OHTA.ca

My story is long so brace yourself...

So i got stopped on highway 400 up in Barrie. I was behind a cop (did not know) and switched lanes and did a takeover, it wasn't until I took him over i realized it was a cop. I slowed down (was still speeding), he aggressively pulled up to my right without lights on and gestured me to move over, went back behind me and turned on the lights. I immediately signaled right and pulled over, when I was halfway on the right shoulder lane he pulled up to my left this time and then pulled back behind me where i stopped. I already knew this cop was having a bad day. When he approached my car, first thing he did was open my door and asked me why I didn't pull over, apparently he "had" his lights on for a while and if I was waiting for my passenger to put on his seat belt which I am 100% positive he didn't because when i did the takeover i checked my rear view mirror every second up until he pulled up to me because I suspected that was a cop. I told him I did pull over when the lights was on, he said he's going to ask me again and repeated the question, I was panicking and i repeated what I said, before asking me a third time he then told me if I wanted to be arrested. At this point I didn't know what to say, I was scared for my life, I paused for about 15 secs cause I didn't know what he wanted me to say and said I was sorry and he said okay and asked me to turn off my vehicle and give him the keys (not sure if they can do this) which I did. He also told me he was going to impound my car for stunting and suspend my license for 7 days and said specifically he had his lights on for 0.7km. When he went back to his car, after doing what he needed to do, he used his car mic to call my name, at first I didn't know what to do cause you're usually not suppose to get out of the car, he then called me again and I came out and gestured at him if he wanted me to go over which he gestured back to go over to the passenger side window, gave me my ticket and was let go. At this point he dropped the impound. Passenger also got a ticket for not having seat belt on. Forgot to mention he told me I was going 130, but slapped me with a 147 of the ticket...which I am positive I was not.

What can I do regarding the ticket and what he did. This is my first ticket ever. Regarding full disclosure, how would i go about getting them to give me things like dash cam, notes, etc. Should I get a lawyer to help me or should I fight this myself?

Sometimes is just easier to hire a professional and let them worry about all the nitty gritty, if there's a way to get you out of it or reduce the charge, they should be able to handle it.

If you want to try handling it on your own you simply request a trial, when you get your court date you then request disclosure. Make sure that you request that they surrender a copy of video or audio conversation if they exist. Once you have full disclosure you will be able to make an decision on how you wish to proceed. If you post it here with all your personal info blacked out we could have a look offer our respective opinions. If you want a plea bargain before the trial you meet with the prosecutor and you could ask for a reduced charge, with less demerit points and fine.

On the conduct of the officer, it's tough to say based on hearing only one side of the story, but none of it is really relevant to if you were speeding. It sounds like the officers notes that you should receive in the disclosure will say you were going 50 kph over the limit, and you didn't pull over right away for whatever reason, then after it is all said and done you got a reduced charge. If he was going to charge you with stunt driving you could have been arrested briefly, and had the car impounded for a week.