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Everybody around here (local) is pretty annoyed at the tone of the press release. But at least it is over with.

These aren't beat cops.....these are supposed to be highly trained individuals.......surely they know most brands of beer. No one out of he seven said.....".wait......I've never heard of that beer.......hold on.....that's water!"

Surely such highly trained, amped up ATF agents would be better used elsewhere. Perhaps raids on the local sorority house.

Cedar Park Dad wrote:Has anyone ever been arrested for that? (not the shop owners - the teenagers) who weren't being a nuisance in the first place?

Not that I have heard of....if the LEO has a burr you know where, he will sometimes write a ticket, but usually not. Usually it is just "give me that....now get out of here and don't do that again." I have really only ever seen tickets issued to places that serve alcohol to minors, usually the minor is not ticketed.

Cedar Park Dad wrote:

mamabearCali wrote:I have good life insurance, but the point is citizens should not be put in this situation. If the LEO's want to interact with me, fine, but they need to be properly attired and identify themselves clearly from the start in a calm manner. That protects them and me. If a LEO wants to be undercover, then that is where he needs to stay (Absent life and limb situations) until a uniformed officer arrives. None of this "read my mind and know that I am a LEO because I am acting in an aggressive manner.

While I don't disagree evidently they do. Now I could see this for more serious offenses with uniformed/marked police and vehicles arriving Hollywood style, or in better environs (inside a store or something). But for a beer, with seven unknown persons advancing. Its...wo.

Still trying to figure out why they needed a whole pack of officers to take down Autumn and her sororiety compatriots. Where were they all hiding? Where they hanging on the corner like thugs and just wandered over. Whats going on?

Edit: is this offense even a misdemeanor?

carrying water and cookie dough out to a car? not at all. I think if it was alcohol it would be a misdemeanor, but one nearly every college kid a know committed.

I have good life insurance, but the point is citizens should not be put in this situation. If the LEO's want to interact with me, fine, but they need to be properly attired and identify themselves clearly from the start in a calm manner. That protects them and me. If a LEO wants to be undercover, then that is where he needs to stay (Absent life and limb situations) until a uniformed officer arrives. None of this "read my mind and know that I am a LEO because I am acting in an aggressive manner.

On The VA gun forum I am a part of we are all sick to our stomachs over this. This could have happened to any one of us. A bunch of people run out at someone shouting un-intelligable things in the dark, waving things around, jumping on people cars.....yeah that is not good. Could have so easily been a lethal series of mistakes. Then what?

It was in VA so those girls could have been legally armed (open carry legal for 18+). Had then been armed I think it would have gone down much much worse. Poor things.

How about these plain clothes LEO realize they are NOT IN UNIFORM and while they may know that they are LEO's and good guys, us the poor stupid non-mind reading citizens do not know. If you run at me and shout at me and wave your hands at me with an object in a dark parking lot I am going to flee if I possibly can.

The problem not one of you fellow LEO have addressed is the fact that these girls had no way of knowing that these were LEO's and not some nut jobs intent on attacking and killing them. People are not mind readers. If you don't look like a LEO don't expect people to treat you like one.

Under cover agents really need to be used only in situations where one is trying to catch a known criminal and then with uniformed officers close by. Not in approaching a common person. Why? Because misunderstanding like this happen. Anyone can get a badge and yell "police!" If a person does not look like a LEO why should I treat them like one? That puts me a common citizen in a really bad position, stay still and hope to god this person is not going to hurt me, or try to escape and put myself in a position where the law might hurt me. That is not right.

If a person is aggressively yelling at me and they are not in uniform then I am going to think that most likely I am under attack (women can attack other women) and of course I am going to get in the car and lock my door and try to escape. The dipstick that jumped on her car is just stupid, watched too much TV perhaps. Hello.....that was way over the top for a case of beer.

If this was a consensual stop (as some have claimed), then the girls should have been free to ignore the plain clothes LEO and be on their way. If the person had reasonable suspicion (and I really don't see how appearing youthful is RS) then LEO's need to identify themselves as such and not depend on good lighting at night to display a badge while yelling at a person. She displayed a badge.....at what distance and at what lighting? Look, LEO's want us to immediately stop our day and attend to them at a moments notice. Is it too much to ask that we be able to identify them as LEO's on appearance. After all you might know you are a LEO, but if you are in plain clothes, I don't, until you identify yourself as such in a clear manner.

I am not saying the LEO's are lying, but they should not blame a young lady because they (or their procedures) were stupid in how they handled their job.

Charges should be dropped. I am local to this incident so I ma have a little more info. From what I have gleaned they were in plain clothes in a very dimly lit parking lot, the officers yelled freeze at the girls and pointed guns at them. They did not identify themselves in an clear manner as police until the chase was over. The girls were terrified and called the police themselves saying they were being attacked and chased by people.

Y'all aren't from this area so I will tell you the stories of the area. A few years back, just west of us in the mountains a man posed as police, pulled young women over and pulled them out of the cars in dark places and raped them. These facts are told to very high school girl in drivers ed and we are warned to never ever ever pull into an unlit dark place even if the person has a gumball machine on top and the lights are on. We are told to slowdown our flashers on and drive to a lit public area. So this is likely the frame of mind these young women were in.

As no one got hurt I don't think firing is necessary. But some consideration and training is. You don't approach two young girls in a parking lot like you do a drug raid.