Well, in most cases, it would be stalking if done in person. The law (Penal Code 42.07) on harassment specifies that other than one minor exception GigAg04 forgot, it must be electronic communication. The one exception is falsely telling a person someone is dead or seriously injured. That can be done in person.C-dub wrote:Clarification please, Gigag04.
If the same thing is done, but in person, what is it called?
Stalking Penal Code 42.072) is done in person and requires more than one repetition of the crime. It involves any repeated behavior that the victim will believe threatens injury or death to themselves or a family member, or that they will be a victim of a crime.
Interestingly, the proposed hypothetical of someone stopping by each day to warn the victim that he is calling the police may not actually be a crime in Texas. It might come under Disorderly Conduct (PC 42.01(a)(4) Abuses or threatens a person in a public place in an offensive manner) but it is a stretch. If they actually do call the police, he might get charged for false report, depending what he says, or for abusive calls to 911 if he uses that line, even if what he says is true. If he never does call the police but says he will call them about your carrying a gun when you do carry one, I cannot think of a crime other than the try at disorderly conduct. Civil response might be best.
And, of course, the problem with all this is the definition of terms. GigAg04 looked at harassment and immediately looked at the Penal Code section titled harassment. But harassment could have a civil meaning and be grounds for a lawsuit. Harassment can also have other criminal meanings in other sections, such as 22.11 (which hopefully will never apply to anyone in this forum) where inmates do things to prison guards.
As for the OP, from your description, the police were flat-out wrong. Under the most current Transportation Code, racing requires them to prove you were in a contest, not just driving fast. And as Charles has pointed out, carrying with your CHL does not become illegal just because you committed some other violation at the same time (with the obvious exception of the listed rules for carrying on a CHL). From your description (and this is just a guess), it sounds to me like the officers were looking for someone else when they stopped you, and did not know how to extract themselves from stopping the incorrect truck when they realized it. I have never understood why some officers have trouble saying they made a mistake and apologizing for stopping a person incorrectly. I have done it when I stopped cars that matched the description of a suspect as soon as I was sure it was not the suspect. I have found most people will accept the mistaken stop as soon as it is explained and hope I catch the right guy next time.