To Protect and Serve
March 15, 2010
It probably won’t come as a huge shock to anyone to learn that for 20 years or so, I led a fairly hard and fast life.
If you name the vice, chances are good that I engaged in it and pushed it as far as it would go. It sounds eye-rollingly cliche’, but there really was a collective shock by everyone I knew when I turned 30 years old. I think people had an under/over pool on me somewhere around 26 years old, and the big three oh was akin to betting on the Redskins to go undefeated for an entire season.
About seven years ago, all of this caught up to me when my heart began beating wildly out of rhythm … at which point I lost consciousness and collapsed. I refused to get a pacemaker, and was instead given medication to control my heart rate and was ordered to slow down lest I abruptly die.
Even though I have slowed down substantially in recent years (I’ve decreased my activity level by about 99%), it still has not been uncommon for 2-3 months to pass before I get a full 6 hours of contiguous sleep. Occasionally, this leads to minor arrhythmias, at which point I take some meds to sleep and wake up the next morning more or less back to normal.
There’s no free lunch in life. Everybody pays eventually. When I was 22, I could have bought a car, worn a tie, sat behind a desk, gossiped around the water cooler, bought a gym membership, shopped at Walmart, and cheered on my favorite team on the weekends. I’d certainly be much better off than I am now. Who knows, I might even be happy.
Anyway, the only time the “take meds and rest” cure doesn’t work is when I have a particularly strong virus. A really bad cold, flu, or unidentified tourist plague can really exacerbate things. My heart will race too fast or erratically. This is what happened last weekend. I spiked a fever to 104, couldn’t keep medication in my stomach, and things got progressively worse.
I hate to disappoint the conspiracy theorists who believed that I went down banging a whore or leading a blogger rebellion down Las Vegas Boulevard, but the truth is never as glamorous as reality.
Fortunately, last weekend, my mother-in-law was staying with us. That may be the very last time you ever see me type that sentence.
My mother-in-law is a small Asian lady, and not only small by Asian standards, but small by human standards. She’s maybe 4′10″ and somewhere in the neighborhood of 90lbs. She’s a very nice woman, but she tends to get annoyed with me. Especially when I greet her at the airport by throwing my arms around her and exclaiming “owwww me so hawwwwny, me ruv you wrong time!”. For some reason, that line just never gets old for me.
Aside from being a decent human being, the little kimchi-muncher also comes in handy because she is a doctor. She readily concedes that Las Vegas is a black hole of medical care, and thus she brings a plethora of gadgets and medical devices to do what she can whenever she comes to town. The only thing she doesn’t bring with her is large ampoules of Dilaudid, which remains a point of contention between the two of us. Frankly, I don’t see the point of being a doctor if you don’t make liberal use of the world’s pharmaceutical-grade opiate supply, but that’s just me.
I digress.
At some point last weekend, my mother-in-law decided that I needed to go to the ER. I had passed out a couple of times, and she was concerned by my high temperature and rapid pulse. I protested, but she was fairly adamant.
It was very late, and I didn’t want everyone to have to be awakened for this little endeavor. Besides, I was alert at this point and could walk small distances. It was decided that just the two of us would go, and others would come later if I was admitted. I was helped to the car, and the dog-eater and I hit the road. This is where things went downhill fast.
While on our way to the hospital, I lost consciousness. When I came to, Kristi Yamaguchi was in a bit of a panic. She was lost, and she was worried that I was rapidly deteriorating.
She spotted a police car driving a block in front of us, and told me that she was going to speed up to get his attention.
“No!” I plead with her. I don’t remember the exact words that followed, but she later told me that I said “the police will not help us, they will hurt us”.
My mother-in-law is still very naive on many levels. She was always taught that the police were the good guys and she believed this to be true. She did not understand my behavior at the time.
As it turns out, after looking around, I realized where we were. We had overshot the ER by about a mile, and I told her that we needed to make a U-turn to get on the correct side of the road. Fortunately, the street was deserted. She pulled a 180 degree left turn, and it seemed as though we were clear the rest of the way.
The next thing I remember, red and blue lights lit up our rear window. Apparently, a police car had been behind us when we made the turn.
“He’ll help us, you will be okay”, I remember my MIL saying.
She pulled over, and … now in tears, opened her car door and began waving for the officer to come to the window. I remember hearing “get back in the car and put your hands on the steering wheel!” blasting through a loud speaker. Of course, this was for the officer’s safety. As heroes, the safety of our police officers is very important. This is why they get parades on Las Vegas Boulevard. To remind us of how sacred their lives are.
The officer proceeded to yell instructions through the loud speaker, and despite my mother-in-law trying to get him to come to the car, he took quite a long time to arrive at the window.
When he finally walked up and positioned himself beside the car, he yelled at my mother-in-law.
“What do you think you’re doing? Do you realize that you made an illegal U-turn?”
She began frantically explaining that I needed to get to the hospital, and asked him if he could help us.
He ignored her pleas, and instead turned his gaze toward me.
“What’s YOUR problem?”, he demanded.
I looked up at him, and I was far from angry at the time. Even though I was a bit out of it, I actually remember feeling sorry for him. I mean genuinely sorry. Here was this man, hand on a gun, aggressive stance, eyes bulging out of his head with an intense-yet-vacant stare. Something just wasn’t right with him. It was sad.
He repeatedly asked what “my problem was” in an exceptionally condescending manner, and I just decided to look away and say nothing. There was no point. He didn’t care.
Tokyo Rose kept begging for him to escort us to the emergency room, but he kept wanting to address me.
Fearing that he was going to hurt my mother-in-law out of frustration if I didn’t respond, I finally said “I can’t breath very well”, and he quickly replied “why not?!”
“He has an arrhythmia and we need to get to the emergency room!”, said Yoko.
“What is that?!”, the cop shot back.
For the next 3 minutes or so, Lucy Liu tried to define the term for him, but he was clearly lost. Judging by his dilated pupils and aggressive manner, he seemed determined to harm and harass us. Given that there were two defenseless people in the vehicle, it was the absolute perfect opportunity. We were safe prey for the officer. There was no way we could fight back or pose a threat. We were both ripe for intimidation. He kept screaming at me directly, and seemed to get increasingly agitated that I would not comprehensively answer his repeated questions as to “what my problem was”.
Fortunately, I lost consciousness again.
Had I not, I can only assume that I would have been taken to the police station for “disorderly conduct”, “resisting arrest”, “disrespecting a police officer”, or some related charge. I would also no doubt be dead.
When I came to, we were in front of the ER entrance.
Soon-Yi got out of the driver’s side, came to my door, opened it, grabbed my arms, and put them over her shoulders. Tears were streaming down her face the entire time. I looked over, and the officer had parked behind us. She told me that he had followed us to the hospital. He did not get out of his car to help her. Here was a 90lb woman, trying her best to carry someone more than double her size, and a large police officer sat and watched her from behind his windshield. He did not go inside the hospital.
When I got into the ER, things were not looking good for yours truly and I was quickly taken back.
After I was admitted, my mother-in-law went back to park the car in a permanent space, and the cop was still there. According to her, he scolded her for taking too long in the emergency room, handed her two tickets, yelled at her some more, and then drove away … looking for more people to protect and serve.
The tickets should raise about $500 for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Written by Bill on March 15, 2010 at 1:53 am
too bad, I was 40 years a cop and would never have done this, hope changes are made in operating procedures to make sure the help and serve is served to the community.
Written by lub on March 15, 2010 at 2:18 am
It was nice knowing you Rex.
Written by tully on March 15, 2010 at 3:20 am
So that’s what happened. It’s no surprise that Metro has more than its share of bad cops, but your story just blows my mind.
Any cop who does not know the meaning of “arrhythmia;” nor pick up a clue that a person is in physical distress and needing medical attention, shouldn’t be wearing a badge. Period. I don’t expect them to be physicians, or even paramedics, but I do expect them to have enough first aid training and decency to help someone when needed. They are often the first responder to accidents scenes, arriving before the ambulance, and sometimes do function as EMTs. I thought all cops were expected to complete advanced first aid, but doesn’t sound like it in LV. Or they just don’t want to put their training to use and help.
All this particular idiot needed to do was look in the car, realize that someone needs medical care, and get the hell out of the way. An escort to the ER would be better, but just not being a power tripping jerk would have been an improvement.
Rex, hope your health probs are under control, and you’re getting back to normal. Well, as normal as you get. Wish your MIL hadn’t gone through her encounter with one of Metro’s finest. Guessing she’s not as trusting now.
Written by Team Valtrex on March 15, 2010 at 3:22 am
The most surprising thing about this story is that not one bit of it surprises me.
Written by david s on March 15, 2010 at 3:27 am
fucking stupid disgusting pigs! i can’t believe i am moving to your shit hole city next week
Written by Dutch on March 15, 2010 at 3:34 am
Un-beriev-able.
Your MIL eats dog? Thought they only ate cats…
Written by Gary Mccracken on March 15, 2010 at 3:56 am
I agree fricken asshole cops,he needs to have his sorry ass kicked.
Written by Hunter on March 15, 2010 at 4:06 am
This is fucking despicable. Nothing else I can say.
Written by joeschmeaux on March 15, 2010 at 4:50 am
Oink, oink.
Written by Tyler Durden on March 15, 2010 at 5:30 am
I’d fight the ticket and go file a harassment claim against the said officer.
Written by keith on March 15, 2010 at 5:35 am
here’s hoping that cop gets ass-raped by a gang of transvestites.
just sayin’…
Written by Weatherman2111 on March 15, 2010 at 6:04 am
First time commenter. Be gentle guys…….
Wow, way to make the brutality-prone PG cops look good LVPD. Weirdly enough, I’ve never had a bad interaction with the cops anywhere. Worst was one douche who gave me a ticket in the middle of the day on a Thursday on an empty road somewhere near Kings Dominion. Otherwise, the few I’ve had have all been surprisingly pleasant.*shrugs*
Written by RG on March 15, 2010 at 9:42 am
So sad that this is not the least bit surprising. That is one of the problems living in the downtown area you get the hardened tough guy cops
Written by happylongmeadow on March 15, 2010 at 11:01 am
Shame on that “Officer”, sworn to “Serve & Protect”.
Obviously, you were profiled, than recognized as the celebrity you are, unpopular among “their” kind.
I sincerely hope that you do go to court, and fight the tickets on your MIL’s behalf. I also hope that you consult with one or more of those scumbag attorneys (May I recommend the firm of Dewey, Screwem, & Howe) and file a nuisance suit against the .LVPD.
Written by jay on March 15, 2010 at 1:10 pm
They are all PIGS. Most sit back and collect a hefty check and pension. Google the ones from Suffolk County Long Island, where I live. They are the highest paid in the nation and do little work. They rob the system and its funny Non of them are tough till they get in a pack. Then with 5 other pigs they become really dangerous and think they can do anything since they have a badge.
Written by ColinFromLasVegas on March 15, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Oh my gosh, Rex. Sorry to hear that all happened, but take care of yourself. Relax and take it easy and get well. I’m pretty sure I can speak for a bunch of us out here when I say that. You ain’t got no control over the other stuff. All the rest of that shit will work out in the end.
And yes, there is no free lunch in life. But there are plenty of places to go to get lunch, as long as you got the time and the money.
I think that has some kind of deep profound meaning there somewhere, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what I just said…..
Anyways, get better quick.
Written by Jerry P on March 15, 2010 at 5:22 pm
I’m still surprised you survived UMC. You hit the jackpot. I mean what are the odds?
Written by Aplayer2 on March 15, 2010 at 5:23 pm
When I first started traveling to Vegas twenty some years ago, I remember how impressed I was by the live and let live attitude of the local cops, at least towards visitors. That has changed big time. Now it seems the same as in every other metro in the US, the police force is much more concerned with generating revenue than the safety of the average guy. I stopped renting cars when in Vegas just to lessen my chances of interacting with the Bloated Blue Line.
Your M-I-L sounds like a hell of a woman . You were very lucky to buy-in to that family.
Take care and keep punching those keys we miss it when you’re quiet!
Written by tom meny on March 15, 2010 at 9:50 pm
I’m glad you’re alive.. I feel sorry for your mother-in-law… I have NOTHING positive or nice to say about this police officer… I don’t care how many people say “this guy was a bad apple” … it’s all a bunch of bullshit. I have 2 former friends who are now police officers. The same thing happens to every one of them. They are not there to help, they are there because somewhere in their history they decided they wanted to have a little power and crack some skulls. Period. Fuck’em. FUCK’EM!
Thomas H. Meny
http://www.tommeny.com
FUCK THEM!
Written by smithfan on March 16, 2010 at 12:32 am
Here I thought that maybe a Canadian had punched you in the mouth for that retard crack a few posts back.
Always makes me feel warm and fuzzy to hear about US law enforcement treating its own people as bad as they treat those of us from out of the country. Its sad that so many abuse the power that job affords them.
Written by Jake on March 16, 2010 at 1:25 am
dirtbag on a power trip looking for easy targets prey upon
Written by George on March 16, 2010 at 1:27 am
I certainly don’t think all cops are bad but stories like that make my blood boil. What a major A**hole. You should file a complaint against him.
Written by ohdio on March 16, 2010 at 2:50 am
Wow…I honestly cant imagine the state of panic I would have been in if I was your MIL…of course she’s a doctor and luckily is more level headed, but I’m sure at some point I would have hit the gas and took off…which would have resulted in choppers and swat teams I suppose. Your mother in-law rocks!!! Hope your feeling better.
Written by Michael on March 16, 2010 at 4:26 am
I’m glad you were able to get the care you needed and hope you are doing better. I’m guessing from your previous writing, that your instinct says to let this go. I sincerely hope you don’t though and at the very least contest the tickets and file a complaint against the officer. Not doing so allows the behavior to continue, will it change much or be overturned? Who knows, but without some type of counter action does it have any more possibility of doing so?
Written by Ron from MI on March 16, 2010 at 4:31 am
This is what makes my blood boil about the modern-day Metro cops; as I type into this blog around this point, my I feel my blood pressure and my heart rate going up because of it.
I would say in the last 5 years (probably longer) the police department in town (Vegas) in some aspects seem out of control. While I don’t think ALL police are pigs, I do think there are some. guys who are on the force who don’t understand what what “serve and protect” really means. Or what Miranda Rights are. Or “probable cause.” Or even human respect.
One bad apple can ruin the whole bushel of good apples. Including a city’s police department.
Ever since I have been keeping up on the news on Vegas from Michigan, even during this recession, I notice more and more headlines on increase of crime, police officers killed in the line of duty and, of course, reports of police brutality in town. To read about what Rex and his MIL went through also makes my blood boil. it makes Las Vegas as community as a whole look too damn real.
Not to jump to conclusions, I feel that there are a lot of people in Las Vegas (no matter where they live in the valley) who have become either complacent, distrustful in their own local government, or simply don’t care. They may or may not participate in the election process of their leaders, but for some reason, fail to involve themselves in community matters. I don’t know why.
So what does this have to do with Metro?
In my opinion, the answer is simple: EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING and ANYTHING on how the cops treat is own citizens reflects the city as a whole. If you have a community where the police are trusted, helpful and friendly, it’s citizens will, in return, be friendly back. If you have a bunch of bad apples, douchebags, officers with unstable mentality for any reason, or even a hint or feel of department corruption, the trust of its citizens towards the cops will either diminish or become completely non-existent. And the more I read about Metro in the headlines (and in this blog and others,) I think it’s too much heading towards the latter.
I think Vegas and its citizens, should do really, really, really and truly do something about this. I may not live in town, but if I did and I heard shit like this was going down in my neck of the woods, I’d be one pissed off son-of-a-bitch to a degree that I would organize a small number of people who DO care and DOUBLE the efforts to defend my rights to live in a safe neighborhood, not let the criminals and the law run amok. Freedom isn’t free; defend your rights, what you believe in and what is right. If you care, you’ll bother. And so will others too.
As much I love this town, I also fear for the worse for it. With all the descriptions mentioned above, if something goes down ANYWHERE in the city where the police and several citizens are involved, and the tension is high, and the incident is compounded with another incident in one section of the city, followed by another incident on another section of the city, followed by citizens rising up in anger all over and the town is in chaos, Metro will not be able to handle it; it would be left to the duty of the Nevada National Guard and/or Federal Troops just to restore order in town, thanks to a small handful of police officers who have overstepped their bounds, along with government mismanagement and citizen apathy.
I didn’t think or feel that way about Vegas cops when I visited in 2005. I felt the opposite. Although I noticed a high amount of police presence (and noticed a few arrests,) I didn’t feel at all threatened. But given the recent events, people who live in town will be eventually be pushed into a situation which would cause it to erupt by means of flash point. And police brutality could be it if this goes too far.
For those who say “it won’t happen here in Vegas,” I say it did happen…in 1992 on the West Side during the same time of the Rodney King Riots in LA (although it was put down very quickly.) With a change in demographics, income and population in the last 2 decades, it could be widespread and harder to contain.
And for those who say “It will never go out of control,” I say this to you: ” Never say never; anything is possible.”
With its image as a polished “tourist destination resort town,” a riot will do long-term damage to the city’s image if nothing is done about police brutality.
Detroit is a good example of how carefully-planned model cities can and will self-destruct if its problems are not taken care of, including its police force. I feel, for some reason, Vegas is heading down that path if things don’t change.
And as always, I don’t want Vegas to become another “Detroit;” but it sure starting to look like it.
I’ve calmed down now and I said my piece.
Other than that Rex, I hope you and your MIL will seek fair justice on this goon, and I’m glad you’re out of the hospital and doing well.
Written by EricInSanJose on March 16, 2010 at 6:54 am
Rex, Sorry you had such a bad expierence. You must have been scared out if your mind dealing with such an unusual emergency! Sorry about the uneducated cop. Glad your mother-in-law cared enough to help family in need.
Hope for a safe recovery,
EinSJC
Written by Aaron on March 16, 2010 at 7:49 am
Jesus Christ……………what’s “arrhythmia”………………it’s a good thing she didn’t try to explain algebra to him…..he probably would have called her “witch!” and burned you both alive.
Written by Esther on March 16, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I am furious! You definately could have died. Jim has gone through this several times and had to have his heart shocked back into rythum right in front of me. It was explained that because of the way the heart is pumping blood will pool and can cause clots which can kill you. He now has a pace maker, but medications are helping him and it hasnt had to shock him since right after it was put in. that cop should be fired! He should have QUICKLY escorted you and THEN if it WAS warranted, ticketed someone. Thank god for your mum-in-law! (please excuse misspellings….too frustrated to care!)
Esther
Written by Ken on March 16, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Why don’t you use your blog to expose this dumb bastard? Did you get his name and/or badge number? You’ve got a HELLUVA following Rex,use it!!
Written by Just Rob on March 17, 2010 at 3:10 am
Hey Rex,
Geez….all the people who have skated that close to the edge and have come back
with the same tale of the “brilliant beautiful white light” …. what a bunch of bullshit !
I can always count on REX to tell the truth!
Apparently the lights are actually “RED and BLUE”
and God’s voice is actually not that commanding because he uses a loud speaker,
and thirdly (and perhaps most importantly),
if you’ve pissed him off in some manner (which you obviously have)
he’ll COMMAND you to go back (at least back into the car.)
Anyways Rex once again you have enlightened my sole !
I wish you the best.
Be well old sage!
Written by Lance on March 18, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Cops are just people. Just like any other group, there are good and bad. Alot of teen angst in the comments. Grow up morons. Rex, get a pacemaker ya cheap bastard. Take care.
Written by FleaStiff on June 23, 2010 at 10:22 am
>”…Any cop who does not know the meaning of “arrhythmia;” nor pick up a clue that a person is in physical distress and needing medical attention, shouldn’t be wearing a badge. ”
He Knew.
He just didn’t care. He was dealing with the primary problem: Failure to Kow-Tow.