Getting pulled over by police is nerve-wracking. Now just imagine trying to pull a cop over—I’d drop 10 pounds in terror-sweat instantly. But not Phillip Turner, who just pulled over a speeding Texas state trooper and didn’t show an ounce of fear.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that earlier this week, regular-ol’-citizen Phillip Turner was cruising down Interstate 35 near Austin doing the speed limit—75 mph—when a cop without emergency lights flew by going almost 90.
Turner, who was headed to court the following morning over a traffic citation, wasn’t about to let the officer get away with something that would get an ordinary citizen ticketed, so he just pulled the trooper over.
After Turner caught up to the speeder, Trooper David Granado, he flashed his lights, signaling him to pull over. Once Granado turned onto the shoulder and came to a stop, he walked up to Turner and asked:“Is there a reason why you flashed me? Need some help?”
Turner—chill as can be!—motioned over to the side and said “Come over here real quick. I can’t hear you.”
Once they’d moved away from the road noise, Turner told the officer: “The reason why I was trying to pull you over was, you know, you flew right by me. You were going pretty fast back there. Are you in an emergency or something?”
All the officer could do was apologize, saying: “I apologize. I know I was speeding... There’s no excuse. I’ve got no excuse.”
Turner got the trooper’s name and badge number, though he didn’t have to tattle tale, as the Texas Department of Public Safety told the Statesman Granado later ‘fessed up to his chain command, though the incident is still under review.