Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Law and Order Routine Traffic Stop Leads to Arrest of Child Rapist, Serpas Says 'I Told You So'
Posted by PJ Tobia on Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 12:24 PM
Awhile back I wrote this cover story about how Metro cops are pulling people over for everything from busted taillights to missing gas-caps. Today the policy has turned up an actual criminal.
According to a Metro police press release, Officer Tina Smith pulled someone over at 3 a.m. last Sunday morning for driving without headlights. The driver did not have a license and gave a fake name to officer Smith, who cuffed him and took him downtown.
Fingerprinting revealed that the guy was Raul Murillo, wanted on an outstanding grand jury indictment of one count of child rape and four counts of aggravated sexual battery (in lay terms, that's regular, non-child rape,) for assaulting his girlfriend's seven-year-old daughter.
Chief Serpas, in his usual shy, retiring way, made it clear that his policy was directly responsible for Murillo's arrest. "Officer Smith's outstanding police work shows once again that you never know who you might encounter during a stop for a minor traffic violation," the chief says in the presser.
Comments (5)
Showing 1-5 of 5
Isn't pulling someone over for driving without their headlights a little different than daily speed traps set up to nail people on their way to work?
like
dislike
Kotz: Not different if both result in catching crooks. Why assume that no one who goes to work is a criminal? In Salemtown, we just had a house broken into, and the suspects include the workers who installed the alarm system. Employed criminals? Who would'a thunk it?
Those damn cops! Pulling people over for traffic violations, AND THEN arresting them for raping children! Big Brother at its finest!
Imagine if Tennessee were to have a comprehensive motor vehicle inspection standard similar to other states? Metro would miss all the jackass criminals tooling around totally undetected in their fine rides, all lit up and rolling on tires with treads!!!
I think Serpas and his minions ought to pull over every single motorist that neglects to use their directionals when changing lanes or turning. Cast a wide net, I say.
