ROSWELL, Ga. — A metro Atlanta man said he is upset after he was stopped by police as he tried to rush his wife to the hospital. Johnny White told Channel 2’s Amy Napier Viteri he was trying to take his wife, Roxanna, who has stage 4 breast cancer, to the hospital because she was having severe chest pains. White said while driving on Hembree Road in Roswell, a Roswell police officer stopped him for speeding. According to the citation, White was traveling 44 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone. White said he tried explaining his wife's condition to the officer and said he was concerned she was in medical trouble. According to White, the officer asked for some form of written proof of breast cancer. "Why would he ask me, I’m sorry. Why would he ask me that? Why would we have to prove that my wife had cancer?" White said. He said the officer took about 15 minutes and gave him a citation. "I said 'Sir, I don't want to sign it. I just want to leave and go to the hospital.' He said, 'If you don't sign it I'm going to take you to jail,’” said White. White told Napier Viteri he asked police to call an ambulance, and that is how his wife got to the hospital. He said doctors kept her overnight after finding blood clots in her lungs. "Which essentially could be fatal, and could have been if we had not gotten her here in time,” White added. He called in a complaint to the Roswell Police Department after the incident. A police spokesperson said there will be an administrative investigation into what happened and they are unable to comment until they have all the facts. Man stopped by police while rushing wife to hospital | www.wsbtv.com
That sucks but the cop was doing his job. Could he have been more lenient? Yes. Common sense should have won the day there but it didn't. I know someone that was rushing his uncle to the hospital (he had a stroke that morning). Within 500 yards of the hospital, he was rear ended and pushed into the car in front of him. There was a cop a few cars back that got out and started asking questions. He handed the officer his license and told him he would be right back but he was making sure his uncle got to the ER. It took all of 8 minutes for the man to be rushed to the back and when the guy came back, the cop was laughing. He handed him his license and wrote the incident report up.
A former cop called a radio station this morning and said if you find yourself in the situation do not stop, turn on your flashers, call 911 and explain the situation, ask for a police escort.
i'm sure the "i'm taking my <blank> to the hospital" is a common excuse to get out of a speeding ticket.
I have no idea about police protocol, but the cop should have escorted them to the hospital and seen that the wife went to the ER. If that proved to be a farce, write a ticket maybe a bigger ticket if possible, if not let them go. I'd feel pretty shitty about this if I endangered a woman's life over a [uck fay]ing speeding citation. When the cop asked for written proof of cancer I think the driver would have been in the right to punch him in the stomach and drive off.
I agree. Ultimately, he should have stated the situation and not waited for a response. If the cop wants to write him a ticket so badly, he can do so at the hospital.
