Tag Archives: being followed by the police in Dickinson North Dakota

Getting Stopped By The Police In Dickinson, North Dakota

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I have written again, and again, and again, and again about not being able to go out at night in Dickinson, North Dakota because the Police are so eager and aggressive in stopping people for DUI, or trying to discover illegal activity.

Probably about two or three years ago, I gave up on going to bars in Dickinson, or having any alcohol drink at a restaurant in Dickinson, because I know how aggressive the Police in Dickinson are about stopping people for DUI.  When I am tired, have allergies, the flu, or am dirty from working, and have had no alcohol, I am worried that the Police in Dickinson are going to stop me, question me, and try to give me a DUI, even when I have had no alcohol.

As this Winter in Dickinson has gone by, November, December, January, and February being so cold, and dark outside, with nothing to do, and no where to go, I have become more and more depressed.  The only place in Dickinson to sit down and socialize at night, would be a bar, but you can’t drink in Dickinson, because the Police are so aggressive in stopping people for DUI.

In WalMart, Menards, Runnings, a grocery store, a restaurant, or the West River Community Center in Dickinson, it is not appropriate or acceptable to try to talk to and socialize with employees and customers.  In other towns that I have lived in, where everyone is more trusting and everyone does not have their guard up, you can joke around and talk with people wherever you go, but not in Dickinson.

I had Wednesday and Thursday off in Dickinson.  I had no where to go, and nothing to do.  I thought if there was anything that I needed to shop for and buy, but there wasn’t anything.  At 4:00 p.m. I decided to go to the King Buffet Chinese restaurant.  I took my Dodge truck, which I have driven maybe once in the past three months.

At about 5:00 p.m., I drove from the restaurant to visit my friend at his home, who is old and in bad health.  At about 6:30 p.m., I drove to Dairy Queen and got an ice cream cone.  I was driving home from Dairy Queen on Villard Street, when a Dickinson Police car made a U-turn, came after me, followed me, and stopped me.  This turned an ordinary evening and outing, into an unwanted stressful situation.

I am so sick of this in Dickinson, being followed by the Police, so that they can think of a reason to pull you over, to try to give you a DUI, or find something else to charge you with.  If you do a Google search for “Police in Dickinson, North Dakota”, about the 3rd or 4th search result is an article that I wrote titled, “Liking And Hating The Police In Dickinson, North Dakota”.  In this article, I explain that it is like the Police in Dickinson are stalking people, and I am sick of it.

I know that I have a headlight out on this Dodge truck.  I bought a replacement bulb, which is in a package on the front passenger seat, but it has been too cold to get the old bulb out and put a new one in.  Even when it is 50 degrees, the plastic light bulb base and the plastic headlight socket are so tight, that it takes many tries, cutting my fingers, and almost breaking the bulb and the plastic socket, trying to twist and force the parts to lock together in the socket.  I can’t imagine doing this when it is below freezing.

The Police Officer who pulled me over knows me, and he knows that he pulled me over two blocks away from my apartment.  He still wanted my driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance.  He asked me why I had not gotten this truck registered in North Dakota.  I explained that I went to the Dickinson Motor Vehicle Department, and they told me that in order to get this truck registered in North Dakota, I would first need to bring in the vehicle title, and get the title changed from Idaho to North Dakota.  I don’t have my truck title, it is back at my house in Idaho.

I explained to this Police Officer that I was sick of getting followed and stalked by the Police in Dickinson.

This Police Officer warned me that I could get a citation and fine for not having my vehicle registered in North Dakota.  I was aware, that I could also be given a citation and fine for not having a North Dakota driver’s license.

I wish that I would have had the presence of mind to say to the Police Officer, that my Toyota which I normally drive every day, has North Dakota registration.  I wish that I would have told the Police Officer that I had only driven this Dodge truck once in the past three months.

Here is what I explained to the Police Officer, only not this well, and I will probably eventually be explaining this in court in Dickinson one day:

There are people who own a home in one state, which they claim as their primary residence, but work in another state.  If you do not claim a home that you own as your primary residence, you lose several very important legal and financial protections.

In every state that I have lived, your home that you claim as your primary residence, is exempt from lawsuit and legal judgments.  For instance, if you were in a fight with someone and blinded them in their eye, they could sue you for damages, and if your home that you own was not your “primary residence” or “your homestead”, it would be property that was susceptible to a lawsuit judgment.  Even something as simple as someone falling down your front steps, could result in you losing your home if it is not your “primary residence”.

Secondly, if a home that you own is your “primary residence” or “your homestead”, you receive a very large property tax exemption.  If the home that I owned was not my “primary residence” or “my homestead”, my property taxes would double.

Legal tests for your home being your “primary residence” and “your homestead”, are where does your driver’s license say your address is, are you receiving the “homestead exemption” on this property, what does your address say on your income tax returns, and do you pay income tax on the basis of being a resident of this state.

It is very common for wealthy people to own a home in more than one state, to work in more than one state, and to conduct business in more than one state.  These wealthy people have more than one vehicle, and the vehicle that they are driving may or may not be registered in the state that they are currently in.  Yet they do not get warned by the Police.

In Dickinson, North Dakota, I do not know if anyone has had to go to court yet, to explain that they own a home in a different state which is their primary residence, which is the state that issued their driver’s license.  Some oil field workers, and oil field contractors, though they are working in Dickinson, also work in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The people who are from Dickinson, North Dakota, and who have never lived anywhere else, may think that everyone in Dickinson needs to have their vehicle registered in North Dakota, which means having their vehicle titled in North Dakota.  Why would you want to get your vehicle titled in North Dakota, if you are only living in North Dakota temporarily?

In the past six years, I have worked in Idaho, Utah, Texas, and North Dakota, sometimes for only three months at a time.  Can you imagine what a waste of time and money that would be, trying to change your vehicle title, registration, and license plates, every three months or six months, on multiple vehicles?  You North Dakotans wouldn’t do it.

Once you give up the drivers license that shows you as residing at the address of your “primary residence” or “your homestead”, you lose very important legal and financial protections on the home that you own.  Under the law, it becomes more possible for the home to be classified as “investment property”, where you are no longer entitled to the “homestead exemption” on your property taxes, you could be assessed for back property taxes for falsely claiming the “homestead exemption”, an insurance claim on your homeowners policy could be denied because you should have had a different type of policy, someone being injured on your property while you are away could result in your home being susceptible to a lawsuit judgement because it is “investment property”.

On my articles titled “Don’t Believe The Chamber Of Commerce In Dickinson North Dakota” and “I Want To Beat The Chamber Of Commerce In Dickinson North Dakota”, I write that there is no where to go in Dickinson, nothing to do, the Police try as hard as they can to stop everyone for DUI, so you just need to stay home, there is no point in trying to go anywhere in Dickinson.

I don’t want to live in Dickinson, I am just here temporarily because I can currently make more money here than in Idaho where my home is.  My house, and 90% of my personal property, furniture, tools, equipment, clothes, electronics, and vehicles are at my home in Idaho.  I have just a bare minimum of belongings here with me in North Dakota, this is not my home.  I don’t know why this is hard to understand.

Getting A DUI In Dickinson, North Dakota

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On Saturday evening the owner of the house where I live in Dickinson, North Dakota started on an angry rant while I was asleep on the sofa.  I woke up and asked him what is wrong with him, and I said I had to go someplace else.

I had no intention of going out this evening, but now I had to.   The Paragon Bowling Alley diner has prime rib night on Saturday, so that is where I went.  Luckily for me, two nice waitresses that I knew and get along with, were working in the diner on this night.  I saw some other people that I knew sitting in the diner.  The prime rib that I ordered was very good. One of the bar waitresses and one of the bartender women came into the diner and they were both attractive, pleasant, and friendly.

I hardly ever go into the bar at the Paragon Bowling Alley, but I needed to not go home yet, and the women staff this night were pretty and nice.  When I went into the bar, I don’t know where the other women staff went, but Morticia and Divine were behind the bar, so I left.

With nothing to do, I drove east on Villard to the Family Dollar to buy some paper towels, and walk down every aisle looking for anything else to buy.  I didn’t want to go to any other bar in Dickinson,  because the police try as hard as they can to get everyone for a DUI, but I didn’t want to go home, and there is no where else to go.  I thought that I would drive downtown and maybe go to The Rock Bar, Bernie’s Esquire Club, or the Eagles Lodge.

Driving east on Villard toward downtown, I passed a police car that was going west.  Then when I drove past the Rock Bar downtown, I passed another police car.  The police, and the lack of attractive women in bars in Dickinson, was making me just want to drive back to where I live.  I  drove past the Esquire Club and the Eagles Lodge, I didn’t feel like going in.  I got back on Villard to drive west back home.  A police car got behind me and followed me for about a mile to the end of Villard.

I didn’t like being followed by the police all the way to the end of Villard.  I was in the left lane driving 25 mph, the police car was in the right lane driving 25 mph.  Because of the snow and ice on Villard, you could drive for a couple of blocks without seeing the lane markings at all.  The tire tracks from all the previous vehicles that had melted through the snow down to pavement in the left lane, were not actually in the left lane, the worn in tire tracks crossed into the right lane.  What was I supposed to do?  It is safer to drive in the tire tracks of all the previous vehicles that have worn down through the snow to the pavement, which is what most people do, especially when you can’t see the lane markings, but I had to drive on top of the snow and ice for a mile because there was a police car just behind me and to my right.

The police officer was just hoping and waiting for me to cross over a lane marking, which were mostly covered in snow, and the worn in tire tracks of the previous vehicles had crossed over the lane markings.  This would be the reason to pull me over for suspicion of DUI.  In the police officer’s opinion, I would have failed the eye tests, and he would be very certain that I was intoxicated.  However, I had not had any alcohol, I have had something wrong with my eyes my entire life.  Proceeding from there, the police officer would say that my speech was slurred even if it wasn’t, that I could not count off correctly even if I did count off correctly, that I could not stand on one foot even if I could.  If a Breathalyzer test would have shown 0.00, or 0.01, that couldn’t be right, I was either drunk or on drugs, because the police officer doesn’t want to not give someone a citation for DUI, especially me.

I think that I know who this police officer was, because he was driving a Chevy Tahoe instead of a Ford Explorer.  In November of 2014 this police officer pulled over Damon Prescott Butterfield in Dickinson for suspicion of DUI.  Damon Butterfield did agree to take several field sobriety tests like the ones that I described above.  There was almost not enough evidence against him to be convicted of DUI after the field sobriety tests, however after being asked several times, he had admitted to having a few beers.  He refused to take a Breathalyzer test, and was placed under arrest, and was informed of the North Dakota law about driver’s license suspension for refusal to submit to chemical tests.

Damon Butterfield was taken to jail in Dickinson where he continued to refuse to submit to any chemical test.  At a court hearing, his driver’s license was suspended for 180 days for refusal to submit to chemical tests when requested, which is a North Dakota law that you can go look up.  Damon Butterfield appealed his driver’s license suspension on several grounds, one of them being that the North Dakota law was unconstitutional, and that some of the processes of the traffic stop and sobriety tests were unconstitutional for various reasons.  This case was heard on appeal, and it eventually was heard in the Supreme Court of North Dakota.  It should not come as a surprise that the Supreme Court of North Dakota stood by the North Dakota law to suspend someone’s driver’s license if they refuse to submit to chemical tests.

However, what many people have discovered in North Dakota, especially truck drivers, is that it is better to have your driver’s license suspended for 180 days for refusal to submit to a chemical test, rather than submit to a chemical test and have the blood alcohol result used to convict you of DUI.

I had a long discussion about the Damon Prescott Butterfield VS Levi Supreme Court case two weeks ago, and I was on the side of law enforcement mostly.  I did not like the tactic which can be used to get out of a DUI:  do not admit to having had any alcohol, no matter what the police officer says; do not take any field sobriety tests, no matter what, perhaps say that you are sick; do not take any Breathalyzer or chemical tests; if you are placed under arrest, advise the police that you wish to speak to an attorney;  at jail continue to refuse to take any chemical test on the grounds that you have the right to speak to an attorney.  This is a delay tactic, which some attorneys may participate in, to have enough time pass that when you finally have spoken to your attorney hours after your arrest, if you took a Breathalyzer test at that time, the blood alcohol level would be much lower.  Because all questions, field sobriety tests, and chemical tests were previously refused, and a chemical test taken a couple of hours after arrest was below the blood alcohol level limit, there exists no evidence to support a DUI conviction

I described the tactic to get out of a DUI, because I didn’t like being followed by the police, and likely being railroaded into a DUI, even though I had not had any alcohol.  It is not illegal in North Dakota to drive to and from a bar.  It is not illegal in North Dakota to have one or two alcohol drinks and drive home.  The way the police act in Dickinson, they assume that everyone driving at night is guilty of DUI, and they need to be followed until there is a reason to pull them over, so that they can be questioned, given sobriety tests, and given a Breathalyzer test.