NFL player pulled over outside hospital while rushing to be with dying relative
By STEVE THOMPSON and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
As he rushed his family to the hospital, 26-year-old NFL running back Ryan Moats rolled through a red light. A Dallas police officer pulled their SUV over outside the emergency room.
Moats and his wife explained that her mother was dying inside the hospital.
"You really want to go through this right now?" Moats pleaded. "My mother-in-law is dying. Right now!"
The officer, 25-year-old Robert Powell, was unmoved. He spent long minutes writing Moats a ticket and threatened him with arrest.
"I can screw you over," the officer told Moats. "I'd rather not do that."
The scene last week, captured by a dashboard video camera, prompted apologies and the promise of an investigation from Dallas police officials Wednesday.
"There were some things that were said that were disturbing, to say the least," said Lt. Andy Harvey, a police spokesman.
Moats' mother-in-law, Jonetta Collinsworth, was struggling at 45 with breast cancer that had spread throughout her body. Family members rushed to her bedside from as far away as California.
On March 17, the night of their incident with Powell, the Moatses had gone to their Frisco home to get some rest. Around midnight, they received word that they needed to hurry back to the hospital if they wanted to see Collinsworth before she died.
The couple, along with Collinsworth's father and an aunt, jumped into the SUV and headed back toward Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. They exited the Dallas North Tollway at Preston Road, just down the street from the hospital.
Moats turned on his hazard lights. He stopped at a red light, where, he said, the only nearby motorist signaled for him to go ahead. He went through.
Powell, watching traffic from a hidden spot, flipped on his lights and sirens. In less than a minute, he caught up to the SUV and followed for about 20 more seconds as Moats found a parking spot outside the emergency room.
Moats' wife, 27-year-old Tamishia, was the first out. Powell yelled at her to get back in.
"Get in there!" he yelled. "Let me see your hands!"
"My mom is dying," she explained.
Powell was undeterred.
"I saw in his eyes that he really did not care," Tamishia Moats said Wednesday.
Tamishia Moats and her great-aunt ignored the officer and headed into the hospital. Ryan Moats stayed behind with the father of the dying woman.
"I waited until no traffic was coming," Moats told Powell, explaining his passage through the red light. "I got seconds before she's gone, man."
Powell demanded his license and proof of insurance. Moats produced his license but said he didn't know where the insurance paperwork was.
"Just give me a ticket or whatever," he said, beginning to sound exasperated and a little argumentative.
"Shut your mouth," Powell told him. "You can cooperate and settle down, or I can just take you to jail for running a red light."
There was more back and forth.
"If you're going to give me a ticket, give me a ticket."
"Your attitude says that you need one."
"All I'm asking you is just to hurry up."
Powell began a lecture.
"If you want to keep this going, I'll just put you in handcuffs," the officer said, "and I'll take you to jail for running a red light."
Powell made several more points, including that the SUV was illegally parked. Moats replied "Yes sir" to each.
"Understand what I can do," Powell concluded. "I can tow your truck. I can charge you with fleeing. I can make your night very difficult."
"I understand," Moats responded. "I hope you'll be a great person and not do that."
Hospital security guards arrived and told Powell that the Moatses' relative really was upstairs dying.
Powell spent several minutes inside his squad car, in part to check Moats for outstanding warrants. He found none.
Another hospital staffer came out and spoke with a Plano police officer who had arrived.
"Hey, that's the nurse," the Plano officer told Powell. "She said that the mom's dying right now, and she's wanting to know if they can get him up there before she dies."
"All right," Powell replied. "I'm almost done."
As Moats signed the ticket, Powell continued his lecture.
"Attitude's everything," he said. "All you had to do is stop, tell me what was going on. More than likely, I would have let you go."
It had been about 13 minutes.
Moats and Collinsworth's father went into the hospital, where they found Collinsworth had died, with her daughter at her side.
The Moatses, who are black, said Wednesday that they can't help but think that race might have played a part in how Powell, who is white, treated them.
"I think he should lose his job," said Ryan Moats, a Dallas native who attended Bishop Lynch High School and now plays for the Houston Texans.
Powell, hired in January 2006, did not return a call for comment. Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson said Powell told police officials that he believed that he was doing his job. He has been re-assigned to dispatch pending an investigation.
"When people are in distress, we should come to the rescue," said Simpson. "We shouldn't further their distress."
Collinsworth was buried Saturday in Louisiana.
You're a human first and a cop second.
I get that he ran a red light and cop had to give him a ticket. the part that pisses me off is that the cop did not give a damn about the circumstance the family were in. he's telling him his mom is dying and only has minutes left. hospital secruity is telling him the same thing. a nurse even came down to tell him. and still the cop didn't give a shit. all he had to do was put himself in their shoes just for a second. but that's asking too much for this officer.
I would hope the police department would make him go back for some serious training. and maybe also demote him so it'll hurt him in the wallet.
This is a tough one. I understand the cop's perspective, because I bet he's heard that excuse a million times. It doesn't make it right or wrong; just that I get it. At some point, though, especially if the "criminal" is giving in, you just have to get on with what you're going to do and issue the ticket. Keeping him extra time than necessary was unfortunate. It should have been a five-minute episode to write a ticket for running a red light and for driving without proof of insurance.
Let's not forget that cops are paid to keep our streets safe. If that means giving people tickets for traffic violations, so be it. We pay them to do that.
The saying "one bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch" can definitely apply here. This isn't typical cop behavior at all.
Cops are like referees in sports: only the bad ones get attention. The vast majority of them are out there to do the right thing. It's why they got into the profession to begin with.
Either let him go or write the ticket and be done with it and you're doing your job. No problem.
Intentionally drag out the interaction when you know full well that the driver will take the full punishment just to get it over with? Now you're just a dick with a badge and a gun.
By reading this story it sounds like Moats may have gotten agitated quickly and that may have contributed to the problem. Still, the cop pulled them over at the hospital so he should have realized they were likely telling the truth, especially with security and nurses confirming their story. I believe that the African-American community will likely put a lot of pressure on the police department to fire this officer, which may be deserved. It sounds like this 25-year old was on a power trip.
I get that he ran a red light and cop had to give him a ticket. the part that pisses me off is that the cop did not give a damn about the circumstance the family were in. he's telling him his mom is dying and only has minutes left. hospital secruity is telling him the same thing. a nurse even came down to tell him. and still the cop didn't give a shit. all he had to do was put himself in their shoes just for a second. but that's asking too much for this officer.
I would hope the police department would make him go back for some serious training. and maybe also demote him so it'll hurt him in the wallet.
Exactly a badge is no excuse to be a butt hole that's just terrible!
By reading this story it sounds like Moats may have gotten agitated quickly and that may have contributed to the problem. Still, the cop pulled them over at the hospital so he should have realized they were likely telling the truth, especially with security and nurses confirming their story. I believe that the African-American community will likely put a lot of pressure on the police department to fire this officer, which may be deserved. It sounds like this 25-year old was on a power trip.
Yeah, from this article it sounds like some major power-trippin' going on for sure. That kind of attitude is really just unnecessary, in any profession. I will say that just because someone pulls over in a hospital, doesn't mean they were going there to begin with. Of course I believe this story, but you have to keep the whole thing in perspective.
One time it was late at night and I made a rather sudden and high-speed left turn in front of an oncoming police car. I saw that it was a cop right after I did it, and he was on my butt in less than 10 seconds. I knew he was going to pull me over, so I just pulled myself over and acted like I was parking, and when he shone his spotlight on me to ask me what the heck I was doing I told him "this is where I live." He didn't even look at my license or anything. He shouldn't have believed me and he should have checked me out, but he didn't.
This is a tough one. I understand the cop's perspective, because I bet he's heard that excuse a million times. It doesn't make it right or wrong; just that I get it. At some point, though, especially if the "criminal" is giving in, you just have to get on with what you're going to do and issue the ticket. Keeping him extra time than necessary was unfortunate. It should have been a five-minute episode to write a ticket for running a red light and for driving without proof of insurance.
The whole situation is just too bad.
The nurses and hospital staff came out and the officer became aware that it was certainly no excuse. A woman died without her family by her side to see her for the last time because some fool with a badge, gun, and too much power he didn't earn decided to exact authority.
wow, i already have a really strong dislike for law enforcement that i cant really talk about right now, but this just makes it even worse, ive dealt with a$$hole police officers all my life, and this is just another to add to the list
i realize all police officers arent like this, but the ones that are really make it hard on the ones that arent, because if he lets the guy go and get out of the ticket, then thats the end of the situation, you feel good about the officer for being an understanding person, but thats the last interaction you have with the situation, if he continues and holds you up and gives you the ticket then you have to deal with it for another few months as you have your court date, paying the fines, etc... so the ones that suck really stick in your mind more than the ones that are cool about your situation and let you go
i think this situation was handled very poorly by an officer on a powertrip, which is unfortunately something that too many officers do because it gives them all a bad name, and i think that police departments should nip this kind of behavior in the bud before it becomes habit
Amazing how common sense is lost with some people, i think the fact that he was at the hospital should of been enough of a clue to the officer to let it slide. Didn't need to read past the part of him being nothing but a punk kid in cops clothing, wet under the ear 25 year old, nuff said!
I'm just glad it didn't end with someone getting shot for no reason, as lately that seems to be the trend with these kind of police abuse of power stories.
...because some fool with a badge, gun, and too much power he didn't earn decided to exact authority.
I would take it easy on saying he didn't earn his badge and authority. How do you know that? I personally don't know that he did or didn't, but I'll bet money that Joe Captain of the Police Force didn't just hand this guy a badge.
Remember this thread the next time you have something terrible happen in your life and you need to make a call to the police department. My guess is you're not going to choose to call your buddies; you're going to call (and need) a cop. You'll be thanking them then.
Anyway, I don't want to make this seem like a personal attack on you necessarily because I'm sure you're a cool guy. It's just that a lot of times when something bad like this happens, people are quick to jump on the "cops suck" bandwagon.
Last edited by brettallica; 03-26-2009 at 06:08 PM.
Reason: typo
Amazing how common sense is lost with some people, i think the fact that he was at the hospital should of been enough of a clue to the officer to let it slide. Didn't need to read past the part of him being nothing but a punk kid in cops clothing, wet under the ear 25 year old, nuff said!
I'm just glad it didn't end with someone getting shot for no reason, as lately that seems to be the trend with these kind of police abuse of power stories.
Considering he hangs out around the hospital to catch people run that same exact red light, I'm sure he gets that excuse all the time.
However, the situation could of been handled differently for better "PC" results.
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