These days, it’s hard to trust any police officer, especially with the current political climate. Of course, that isn’t to say there aren’t any good cops out there, but one Texas dad got the short end of the stick when his 17-year-old daughter accidentally hit another car while she was driving. Since no one was in the vehicle at the time of the collision, the daughter left a note with her dad’s contact information. However, the owner instead decided to call the police, turning this small insurance claim into a much bigger problem.
The officer somehow found out where the daughter’s high school was, and went directly there to question her. This was very bizarre, considering the contact information on the note she left was her dad’s, not hers, not to mention it’s weird the cop found out where she went to school. Fortunately, the school staff did the right thing and called the dad to ask if he was comfortable with the policeman interrogating his daughter, which he wasn’t. After agreeing to meet in person later with his daughter, the cop told “the school counselor that this was not a hit-and-run, since she had left a note and taken responsibility.“
This is where things get weird; after failing to meet with the cop due to miscommunication, the officer says he’ll just go back to the daughter’s school and meet her there because she’s “an adult,” even though she’s 17. The dad refuses, so the policeman then threatens to consider the case as a hit-and-run, contradicting what he said to the school earlier. His reason was that he wanted the teen to give him “a statement;” otherwise, he’d make things more complicated for her.
The top-upvoted comment in the dad’s Reddit post about the matter probably gives the best advice: “Talk to a lawyer ASAP. Don’t talk to the police without the lawyer present, and tell your daughter to do the same. The police are allowed to lie to you, don’t trust anything they say.” Another commenter claiming to be a police officer from Maryland said that these sorts of non-injury cases are usually handled by the car owners and insurance, not the cops. “I have no idea why the police are harassing your daughter,” they remark. “That all sounds absurd.” “This officer is definitely being sketchy,” seconds another.
One Reddit user chimed in, saying, “The officer is trying to manipulate your daughter into saying that there was someone in the car with her or she was going to drive someone else.” Whatever the case, the dad already said his lawyer told him not to tell the officer anything besides the facts of the claim. One thing’s for sure after all this simmers down, though: the dad and the daughter are going to have a hard time ever trusting a policeman again.
