Cambridge man stopped for excessive window tinting, not signaling, arrested on gun, drug charges in Roxbury
State Police report what started out as a traffic stop at Prentiss and Parker streets in Roxbury this afternoon ended with the driver and his passenger under arrest.
State Police say a trooper initially pulled Humberto David, 25, of Cambridge over at Parker and Prentiss streets because his car's windows seemed to be excessively tinted and because David did not signal when making a turn around 1:45 p.m.
After they were stopped, a search of the car showed a gun - which turned out to be stolen - and "a quantity of marijuana."
Both David and Vanessa Henriquez, 25, of Cambridge, were charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
David was also charged with operating after suspension, excessive window tint and failure to use a directional.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
On the one hand...
On the one hand, it's pretty amazing how many people seem to have undeserved, or overly intense, run-ins with the police. For instance, anyone pulled over for DWB or the South Carolina shooting of Walter Scott this week.
But on the other hand, it's amazing how many people like Mr. David and Ms. Henriquez also seem to be driving around, not just doing one little thing wrong (operating suspended), but piling on the gun and drug offenses.
If not for being dumb enough to drive so poorly (even knowing he has no license) these people would still be driving illegally, with illegal drugs, and illegal guns. Amazing. And "thank you" to the officer(s) involved.
And still, we need to remember Adam's reminder. "Innocent, etc"
I'm telling you - once police
I'm telling you - once police start doing more traffic stops, they'll catch a lot of people.
And then you'll complain that
And then you'll complain that they're harrsssing people. Damned if you do...
Harass lawbreaking drivers all you want, officer
Let's start getting idiots off the road.
Dorchester Meth House in early 2000s
Remember the meth house in Savin Hill that busted in the early 2000s? If I remember correctly this house was under surveillance for suspected meth production and sales. But the surveillance immediately escalated to a raid when a customer was pulled over for a missing tail light. An instance where a minor violation was the catalyst to a major bust, albeit this one was already in the making.
That meth lab wrecked my morning commute
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/04/26/suspe...
Stupid window tinting law
The Massachusetts window tinting standard is horrible, and gives way too much cause to police to pull over people.
The chief problems with the Massachusetts standard is that it sets the same limit of tinting for the front and rear windows. Normally you would allow lighting tinting for the front windows, and very dark tinting for the rear windows, for obvious reasons. Instead, Massachusetts limits all windows to medium tint.
Even more obscene, the law only applies to aftermarket tint. Whatever tint is applied in the factory is totally exempt. How does that make sense?
"Obscene"
It makes perfect sense so long as the factories have enough sense to not put excessively-dark tints on their products. Which they do. Your "very obvious reasons" for very dark tints on rear windows are not obvious at all. Do you not need to see out the back when you back up, or out the side windows when you change lanes?
Why is it so important to you to be able to drive around in public, but not let anyone be able to see who you are, or whether you're holding a gun? What's horrible is that you feel you should be able to endanger everyone else because you are too ugly to look at, or whatever.
You're missing how window
You're missing how window tint affects visibility. It's contrast versus brightness. Look at ANY late model SUV on the road and you'll see they already have pretty dark tint on the rear windows. Even with 90% tint in/on your auto glass, from the inside you or your passengers will still be able to see out. It's just that from the outside people won't be able to see in. For driving safety you (obviously) want other drivers to be able to see the driver. Other people (obviously) don't need to see the passengers.
It's also perfectly legal to obstruct your rear windows with cardboard. It's not illegal to have people or boxes or suitcases blocking your view out of the rear windshield, because the side mirrors still allow the driver what's behind. So, 100% opaque cardboard is legal, but 40% dark adhesive film is not.
Like many laws
It also doesn't apply to police cars, apparently.
And your narrow mind can't
And your narrow mind can't think of ONE reason why? Use your head.
Who needs window tinting, ever?
Give me one reason why a law-abiding citizen would need excessively tinted windows?
It reduces visibility which reduces safety (especially in already-hard-to-see blind spots). I can't come up with any reason why someone would need it. Enlighten me, please.
Florida and California
While I agree with you, especially in New England and for non-factory tinted.
Roommate's car is factory tinted, it's nice during the summer. It does help with glare and keep the solar heat inside the car down.
However, heavy tinting is very popular in Florida and California for the same reasons. I remember when I was a teenager living in LA (briefly) my step dad had his windows done because of the heat issues with a parked car during the day. If you don't, your interior will eventually crack and bleach from the sun (which is also why dashboard carpet and windshield visors are very popular there)
But up here.. its kinda pointless for the two months of super hot weather we have during the summer.
Chicago Sunroof
Be careful of cars with tinted windows before doing a Chicago Sunroof... you could end up in Albuquerque doing elder law!
This is probably very funny
Sorry Beer Guy, but every single one of your references went flying over my head.
Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul
It's a breaking bad/Better Call Saul reference..
(I had to look it up too.. I thought "Chicago Sunroof" was the same was the "boston one finger salute")
Personally, I think it looks
Personally, I think it looks good on many cars, grants a bit of privacy, and helps with some peoples' blinding headlights coming through the back window. I'm speaking as someone with the legal 35% limit, though - not excessive tints.
If it were legal, I'd probably do 25%, which I don't consider excessive, either. However, I do see your point with really heavily tinted cars and wonder how they drive at night.
It is a hazard
I see a lot of over-tinted vehicles doing stupid things because they just can't effing see where they are going in low light conditions due to excessive tinting.
As most vehicles have bright lights now, it seems to be less of an issue in the dark.
If you are somewhere that overcast skies are rare, and below the 40th parallel, it may be an advantage. Around here? It is a bloody nuisance given our many days of overcast conditions.
More of a hazard
are super loud car stereos.. I'm so surprised the state hasn't cracked down on this too.
How can you be an effective and safe driver when the music is so loud, its vibrating your car... WITH THE WINDOWS ROLLED UP. How can you hear or pay attention to the road with music that loud? It has to be a distraction..
Wait until you start biking
The cars with the stereos? They announce themselves from a long distance - a very handy feature. Like a special "idiot incoming" siren.
As an engineer, I have to wonder about spot-weld fatigue due to those trunkwoofers.
Yeah I know
I can sit in my bedroom at my computer with the windows closed (and mind you I have MassPort grade windows) and still can hear it.
Some days I think we're going to have an upswing in hearing related issues for people in the decades to come because of loud music.
"Massport grade windows"
cybah, you are kindly requested to expand upon this to the maximum extent you are comfortable - e.g., why you have them, how you got them, how much you paid for them, when you moved in, and when the windows were installed.
I think that lots of people will be surprised to learn the answers.
issacg why are you asking?
Before I answer, why are you asking?
Yeah, if they're over-tinted
Yeah, if they're over-tinted it can definitely be a hazard. Like I said, I like my legal 35% and would stop at 25% if it were legal. It actually helps a bit driving on the highway at night.
It's a cosmetic choice for me, with a little added privacy.
People tint their windows for
People tint their windows for the same reason people purposely make their cars louder or rev engines of their cars or motorcycles for no reason. They are trying to look cool but have no idea how miserable they are failing at it.
Ozone friendly refrigerant
Obviously, we needed to transition away from old-school R-12 because of the damage it did to the ozone layer, but the reason we originally used it was that it was a hell of a refrigerant. I don't know if you're old enough ever to have ridden in an old-school car before the conversion, but you could crank the A/C until it was like a meat locker in there.
The replacement, R-134a, is environmentally friendlier but nowhere near as efficient, and, in states like Florida and Arizona, vehicle A/C systems just can't keep up, especially on vehicles like minivans and SUVs that have large glass area. Heavy window tinting helps.
nah
MA isn't nearly as bad as some other states with this law. Tints are illegal in NJ, NY's legal limit is basically worthless, and even NH forbids tinting of the front windows while allowing 35% in the back.
Yeah, it's kind of silly how many SUVs get a factory tint that exceeds the aftermarket limit. Could be worse, though.
she is surely learning quickly...
The woman in this case must be learning quickly that if the cops stop a car with more than one in the car and there's a gun, everyone is getting charged with it unless someone takes the fall or the chain of possession is clear...