An Oregon police officer chose the wrong time and the wrong person to mouth off to regarding a cruiser parking job. Eric Bryant, an attorney and Oregon citizen, watched as Officer Chad Stensgaard parked his patrol car illegally in front of a restaurant while waiting on and picking up food. Bryant then confronted the police officer about the parking job and received what we'll call a "dickish" response.
Stensgaard said, "If someone broke into your house, would you rather have the police be able to park in front of your house or have to park three blocks away and walk there?"
While obviously, we'd rather have law enforcement officers be able to park in front of our house, unless Officer Stensgaard's food happened to also be a burglar, there's a significant discrepancy between the example given and the actual situation. Bryant then acted not as an attorney, but as a private citizen by filing several complaints against the police officer.
In a happy ending for citizens maddened by power-hungry police officers, Officer Stensgaard was issued a summons to appear in traffic court and could face parking fines upwards of $540. The Law: 1, Abuse of Power: 0. [AP]