What A Coincidence

I was minding my own business taking care of some errands this morning when the most unexpected thing happened. I was driving up Mesa from downtown when I see a cop in the middle of the road. No siren blaring, no lights no warning signs, just in the middle of the road like road kill.

I'm not going to lie, I was on my cell phone and threw it on the passenger seat as soon as I saw the squad car. Don't judge me, there are alot of you who do the same thing. Having something in my ear as I drive is just so uncomfortable for me.

So I get pulled over and the officer says I have a warrant for my arrest. "Are you kidding me?" O.K. I might have used another word. I told him there was no way there could be a warrant for my arrest. I told him I had a couple tickets but my lawyer was taking care of them. The cop was actually being nice, even though I didn't agree with him parking in the middle of the road impeding traffic for hours at a time, but that's a different post all in itself.

The cop tells me that there is an active warrant for my arrest for a traffic violation and that he had to take me in to take care of the warrant. I told him that I had just checked the status of my tickets a few weeks ago and that everything was clear.

So he puts me in the back of the police car, I must have left my persuasion skills in my other pants, and I do what any grown man would do.....I called my dad. "Mijo estas bien?" and I called my wife. The cop actually let me use my phone all the way to the station.

On the way I tell the cop I thought that there was something fishy about the warrant. I told him that I had just written a post on my blog about a politician who was being investigated by ICE and all of a sudden I have a warrant for my arrest. He tried to assure me that me being arrested was not politically motivated. That he was just doing his job. Then he asked me who I wrote about. We had a little talk about public corruption.

I was in and out in about 45 minutes. The officer was nice enough to talk to my wife on the cell phone, no he wasn't driving, and walked her through the process of paying my bail. I have to publicly thank him for that. I could have been in there for hours.

But on the way out I pulled him aside and asked him a few question. I actually interviewed him for a story I am working on. But I also asked him if he could tell me what day the ticket became a warrant. He said it might have been in January but not to quote him.(so why do you quote him? you'll see) I wasn't happy with his answer so I did some research after walking back to my car from the downtown police station to the Wells Fargo Bank on Mesa by Cincinnati Street. The cop was nice but not nice enough to give me a ride back. That hill kicked my butt!

I go online to check out the warrant. It was gone since I had already paid it. So I called the police department and talk to somebody in their warrants division. I gave the young lady the warrant number and I am just shocked by what she tells me. I really wasn't, she told me what I had suspected.

My ticket turned into a warrant on May 10th. I wrote about Larry Medina late Saturday night and by Monday morning I had warrant for my arrest. WoW! Now that's fast. I wish we could get elected officials to work that fast on important issues. Now its all speculation but it sure makes you wonder.

Someone posted a comment on the post about Larry and I responded by saying that Larry could do two things, he could take the high road, acknowledge he made a mistake, pay the fine or make payment arrangements and move on or...... he can retaliate against me. I checked in the papers and on the 10o'clock news today, no comment by Larry Medina and no payment arrangements with Ice. Oh yeah and I ended up in jail.

But of-coarse it is all speculation.

Unfortunately things like this happen way too often here in El Paso and are never talked about. People are scared that they will be retaliated against and prefer to remain silent. How do I know this happens, this isn't my first rodeo buddy boy. How many of you have ended up behind bars for blogging? No, really it is an honest question that I would like you to answer. Well, this is the second time it happens to me. Yes sir! I am publicly stating that this is the second time I have been behind bars for blogging about a politician. (first time was in 2006) And you know what? I am sick and tired of it. I am sick and tired of politicians using their influence to try to silence me or others. I'm tired of it, my family is tired of it and I know my lawyer is too.

Why do you think I backed my co-host so much when She who Shall Not Be Named tried to silence him? Its all making sense now, the puzzle is starting to come together.


Are we going to allow this to happen here in El Paso or are we going to do something about it?