Video: Officer Damon Dunn Runs Stop Sign, Rams Biker

• This fucking sickens me. No disciplinary action against the pig for ramming a bike? I mean really?  I got a ticket for running a stop sign once... In a REST STOP! I was looking left to make sure a sleepy trucker wasn't coming through, protecting me & more importantly, my passenger. Cop was a prick, wrote me anyways.

• Yes police officers are "distracted" due to equipment,radio,cell phones and more, that's exactly why officers need to be more cautious and vigilant. This officer was not going to an emergency call there is no reason what-so-ever for him to pull back into traffic therefore he should have been more diligent and safely sat on the side of the road and finished his paper work. Police officer was/is indeed negligent in this accident! On the other hand had someone hit the police officer like he did this bike would a citizen have been jailed? This article didn't state what sort of punishment was dealt out to the police officer and I wonder why,they do print when a citizen hits a police car in conditions similar to this accident.

• @ GRANDMA Thank you, but no need to apologize. I'm glad that you see there is more to it than your one bad expierience. Be safe and keep an open mind.

• Hey Alecto-thanks for the rundown, my ex son-in-law is in law enforcement and he said he really had no idea all the distractions in those cars until he was in one driving it. I could never do it...but I do appreciate those that are out there doing the right thing. Thank you!

• grandma, i didn't go into all the distractions that police officers have in their units as well. there's the laptops. we have to push a button to go enroute, push a button to go on scene. look at the address and also reread the call so u know what's going on. there's the lights and the sirens that u have to use. there's also the radio with the mic that u use and changing radio frequencies. dash mounted radar and spotlight. mobile digital patroller that starts recording whenever u hit the brakes to hard, bump your air horn, or go over a certian speed. officers have to look for street numbers that are sometimes hard to find on houses or even non-existent. also like the police officer that hit you watch for drug deals and suspicious people. we change cars here. these vehicles are ran 24/7 by different people. oh gosh and don't get me started on all the blind spots with the cage and equipment. the laptop stand in my unit is worn out from constant readjusting and whenever i turn a corner sharply it rams into the steering wheel and usually into my hand. ok rant over. hope i enllightened you on what it's like to drive a police car.

• Thank you for the information. I wasn't aware of all of it. Most, but not all. I just know i have a clean driving record and haven't been in anytype of accident or sitution with the police in over 25 yrs. And from what my friends say, the locals must wear a seat belt but they have a special release or something that allows them to unhook it quickly if need be. And here, our police have ear pieces now so, no radio on shoulder. Just telling what my friends have told me. I had dinner the other night with a couple (who are both cops) and i brought up the difference in public/police and i was told that the police have made a lot of requests for new standards for them. They want the safety, and newest technology so that their lives are not so in danger. She told me that when her husband is on duty and she isn't, she worries all the time. As a cop, she knows the danger that is out there. So i am formally taking back any negitive response i might have made. As i said these are really close friends and I really never them on their procedures until now. Wish I had. Luckily most of our "bad cops" here are either gone or are just "hiding" (their words not mine!) But with some of the surrounding areas that are having issues with these bad cops, My friends say that they are almost 90% sure our town doesn't have any (that they know of). So, To lightrunner. I am sorry for venting about something that i thought i knew was was proved to be wrong.

• I work in a fairly large city that is ripe with bike couriers. Just two weeks on my way home from work one cut in front of me out and I honestly almost creamed him. It can happen unfortunately to anyone. I just got lucky. I was paying attention to the road but also wanted to get a move on so I could pick my kids up early from daycare. Our minds go in so many directions at once and we don't realize it.

• angry grandma, ok here goes. police are exempt from wearing seat belts becuase 1. duty weopon is on the waist on the right hand side. it gets tangled up with the seatbelt where it connects 2. radio mic is on left shoulder where the shoulder strap goes 3. police often have to jump out at a moments notice and from personnal experience u sometimes forget to unbuckle 4. police run a greater possibilty of being shot at randomly while driving u have to be able to crawl in the glove box if that's where u gotta go to get out of the line of fire police officers are also exempt from using cell phones while driving because there is sometimes sensitive information that should not be put out over the radio so they have to be able to call hqs for more information

• Stuff happens weather you wear a uniform or not. I see no malice in this, and will not throw all police under the proverbial bus for this. For some reason, I see where people just want to see law enforcement fail on one level or another. Never had a grudge against them, never needed them either in my personal life. At work, I deal with police daily, and I see first hand the crap they have to deal with from the public.

• I don't know if I'd defend the nail thing, Russell, because that just seems more egregious -- though probably just because the nail thing in itself seems goofy to me. But yeah, we've all done something stupid while driving, so it's hard not to extend grace. Besides, it seems evil should be based on intent, rather than human fallibility.

• Pete, I said something similar recently about a woman that was doing her nails and killed another driver at an intersection and everybody on the board went into attack mode. She was being branded as a murderer deserving of the death penalty and I was obviously a moron. Before anybody jumps on you, I just want to say that if you've never looked away to insert a CD, or change the radio station, adjust the air conditioning or any of the other countless ways we become distacted while driving then feel free to cast the first stone.

• I'm having a hard time blaming the cop on this one, Leah. We've all done inattentive stuff while driving. His inattentiveness caused major injury, but it seems like one of those thereby the grace of God type of things that could have happened to any of us. And it's cool the cop came clean.

• Riding a bike is dangerous-did it for many years. Never had a close call with a cop though, just old people and kids.

• @grandma It's obvious either you can't read or you just have an axe to grind. why don't you READ my post instead of assuming what I may be trying to say. It's really very clear. Attacked? again read a dictionary. You are just another entitled narcissist.

• I am more then aware as to what our laws are. I have multiple close friends who are cops. And i have lost a few in the line of duty. so you have NO right to slam me. But to those who are power hungry or use their roll as an officer for their own selfish ways, THOSE are the one that my comments were addressed to. So you think it's a-okay for a cop (a "bad" one) to just think it's ok to slam into someone and hurt them and be pissed that they got disaplinted? Or to attack someone because "they resisted arrest" because they argued over a ticket and the cop was thinking he was 10 ft tall and bullet proof? So if in your mind whatever an officer does is a-ok, then maybe you need to lose someone close to you who was an officer and they wre killed in the line of duty. it's not a fun thing. You end up looking at other cops to see how they are acting. And believe me i have been on both sides of this arguement. With having friends as cops and having family members attacked by bad cops. So maybe you need to back up! And for your info: here- cops MUST wear their seatbelt as well! and if caught by superior can be fined as well. the locals do all the time but the staties don't!

• @angrygranma Did you ever think about the fact that the reason police officers are immune from certain laws is because it would be impossible to serve the public if they weren't? When someone in YOUR family needs an officer I hope that they take the time to buckle up, put the cell phone down, and stop and wait at every red light. Your are right it's not fair that officer's risk their lives every day protecting ungreatfull citizens with kindergarten mentalities like yourself. You should check the laws on seat belts, It's hard to break a law that doesn't apply to you! IT"S NOT FAIR= GROW UP GRANDMA!

• I can believe it. Then we get ticketed if we do something like this. Run's stops signs, red lights, illegal u turns! Not fair nor right to be holier then us! Just cause they are police doesn't give them the right to buck the laws. I got t bone on the driver side 3 yrs ago by a cop. Luckily me and my passenger were ok. But car was totaled. Cop was driving on a side street and didn't stop at stop sign. I was going straight cross him. No stop sign and i had the right of way. I didn't see him until just before he hit me. he was going about 35 (shouldn't have been going more then 5 or 10-- lot of children in area at park!) anyways i slammed on brakes and he hit me. When we were out of the car, he came over saying he was sorry and not watching where he was going. We got supervisor there to write report and took me months to settle for a new car from them. He claimed in the report that he was "checking for drug dealers at the park" and didn't notice me. I drove a RED car! No medical attention needed and just needed a car. City paid for rental and then when i settled i got a newer car (not brand new). But he got desk duty for 60 days for the accident. And written up and fined for damage to cop car. Insurance didn't even surcharge me. MA is a No Fault state so i could have been surcharged and lost points on my license because of this. But i didn't lose anything except the car. So i agree cops should follow the laws just like everyone else has to. Bet they do when they are off duty? Just like seat belts. they dont have to wear them, but we get fined $500 if we get stopped and dont have it on! Not FAIR!

• And we all thought that Cops were just abusing their authority when they ran lights turns out, they just weren't paying any attention!

• Damn so the cop rolled through the stop sign. Not having a good day.

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