SIX cops, and ONE Subaru

A friend of mine is a pilot. I am too. Last week I had a Denver overnight. My buddy lives there, so we went out and abused his "new" 2005 STi. He'd owned it just ten days, and had just gotten it tuned stage I. It's an amazing car, and we had a blast on some beautiful, curvy mountain roads.
I live here, and a few days later, (last Wednesday) my Denver buddy had a Minneapolis overnight. Even though he's driven it before, we jumped in my STI and cruised around. He wanted to compare and contrast the GD vs GR driving experience. We both drove, but mostly me since it was dark and I know the roads. A large percentage of my local curvy loop is in Bloomington, but there wasn't any drama.
Sometime before 1am it was pretty much time to wrap it up. On the way to drop him at his hotel we were still chatting, and I decided we needed another few minutes. On a whim I pulled off I494 at Lyndale, which is a few exits before the hotel. We swung into the Bloomington BMW dealership to see what there was to see. I usually spend time with my Denver buddy late, on his overnights. Since pilots need to be pretty cautious about drinking, we usually don't go out. We're both car guys, so we tend to drive for fun and check out random dealerships as we pass them. You know, daydream, hang out. Am I the only one who does this?
So we were there wandering around, with my car parked right under a light in the parking lot, for maybe ten minutes. Frankly the inventory wasn't particularly interesting, I guess all the good stuff was all locked safely inside.
We hop back into my car and pull out of the lot, not in a hurry. At the stop sign I'm signaling my left turn left onto American Blvd. The radar detector is silent, but to my right I see two blacked out (no lights) squad cars facing me and parked near the median just east of the bridge over I35W. I make a full stop, and prepare to turn left toward the hotel. I'm wondering if they can possibly be looking for me after my (ahem!) spirited drive. As I start the turn I see two more blacked out squad cars facing west, one in the oncoming lane and another backed onto the sidewalk. Now I'm pretty sure I'm getting pulled over, but why?
As I cross the half-way point onto American Blvd, I see two more (a total of six, now) blacked out squads behind the two others facing west. As I complete the turn eastbound on American Blvd, the bridge guys explode forward and make the stop.
I'm actually relaxed now. This is obviously way more serious then speeding, and speeding is all I've done wrong. I go through my standard ritual. Four ways on. Radar detector off. Dome lights on. Front and rear windows rolled down. Hands on the steering wheel.
The "main" cop approaches. I tell him first thing that I'm armed. He has me retrieve my ID first, then invites me (carefully!) out of the car. He disarms me, of course, and pats me down. His big moment comes when he questions why I have a flashlight. The handcuffs go on, a first for me, but I'm not under arrest. Off I go into his squad. I don't ask a single question, I know they'll tell me what it's about when they're ready. My buddy stays in my car throughout.
Main Guy checks car registration, insurance, and drivers license. He even calls in the serial number on my weapon, which makes sense, I just didn't know they could do it so quickly. I'm reading his computer though the mesh, and see that two "suspicious" males were "spotted" in the BMW parking lot. Right; spotted directly under a streetlight. Well done, Secret Agent Number Seven, the clever janitor disguise fooled Professor Crowbar and his fiendish sidekick.
In his only moment of borderline @$$hole-ness, Main Guy suddenly says defensively, and in response to nothing, that my friend and I are wearing dark clothes. I think white jeans went out of style in the 80's, so we're both wearing the blue kind. I'm wearing a bright blue tee shirt. My friend is wearing a white one. Our fleece jackets are dark blue and black, but we're not dressed like ninjas or anything. Whatever.
Anyway, it turns out there's been several (they said, "three") cars stolen from Bloomington BMW recently. They kept trying to get us to admit we were messing with the lock boxes. I told Main Guy twice we literally never touched a single vehicle, and that we were basically hanging out since we don't see each other much. Blah, blah, blah.
Over Main Guy's radio I hear that an overnight employee showed another cop some damaged weather stripping on a car. To his credit, the cop at the dealership, on the radio, called BS right away. He said it looked like the damage was old, and he gave the employee statement zero credibility.
Up ahead in my car they were asking my buddy the same questions. Luckily, since we were telling the truth, we were giving the same answers. We were both polite, but absolutely unapologetic throughout.
After some time (10-15 min?) they let me out. They explained about the GTA that had taken place, thanked us for being cooperative, and sent us on our way. We thought about stopping at Bloomington Subaru on the way out (with several squads leaving the area in the same general direction) but decided to call it a night.
I thought the cuffs were a bit much. I got a little pissed, and still am, but it was interesting. Usually when I get pulled over I've actually done something wrong; generally it's related to some sort of confusion on my part regarding the posted speed limit. It was a whole different experience to be genuinely innocent. Plus, it's good to know these guys are doing their jobs. Well, doing their jobs except for the rampant GTA occurring at the Beemer dealership. They weren't real warm, or anything, but they were professional about it, and nobody got tazered or maced. I figure the real thieves probably drove by while the entire Bloomington Police Force was foolishly putting on a dramatic light display. Now the cops will never catch them.
In case this isn't already dull enough, here's a couple of boring, unrelated side notes: The last time I talked to a Bloomington cop he stopped to "assist" as I finished changing a tire for some clueless woman while traffic wizzed by. I'm sure glad they remembered my good deed and gave me credit for being an upstanding citizen.
Also I foolishly mentioned to my friend, as we pulled off I494, that after seven months of ownership, I hadn't been pulled over in the STI. He knows I went through a six month-ish rough patch in my old WRX where I got pulled over four times (once in a rental on a ski trip/none resulted in tickets). I was hoping I'd broken the pulled over mojo. This will teach me to tempt fate.
So, Beware!
Don't go BMW shopping, or window shopping, after dark. If you do, and you get mugged or something, don't panic because the cavalry will be nearby.
Thanks for reading!

 

Seems a tad excessive, but if there were thefts recently, they were just doing their jobs. Cuffing you is just for the officers protection really. Technically, if they didn't read you your Miranda rights, any questions they asked you would have been worthless if you really were at fault for anything.

 

Nice... enjoined reading. is it weird that i wanna go walk around in a BMW dealership after dark now?

 

Why do you tell them you're armed? Just creates more drama.

 

Are you serious with this question? O.P. probably has a permit for conceal and carry. Assuming he wanted to keep his permit and his weapon, he has to inform the officer up front.

 

You don't have to tell them you are armed. Probably a good idea but you are not required to tell them without being asked.

 

I think there was already plenty of drama. It's true you don't need to tell them in MN, but I always do. Law enforcement has always been appreciative, even this time. Although it seems to me that if they hadn't known I might not have been cuffed. It's not play time for these guys, and I feel better with them knowing. I consider it a courtesy, but I understand both sides of the argument. To each his own.

 

Why on earth would you NOT tell the officer you are armed? Do you WANT to get shot?

Good story and well done for playing it cool on your part!

 

+1 to this. The cops aren't out there playing games. It may not be legally required, but kudos to the OP for being open, honest, and up front with the police.

Thanks for the interesting story. In all honesty, it seems like both you and the police handled themselves very well.

 

Agreed, Just think if u had your gun clipped on your side and u reach to get your wallet out of your back pocket the cop sees the gun he/she (don't wanna offend anyone) would be pointing their gun at you so quick and pulling you out of your car and trowing your face in the pavement so fast you wouldn't even know what hit you.

 

I was once talking to a cop (years ago) and of course I had to ask him if he ever fired his weapon at a suspect. He said, "No, but I almost shot someone once as he reached for his insurance card... It was in his glove box, right underneath his gun."

I'll never forget that.

 

Of course he does...like a lot of people here. In some states you have to inform a police officer if stopped, in MN you don't. If they ask if you're armed, you must tell them. If you tell them you're armed, they will almost certainly disarm you, which creates a dangerous situation in my opinion. Just don't do anything stupid like put your hands in your pockets or this:

You know they are going to ask for drivers license and proof of insurance, so have it ready before they get to your window.

I don't really mean to criticize wrxdriver. He did all the important things to make sure both sides stayed calm.

anyways....this post reminds me of times when I used to look at cars at dealerships after hours. It's kind of fun, but maybe not a good idea anymore.

 

Good job not getting shot. Always a bad idea to phuck with the law. They were just doing their job...one that most of us would not like to do.

You know they are going to ask for drivers license and proof of insurance, so have it ready before they get to your window.

And...not a good idea to go searching through your glove box / console looking for insurance card while the officer is approaching your vehicle (for all they know you are digging out your gun). Wait for them to ask for it and then first tell them where you are going to reach before you do so.