Pregnant Iowa woman in labor forced to ground at gunpoint by cops for speeding on way to hospital

[LiberalElite]

Source: NY Daily News

-snip-
A pregnant woman was held at gunpoint on her way to the hospital after she and her husband refused to pull over their speeding car Tuesday in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Rachel and Ben Kohnen sped to the hospital at about 4 a.m. Tuesday morning...

-snip-

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woman-labor-held-gunpoint-cops-speeding-article-1.1975503

[littlewolf]

1. *sigh*

[yeoman6987]

14. 85 in a 55

This has happened since driving started. I would imagine that the road was pretty clear at the time. Still dangerous but probably only 5 miles over what a typical driver drives during the day especially on a highway. The cops probably has the motto nothing good happens after midnight.

[Delphinus]

2. Jeezus.

(we need a smilie for a hanging head)

[Ilsa]

3. Holding them at gunpoint was ridiculous.

So was recklessly speeding to the hospital. Simply pull over and explain so the police can provide an escort.

[Hoppy]

4. The cops were not out of order in this case.

She called 911 but the dispatcher was not able to understand her.

30 miles over the speed limit and refusing to stop...

[jwirr]

16. Wonder why the dispatcher could not understand her? Language barriers? The police man was not

out of line except using the gun. But I assume that in the middle of the night with a car that has not obeyed the siren he had to be careful.

[cstanleytech]

19. Could also have just been bad cell reception. nt

[jwirr]

21. Okay. That would explain it.

[aggiesal]

68. That actually is a good reason ...

I'm told that at high speeds (80+), that in some locations,
cell towers have a hard time switching calls, because the cell
phone is moving too fast for the cell towers to keep up.

Maybe someone with more knowledge on this, could enlighten us.

Might come in handy.

[cstanleytech]

74. Not just that either as some carriers have spotty to no coverage in some areas

and if your in a spotty one the call quality can be truly horrid.

[pangaia]

127. You are absolutely correct.

Cell towers have a top speed of only about 60 mph.

[Stargazer09]

24. No, she was in labor

Trying to talk to 911 in between contractions is not easy.

She was very close to having the baby when they were pulled over.

[Orrex]

35. If only there'd been someone else in the car with her

If only...

[Stargazer09]

112. I agree

But I guess he was too busy speeding.

[dionysus]

132. oh snap.

[George II]

50. What was her HUSBAND doing at the time???????

[crim son]

56. My question exactly.

He could have made the 911 call and been understood.

[frylock]

67. so now we're advocating for driving while talking on a cell phone?

[George II]

83. What a ridiculous thing to say!

[George II]

54. The article said why she couldn't be understood. Why didn't the HUSBAND take the phone????

[jwirr]

63. He was driving 85 miles per hour and that is not a good time to take the phone. However, he could

have slowed down or stopped to make the call. I think a lot of people do not think at a time like this.

[Fla Dem]

70. No, It was the mother calling, husband driving, said she was screaming so much the 911 dispatcher

couldn't understand her.

[Matariki]

44. The cop was blind? Unable to see the woman was pregnant and in labor?

Someone *always* shows up in threads like this to justify bad police behavior. Might as well be you.

[Helen Borg]

45. Obiously, not a female cop...

[George II]

51. When did the police acquire x-ray vision?

Look at the specifics of the situation objectively - 4 O'clock in the morning, a car traveling 30 MPH over the speed limit, the driver refused to stop. If you were a police officer, what would you do?

[Taitertots]

95. None of those actions indicate a threat to my life

So there is no reason to do anything other than write a citation.

And I'm not a psychopath, so I'd listen to her and ensure she gets proper medical care.

[jonno99]

96. +1

This is the most important (missing) aspect of the story.

I mean, it's not like cops never see this...

[George II]

98. 30 MPH above the speed limit and refusing to stop at 4 AM?

[Matariki]

104. Yeah, how about between the time the woman got out of the car and when she was ordered to the ground

Seems obvious. But keep making excuses. It's entertaining.

[George II]

105. Obviously you didn't the entire article or other accounts, but....

....after an 85 MPH chase at 4AM when the driver refused to stop, no "excuses" necessary.

[Matariki]

125. I'm sure you'd be thinking SO much clearer than this man

if your wife was next to you giving birth in the car at 4am. And it was all on you to get her to the hospital before it's too late.

You act as if going 85 MPH at 4am is some kind of high crime or moral failing for which the only logical response is police abuse

[George II]

128. A couple of points....

First, in the rare instance that I was going 85 MPH for whatever reason, I wouldn't be stupid enough to lead the police on a high-speed chase.

Second, (and I think I've said this elsewhere here, too) the so-called "police abuse" wasn't because he was driving 85 MPH at 4 AM, it was because he refused to stop.

This whole thing could have been avoided if the driver stopped when told to stop. In fact, he may have gotten to the hospital QUICKER if he stopped, simply explained the situation, and was escorted to the hospital by the police.

This knee-jerk reaction that any time a police officer stops anyone for whatever reason it's "abuse" only distracts the attention away from TRUE instances of police abuse.

[jonno99]

114. I would rely on my training and experience.

It's not like it's unusual to see people speeding to the hospital - EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Cop #1 to cop #2: do you think theres a chance they might be headed to to the hospital??!!

(Of course, I didn't notice in the story any mention of the couple running the emergency flashers on their car - that might have helped... )

[George II]

116. Of course this would be more likely (if one isn't jumping to a biased anti-police conclusion):

Cop #1 to Cop #2 "do you think they're running from a robbery?"

or

Cop #1 to Cop #2 "do you think they just made a drug deal?"

or

Cop #1 to Cop #2 "do you think they're running from a murder?"

By the way, it IS "unusual to see people speeding to the hospital"!

[Maedhros]

79. This is how authoritarianism reveals itself.

The behavior of an Authority Figure, regardless of how egregious it may be, is always to be defended because of The Rules, regardless of how inappropriate they may be.

In this particular case it should have been immediately obvious to the police officer that the woman was pregnant and in labor. Recognizing that - regardless of all other factors - the woman should NOT have been forced to the ground, for her safety and that of the child. But, the Authoritarian rationalizes, the officer might have felt threatened, and since he is the Authority Figure his decisions must be held to be sacrosanct.

[jen63]

111. You really can't make this shit up,

can you? On a democratic board, no less. My head wants to explode.....

[Maedhros]

113. I have most of the howler monkeys on ignore, so I don't really see the simpering authority-worship

anymore. But I know it's there. When I browse DU from my phone, I get to see what I'm ignoring. Ugly, hateful, small-minded people.

[jen63]

115. Howler monkeys!

Awesome!

[Systematic Chaos]

126. Are you aware that you just wrote this out...

...in the same sort of narrative style that Stephen King used when going into the mind of the rabid dog in "Cujo?"

Makes it a thousand times more fitting, somehow.

[1StrongBlackMan]

5. In the Movies ...

police would have formed a motorcade and escorted the soon to be parents to the hospital and waited in the waiting room, with cigar in hand, for the delivery ... and the child would have been named after one of the cops.

[karynnj]

10. Yes, but in the movies that would happen AFTER they pulled over - and explained the obvious reason

Here, had they pulled over, that very likely would have happened - not because it was like the movies, but because a police escort would make it safer.

[jwirr]

17. That is the movies - this Steve Kings territory.

[dembotoz]

6. our youngest was about that size and also showed up rather quickly

on the way to the hospital
kid practically crawling out of her
no painkillers taken at all

my wife would have ripped out the cops throat had they stopped us on the way to the hospital

[Cha]

7. I hear that! Just thinking it's a good thing they didn't stop me and my husband back then.. I was

Last edited Thu Oct 16, 2014, 07:05 PM - Edit history (1)

not in the mood.

Edit: changed did to didn't

[In_The_Wind]

9. ...

[Cha]

100. Hey In_The_Wind..

I just changed "did" to "didn't" but it looks like you got the gist of it!

[nolabear]

34. Yup. My first took an hour and a half. We blew through the last stop light at the hospital.

There was a cop car parked right there. Mr. Bear says he saw him, (wee hours, no traffic) and ran it anyway, and the cop barely looked up. I expect we weren't the first. And the times were different.

[Dont call me Shirley]

8. Cops Gone Wild

That could realistically be a reality TV show.

[Downwinder]

11. Forget the gunpoint, the tack strips could have kill all of them.

[proReality]

12. Uh, when they dragged her out of the car and made her lay face down

they couldn't tell the woman was extremely pregnant and about to deliver with all her screaming? The couple were darned lucky they were born white or she might have been shot for writhing in pain and making it look like she was resisting arrest.

In all honesty, the couple were insane for driving that fast, especially without a white flag waving to alert the police to a medical emergency.

[madokie]

13. America really needs to get a handle on this cop situation

our county sheriffs are running around our county running red. Never before in all the years I've live here (66 years) have I seen our county sheriff's department so 'energized,' for the lack of a better word right now. Its just a matter of time before I fear there will be an incident that could have been avoided by cooler heads

It's like we the citizens are enemies or something.

[PeoViejo]

26. DHS and Blackwater style training has got them pumped-up for a Race War

under the pretext of Terrorism. Training as an MP does not qualify them any more than a Fighter Pilot for an Airliner.

[Eleanors38]

32. As a kid, I saw a wailing cop/sheriff car tearing down the

street with a civilian car following closely, honking & flashing high beams. Everybody knew what that meant, and folks would murmur "Hope they get there (hospital) on time."

Fuck, that was almost 60 yrs ago and no cell phones. And it wasn't Hollywood.

[madokie]

33. I've seen that too

years ago. Today we have a very good ambulance system here where in cases like these the women can call and get professional help within minutes

[Eleanors38]

38. Damn sight better than a funeral home hearse with oxygen.

But even so, living in a rural area, one may be best served by self-transport.

[madokie]

42. LOL

the fight put up by the funeral homes when we went to this system was fierce. they fought it tooth and nail.
Kinda like in my hometown they proposed building a new 4 lane hiway that skirted the town and the town folks were beside themselves saying all kinds of things like it will kill our town if you take the traffic out. The traffic was for the most part a lot of walmart trucks that made it next to impossible to navigate the streets. Not many of the cars coming through were stopping anyway. Now the 4 lane is there, traffic is over on it and the town is growing in leaps and bounds. You can actually park on main street and get back out on the hiway without it being a hassle fighting the traffic. Sometimes people protest too much

[Eleanors38]

62. In Texas, a lot of the small towns with their old

courthouse square buildings are thriving. Perhaps people should learn to pull off the Big Roads & their franchise fast food, and eat a nice chicken-fried steak at a local cafe that cares about what they are doing.

[madokie]

65. true

In the case I was talking about it was hard to get around town because of all the traffic. Traffic that wasn't going to be stopping anyway so why bother. All they were doing was clogging up the streets. Sometimes there would be a line of 18 wheelers half a mile long coming through town and the only stop light just slowed them down to the point most locals were taking their business else where. Where they didn't have to worry with all that traffic. Once the traffic was redirected the town found out that the locals were more than enough to keep the town thriving. The road I'm talking about is the main hiway from northwest Arkansas to Tulsa ok. Lots of people live in northwest Arkansas that work in Tulsa ok. Which is absurd to me because of the hour and a half to two hour drive each way. Makes for a long day. Sure its pretty over in Arkansas but not that pretty. From 5 am to 9am going west toward Tulsa and from 3 pm to 6 pm going back east the hiway is full of Arkansas tagged autos. Most of them will only have one person in it too.

I live a block right off the same hiway a few miles west of my hometown and when the traffic was on this hiway it was dangerous to pull out on the road from our street. Now its a breeze and we thank our lucky stars every time we go somewhere. Bow down to the traffic gods

[Eleanors38]

110. Traffic is a soul-kilker. Time, waste, tension.

[elleng]

43. Thanks for this. Makes my day, Eleanors38.

[Eleanors38]

61. Your welcome. Some horrendous/funny tales about

old ambulance service. In the 50s, a funeral home job had to tote a dirt track racer to Gainesville, doing 100+. They made it, and the race car driver recovered from injuries sustained after falling trough his floorless race car when jostled off his factory-made toilet seat, and getting rolled up Ben-Hur-style. The ambulance driver won the real race.

[damnedifIknow]

15. "No charges have been filed against the couple at this time, Ritts said."

But at some point these menaces to society may be charged with felony fleeing. Baby? Just an excuse.

[eggplant]

18. Endanering the welfare of a minor, too.

[sendero]

20. The cops could not..

... have been expected to read the minds of the drivers. Treating a story like this as analogous to other cops' real misdeeds is a disservice to those seeking justice for the real wrongs cops have committed.

[mopinko]

30. then cops should stop "reading minds" and finding them full of murder and mayhem.

they need to keep their minds open.

[Paka]

31. Merci, Sendero.

I'm at a loss to fathom why they didn't stop and get the cop escort.

[sendero]

41. The story makes it pretty..

... clear that she though the baby was going to pop out any second and she wanted to be at the hospital. I think she made a mistake but it was an understandable one.

And the cops only knew that someone was speeding and would not pull over. What the hell were they supposed to do?

[rocktivity]

60. “I think I was screaming, 'Oh dear God, we can’t have the baby in the car'...”

Last edited Thu Oct 16, 2014, 06:30 PM - Edit history (1)

When the alternatives are killing yourselves or another motorist with reckless driving and risking being killed by cops who believe you're not complying, you most certainly CAN have a baby in a car.


rocktivity

[sendero]

64. Hey..

... I'm not defending the driver at all. Technically, you do no have a right to speed regardless of the situation.

In midst of a continuing stream of stories about the idiocy and brutality of cops, this is not one of them and should not be so construed.

[Man from Pickens]

106. and yet they did

they certainly imputed criminal intent on the couple... either that or they are mere sadists.

[sendero]

107. Dip dong..

.. the mere act of refusing to pull over is a crime so BY FUCKING DEFINITION they were criminals. Feeble minded douche.

[Man from Pickens]

118. and yet any sensible person knows

that speeding in the case of a pregnant woman in labor going to the hospital is often well-justified and far more important than a traffic citation in terms of what is actually important here.

Why is there no allowance by the police for the possibility of this common occurrence? Why does it have to go to physical violence against anyone, pregnant women included? What kind of person does this? None that you'd want holding a badge!

[sendero]

119. No sensible person..

... knows any such thing.

How were the cops supposed to know that was the situation? I am not condoning the physical part, but the cops were absolutely justified in pulling over the car. Once they knew the situation they handled it properly.

This is not Tee Vee this is real life. Nobody gets to careen down the public streets at high speed under any circumstance. Typically, if the driver had pulled over and apprised the officer of the situation, the officer would have either given them a lights and siren ride to the hospital or would have given them a lights and siren escort.

Comparing this in any way to the totally unjustified brutal acts of police in the news lately is daft and counterproductive.

[Maedhros]

117. Forcing a pregnant woman, in labor, to the ground

IS a "real wrong."

Jeesh.

[whereisjustice]

22. American exceptionalism on display.

[SmittynMo]

23. Handled all wrong

Last edited Thu Oct 16, 2014, 11:07 AM - Edit history (1)

A few years back, my wife called me at work, complaining that she had severe abdominal pains, and unable to get out of bed. You should have heard her on the phone.I told her I would be home immediately. I was doing 90 in a 65 to get there, on a major interstate with light traffic, with my flashers on. People were quite polite to move over to let me pass, probably because I had my flashers on. Fortunately, I was not pulled over. If I would have been, I would have explained the situation to them, and hopefully they would have given me an escort. When I got home, it took everything I could do to get her in the car, so I could get her to a nearby hospital. She had an emergency operation for her busted appendix.

Was I stupid for speeding. Absolutely. The adrenaline rush was extreme, thinking she was going to die. Should I have called 911 while on my way home? Probably, but the thought process was my wife was going to die, and I had to save her. OMG, the things that went through my head!!!

We do stupid shit when we are in a panic situation. It's a thought process I've never experienced before. After it was all over, I realized I handled it wrong. Very wrong. Would I do it again. Probably not now that I have learned a lesson. But its a lesson I wish on no one.

I'm sure the whole thing would have been resolved if they would have pulled over. Even though they were breaking the law, when caught, do the smart thing and pull over.

[Adrahil]

29. Can we NOT use the term "crotchfruit?" It's MASSIVELY offensive to me.

[Eleanors38]

36. The leavings of someone's shoulder fruit. nt

[Paka]

39. But for one word...

an otherwise thoughtful post gets hidden? I wasn't on that jury. Had I been, it would still be hidden, but 6-2.

I'm on the eve of 74 years on Planet Earth and I'd never heard the expression before, and yes it's discusting, but I don't have to be offended. I can just read on and forget that it's there.

[Adrahil]

40. Yeah..... no.

Some things go too far. That one did.

I would take the poster's ideas more seriously if he didn't use such terms.

[jeff47]

58. If you have to use offensive language, you aren't being thoughtful.

It's really quite possible to make a thoughtful post without resorting to offensive language.

[Feral Child]

87. Yes, Shakespeare, Chaucer,

et al, would have been highly offended. See my post #86.

They'd never resort to such "thoughtless" language, would they?

[jeff47]

89. It's a good thing you can speak to the dead and know exactly what they think.

Alternatively, you could realize that there's no reason to stick "crotchfruit" in that post except to offend. Whereas the authors you cite used at-the-time offensive language for more.

[Feral Child]

92. I don't have to speak to the dead.

I can read.

So, you think Shakespeare didn't try to offend anyone in his plays? What is the "more" that the great writers were striving for? Please explain yourself in detail, I want to know what you mean by "more".

I don't think you paid attention in high school. I think you have an amorphous, vague notion of what the classics are about, but understand them like I grok the Higgs boson.

I think you're over your head, thrashing about trying to justify your puritanical wish to silence anyone that "talks nasty".

You see, when you use "offensive language" people pay attention to what you're saying. Shakespeare did it. Dante. Chaucer. And "SpankMe" did.

[Adrahil]

109. THANK YOU GOOD SIR!!!!

Thank you for making me see the light!

How could I have not seen the musical iambic pentameter of "crotchfruit?"

How did I miss the subtle satire that evokes Chaucer's criticism of late-14th-century clergy?

Indeed, sir, you have convinced me that we have in our midst a true master of the language! An icon of prose!

I will be forever grateful.

Using a disgusting pejorative term to describe children = classics. Got it.

[Feral Child]

120. About as harmless as scatalogical humor.

Chaucer was mighty fond of a fart joke. (Quoting a WIKI article fails to convince that you are an erudite scholar of medieval literature. It just makes you look pretentious.)

The point you're too thick and self-absorbed to get is that "shock" language has firmly affixed a foothold in social discourse. Some sanctimonious folk are all to eager to decry eloquence if it fails to meet their moral tidemark, but the world keeps spinning, whether you're outraged or appreciative.


I believe you'd already dismissed me, I'd certainly appreciate it if you'd honor your final salutation.

[Adrahil]

122. One last serious note...

No... I'm not thick and I understand the use of "shock" language as a part of persuasive rhetoric. I did not look up a wiki article. I am quite the fan of Shakespeare, and am serious fan of Chaucer too, having read most of his works in Middle English. My wife in a PhD professor in English Lit, so I am surrounded by these great writers (though she focuses on Victorian writers). I'm an engineer, personally, but I do know how to crack a book.

This has nothing to do with sanctimonious morality. I asked the poster in quest, rather politely in my estimation, to not use a term I find very offensive. I did not demand it. I did not alert the message. The poster could not know I was offended if I did not tell him/her. I did not insult the poster, or otherwise insist that they meet my "moral tidemark." I MERELY let them know I found that word offensive and asked them not to use it.

Now, I will NOT stop requesting that posters not use terms I find offensive. That is a part of civil discourse. Although I do not agree with the poster's post overall, I do think his post would have been more engaging without such a deliberately dismissive and vulgar term. Clearly, at least some folks agree with me. While you may see that post as "shock language" used in social commentary, I frankly saw a rather clumsy, dominant discourse rant with a disgusting, and unfounded insult. I am willing to tolerate bad ideas.... we're surrounded by them. But I maintain my right to politely request that posters refrain from insults.

Yes, both Shakespeare and Chaucer can resort to crass humor. But your posts seem to indicate that the fact that they do it, on occasion, means that therefore, nothing can be considered vulgar or inappropriate. Perhaps you even think that. Perhaps you don't, but I didn't see any effective argument in there, either way. I didn't really break out the sarcasm until the Shakespeare and Chaucer reference which I just found laughable.

So let's end it here... both of use feeling intellectually superior and secure in the knowledge that we each think we know Chaucer better than the other (that was a joke, btw). But I did learn what the word sweven from Chaucer and I'm trying to reintroduce into everyday usage.

[Feral Child]

123. I think we'll probably disagree often.

I do thank you for your courteous explanation of your stance, a much better way to close a heated discussion than I usually find here.

I'm quite impressed by your spouse's achievement. My Bachelor was in Medieval Lit. I actually had a note-length article published in my sophomore year, a comment on Beowulf. That was the high point of my achievements in the field unfortunately. I've a restless soul and went adventuring instead of continuing my education.


I saw the metaphor SpankMe used as an effective emphasis of his theme that some parents are so elitist about their children that they'll put others at dire risk without a hint of shame.

You didn't see it that way, as is your right. Critique is highly personal and subjective. I'll admit I lashed out at you in frustration at the Alerter and you were the only target I could get a bead on, the Alerter remaining obscured by anonymity. I do wish Admin would publish Alerter's nicks along with the findings, it would cut down on the climate of Alert Skirmishing we have.



I'll bid you adieu then and leave the field. We took it as far as it could go without fisticuffs, honor intact.

[ncjustice80]

101. Then I take it you don t like the rude pundit?

Im not defending the pig in this case, but I would think people would be mode upset about the poster defending police brutality then using a humourous analogy for children.

[valerief]

55. Crotchfruit is hilarious to me!!!

[Adrahil]

72. Yeah, it's so funny to use a disgusting term to refer to children!

Just so funny!

Hey, why not refer to black people as Darkies! That's funny too!

And that Cleveland Indians mascot? Fucking HILARIOUS.

[valerief]

73. Wow, you're very racist. I think I'll put you on Ignore. nt

[Adrahil]

75. Sure. You didn't understand that was sarcasm. Got it. NT

[Feral Child]

69. Are we "Puritan Underground"?

Some of us need to grow up.

Not sure why it's "MASSIVELY offensive", rather than a little gross, but do we have to update DU's "Forbidden Word" list until nothing's left but vanilla pudding?

[Adrahil]

71. I consider it a direct insult to my child. She isn't a "crotchfruit."

And yeah, I think some of us here DO need to grow up. The use of that term is completely juvenile.

And for the record, I did not alert this message. I asked the poster to not use that term.

[Feral Child]

86. I did not accuse you of "alerting".

I did accuse you of complaining.

As for the rest of your post, I certainly can't fix your ego problem.

I seriously doubt the poster was thinking about your very special progeny when he spoke. Good bet he wasn't aware that you or your descendant existed before you chastised him. I know I wasn't.


Shakespeare would have been pissed that he didn't think of "crotchfruit&quot and would have only waited a year or two before he plagiarized it), Chaucer would have thought it a hoot. Faulkner would have nodded, Hemingway would have chuckled and stroked a polydactyl cat whilst downing his Cuba Libre'.


Ask your daughter what she thinks of the mockingly-pejorative term "crotchfruit". I'd be interested in hearing her response.

[Adrahil]

88. Yeah asking that the poster not use a disgusting term...

... to refer to children he doesn't even know is clearly just PC gone mad.

I'm obviously unreasonable to ask he not use a term I find offensive.

Or perhaps not.

Good Day.

[Feral Child]

91. You're *so* full of yourself.

I'm sure you get offended a lot; can't say that bothers me.

[Adrahil]

93. Oh, I agree... I being completely unreasonable.

Nothing wrong with using such a derogatory term for children.

I'm out of control! I must be stopped!

Or not.

[Feral Child]

99. This rhetoric is beginning to sound familiar.

Anyway, I'm off. Time to feed the kennel-fruit. ( My dog isn't overly sensitive.)

[jtuck004]

108. Time to feed the kennel-fruit. < Now that's funny. n/t

[Feral Child]

121. Thanks, jtuck

[Renew Deal]

27. Life isn't always like the movies

They should have pulled over and told the cops what was going on.

[SoapBox]

52. And the cops could have called 911 but...

I want to say the cops were wrong (the gun, yes) but the couple should have stopped.

Lots of blame in the whole story.

p.s...I too just re-read that article...there are some weirdly missing details and has a lot of gray.

[Adrahil]

28. That article is incomplete....

I saw another interview with them where they said that as soon as the cops realized she was pregnant and in labor, they immediately altered their behavior and got them on their way.

Let's not completely over-react. Years ago, my Dad severely injured himself in an accident and was bleeding badly. My mom didn't think he'd survive waiting fro an ambulance, so she put him in the car and raced him to the hospital. She broke the speed limit by a LOT and picked up some pursuing cops. She did not stop until she reached the emergency room. Even though she pulled right up to the ER entrance, one cop actually jumped out and drew his gun. But he stopped when he saw my Dad all bloody and unconscious.

[progressoid]

66. It's the NYPost.

That version of the story isn't dramatic enough for them.

[Snotcicles]

37. At least we didn't hear. "Stop resisting,

stop resisting" ( punch in the head, kick in the stomach) "I'm not resisting I'm birthing" "stop resisting, stop resisting" this time.

[asiliveandbreathe]

46. This story is one that I file

under "trust, but verify"

If true, how awful. If not true, how awful.

[JonLP24]

131. There is video

I don't know where it is since I saw it on the TV but it is out there -- she was literally screaming at the top of her lungs "I'm having a baby" as they are yelling at her "down to your knees!" at gunpoint.

Then when they were hauling the SO away in cuffs she's yelling & crying "you (or don't) can't take him to jail, I'm having a baby." Then they put her in the Lieutenants SUV and haul her to the hospital.

[Xithras]

47. Labor is not a valid reason to drive like a psychopath.

If you can't make it to the hospital without endangering everyone around you, call a fucking ambulance

A couple of years ago a young woman went into labor a few miles from my home. She jumped into her car with her young husband, and they went tearing down a local expressway at more than 80mph on the way to the hospital. Two blocks from the hospital, another car turned onto the expressway in front of them...not realizing that they were driving like insane people.

The young woman, only minutes away from becoming a mother for the first time, was killed on impact. So was her unborn child. The other car was driven by another young mother who had her children in the backseat. The mother died at the scene. Her four year old daughter made it all the way to the hospital before she died. Only her baby in the car seat survived.

The husband in the first car, who thought that driving fast was "OK" when you were going to a hospital to have a baby (he actually said that he thought that flashers made it OK to speed in an emergency), was sentenced to 12 years in prison recently. A light sentence really, when you think about the fact that he killed four people.

If you can't drive safely, then DON'T DRIVE. That's what ambulances are for.

[KT2000]

81. +100!

[GeorgeGist]

48. They'll probably vote for the pro-life pig...

castrater.

[Initech]

49. Well that kid isn't going to have to worry about paying for college.

[cstanleytech]

80. Actually the police department probably wont have to worry about a lawsuit or atleast losing one

I bet unless they can prove the officer knew that the reason they were speeding 30 miles over the speed limit was because they were trying to get to the hospital as she was in labor.

[George II]

53. She wasn't forced to the ground at gunpoint "for speeding on the way to the hospital"....

...she was forced to the ground at gunpoint FOR SPEEDING and refusing to stop.

Gunpoint may have been extreme, but before they got her out of the car they didn't know she was pregnant and they didn't know why the driver didn't stop. All they knew is that a driver was going 30 MPH over the speed limit and refused to stop. I'd guess that in 99.9% of such situations there isn't an "innocent" reason for not stopping.

As the police chief said, "Normally when you get somebody clocked like that and they fail to pull over, the first thought in my mind is we've got somebody drunk or on drugs."

[crim son]

57. The police went overboard on this one but

if the father had stopped immediately the couple would have probably been on their way in under five minutes. There are far too many bad cops out there but these ones probably truly believed they were doing their job.

[cstanleytech]

76. If the officer knew there was a pregnant women in the vehicle and they were just

trying toget to the hospital I would agree that the officer went overboard but I havent read anything to indicate that the officer was telepathic and knew that nor that he was informed of the circumstances during the car chase via radio.

[KamaAina]

59. How is this possible?

She's white!!

[NOLALady]

103. And the family was not slaughtered!

Thank Goodness.

[yellowcanine]

77. Husband should have pulled over, explained situation. Takes 5 minutes max.

Cops would have escorted the car there.

[George II]

82. We've seen that happen dozens of times over the years.

[AngryAmish]

78. I'm just shocker the mother is white

Was the driver black?

[George II]

84. I just did the math - if they were 10 miles from the hospital (a guess), then....

...the time to the hospital at 85 MPH would have been NINE minutes, the time at 55 MPH would have been FOURTEEN minutes.

Endangering others' lives would have saved them a mere 5 minutes. Small consolation if they hit someone or another car.

[Lars39]

85. Getting to the hospital that late, she probably delivered that almost 10 lb baby without drugs...

[vanlassie]

94. That is a good thing!

[Lars39]

97. Not necessarily.

Almost 10 pounders are hell on a woman's body.

[vanlassie]

102. Well drugs would not have done much for this lady and her baby is better off.

Doesn't sound like it was her top priority!

[rocktivity]

90. A pregnant woman arrived at a hospital just in time to give birth in the lobby

A nurse told her, "Don't feel bad -- about four years ago, a woman gave birth right on the hospital's front lawn."

The woman replied, "I know -- that was me, too!"


rocktivity

[tabasco]

129. Fact of the matter

Law enforcement has very low standards and the occupation attracts stupid people.

[JonLP24]

130. I saw this on the news there is an important fact to consider

They explained they felt they didn't have time for a ticket so they called 911 dispatch but word didn't get to the cops so you can see how confusion & expectations played a role for both sides.

[dionysus]

133. i remember when these type of stories centered around whether or not the cop gave the people a

ticket. now it centers around whether or not they get pulled out of the car at gunpoint.