The Dallas Cop Who Arrested A Biker With A Helmet Cam Has Been Suspended

Justice has been served, and this time on behalf of a biker who claimed he had been wrongfully arrested during a group ride on Memorial Day.

Never mind that many of the people he was riding with were doing unsafe and/or illegal things. Chris Moore had been minding the letter of the law. As a result, the officer who arrested Moore and confiscated his helmet cam as "evidence" has been suspended without pay for 38 days by the Dallas Sheriff's Office.

Unfortunately for Sheriff's Deputy James Westbrook, the only evidence turned up by Moore's helmet cam was video used against him to show that he stopped Moore for no reason before seizing his property without a warrant. Moore wasn't speeding and riding with a helmet cam is legal. Westbrook arrested Moore because he "couldn't see his license plate."

Moore spent eight hours in jail for no apparent reason.

The arrest happened on the anniversary of a group motorcycle ride whose participants had closed down a section of freeway and covered parts of it with graffiti. Police were on edge and other bikers were driving like asshats, but Westbrook appears to have taken out his frustration on one guy. Not smart when that guy is recording everything you're doing, including trying to rip Moore's helmet from his head and slamming the cruiser's door on his leg.

But only 30 days of Westbrook's suspension are from his ham-fisted arrest of Moore. The other eight are for leaving a drunk driver he'd left at the jail without booking. He had bolted from the jail so that he could take the biker call.

Sounds like Deputy Westbrook may have been a little too eager to bust a few perps that day.

(Hat tip to Reigntastic!)