Sad Story About Ryan Moats, Dallas Police, and Moats' Dying Relative

[Keith]

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dw....6f8a23c1.html

Rushing to see his dying mother-in-law at a Plano hospital, a NFL player found himself delayed by a Dallas officer after he was stopped in the hospital's ER parking lot.

With his wife and another woman in the car, Ryan Moats - a running back for the Houston Texans - sped his car towards the hospital on March 17. However, when he made it to the ER parking lot, they were stopped by Officer Robert Powell.

Dashcam video from the Dallas officer's patrol car captured the incident.

Click the link to read the transcript. Sad.

ETA - This happened about a week ago.
More from the Dallas Morning News today - http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...p.3e9c080.html

[papabear]

My Dad once told me that you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride. That's probably kept my butt out of jail on a couple of occasions, but in this case there is no way I could have kept my cool.

[HPF Bob]

Sounds like there will be one less officer in Dallas that is stuck on stupid. I don't know what the official procedure is supposed to be but you'd expect that they could have allowed the family to spend those last moments with Ms. Collinsworth and then gone back to Moats' SUV to complete the paperwork. It sounded like that was Ryan's intention.

[kravix]

Unbelievable...

[jwallace262]

This is my first post, but I have been an avid reader of this board since the end of the season.

Seeing police officers act like that give us a very very bad name. As you can tell I am a police officer in the area. We hear about incidents like this ALL of the time and you wonder why some people have such negative thoughts about police officers. Its because of situation just like this. I have been a fan of Moats since he got drafted by the Eagles and when I saw this video my jaw about hit the floor. But I do praise Moats for having the patience to deal with that ******* cop, that says quite a bit about his morale.

Ok, I am off my soap box for now.

[Nconroe]

Welcome to posting on this site, do so more often, no big deal, all ideas are good ideas.

Unfortunately, I know it is tough for police to maintain control of situations but this type bad judgement needs to be trained out of people, it is way to common. Maybe this will have a better long term effect on these situations.

Ryan Moats , wow, very sad to be robbed of this moment by such a poor judgment. Condolences to your family.

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by jwallace262

This is my first post, but I have been an avid reader of this board since the end of the season.

Seeing police officers act like that give us a very very bad name. As you can tell I am a police officer in the area. We hear about incidents like this ALL of the time and you wonder why some people have such negative thoughts about police officers. Its because of situation just like this. I have been a fan of Moats since he got drafted by the Eagles and when I saw this video my jaw about hit the floor. But I do praise Moats for having the patience to deal with that ******* cop, that says quite a bit about his morale.

Ok, I am off my soap box for now.

1) Welcome.

2) Normally, I support the police and give them the benefit of the doubt because they have a thankless job that pays them far less than they deserve. But not this time. And not because Moats is a Texan or even an athlete.

Moats was in a stressful situation and even if it wasn't *his* mother, it was his wife's mother so you know he's got to deal with her grief and keeping the family under control. A certain amount of leeway was required.

Part of the job is knowing what's important and what isn't. This 26-year-old officer either hadn't learned that yet or didn't care. Hopefully, in time he will learn.

[jppaul]

Its a sad occurrence. My condolences to Moats, both for the death of his mother in law and because he was deprived of a chance to say goodbye. That's hard.

[HPF Bob]

This story is really starting to grow some legs. AP has picked it up and it is circulating around the net. By the weekend, Moats may be better known than Steve Slaton.

[Texans_Chick]

Yup, this has become a news cycle sort of story where everyone has an opinion on what should and shouldn't have happened.

Sometimes when things turn into news cycles, we lose what is essential about the situation. That this isn't just about a police officer with a badge and not a lick of common sense. That this is a terribly stressful and sad time for a family.

I put together a place where Texan fans and others can leave condolence-only type messages for Moats and his family:
Condolences to Ryan Moats and his family

Don't have to say much, but a few words would be nice. The blog commenting software doesn't require a real signup and nothing happens with the email info.

[superbowlbound]

Wow. Ryan Moats is a far better man than I am. Unbelievable. I would've gone to jail for sure.