Many are calling him 'douchebag' of the month!
August 6, 2012 3:40 PM   Subscribe

"If your $257,000 Ferrari is parked in the valet zone of The Mercer Hotel in SoHo and a cop starts writing your ass a ticket for being parked in the valet zone, you should just take the ticket, drive your car to a $75-a-day parking garage (and that's probably the cheapest parking garage in that neighborhood)" ...

... "and then go back inside to do Cristal shots out of your reality trash girlfriend's belly button. But that's not what 28-year-old Julien Chabbott, who is the co-creator of the Line Snob app, did and it got him a day in the clink."
posted by ericb (178 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Finding a Business in Jumping the Line -- "Hate standing in line? So did two Babson College roommates -- until they built a business on how to avoid them."
posted by ericb at 3:41 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


Rules apply to everyone else.
posted by ColdChef at 3:47 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


Why didn't he just drive it to a bank and use it as collateral for a loan?
posted by mullingitover at 3:48 PM on August 6, 2012 [16 favorites]


God dammit that is arguably the best car on the market today and it's being driven of course by a total asshole who doesn't deserve anything but a kick in the nuts. Ferrari really should be more selective about choosing its customers -- if they keep letting dickheads drive their cars, sooner or later nobody will want to be seen in one.
posted by Scientist at 3:48 PM on August 6, 2012 [26 favorites]


The quoted text is from the always hilarious DListed.
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:48 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


Do they actually make any money from that app? It seems unlikely.
posted by cell divide at 3:48 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


I believe the Germans have a word for this emotion I'm feeling....
posted by reverend cuttle at 3:48 PM on August 6, 2012 [36 favorites]


And for the next thirty years he'll use this experience to tell people how he once spent time in jail and was very tough and also masculine and had seen things.
posted by The Whelk at 3:49 PM on August 6, 2012 [55 favorites]


For the record, the cop pretty clearly put his foot directly in the line of the tire.

I don't know if he just had a lot of faith that his body would stop the guy from driving off or not, but that was pretty freaking stupid.
posted by Malice at 3:50 PM on August 6, 2012 [9 favorites]


Agreed. At this rate, I worry that soon Ferrari and every product they produce go the way of the Burberry flat-bill baseball hat.
posted by fieldcannotbeblank at 3:51 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


I believe the Germans have a word for this emotion I'm feeling....

Schoodenfroody.
posted by Rory Marinich at 3:52 PM on August 6, 2012 [10 favorites]


ericb: co-creator of the Line Snob app

Heh, having seen that video the other day, I really assumed the app was going to be a locator for finding the best blow in New York City.
posted by gman at 3:52 PM on August 6, 2012 [8 favorites]


Yep, for one the cop deliberately put his foot under the tire. And secondly, there was no need to stop him. Once the cop had the plate number the ticket was a done deal.
posted by mullingitover at 3:52 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


Note how the cop moves his foot in front of the car tire. On Jalopnik, there are a number of unintentionally funny comments which claim that the cop "escalated the conflict" by doing this. While it's true that that was probably a calculated move to hit the driver for greater penalties in the event that he should try to speed off, it's not as if the driver had any right to do so, especially after being told to stop by a police officer.

Anyway, I just found it adorable at how many people were trying to defend this entitled choad. Some even went so far as to invoke the phrase "class war."
posted by Sticherbeast at 3:52 PM on August 6, 2012 [26 favorites]


Brand management like that is really tricky, some brands court it, some avoid it just by being low key and unflashy and a bit of achire to get, Hermes for example, you couldn't pick one out of a line up unless you knew a lot about scarves and fabric in the first place.
posted by The Whelk at 3:53 PM on August 6, 2012


The one piece of info that's still up in the air for me (that is, I can't find any proof it isn't so) is the first-hand account by the videographer who says that the car was parked in the valet's space, and that the valet *handed the keys to Chabbott*, which reads to me that the car wasn't parked their illegally.

If it wasn't, that doesn't mean it's okay to run over a cop's foot (times it is okay to run over a cop's foot: pretty much almost never with maybe a few exceptions), but it certainly does mean that the cop was the one who was out of line, overreaching, quick to violence, and generally being, well, what we've come to understand the NYPD to be.
posted by tzikeh at 3:53 PM on August 6, 2012 [5 favorites]


That day in jail just bought him a crapload of publicity for his app. So it is not a fine, it is an advertising fee.
posted by srboisvert at 3:54 PM on August 6, 2012 [5 favorites]




For the record, the cop pretty clearly put his foot directly in the line of the tire.

Yeah... so? That's the kind of thing that should signal to a driver that there really is no getting out of this one without going THROUGH the cop. And the fact that he was dumb enough to keep pushing forward when there was an actual human being right by his tire is just more proof that he deserves whatever he gets.

If he wasn't concerned with accidentally running over a cop, how do you think a regular pedestrian or a child would have fared?
posted by hermitosis at 3:55 PM on August 6, 2012 [68 favorites]


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you? Not a Porsche, not an Audi R8, not a Lamborghini or Maserati. Maybe a MacLaren? Then you'd at least look like a huge nerd to people who even knew what you were driving. Is it possible to drive one of the M-Series BMWs these days without people thinking you ought to be thrown in a lake?
posted by Scientist at 3:55 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


Do you suppose he got to jump the line in Processing?
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:57 PM on August 6, 2012 [6 favorites]


In a related note, I used to work in a business next door to the Commisionaires' headquarters in a major Canadian city ( -- for those in places without commissionaires, they are a private outfit often subcontracted for low-level police duties, such as parking enforcement). I saw at least a dozen people a year leave their car in the clearly-signed 'no stopping' zone out front and run in to my workplace for a five-minute stop and return to find the tow truck backing up to their front bumper. In every case, there were balled fists and shouted imprecations. I always wondered, "Why don't you just climb into your car? They can't tow it away with you in it, and they cannot yank you out."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:57 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


the car was parked in the valet's space, and that the valet *handed the keys to Chabbott*, which reads to me that the car wasn't parked their illegally.

I'm no cop apologist, but that doesn't even make sense. The NYPD would have to be pretty stupid to start ticketing cars in the valet line. It's the fastest way to get a millionaire hotel owner making your precinct's life hell.
posted by hermitosis at 3:57 PM on August 6, 2012 [4 favorites]


wasn't parked their illegally.

Wasn't parked THERE. WTF, self.

(Also please note I'm not saying this dude is any kind of a good guy. I'm just wondering whether there was a legitimate reason to issue a ticket.)
posted by tzikeh at 3:58 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


I was ready to assume that this app was about paying people to wait in line for you, or about buying premium places in line, and get all "the 1% sucks". (That was after my first idea, which was that it was about blow, except I'm not sure how you could get that past Apple.)
posted by madcaptenor at 3:58 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


What do you drive? Ariel Atom. Integrated anti-douche factor and in this case, perhaps it wouldn't have broken the officer's toe in quite so many places
posted by fieldcannotbeblank at 3:59 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


The one piece of info that's still up in the air for me (that is, I can't find any proof it isn't so) is the first-hand account by the videographer who says that the car was parked in the valet's space, and that the valet *handed the keys to Chabbott*, which reads to me that the car wasn't parked their illegally.

If that's the case, then that's the case, but that's the sort of thing you straighten out in traffic court. Driving away gets less than nothing, especially after you've been told to stop, let alone if you've technically assaulted a police officer, even if that wasn't your conscious intent.

Even if we read the cop's motivations in the very worst possible light, the driver was still also very much in the wrong.
posted by Sticherbeast at 3:59 PM on August 6, 2012 [11 favorites]


If this was a black guy in Harlem driving a Chevy, this would definitely be considered "use of excessive force by the Racist NYPD." Now, I clearly think the guy is in the wrong, but the Ferrari definitely frames the issue for "rich asshole thinks he is above the law."
posted by gagglezoomer at 3:59 PM on August 6, 2012 [4 favorites]


Yep, for one the cop deliberately put his foot under the tire.

Before the car began moving, though. He moved his body partly in front of the car to indicate that the driver shouldn't leave. When the driver began to move the car, he said something, then the driver kept going, hitting the cop's foot.

And secondly, there was no need to stop him.

Need doesn't enter into it. If the police want to they can arrest you for traffic violations. The cop was entirely within the law to require the driver to stay at the scene.

I think the cop was acting reasonably in forcing the driver to stick around. It was likely he had parked illegally because he was in a hurry, so the cop was making a point. By requiring the driver to stay, the cop forces him to lose whatever time he gained via his illegal act.

The escalation was only slightly excessive, I think. The suspect was trying to flee the scene while under arrest (he was clearly not free to leave). Then he assaulted the officer with a car. Then he resisted arrest. I don't know if they had to be quite as violent as they were, but dragging him out of the car was pretty well necessary, since he wasn't showing much interest in getting out on his own.
posted by jedicus at 4:00 PM on August 6, 2012 [6 favorites]


hermitosis: "Yeah... so? That's the kind of thing that should signal to a driver that there really is no getting out of this one without going THROUGH the cop. And the fact that he was dumb enough to keep pushing forward when there was an actual human being right by his tire is just more proof that he deserves whatever he gets."

When he got in the car, the officer's foot was nowhere near the tire. You can see that after he's inside, the officer (needlessly, I should remind you) blocks him with his foot. Does the driver see this? Try sitting in your car, and tell me if you can see something about two inches in front of your tire.

The guy might be a douche, but the officer basically blamed the driver for the officer's own negligence. All this for no good reason, since he didn't need the car's presence to enter the ticket into the system.
posted by mullingitover at 4:00 PM on August 6, 2012 [7 favorites]


hermitosis: The NYPD would have to be pretty stupid to start ticketing cars in the valet line.

I totally agree, which is why it's so weird to me. From the link to the article with the interview of the guy who took the video:
the car was parked in a hotels valet zone and the hotel valet had the keys, I myself don't understand why the cop was giving him the ticket, it was approved by the hotel that the car was parked there.
So that's why I was wondering.
posted by tzikeh at 4:01 PM on August 6, 2012


People saying he put his foot in front of the tire:

He visibly stepped his whole body in front of the car. I don't know what he told the guy when he came back to get into the car, but I'm guessing it wasn't "go ahead and drive off, I got this." It was probably "wait one second, I'm giving you this summons." The guy turns on the car, the cop steps visibly and calmly towards the front of the car, thinking naturally "well this guy isn't very well just going to run me over while I finish writing this."

The guy does. And maybe, just maybe, it's a mistake and the guy thought he could scoot forward just a little bit.

But the cop tells him to "stop, you're running over my foot," while holding up his hand. The guy goes more, the cop says stop! stop! - the guy goes more. Look, I don't think cops should get to do whatever they want. But if you deliberately run over a guy's foot while he's yelling at you to stop, that's a violation of the simple rule "don't fucking run people over," which includes cops as both the runners and the runnees.

And he got yanked out of the car like any other dumb perp. Who knows about the hotel thing. Doesn't matter once you roll over someone's foot.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:01 PM on August 6, 2012 [85 favorites]


If this was a black guy in Harlem driving a Chevy, this would definitely be considered "use of excessive force by the Racist NYPD." Now, I clearly think the guy is in the wrong, but the Ferrari definitely frames the issue for "rich asshole thinks he is above the law."

If this was a black guy in Harlem (1) they almost certainly would know better than to disobey a cop, and (2) They would probably have been shot.

so... not really comparable.
posted by muddgirl at 4:01 PM on August 6, 2012 [31 favorites]


Yeah, the app is just about using crowdsourcing to find out ahead of time how long a line is likely to be for whatever it is that you're interested in going to see or do. Nothing wrong with that. Running people over with your million-dollar supercar because you have an entitlement complex now, that's pretty shitty.

You definitely wouldn't look like a douche in an Atom, although you'd look like a huge geek (not that that's nearly so bad). It's still not a car that screams "cool" however, and if I had one I'd be much more likely to take it to the track than to drive it on the street.

Perhaps an Aston Martin? Does James Bond still have a good enough brand to get people to overlook the fact that you're driving something that costs more money than they are likely to see in their entire life? They're certainly beautiful.
posted by Scientist at 4:03 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


(Also please note I'm not saying this dude is any kind of a good guy. I'm just wondering whether there was a legitimate reason to issue a ticket.)

linked article sez:

the Spider had no registration or inspection stickers displayed. The car also lacked a front license plate.

So, yes.
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:04 PM on August 6, 2012 [17 favorites]


In more cheerful NYC car news, there was a jazz funeral for a 30-year-old Honda Civic named "Bluey."
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:05 PM on August 6, 2012 [12 favorites]


Stitcherbeast: Even if we read the cop's motivations in the very worst possible light, the driver was still also very much in the wrong.

I totally agree.

BlackLeotardFront: that's a violation of the simple rule "don't fucking run people over,"

I totally agree.

I still want to know why the cop was ticketing him to begin with--even if it's a moot point. I'm just curious what it was about in the first place.
posted by tzikeh at 4:05 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


On lack of preview -- thanks, prize bull octorok!

(Not a sentence one ever imagines oneself typing....)
posted by tzikeh at 4:06 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


the Spider had no registration or inspection stickers displayed. The car also lacked a front license plate.

So in my comment replace "parked illegally because he was in a hurry" with "couldn't be bothered to install the required sticker and plates because he was in a hurry / wanted to look cooler in his car."
posted by jedicus at 4:06 PM on August 6, 2012


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you?

I think if you're buying one of these cars for reasons primarily to do about how it'll make other people feel about you, well, what is it separating you from this douchenozzle again?
posted by indubitable at 4:07 PM on August 6, 2012 [6 favorites]


Seems like he got off actually easy here, that cop could've just as easily reached for the taser, a car could be considered a deadly weapon.

And why the hell do you spend $300k on a fancy sports car...to drive around NYC? It's bound to get beat up just from life on the street. Take a damn car service or a limo and let them eat the upkeep costs. Save the Ferrari for the Hamptons.

Also just watching that douchebag makes me feel all kinds of German words, this guy got rich off a damn iphone app for line jumping? I need to re-think my life choices.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:08 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


No license plate? Just because Steve Jobs did it doesn't mean that it's not a dick move. I mean, Steve Jobs himself was actually kind of a dick, not the kind of guy you should really strive to emulate.
posted by Scientist at 4:09 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


For the record, the cop pretty clearly put his foot directly in the line of the tire.

A clear signal that the cop was detaining the car while he wrote the ticket. The cop has the right to do that. Once the guy entered the car, the cop then had a right to do a "safety sweep" of the car. Meaning, the cop had the right to get the guy out of the car, and do a quick search of the car.

Anyone who thinks that guy had the right to move that car in that situation is completely wrong.
posted by Flood at 4:10 PM on August 6, 2012 [6 favorites]


Rules apply to everyone else.

This is exactly why parking fines should be assessed with respect to the driver's income. I bet after a couple $100,000 parking fines, this jerk would start following the rules.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:12 PM on August 6, 2012 [39 favorites]


Scientist: "No license plate? Just because Steve Jobs did it doesn't mean that it's not a dick move."

Dunno about NY, but in California it's 100% legal to drive around without plates (under certain circumstances)
V C Section 4456: A vehicle displaying a copy of the report of sale may be operated without license plates or registration card until either of the following, whichever occurs first:
(1) The license plates and registration card are received by the purchaser.

(2) A six-month period, commencing with the date of sale of the vehicle, has expired.
posted by mullingitover at 4:13 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


V C Section 4456: Yes, because the report of sale pasted on the inside of the window is evidence of registration. You'll still get a ticket if you have nothing on display.
posted by linux at 4:15 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


What do you drive?

Look, everyone knows the future is in litter bearers. Only then can you show your ability to crush people in the most literal fashion possible.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 4:15 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


I'm not sure it's any more literal than running over their feet with a Ferrari.

Ah, but he only ran over a single person. In a litter he could crush six people at one time! So much more efficient.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 4:22 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


To all cops who would sooner do the bidding of the wealthy than serve the public good, let this incident be a lesson as to who your real enemies are.
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:24 PM on August 6, 2012 [4 favorites]


In a litter he could crush six people at one time! So much more efficient.

He's pretty skinny. I am not sure he could effectively crush six litter bearers in any sort of time. Unless, perhaps, they were orphaned children!
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:25 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


Well done, Mr. and Mrs. Chabbott. Excellent work. You must be so proud.
posted by Catch at 4:25 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


The guy might be a douche, but the officer basically blamed the driver for the officer's own negligence.

If or when pedestrians block your passage in your car, your choices do not include nudging them gently with your 600 hp race car.

What's it take to make cops the good guys on metafilter ?

This, apparently.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 4:28 PM on August 6, 2012 [15 favorites]


Don't know if it fits here, but here goes. Years ago I was helping my literal thinking friend Joey back his car out of a tight space. I was signaling him forward when he drove on top of my foot and stopped. I screamed at him "Joey you are top of my toe. Get off my foot right now." Calmly he put his head out the window and said "which way do want me to go, forward or backward?" I screamed at him" Joey, I don't care which way you go. Just get the car the fuck of my foot NOW!" Later he claimed he asked the question because he was afraid of running me over. A car weighs a lot when it's on your foot.
posted by Xurando at 4:29 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


If he pulls that little trick in Hawaii, the top charge in the indictment is attempted murder in the first degree. The recommended sentence is life without parole. The puke would certainly spent more than one day in the clink.
posted by scottymac at 4:36 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


Backpfeifengesicht. The German word you are looking for is backpfeifengesicht. That's all the time we have for today's German Word Challenge. Thank you and remember to spay or neuter your garden gnomes.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:36 PM on August 6, 2012 [14 favorites]


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you? Not a Porsche, not an Audi R8, not a Lamborghini or Maserati. Maybe a MacLaren?

A Veyron. Not sure if they're still available though - you might have to buy used, like the rest of us :)
posted by -harlequin- at 4:37 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


T.D. Strange: Also just watching that douchebag makes me feel all kinds of German words, this guy got rich off a damn iphone app for line jumping? I need to re-think my life choices.
Not even line jumping; that's an app that I can partially see a need for, and a way to monetize. This guy is just a choad who got [perhaps temporarily?] rich for no apparent good reason.

Now, let's say an app that dynamically created an instance of a line just from your GPS- similar to Facebook locations, where once someone creates a line you'll see that as the default when you open the app as a "nearby line"- and then offered real-time trading for spots. This could be for anything from a line to buy tickets, or a line to enter a venue whether bar, club, or theater. It could even include the cost of the ticket itself (say you're right near the front of the line with existing tickets for the Batman premier or some other hot blockbuster on opening night; you could put a bid of "Pay me $60, you get two tickets and my spot in line" and basically buy out your fandom and you'll just go some other day and pocket the ~$40 you just made).

Super easy to use: you're standing in a long line, you can jump on the app see if anyone's offering a primo spot in line that you'd be willing to buy, or just post an offer for your spot with a minimum price and timeout. This would include optionally uploading a camera phone picture of your spot in line/yourself right in the app.

Bidding/rebidding/haggling can occur while you're standing in line; idly watching/getting updates via your phone as to new bids/rebids/repricing. A nice little chart/graph would show a "Farecast" like trend of bids and sales in near real-time if the number of bidders in a line exceeded X. Anyone near the end of the line or on their way there can one-click to buy your spot, it automatically credits/debits the accounts (in quasi-escrow, to be autoconfirmed in N minutes unless the buyer explicitly complains). The person buying walks up to that spot in line, both parties show their respective app screens with a large font "Confirmation code" and "Accept" button, each clicks the button, and then trade spaces in line. The seller at that point risks going to the very end of the line, or not getting in at all, or they could then be a buyer for a worse space in line.

The transactions occur in app-specific "points" with a fixed transaction to/from real money whenever someone wants to cash out their account or pay into it, similar to XBox points, and you can pay into your account/pull out through various measures such as CC etc. This allows a lot of microtransactions without any CC fees, etc, and would make it easy to sell a primo spot in line, then buy a shitty spot that still gets you in and pocket the difference, or allow for a conditional "This confirms only if the spot in line was able to get tickets", without actually committing it to real money right away.

Heck, you could just as easily extend the app to include scalping or re-selling of tickets to popular sold-out events like PAX 2012 or a Louis CK show in later versions... but unlike current scalping and Craigslist sales, it would be semi-honorable, and transparent, with escrow built-in, and the seller would have more of a reputation like in old school eBay. It could even include support for maximum overpricing levels built in, if the venue/show hosters hate the idea of resale prices of many times the original ticket value.


When I heard the name "Line Snob", like a lot of you I immediately assumed that's what they'd written. That app would be cool, would be useful, would be instantly monetizable, and wouldn't even be exceptionally hard to write. Yet somehow these choads took 3 fucking years to come up with their business plan and app... and all they did was craft something that just tells you "Hey, there's a big line there" and gives you miniscule coupons for voluntarily crowd-reporting on line size, which... how are they making money on this that he can afford a fucking Ferrari?


Shit... you were right, T.D. Strange. This does make me want to re-think my life choices...
posted by hincandenza at 4:38 PM on August 6, 2012 [9 favorites]


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you?

You do what any sensible person would do and you get a Reliant Regal.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:40 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


The German word you are looking for is backpfeifengesicht

Hey, that's a real word!
posted by desjardins at 4:41 PM on August 6, 2012


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you?
Refurbished Karmann-Ghia convertible body, with an 8-cylinder Porsche engine dropped in (manual shift of course), new leather seats, etc. etc. I don't know much about cars, but that's my dream.
posted by jfwlucy at 4:45 PM on August 6, 2012 [11 favorites]


Into the pile of utterly useless knowledge I have go three more nuggets
1. This prick's name
2. There's an app called Line snob
3. You need a Ferrari to snag even a reality star.

But seriously, someone with better googling skills please let me know that this guy didn't make the money to afford a ferrari with that app. My whole understanding of life and society depends on it.

posted by savitarka at 4:48 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you? Not a Porsche, not an Audi R8, not a Lamborghini or Maserati. Maybe a MacLaren?

A Veyron. Not sure if they're still available though - you might have to buy used, like the rest of us :)


I hate cars. I don't drive, never have, never will, I have panic attacks around freeways more than 2-lanes wide, but I always said I would get a car if it could be a 1929 Bugatti Royale in British Racing Green. Nothing else would be worth the mental strife.
posted by The Whelk at 4:50 PM on August 6, 2012 [9 favorites]


Ferrari really should be more selective about choosing its customers

They are! They only sell their cars to people with lots of money. I understand that's only about 5% of the population.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:52 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you?

Uh, kind of a no-brainer
posted by Jon_Evil at 4:55 PM on August 6, 2012 [10 favorites]


old money - drive camrys

new money - bright red ferraris

wait I take that back. old money has a town car waiting in the alley, and this never happens to them.
posted by ninjew at 4:56 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


I understand that's only about 5% of the population.

Bzzzt. Wrong answer. It's actually ".000005%" of the WORLD'S POPULATION!

Next up ... Alex, I'll take the rapists for $200.
posted by ericb at 4:57 PM on August 6, 2012


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you? Not a Porsche, not an Audi R8, not a Lamborghini or Maserati. Maybe a MacLaren?

A Veyron. Not sure if they're still available though - you might have to buy used, like the rest of us :)


I had to go look it up, but you're saying that this is the car that will keep you from being despised by everyone?
posted by triggerfinger at 4:57 PM on August 6, 2012


old money - drive camrys ... new money - bright red ferraris

In L.A. they drive their money. In New York they wear their money. In New England they hide their money.
posted by ericb at 4:59 PM on August 6, 2012 [13 favorites]


The Veyron is probably one of the most impressively engineered cars of all time. I think it's around $2 million. To get it to your house I believe the lower it from a sky crane that hovers above your house using a number of booster rockets.
posted by gagglezoomer at 4:59 PM on August 6, 2012 [4 favorites]


Ferrari's asshole-test (which you must fail before you can buy one) could be informing the customer that there is an asshole-test, and according to the database, we regret to inform you that our records indicate you are too great an asshole to be entrusted as the public face of the brand.

If the customer responds "Oh. Oh I see. Oh dear. Well, thank you for your time, anyway. I'll try to buck up a bit and come back in a few months." then they pass the test and get to buy one.

I would make a quick buck by passing the test then immediately flipping the car to an asshole who couldn't get it himself, but at that point I would be being an asshole myself, and thus ineligible to buy more cars to flip, so I'd have to make the one sale count
posted by -harlequin- at 5:00 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


They are! They only sell their cars to people with lots of money. I understand that's only about 5% of the population.

that is true, especially if you want to be ahead of the line to get a brand new model when it comes out, in your choice of colors. but that's not a brand new model. and ferraris are all over eBay and high end luxury dealers.
posted by ninjew at 5:00 PM on August 6, 2012


What lame rich people we have nowadays. Time was a rich guy would have stood there, magnanimously passing out cigars and making quips to the assembling crowd. The rich of yesteryear would have ended up with the now shamefaced cops offering a police escort. What happened to the rail barons and men who wrung oil from the ground with their bare hands. All we have now are people who write half ass apps.
posted by Ad hominem at 5:06 PM on August 6, 2012 [14 favorites]


Cars schmars.
I can tell you, from my own experience, that there is nothing so ego-stoking as being the person up on a fidgeting, snorting, eye-rolling, sweating, barely contained horse amongst pedestrians.
I have force-marched trespassers off family land in this fashion, and oh boy, it's like mainlining Evil Power. I can close my eyes right now and feel the dark, sweet, and perilous sensation of Entitlement tingling in my veins.

Sweeet sweeeeeet badness ....
posted by Catch at 5:12 PM on August 6, 2012 [6 favorites]


I can close my eyes right now and feel the dark, sweet, and perilous sensation of Entitlement tingling in my veins.

Do go on.
posted by CancerMan at 5:16 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


I had to go look it up, but you're saying that this is the car that will keep you from being despised by everyone?

Despite being the fastest street-legal production car ever built ("amazing sportscar" - check!), it looks more like a sedate sedan than a screaming red attention-grabbing rocketship-styled Ferrari does. (Assuming you don't get it in silly colours)

Now, most people are not going to recognize it as what it is (you needed to look it up) or worth more than the block it's parked on. But those who do recognizes a veyron when they see one, are also likely to assume that the buyer probably has it because they love cars and/or engineering, whereas a Lambo, the assumption is likely to be conspicuous consumption, getting laid, compensating, being seen, etc etc.

But there are trade-offs. The car is sold at a loss - it costs more to build them than what customers paid for them. That means there is no brand-premium inflating the price, all that money (and then some) is going into engineering. And incredible engineering... shows. So while it's not a raunchy in-your-face status symbol like some sports cars, and while people won't know that it's beyond being a supercar, or just how expensive it really is, a cursory glance will still instantly reveal that it's not ordinary and is expensive.

But even so, having an amazing sportscar being betrayed only by the quality of its engineering - that's about the best you can hope for. Especially considering the alternative... :-)
posted by -harlequin- at 5:18 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


I never wanted a horse until now.

Can't the modern rich do something even slightly more interesting with all thier unearned wealth? Castles! Operas! A rocket ship made of pure cocaine! Jeesh, what loser dorks we have now.
posted by The Whelk at 5:19 PM on August 6, 2012 [6 favorites]


you're saying that this [Bugatti Veyron] is the car that will keep you from being despised by everyone?

You can still fail in a Veyron if you try hard enough.
posted by ceribus peribus at 5:19 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


The driver, Julien Chabbott, is the boyfriend of Stephanie Pratt, reality TV-"star" from MTV's "The Hills" and friend of Kim Kardashian.

Her brother, "former American television personality" Spencer Pratt was a "star", in the MTV reality TV-show "Princes of Malibu", together with Brandon and Brody Jenner, the sons of Bruce Jenner, and stepbrothers of Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian Odom and Rob Kardashian.

Btw, former Olympian Bruce Jenner has a webpage where he informs the world that he is "available for marketing opportunities and strategic partnerships" including "product endorsement" and "visibility thorough social assets".

Those are some of the most ridiculous people in the world and this is karmic justice.
posted by iviken at 5:21 PM on August 6, 2012 [5 favorites]


actually I want to amend my statement. repeat Ferrari customers with a solid ownership history, not necessarily just money, is what gets you preference from the factory.

a friend of a friend in Texas is this type of customer. he has been first in line for the F40, F50, Enzo, etc. the real limited ones that even money can't always buy right away. so much so that he is now the current owner of Nikki Lauda's 1 of 272 288 GTOs. which he has lent back to Ferrari for display at the factory museum in Maranello.

he drives a Civic Hybrid most of the time.
posted by ninjew at 5:25 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, to drive their Ferraris over the feet of local law enforcement, and to steal bread.
posted by Auden at 5:31 PM on August 6, 2012 [15 favorites]


Cars schmars.

I can tell you,from my own delusional experience,that there is nothing so ego-stoking as being the person standing up out the hatch of a snorting,rumbling, heavily armed,barely contained tank amongst pedestrians.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:45 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


But seriously, someone with better googling skills please let me know that this guy didn't make the money to afford a ferrari with that app. My whole understanding of life and society depends on it.

His family owns an "import export" business according to HuffPo.
posted by sweetkid at 5:49 PM on August 6, 2012


But those who do recognizes a veyron when they see one, are also likely to assume that the buyer probably has it because they love cars and/or engineering, whereas a Lambo, the assumption is likely to be conspicuous consumption, getting laid, compensating, being seen, etc etc.

Okay, I'll give you that. I don't really know anything about cars anyway, but along the lines of what The Whelk is saying, I will contend that cars of this style are the best and prettiest cars you can get. No way would a cop have given a ticket to anyone driving a car like that. :)
posted by triggerfinger at 5:54 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


Motoring reviews of the Ferrari 458 [cue Jeremy Clarkson voice] should now include phrases such as:

"And thanks to extensive use of carbon fibre throughout the body, the 458 is so light that when you drive over a police officer's foot, he will spend barely any time at the hospital at all!"
posted by -harlequin- at 5:57 PM on August 6, 2012 [6 favorites]


Cars schmars.

I can tell you,from my own delusional experience,that there is nothing so ego-stoking as being the person standing up out the hatch of a snorting,rumbling, heavily armed,barely contained tank amongst pedestrians.


You run down a policeman in one of those babies, they stay run down. Oh yeah.
posted by Catch at 6:00 PM on August 6, 2012


Yeah, I fav'd Whelk's comment as a bookmark to that link. That thing is gorgeous.
(Maybe just clone the body though - that way you get airbags, ABS, traction control, stability control, head-rests, pre-tensioners, etc, so you can drive it without getting killed by it :)
posted by -harlequin- at 6:02 PM on August 6, 2012


"The driver, Julien Chabbott, is the boyfriend of Stephanie Pratt..."
posted by iviken at 8:21 PM on August 6


So...many...German...words...
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:16 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


Morgan Motor Company were founded in 1910 and still make cars that look like that today. With V8 engines, ABS, and any other modern luxuries you can imagine.

That might be the answer, right there.
posted by Scientist at 6:20 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


Only the little people pay tickets.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:22 PM on August 6, 2012


For example, their flagship these days is the Aero 8, which has 370hp and will take you up to 170mph. And that's not even the hot version.

On the other hand, if you're a bit of a rotter they'll do you one of these bad boys. That's a 2012 model, folks. 0-60 in 4.5 seconds.
posted by Scientist at 6:25 PM on August 6, 2012


"Time was a rich guy would have stood there, magnanimously passing out cigars and making quips to the assembling crowd. The rich of yesteryear would have ended up with the now shamefaced cops offering a police escort."

Nah. The kid would have waited quietly, taken the ticket, and left. Later that day the cop would have been called back to the precinct house and screamed at by his immediate superior. Then the ticket would've been ripped up and the cop would remember what the rip guy looked like so it could never happen again. I'm glad we don't live in that world anymore.
posted by Kevin Street at 6:29 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


"Rich" guy, not rip guy.
posted by Kevin Street at 6:29 PM on August 6, 2012


Yeah, speculation about fantasy cars aside, we are (sadly) living in a time when at least on an individual level the rich are probably as accountable for their actions as they've ever been. Not, you know, large-scale corruption or anything like that, I think if anything we've backslided a little bit there over the last couple of decades. In past times though the cops would've simply looked the other way at a car like this, and any officer foolish enough to enforce normal laws on the driver would've been severely (if unofficially) disciplined. We've made a little progress there, at least.

Now, to get those traffic and parking fines set up on an income-adjusted sliding scale...
posted by Scientist at 6:33 PM on August 6, 2012


As if douchebags driving Ferraris was a new thing.

Well Ferrari do make cars and well, douchebags driving any brand of car isn't a new thing. In addition to the numerous way we can observe asshatery a drive in your local major urban centre or on a highway gives one instant and consistent observation.

What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you? Not a Porsche, not an Audi R8, not a Lamborghini or Maserati. Maybe a MacLaren? Then you'd at least look like a huge nerd to people who even knew what you were driving. Is it possible to drive one of the M-Series BMWs these days without people thinking you ought to be thrown in a lake?

Why care what strangers think? If anyone judges you on that alone would you really want validation from them? Don't many people think this of people driving pretty much any SUV or any sort of American car? Certainly if you paint the interior and put a fart exhuast on any car, or glowing lights underneath things will be thought of you. A growing number of people think anyone who drives a car at all is a douche, except when they need a ride.

That said, the answer to question is a Lotus of some sort.
posted by juiceCake at 6:35 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


There is nothing so ego-stoking as being the person standing out snorting, rumbling, hairy armed, barely contained in a tank top amongst pedestrians.
posted by cromagnon at 6:35 PM on August 6, 2012 [6 favorites]


Yeah, I guess if that question merits a serious answer, a Lotus is the way to go. Maybe an Elise. Most people will have no idea what it is (to Lotus' commercial detriment, sadly), but it'll run away from you on any moderately twisty road.
posted by indubitable at 6:39 PM on August 6, 2012


Could the police officer sue Chabbott for the injury? He certainly seems to have the assets to pay out.
posted by grouse at 6:41 PM on August 6, 2012


Well yeah. I don't really support a restoration of the age when New York still had Carnegies and Vanderbilts. Running over anyone's foot trying to get out of a $150 fine is pretty lame though. Instead of buying history, Ferarri should have a test that includes stuff like how cool you look while getting a ticket, if you keep your shit together and shrug it off or run over some guy's foot because you don't want to shell out $150. Maybe there is a buyers contract that allows Ferrari to take the car back if you make Ferarri drivers look bad. If I was Ferarri, I would do a home inspection and refuse to see you the car if you own cutoffs.
posted by Ad hominem at 6:43 PM on August 6, 2012



What do you drive? Ariel Atom. Integrated anti-douche factor and in this case, perhaps it wouldn't have broken the officer's toe in quite so many places - fieldcannotbeblank


The Ariel Atom on Top Gear. Just because.
posted by underflow at 6:44 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


Not an Elise - get it's twin brother, the Tesla :)
posted by -harlequin- at 6:45 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


I dunno, there is a rich douchebag in the French Quarter who parks his bright red Lotus Exige on the sidewalk of Royal Street on a very regular basis. Alternately he parks an ex-racing Ferrari 599, also on the sidewalk of Royal Street. He does not get tickets because he is friends with many of the police who have their station directly across from his jewelery store. Lotus drivers can definitely be douchebags.
posted by Scientist at 6:46 PM on August 6, 2012


Now apologize for wearing that purple cardigan.
posted by Divine_Wino at 6:47 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


...but how did he afford the Ferarri. His app sounds like total bull. Anyone for a game of Draw Something?
posted by Damienmce at 6:50 PM on August 6, 2012


he did not make all that money from the app. He already had money.
posted by sweetkid at 6:53 PM on August 6, 2012


Damienmce: he's an heir to his parents' import/export company. He was born with a silver Ferrari in his mouth.
posted by Scientist at 6:53 PM on August 6, 2012


And apart from the buzz related to this incident, linesnob seems to most recently got any coverage in 2010.
posted by Damienmce at 6:54 PM on August 6, 2012



Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you? Not a Porsche, not an Audi R8, not a Lamborghini or Maserati. Maybe a MacLaren? Then you'd at least look like a huge nerd to people who even knew what you were driving. Is it possible to drive one of the M-Series BMWs these days without people thinking you ought to be thrown in a lake?


A McLaren F1 would be my pick.
posted by gyc at 7:01 PM on August 6, 2012


man, if i did that shit, i would get way the fuck worse than a day in jail

@the whelk

dorks drink mt. dew in a Ford Escort and argue over "yu-gi-oh", you cannot be a dork if you are rich
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 7:03 PM on August 6, 2012


First thing i'm going to do after I write my app is buy a Maybach. My app is going to be an app a location aware social app that lets people post the location, photos, video and review of cops beating up rich guys. See a rich guy about o mess with a cop? hit your "rich guy beatdown" update button and your location gets sent out so everyone can run over and watch. Hold your phone up to stream live video of the rich guy getting an ass kickin he won't forget.
posted by Ad hominem at 7:21 PM on August 6, 2012 [5 favorites]


He didn't actually drive over the police officer's foot; I think it was just an escalation tactic to justify a greater penalty or the use of force. The cop asserts that the car ran over his foot, but you can see that the car had stopped moving and that the police officer pulls his foot away from the tire - something which he couldn't have done if the car were actually on his foot.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:31 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


A guy with shoes that ugly shouldn't be allowed to drive a car that pretty.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:32 PM on August 6, 2012


More seriously Ad Hominem, what about just a Police Encounter app where you hit a button and it starts recording audio and video and streaming it on the fly to to the cloud, and then when recording stops automatically uploads the file to a predetermined YouTube account? It would have start and stop buttons which are only dummies -- once activated, it can only truly be turned off by powering down the phone.

Also, as soon as you activate it it would tweet and post to your Facebook page that you had activated the system, and then tweet/facebook again once the system was deactivated, with the URL for the video. Would also be good for recording instances of bullying, assault, or parental/partner abuse. Ideally you could activate it in your pocket by hitting the phone's power button followed by a short code typed in on the volume buttons, so that offending or potentially-offending parties wouldn't have to know they were being recorded.
posted by Scientist at 7:32 PM on August 6, 2012 [5 favorites]


A 458 Spider? For the help, maybe. A real man wouldn't be caught dead in a car that wasn't upholstered in whale penis.
posted by Blue Meanie at 7:46 PM on August 6, 2012


what about just a Police Encounter app where you hit a button and it starts recording audio and video and streaming it on the fly to to the cloud, and then when recording stops automatically uploads the file to a predetermined YouTube account?

Yeah, I actually think it could be a good idea. broadcast to as many social networks and sharing sites as possible and maybe wikileaks. Have it use i2p or tor or something. Make it super easy to use, one bug red button and it starts logging time and location, taking still and video. Once it is broadcast to the cloud it is wiped from your phone so nobody has an incetive to torture you for any locally stored info.

I'm releasing any rights to this idea so if anyone wants to run with it go for it, as long as you make it free and open source.
posted by Ad hominem at 8:02 PM on August 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


tzikeh: I still want to know why the cop was ticketing him to begin with

There are some reports that the car was parked in a loading/unloading zone that the Mercer Hotel illegally uses for valet parking--or at least one poorly-written axe-grindy report, so take it with a grain of salt. But if the guy who shot the youtube video is our source for it being a valet zone, then I'd say we don't have much to go on. It's not clear to me if the loading/unloading zone is designated for the Mercer Hotel, or even if loading/unloading zones and valet zones are the same thing in NYC.

Anyway, all you gearheads arguing about cars have lost sight of what was the really important noteworthy thing here.
posted by hydrophonic at 8:04 PM on August 6, 2012


...and leave it to me to make a mistake like "poorly-written."
posted by hydrophonic at 8:06 PM on August 6, 2012


Well I'm may not be correct about this but I doubt the Mercer Hotel can just declare the curb a valet zone. I honestly can't think of any place with a valet. They had those cones set up, plenty of people attempt to do shit like that in order to save spots. My guess is that it is a No Standing area that The Mercer gets away with using because they have a guy hop in the car and move it when the cops show up. As soon as I could see over the steering wheel I used to perform this service for my parents, leave the car running, double parked or in a No Standing zone. The cops usually let this kind of thing slide.

Probably could find a picture of the street signs on the Internet.
posted by Ad hominem at 8:15 PM on August 6, 2012


Now that I think about it, it makes sense. When the cops stopped, I would honk and one of my parents would run out and move it before they could start writing the ticket. I guess this is what happened here.
posted by Ad hominem at 8:19 PM on August 6, 2012


what about just a Police Encounter app

It exists. The ACLU created it, but it sounds like it's still a bit buggy. No doubt with time that stuff will get ironed out.
posted by anonymisc at 8:23 PM on August 6, 2012


If this was a black guy in Harlem (1) they almost certainly would know better than to disobey a cop

Your naivete is charming.
posted by Tanizaki at 8:32 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


The New York City Parking Regulations web site lists that area as "NO STANDING HOTEL LOADING ZONE <------>".

34 RCNY §4-08(c)(5) states:
No standing-hotel loading zone. No person shall stand or park a vehicle in such zone except temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in receiving or discharging passengers and their personal baggage at hotels.
posted by grouse at 8:34 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


what about just a Police Encounter app where you hit a button and it starts recording audio and video and streaming it on the fly to to the cloud, and then when recording stops automatically uploads the file to a predetermined YouTube account?

Wouldn't that be illegal in states like CA?
posted by kenko at 9:00 PM on August 6, 2012


anonymisc: Good to know. I just checked out Police Tape (the ACLU's app) and it's not what it could be. You have to open the app and press a button to get a recording happening so someone is definitely going to know you're fiddling with your smartphone, and there's no indication that it's broadcasting to anyone that an incident is in progress (or any option to have it do so, although I guess it uploads the recording to the ACLU when you're done? It didn't say anything to me about that when I tried it, but I guess it's supposed to. I'd rather have access to the video myself and not wait for the ACLU's lawyers to decide whether there was a potential incident.) Also, you can stop it just by hitting the Home button on the phone. Finally, of the two times that I tested it out, it crashed once (and locked up my phone in doing so).

Two out of five stars.
posted by Scientist at 9:03 PM on August 6, 2012


On not-preview: I'm sure it would be illegal in many cases to record police or to record anyone without their permission, but the app that I am envisioning (and this seems to be the ACLU's vision as well, given the disclaimer I had to agree to before using their app) is that this is basically for situations that are emergencies or likely to be come emergencies when you're less interested in the legality of the recording and more interested in making sure that there was a record of you getting beaten up by the cops.
posted by Scientist at 9:05 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


God, I'm glad that Pierre L'Enfant built a moat around Georgetown so that DC could cordon off all of its douchebags to one small corner of the city.

Sadly, this makes me glad that I don't live in New York. The New York that I used to love seems to have gone into hiding. It's still there (as evidenced by the Jazz Funeral for that guy's Civic), but I can never seem to find it when I'm in visiting The City these days....

Oh, and my gut instinct would be that a Tesla would be the least-douchey supercar of choice, although I saw one last week parked outside of an Apple Store in Clarendon, and it still seemed pretty pretentious. Also, all the ones I've seen have pretentious vanity plates...

So..... Classic Porche for the nice-guy-millionaire's car?

posted by schmod at 9:09 PM on August 6, 2012


Classic Porsches are within the reach of ordinary mortals, actually! As long as you don't want something collectible, that is -- an old 911 or 944 is not ridiculously expensive though, a friend of mine's dad had one growing up, it was a seriously cool car. The bugger is the maintenance since they use non-standard fasteners to prevent rank amateurs like you and me (and your local mechanic) from fiddling with them. Still, there are workarounds.

Anyway, if you want an old bug-eyed 911 you can probably have one for normal-people money, and nobody will think you're an asshole at all! They'll just think "Man, that's a sweet car, I wish I had thought of that." The downside is that they lack the performance of modern supercars and also they have an reputation for killing their drivers. Bit of a downer, that.
posted by Scientist at 9:24 PM on August 6, 2012


Guy was a douche, should have just taken the ticket.

Saw a Fisker the other day, possible contender for sports car that is OK to like. Maybe an old Lancia Delta Integrale or original Audi Quattro?
posted by arcticseal at 9:48 PM on August 6, 2012


I think cops should always use the minimum force necessary, rather than abuse the office to administer street justice.

The douchbag should get his comeuppance in court, not from unnecessary, vindictive police violence.
posted by anonymisc at 10:04 PM on August 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


(To clariy, I'm responding to Dasein's apologism that more force than what worked would have been justified, ie I'm not suggesting that the officer acted inappropriately.)

Though from looking at the video, I am slightly suspicious that the officer going to the hospital was theatrics for legal (and possibly work comp) reasons :-)

posted by anonymisc at 10:10 PM on August 6, 2012


Honestly skimmed after halfway, but a full day in a garage a half block north would have been no more than $40, not $75 (most of the garages in NY screw you on the first hour; a full 24 is maybe 2x the first hour fee).
posted by 99_ at 10:29 PM on August 6, 2012


I don't care if the douchebag shot the cop, nobody should smash his head open in the street. Nobody should smash his head open at all, because members of a civilized society don't do that. He should be arraigned in court and charged with crimes proportional to his actions (reckless endangerment might be a good start) and he should face an appropriate punishment such as for instance a fine, jail time, counseling to deal with his interpersonal issues, and/or revocation of his driver's license.

We don't smash people's heads in, just like we don't run people over with cars. Two wrongs don't make a right, they just make more wrongs. Why is that so hard?
posted by Scientist at 10:37 PM on August 6, 2012 [4 favorites]


Scientist, if the asshole would have gotten out of the car when asked (or not into it when asked), he wouldn't have hit his head at all. He could have stepped out, turned around, and been handcuffed. It didn't look to me like the cops intentionally threw his head on the ground but that his head landed there due to his own idiocy.
posted by dobbs at 10:56 PM on August 6, 2012 [1 favorite]


Because the ACLU app uploads (streams?) to a server they're running, it wouldn't suppose me if most of their work on this so far has bern on getting the back end running, and the front end that we see is hopefully just early days. (though it might stay 'early days' for a while - they have to make an iOS front end to)
posted by -harlequin- at 11:22 PM on August 6, 2012


I think this is pretty disgusting, notwithstanding the entitlement of the guy driving the Ferrari. If the guy was driving some crappy car I would bet the reaction would be entirely different. I've read countless outragefilter posts here about police violence and when it is on tape... it's getting cheered.

The police officer is completely unprofessional. His reaction of over the top violence to a situation he actually engenders is outrageous. The *only* reason you put your foot in front of a car moving off is to escalate something minimal (driving of while getting a ticket) into something serious (assaulting a police officer). And when it happens, if it happens, because if my foot took 1/4 of the weight of a Ferrari I don't think I'd be still standing up with ease 5 minutes later, he punches the window, yells "you ran over my f*cking foot", drags the guy to the ground and then leaves him there. Where he is left - in the street - alone is dumb, unneccessarily humiliating and unsafe.

Trained police officers know that people do dumb, irrational things around them in stressful and unfamiliar situations. Their job is not to escalate events, but to defuse them and deal with them. I think the driver is a dick for trying to drive off, but his reaction is no different to that of hundreds of people I've seen who pull off as their ticket is being written.

it's thin end of wedge stuff. The humiliation and legitimacy of violence and abuse against supposed perps creates culture of police militarization and the whole ethos of escalating police/civilian encounters into one of domination/subordination. It legitimizes bad policing practice, strips dignity from all perps - innocent or not, and grossly subverts the role of police to protect and serve. They are, for all their role as enforcers of law, public servants.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:15 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Doesn't matter whether or not this utter asshole saw where the cop's foot was, and I am baffled by those trying to excuse him for that or any other reason. He was getting a ticket, right there and then, and the cop had plainly not finished with his worthless, entitled ass. The cop was clearly standing very close to his car. He should not have moved the car, period.

God knows I rarely side with the cops in situations that turn physical but this prick asked for everything he received.
posted by Decani at 12:31 AM on August 7, 2012 [3 favorites]


I had never heard the word 'choad' before this thread, so I'm grateful that this young man seems to have defined its meaning so completely.
posted by colie at 1:08 AM on August 7, 2012 [2 favorites]


The humiliation and legitimacy of violence and abuse against supposed perps creates culture of police militarization and the whole ethos of escalating police/civilian encounters into one of domination/subordination.

Probably, but give that choad another slap from me, please Officer.
posted by colie at 1:10 AM on August 7, 2012


When Mayback returns to production, they're bringing their Landaulet to the party. Then it's your driver James' ticket for crushing the peasants, not yours. I love the elitism that comes from telling your driver that he's not good enough to share the open-air motoring with you.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 1:48 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


The humiliation and legitimacy of violence and abuse against supposed perps creates culture of police militarization and the whole ethos of escalating police/civilian encounters into one of domination/subordination.

The guy ran over the cop's foot. I can assure you that if you did that to me, I would not have the same restraint that officer had - I would have beat you senseless.

That cop acted with admirable restraint. And, after you run over a cop's foot, - the cop is legally allowed to use a certain amount of voilence to detain you. You know, lots of criminals carry guns and do violent things. Police officer's have to use violent force sometimes.
posted by Flood at 4:49 AM on August 7, 2012


And, after you run over a cop's foot, - the cop is legally allowed to use a certain amount of voilence to detain you.

What you're allowed to do and what is the right thing to do are not the same thing. I'm curious why you thought violent force was the appropriate response from a police officer.
posted by MuffinMan at 4:54 AM on August 7, 2012


choad was a popular term at my highschool in the 90's. i don't think i've heard it since.
posted by camdan at 5:25 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


What would I drive?

Probably something like a Nissan DeltaWing. It looks like a race car born out of the imagination of the 1930'es and a Batman comic book. And it runs on a 1.6 litre diesel engine... if I weren't so environmentally conscious I'd go for the airplane-engined and fire-spouting 47 litre 12 cylinder Brutus.
posted by cx at 5:43 AM on August 7, 2012


Flood wrote: And, after you run over a cop's foot, - the cop is legally allowed to use a certain amount of voilence to detain you.

Police are generally allowed to use reasonably necessary and proportionate force when defending themselves or others, or when apprehending a suspect. I don't know whether it was really necessary to detain the driver, but why would any extra force be necessary once he was out of the car? He was apparently unarmed, of slim build, and he had already surrendered.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:51 AM on August 7, 2012


The only way that video could have been better is if the girlfriend had wrecked the car.
posted by Forktine at 5:52 AM on August 7, 2012 [2 favorites]


I'm curious why you thought violent force was the appropriate response

The guy ran over the Cop's foot. How are you missing that? The reaction is a human reaction.

The cop had the right to detain the car. The cop made an obvious move to indicate to the driver that he was detaining the car. The driver then decided he would not be detained, and in the process of trying to flee, he injured to cop.

You wrote above, The *only* reason you put your foot in front of a car moving off is to escalate something minimal - That statement is non-sense. The cop was not escalating anything at that time. The cop was making a clear signal that he was detaining the car, as is his legal right, while writing the ticket.

Do you seriously think that a driver has the right to just drive away while the cop is writing the ticket? The cop did not engage the driver at all - he calmly moved to a position to make it clear that the driver and the car were NOT going anywhere.

The driver is the one who escalated the scene. THE DRIVER DROVE OVER THE COPS FOOT. You attack the cop for detaining the car and call the cop unprofessional - but you excuse the driver's actions.

The driver knew that the cop was in the way. The driver intentionally drove forward - trying to play som kind of game of chicken with the cop, trying to get the cop to move. So, legally, the driver assaulted the cop with a deadly weapon. Once a driver assaults a police officer, there is latitude given in terms of the response.
posted by Flood at 6:17 AM on August 7, 2012 [6 favorites]


The cop was not escalating anything at that time. The cop was making a clear signal that he was detaining the car, as is his legal right, while writing the ticket.

You don't signal anything by putting your toes next to a tire. You don't stop someone shutting a window by putting your fingers in the way.

The driver is the one who escalated the scene. THE DRIVER DROVE OVER THE COPS FOOT. You attack the cop for detaining the car and call the cop unprofessional - but you excuse the driver's actions.

.. by calling the driver a dick. The cop make a meal of writing his ticket and then loses it when the man edges forward. The driver is clearly at fault, but he's a civilian. The police officer is a trained professional. I'll be damned if it says anywhere in the manual that you stop a guy who looks like he's about to drive off by putting your toes in front of his tire. It's dumb, it's bad policing and then grossly overreacting with violence compounds it.
posted by MuffinMan at 6:25 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


The police officer is also human. You are nit-picking about police procedure to make this cop out to be evil and wrong.

Granted, police procedure does not say, don't block a car with your body. Ok, the officer did not follow procedure on that point.

But it is clearly to everyone, the driver included, what the cop's intent was when doing that. Right?

Everything after that point is mitigated by the FACT that the cop was just assaulted with a deadly weapon. Someone runs over a cop, and the cop calls them a dick, and you are crying about "unprofessionalism" from the cop.

Man, if that was the extent of police unprofessionalism in this country, then things would be great.

You are working so hard to turn this mole-hill into a mountain.
posted by Flood at 6:38 AM on August 7, 2012



In the english language there is a sentence construction using a conjunction whereby everything before the conjunction is passively negated.

The driver is clearly at fault, but he's a civilian.
...

Is a great example of that.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 6:58 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Where he is left - in the street - alone is dumb, unneccessarily humiliating and unsafe.

Hey, there were traffic cones!

I don't think we have a right to not be humiliated during arrest, within a general sense of the word. The way in which one might be arrested is quite variable, and often has a lot to do with our reaction upon being arrested. Two things the officers knew about this guy:

1. He is attempting to resist arrest

2. He has no qualms about harming police officers.

At that point the show of force is about subduing someone as quickly and effectively as possible. It didn't seem to me like the kid was injured during the arrest outside of a few bumps, though I'm sure he was scared half out of his wits -- and that's a good thing, because it meant it was finally getting through to him what had happened.

Count me among those who think it's obvious that the police officer signaled with his entire body that he was detaining the car, and then offered a verbal warning that the man would run over his foot if he continued driving.

Anyone who thinks the officer's reaction didn't show admirable restraint considering the pain, adrenaline, and anger that he must have experienced, is living in some kind of cop-hating fantasyland. Although, if this had happened on a dark highway instead of an incredibly public thoroughfare, I'm willing to bet some abuses would have taken place.
posted by hermitosis at 7:16 AM on August 7, 2012 [4 favorites]


Count me among those who think it's obvious that the police officer signaled with his entire body that he was detaining the car, and then offered a verbal warning that the man would run over his foot if he continued driving.

Yep. Also note that the driver and the cop exchange words even before the driver starts driving away, and that the cop repeatedly tells the driver to stop, even as the driver keeps trying to scooch the car away. There was no excuse for the driver's behavior.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:22 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Scientist: "Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you?"

Vector W2
posted by symbioid at 7:32 AM on August 7, 2012


That's really for the retro hipster richies.
posted by symbioid at 7:33 AM on August 7, 2012


Bloomberg's Army appears to be more equal opportunity than I thought.
posted by whimsicalnymph at 7:34 AM on August 7, 2012


At what point do you think he was under arrest?

At the very, very, very latest, when the cop yelled "stop," after which point the driver kept on going.

That said, I do not think a reasonable person would think that they are free to leave when a cop is ticketing their car, nor did we hear what the cop had said to the driver before the driver decided to drive away.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:19 AM on August 7, 2012


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you? Not a Porsche, not an Audi R8, not a Lamborghini or Maserati. Maybe a MacLaren?

Not 30 minutes ago I encountered a total douchebag driving a McLaren. He tailgated, he changed lanes at high speed and with no signaling, he gunned it when there wasn't anywhere to go. It gave me enormous pleasure when I read the lanes better, and ended up ahead of him at the exit we both took. All that dick-waving and he ends up behind a first-gen Prius with bird stickers all over it.
posted by rtha at 8:42 AM on August 7, 2012 [6 favorites]


I think there's at least a colorable argument that, at the 25 second mark in the video, when the cop says "stop," that constitutes a legal arrest in the broadest possible sense.

No, that's an arrest in an extremely overt, narrow sense. A cop yelling "stop" isn't merely a situation where maybe you are under arrest - it is utterly unambiguous that you are under arrest at that point.

That said, he was under arrest before that. You are under arrest when a reasonable person would think they were being restrained or not free to go. You do not have to be told that you are under arrest for you to be under arrest. I would slot "my car is being ticketed" into such a situation. If you don't believe me, try speeding away the next time you get a speeding ticket. Jailarity will ensue.

Also, he ignores the cop's initial "get out," and then he falls back into the car when the cop is pulling him out.

Incidentally, the car does move after the cop yells "stop," although that could have been the car switching into park.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:58 AM on August 7, 2012


The issue is NOT "was he under arrest" - the issue is "was he being detained."

A police officer can detain someone without arrest for a short period - including the time needed to write a ticket, check ID, and complete a "safety sweep."

Clearly, the car and driver were being detained.
posted by Flood at 9:02 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Of course, as soon as he fled the traffic stop detention, let alone towards the cop's body, he was committing a crime in front of the cop, thereby giving ample PC for an arrest right then and there.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:21 AM on August 7, 2012


I believe the Germans have a word for this emotion I'm feeling....

Fahrvergnügen?
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 10:24 AM on August 7, 2012 [3 favorites]


You are under arrest when a reasonable person would think they were being restrained or not free to go. You do not have to be told that you are under arrest for you to be under arrest. I would slot "my car is being ticketed" into such a situation. If you don't believe me, try speeding away the next time you get a speeding ticket. Jailarity will ensue.

Reasonable people think that being arrested involves being taken to the station and booked for an alleged criminal offense. "My car being ticketed" is not such a situation. If you don't believe me, try politely accepting the ticket next time you get a speeding ticket. Jailarity will not ensue. :)

This guy knew he was being told to "wait here", and aggressively disregarded that. It was after he did that, that a reasonable person would think he was under arrest.
posted by -harlequin- at 10:27 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


(after he did that by bumped the cop out of the way with a car, I mean)
posted by -harlequin- at 10:33 AM on August 7, 2012


Seriously. What do you get these days if you're stonking rich and want an amazing sportscar but don't wish to be completely despised by everyone around you?

Lotus. They are a bit flashy looking, but when you get down to it they are very driver centric. They are built to be extremely light weight and they lack many creature comforts. A/C is optional. There is no sound barrier between the engine and the passenger compartment, but the engine is sourced from Toyota so it will run for 200k miles. They cost less than a loaded BMW M series but you won't see another one on the road for months.
posted by dgran at 10:42 AM on August 7, 2012


Chabbott has been charged with assault, vehicular assault, disorderly conduct, and obstruction.

That's obstruction of justice. The question of whether he was under arrest before he drove into the cop doesn't matter. He was interfering with a police officer engaged in enforcing the law.
posted by hydrophonic at 11:20 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


TMZ: The Cop I Ran Over Is FAKING IT
posted by grouse at 11:32 AM on August 7, 2012


They cost less than a loaded BMW M series but you won't see another one on the road for months.

Unless you live in Silicon Valley where there are a bunch of them (Lotuses). Not as many as BMWs, to be sure.
posted by wildcrdj at 2:47 PM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


I would prefer this way of handling illegally parked douchebags.

Happy motoring!
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:45 PM on August 7, 2012


He didn't actually drive over the police officer's foot; I think it was just an escalation tactic to justify a greater penalty or the use of force.

Huh. I agree, it didn't actually seem to me like he was injured. That doesn't excuse the recklessness of driving when someone's directly in front of you, but the cop seems like just as much of an asshole as the driver. Slamming the driver to the ground looks a lot more like assault to me (whatever the law may say about it).
posted by three_red_balloons at 6:33 PM on August 7, 2012


I would prefer this way.
posted by hydrophonic at 6:55 PM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


I am absolutely floored at the comments in this thread. I just cannot believe that anyone, anywhere is defending the driver in this.

First off, the officer did not put "his toes under the car." He stepped in front of the car, the driver had to move quite a bit forward to run over his foot.

Second off, saying that the officer "escalated the situation" by stepping in front of the car is like saying that a domestic violence victim "escalated the situation" by arguing with their partner. The officer was very clearly saying that he was not free to move the car, and was standing in front of the car for long enough before the driver moved forward that there is no possible way running him over was anything but intentional. The driver is 100%, irrefutably in the wrong for what he did. There is no justification, circumstance, or context to this.

This was assault on a police officer, plain and simple. The officer responded remarkably well. Pounding on a window and yelling are more than reasonable responses to being run over by a car.

Pulling the driver out of the car and handcuffing him on the ground is definitely justified given that he has just assaulted an officer with a car. The driver had already assaulted an officer, detaining him to prevent further assaults was (correctly) the officer's number one priority. The driver had already shown willful disregard for the officers safety and well being, he very well could have had a weapon on him. It was not only justified, but necessary, to restrain him as quickly as possible.

If you have an interaction with anyone, especially a police officer, being violent is always wrong. Period. You resolve the situation with words, not with violence.
posted by NerdcoreRising at 11:37 PM on August 7, 2012 [3 favorites]


This was assault on a police officer, plain and simple

OK, Here's my non-US perspective. I don't expect lots of people to agree with it, but there you go.

The US has very assymetric standards of terms like "assault" and "violence" when it involves police and civilians. The extent of these assymetric standards are now largely culturally accepted. They are not accepted to the same degree in many other developed countries, my own included. US policing norms legitimise disproportionate and unnecessary use of dominance, violence and militarisation of the police. They overwhelming penalise low level acts of violence or resistance against the police, leading to criminalisation. Better police training would allow officers to act to defuse potentially violent situations rather than escalate them to a situation where the officers "has" to show overwhelming dominance.

In this case, the alleged injury to the police officer is avoidable. The officer has a chance at several points to act differently so that the end result is neither him being injured nor a traffic ticket escalating to something else. As a policing tactic, I really question whether putting your foot in front of a car's front wheel is sensible. It invites challenge and leaves the police officer unnecessarily vulnerable.

The car driver has several choices too, of course, and is hardly blameless. He is the architect of his own fate and deserves little sympathy. But this particular dick's actions are not unique and while a bit of schadenfreude for some guy in a Ferrari always plays well it isn't always some entititled dick. A seasoned cop will have seen all sorts of dumb shit as people do dumb things in stress situations. By defusing the stress and appropriately delimiting fight/flight options a well trained policeman can mitigate for this. To me, the "protect" in "protect and serve" also includes some degree of protecting you from making more dumb decisions.

The officer's reaction to these situations like these is determined by his training and the latitude he has to escalate quickly to a dominant and violent position. In this case the policeman loses composure - he swears at the driver twice, and the driver's arrest is emotionally charged. After this, the "assault" by the driver is met with a dominant show of violence and humilation by the police, and followed by a highly assymetric set of penalties - the driver is charged with felony assault while the police officer's use of violence and property damage is within his rights.

The tactical preference for swift escalation to dominant violence and the acceptance of assymetric standards of violence are part of a spectrum that starts with some dick in a fancy car but also includes teams of heavily armed, masked SWAT teams effecting drug raids and shooting first. In my view grossly assymetric acceptable use of violence is a barrier to effective policing, leads to worse outcomes and is a platform for police abuse.*

This has been characterised as excusing the driver or hating the police. I disagree that it excuses him. Adults are responsible for their own actions. The outcome of the incident is that a parking violation has escalated to a jailable offense. I attribute fault to the policeman in this case because as the trained professional he should be in control of the situation. He does his job very poorly. We should expect higher standards from policemen than schmucks in Ferraris.

More broadly, the outcome of incidents of this nature up and down the country are jailable offenses. The escalation to violence is matched by a system of justice that overwhelmingly favors jail over rehabilitation. Society loses two ways: it bears the financial and social cost of imprisonment and the opportunity cost of removing an economically productive person.

*It also legitimises pseudo militarisation of civilians when in "defense" situations. The perceived need for gun ownership and concealed carry is a by product of society seeing escalation and force as a preferred threat response.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:03 AM on August 8, 2012 [8 favorites]


I thoroughly agree with MuffinMan, but I'd like to add: law enforcement in the USA seems to take it for granted that there are bad people and good people. Many laws (and not only drug laws) seem to be selectively enforced, or penalised out of all proportion to the harm caused by their breach. A massive amount of resources are dedicated to a probationary system that practically ensures that offenders will be penalised again and again. Undercover agents use tactics that come very close to entrapment, ensuring only that their subject is not forced to commit a crime. All these things seem to be tolerated because there is a tacit assumption that they will not affect "people like us".

The hypocrisy of it all is astounding when you consider that the President of the USA notoriously broke the drug laws which he now enforces, apparently oblivious to the fact that if he had been one of the youths sentenced to the treadmill of probation - jail - probation he would certainly not be President, and would very likely no longer be among the living. But he was lucky enough to be middle class and in Hawaii, not poor and in Detroit, so it was only a youthful frolic and not evidence of bad character.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:46 AM on August 8, 2012 [3 favorites]


Deliberately driving a car into someone is assault, not "assault."
posted by hydrophonic at 5:07 AM on August 8, 2012 [3 favorites]


The tactical preference for swift escalation to dominant violence

There was no tactical escalation to swift violence until after the idiot walked to the car, got in it, started it and ran into the officer for no apparent reason.

Furthermore, touching someone who does not want to be touched is assault. There is no requirement for injury.

This guy assaulted the cop long before he got to where he ran over his foot.

It wasn't an accident. It wasn't in the course of some other more pressing thing, like escaping from godzilla. It was for no good goddamned reason.

I'm with you on the police brutality and militarization thing. This isn't a case of that. That Cop should have tazed that douche because although the douche will unfortnately walk from the felony vehicular assault, no attorney is good enough to get you untazed for being an entitled and stupid ass.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:59 AM on August 8, 2012


The decision to step in front of the car wasn't strictly necessary, but neither was it wrong or an escalation of any sort. It did not escalate anything, and it did not create a fight or flight situation. The driver created the situation, and the driver escalated the situation.

The officer didn't behave perfectly, but he shouldn't be expected to. He is human, and situations aren't always in his control. In my honest opinion the better choice would have been to detain the driver in handcuffs when he attempted to enter the vehicle. But, given that the incident was being filmed it would have led to chants of police brutality and possibly a multi million dollar lawsuit against the city. It's effectively not a choice he had because the public cries police brutality any time they see an officer using any sort of force, justified or not.

Hopefully his superiors go over the incident with him and give him training on how to handle it better next time, but he certainly didn't do anything wrong.
posted by NerdcoreRising at 9:00 AM on August 8, 2012


the public cries police brutality any time they see an officer using any sort of force, justified or not.

Apparently, there is an exception when an officer is using force against a Ferrari-driving trust-fund douchebag who just committed a crime on tape.
posted by grouse at 9:16 AM on August 8, 2012


It's his shorts that piss me off the most.
posted by colie at 9:48 AM on August 8, 2012


It's a shaky video but it honestly looks to me that the car inches forward at 0:27 and that the cop pulls his foot out at 0:29. His left leg comes back suddenly and he hops on his right leg to keep his balance. It's not ridiculous that a tapered object can be removed from underneath a pneumatic tire, especially if only part of the tire was on only part of the foot.

The Daily News reported that Chabbott tried to grab the ticket book from the cop's hands before the video starts. If that's true, what we saw was his second assault and I'm surprised the cop showed as much restraint as he did.
posted by hydrophonic at 1:18 PM on August 8, 2012


Like the guy in the $257,000 Ferrari is going to stick around for a ticket! Come on!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:59 AM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


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