..." Yeah, right. If you don't want to get carted off to jail, you shut up and let them do their job. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do/say can and will be used against you. Later on if you want to fight it, get a lawyer and go to court.

Law enforcement is about getting caught. It's not about what's fair. If enforcing the law were fair, every murderer would get caught. Every jaywalker would get a ticket. Every speeder would be pulled over.

Similar story - don"t remember who, but two famous actors got lost out riding snowmobiles. They were lost for several days and feared dead. There were huge search parties sent out every day. They were finally found. Then they were cited for riding their snowmobiles in a restricted area. The story made the national news.

Stupidity has no boundaries.

Sounds to me like the city is cash strapped. Police have the authority to use good judgement and just tell the chiropractor to get his stuff back home, like they would have if it was the cops brother-.in-law

I think that was the Al Unser family of Indy car racing fame.

When seconds count the Police are only minutes away!

If it is like the laws in WV USA The property owner is responsible for the sidewalke even if they are on city property for mantence & snow removal, and can be sued If some one falls on it. So you are Scr*wed both ways.

There is a reason why "FOUR-WAY FLASHERS" are mandatory on every vehicle, who was this person that called the RCMP?

How many times have we all EXPERIENCED a vehicle PARKED in such as way WE HAVE TO USE CAUTION TO PASS?

I BELIEVE IT IS ALL ABOUT COMMON SENSE!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry Nancy, those smart assss deserved what they got. They went way back in a restricted area and the state had to go rescue them. Every year the ski areas put up ropes that people cross and then die in avalanches. But those people went way back in where no one with sense would have gone.

Cops will be cops.

Dean

That reminds me of the clock here on the local bank.

Guaranteed to always be within 20 or 30 minutes of the correct time. :>)

Allan

Three years ago, My wife got caught in a late afternoon snow storm. As she left her High School the roads were so slick she ended up sliding off into a ditch...

The young officer (around 20 years old) helped her out by calling a wreaker to pull her out... Then gave her a ticket for failure to control and damaging public property. I quote: "For making ruts in the ground along a public road."

We did confer with a Lawyer at our church. He gave the following advise. You will loose this case in the banana court (mayors court). If you cannot get the ticket dropped request a change of venue to the county municiple court.

In his words... "you'll still loose, but at least you know you cost the town more money than the ticket."

He went on to explain that at least here in Ohio, I have the right to go before a real judge. Thus, the town has to pay the town's attourney to represent them which will run, $200.00/hr or so. Just drag you case and arguments out for 30min. and it cost the town more than the $60.00 fine.

It worked, when I met with the "procecutor" (one of the town council members) and explained that a ticket in thoes conditions was absurd... Wife was leaving work serving the youth of their community etc. And that I had cunsulted my attourney and he advised I motion for a change of venue. They dropped the charges.

We did have to verify that we filled in the ruts... LOL... I just said I examined the area where she went off after the snow melted and I did not see any ruts.


To be honest the councle member and police chief were extreamly nice and easy to work with. I think it was really the young officer who was a little overzellous.

Let's face it the police have tough job, are not paid the best and are himmed in by government regulations. If they dont ticket everything then they are sued for descrimenation. Unfortunantly we do not have many Andy Taylors out there who can apply common sence. We have a lot of Barnys.

Around here, they charge you with T.O.P. for that particular infraction. You know what it is, is when you make officer doughnut get out of his car, he is gonna damnsure write out some payin paper. Oh, and TOP stands for tickin off the police!

Might be more to the story than what got in the news.

Our farm butts up next to the Shawnee National forest. A one lane access road goes through the middle of the farm. People get stuck often on the forestry property and they end up here wanting me to pull them out. The forestry people have warned me that they'll ticket me for pulling someone with my tractor (no license plates). They say it's OK to pull with my truck as long as it's licensed, no matter how big a mess we make. I still pull folks with the tractor 'cause it'll outpull the truck, but I've been warned and expect a ticket if I get caught.

Maybe these guys had been warned. . .

Paul

The clock on the courthouse in my hometown has the correct time twice per day!

I think that a lot of people believe that cops have a lot more power than they really do. Their job is to enforce the law, by looking at the situation, weather they see it themselves or get dispatched to it, And then use some judgment to decide how to handle it. They can ignore it, which of course they could get reported for, They can check it out and decide to just give a warning, or they can write a summons (ticket) and let the judge decide on what to do with it. Of course in most jurisdictions you have the option of pleading guilty to many minor infractions and just send in the summons and the payment. To make that easier they tell you on the ticket what the standard fine is that the governing jurisdiction has put on that offense. You also have the third option of instead of mailing, or going to court, of trying to put the cop in the position of judge and hold court there in the street. In order to do this of course he would have to listen to a lot of details and testimony from maybe multiple people involved. Sometimes they may be willing to do some of this but sometimes they may have other things to do, like especially during a snow storm, or they just may not wish to take on the role of judge in the street. If they don't want to become judge about all they can do is remind you of what your actual choices are and how to take those choices. If you were to argue strenuously you are apt to move into the realm of another crime and thus force them to respond to that one in addition to the first. I have a feeling that this has probably happened in many different places in the past so they have a standard procedure to follow for that as well which was given to them by the governing jurisdiction.

It was the A** hole Bobby Unser and it was here in New Mexico. I know him and he still owes me money for services rendered and he deserved to be left out there and freeze his A**. He's a damn arrogant drunk and as far as him paying the fine, it's still in litigation. They have spent more on trying to recover the costs than the search cost. That's what you get when you deal with rich A** holes.
Al was arrested for DUI and sued the police for brutality and behavior unbecoming and got the DUI dismissed and the tape was made public after the trial and he was the one cursing and started pushing the cop around declaring who he was. Bobby later had another run in with the police for parking and leaving his vehicle untended in the passenger pickup area at the airport and was again sighted for failing to comply with the ordinances and just out moneyed the system. So you see, money talks and the poor guy does time.

A couple of years ago I watched a county cop slide into the ditch on the road leading to my house. I got out my tow strap and yanked him out with my truck. Didn't ask if he was going to ticket himself for the ruts.

My nieghbor is a hiway patrol officer.He says that there is a lot of confution about "the letter of the law verses the intent of the law".The young recruits have the most troulbe with this concept(especialy if they have a superiority complex or control freak tendancies).Plus,his bosses have insructed them to write as many tickets as possible....revenue generating.

One of the biggest flaws in the laws is that almost all law enforecement have sibblings, buddies, business owners, etc., that they let past the same infractions for self serving reasons.
It comes down to "networking", and most of them play the same game. That makes the enforcement of laws unfair.
Then add in highly paid lawyers that seem to find a small wrinkle to allow no charges or lesser charges for the exact same offenses.
I don't like it, but I respect getting a ticket for breaking the law, as long EVERYONE else that is caught breaking the same law gets the same ticket. But that is NOT the way it works in reality.
That is why we still have a big DUI problem after almost 30 years of "enforcement". It is why we cannot seem to get a good handle on the flow of drugs in to the US.
As someone once said, if you ever really want to get to the root of any issue, follow the money trail.

I'm just waiting for the post from the guys who say you NEVER criticise a cop, because they "protect" us all...so I can have the opportunity to say "BS!" In my life I've had more harassment than protection by cops. I'd prefer to be protected FROM cops, rather than BY cops, based upon the way I've been treated. I've had a beard since I was 18, so to a cop, that makes me a "suspect"...even if there has been no crime committed.

Now, I can't blame ALL cops...I know a few who are decent people and who use common sense. BUT they are in a DISTINCT and TINY minority.

These Canadian cops are all brain dead zombie's.
Give them a uniform and they act like selfcentered autorative fools.
The words "Common sense" don't exist in their vocabulairy,neither does "cooperate" with te public.

Ofcourse if one does make a mistake their superiors always back them up cuz otherwise it would make the force look bad

Wrong again, It was his older brother Bobby Unser...He went to court and beat the charge as they were lost and didn know they were on Federal land !! Jim in N M

You're assuming a lot. These are 2 chiropractors that support the local community. It's not like it was some 16 year old punks bombing around on racing quads. The cops could have helped to warn traffic. I can't see it being very hard to get a 6 or 700 pound quad unstuck. Who said there were a bunch of angry witnesses? They were clearing snow off the sidewalk to benefit everyone. The RCMP certainly didn't need to impose any tickets and especially didn't have to impound the quad. I agree with the post on the thread further up that a quad with a blade isn't much different than a garden tractor when it's clearing a sidewalk. Dave

Nobody called the RCMP. They just happened to be driving by. Dave

I think they would have stopped clearing the sidewalk if they had a previous warning. The guy on the quad was a 62 year old chiropractor. It appears very clear that the cops had no concept of what common sense means. It is as bad as a guy who wrote to the paper(in the same city yet)complaining because Habitat for Humanity is building a house in his area. There was such an outpouring it made the TV news. He pretty much said on TV that people who live in Habitat for Humanity homes are lower class people and are up to no good. Dave

Sounds like the case where some fishermen saw a woman jump off a bridge. They pulled her into the boat, performed CPR, and called the authorities. The boaters were ticketed due to not having life jackets for all three passengers. They argued that there were only two in the boat when they went out. Police chief sided with the officers. It went to court, but I have no idea how it turned out.

Good cops are out there, but unfortunately they look alot like the idiots that wear the same uniform.

Aaron

A story I may have told once here before: I work third shift with another guy for 8 yrs now. He stops at the same store/gas station every night. My partner pulls up to the store part and goes in. There is a lady in a car out at the gas pump with some sort of medical issue. Ambilance is there with one cop car. Another cop car comes an parks crosswise behind my partner. My partner makes his purchase and waits patiently for things to clear. He said it was obvious ther was no grave medical issue and the ambulance was well in control. When it becam clear he was going to be late he politely asked the one cop to let him out. His reply was, "Why so you can get back to the bar for more drinking?!!Or do you need to get back to your girlfriends house and have "more relations" with her?!!" My partner said politely. "I am on my way to work, officer attitude". After a stern lecture they let him out, but all this mouth over absolutely nothing. It is my experience that most cops are cops to make up for their tiny...well, you know.

It's really hit and miss whether you get a decent officer or a complete idiot. I've been lucky, so far the ones I've dealt with have been real gentlemen. One night this fall, I was running the last load of grain in for that night, and hadn't realized that my marker lights conked out on the truck. I get half way through town, and see the red and blue start flashing behind me. I pull off on a side road and stop. Got out of the truck, and walked back towards the cruiser. The officer gets out and asks me if I had my marker lights switched on. I did, but the markers shorted out on the trip into town. I did have signal lights and 4-ways. I told him it was my last load, and he told me to turn my 4-ways on and have a safe trip home. No ticket, no lecture, just that. Very polite. That's out in Barrhead, just a skip away from you Dave.
Changes so much from officer to officer.

Looks like Butthead and Beavis moved to Canada and got new jobs.Its a win-win for us here in the USA(LOL)

In this county, it is not serve and protect----its called harrass and arrest!!! the county motto is come to ______ County on vacation, leave on probation. I had to leave out the county name, cause some A___ I mean cop may recognize me.

I use to respect officers of the law not any more. Most of the local ones you deal with are rejects form everywhere else. I have never been helped by an officer and hassled by many.

My wife inherited several rental properties. We will not rent to any Cops or EMTs. Most of them around here think they are GODS and are a PITA to deal with. Had a Sheriff deputy rent a house. It took us three years to get him evicted. He paid the rental deposit and not one cent after that. He was able to delay us at every turn. We could not get him served with the court papers. They are served by the sheriff"s deputies. We only had any luck after a new Sheriff was elected. I would just as soon deal with the crooks that don"t wear uniforms.