On Saturday night, myself and Tommy the Hacker had our lives put in danger by a Hansford County Texas Sheriff.  After a long day, DJing at the Color Run, we wrapped up Saturday night by DJing a wedding in Spearman, TX for Justin & Lisa. Our trip there was nice, but the trip back was a near-death experience.

There were thunderstorms, pouring rain and lightning lighting up the sky above the Texas Panhandle on Saturday night. We knew we'd be driving in these hazardous road conditions on our way home, but we didn't know a sheriff would be putting our lives in danger in the process.

As we exited Spearman, TX, we came up behind a sheriff driving an SUV.  We weren't going too fast, and thought it would be best to play it safe and stay behind the sheriff, since the roads were saturated and pretty dangerous to be driving on.

The sheriff pulled his vehicle over, so we went around him, and then he came up behind us. He then followed us all the way from Spearman to Stinett, TX.  For the entire 20-30-mile trip, he was riding incredibly close to us, and his headlights were reflecting in my mirrors, making it impossible for me to see the road in front of me.

With all the rain coming down, and the flooded patches of road we were driving on, I couldn't see the road in front of me. His headlights were blinding me, and this caused me to hydroplane numerous times.

At one point, Tommy even said, "This guy is endangering us, I can't see the road in front of me, how are you even able to drive right now"?  I replied with, "I can't see anything either, I wish he would at least drop back a few feet."

Our trip from Spearman to Stinett was pure danger. As I stated before, we hydroplaned several times, almost wrecking my vehicle.

The vehicle I was driving is one I purchased recently from an individual -- I literally just bought this car, and haven't had the tags changed over yet.

Amazingly, we made it to Stinett -- I think God was watching over us, because I hydroplaned several times, I can't believe we didn't wreck.

As we entered Stinett, the sheriff then hit his lights, and pulled us over.

Sheriff James Merrick approached the passenger side of the vehicle, and explained that he pulled us over because the registration was expired. I explained to him that I had just bought the car, and didn't have the bill of sale on me.

He asked for Tommy and my IDs, so we politely gave them to him.  He then asked "Where you guys coming from, and headed to?"

We explained that we're DJs and had a wedding to DJ in Spearman, and were simply heading home to Amarillo to call it a night.

Sheriff James Merrick then asked me to step out of the vehicle, so I grabbed a jacket (because it was raining and cold) and joined him in his patrol vehicle.

What happened next absolutely blew my mind!

Two other sheriff vehicles pulled up. One of the sheriffs got out and approached Tommy in my car and started asking him questions.

The sheriff that pulled me out of the car started drilling me with questions. He once again asked me where we were coming from and heading to. I explained again that we're DJs and had a wedding to DJ in Spearman, and were just going home.

He then asked, "How do you know that guy?"  I responded with, "We're co-workers, we're radio DJs at KISS-FM in Amarillo."

Then, he asked me, and I'm not making this up, "How did you meet him?"  I was kind of confused at this point, and said, "Ummm, we're co-workers, we work together."

He replied with, "So, he flew out from Denver and started working with you at the radio station and that's how you met?"

I was like, "Yes, we're co-workers, I thought I told you that."

He then said "I don't know how radio works."

At this point, I was pretty frustrated, but I kept my calm.

He then asked "Is there anything illegal in your car?" I told him there wasn't, just speakers and DJ stuff. Then, he asked if he could search my vehicle. It was almost 2 a.m., so I said, "It's almost 2 a.m., we've been at it all day, and we just want to go home," to which he replied with, "So you're not giving me permission to search your car?"  I said, "If you really think you're going to find something in there, be my guest, search my car."

He got out, with full intentions of searching my vehicle, but was stopped by the sheriff that had been speaking with Tommy.  I could hear their conversation, and the Sheriff that had been speaking with Tommy explained to this sheriff who pulled us over that we were, in fact, DJs at a radio station and that there was no point in him searching our vehicle.

This whole story isn't about us being profiled as drug trafficking thugs, even though that is exactly what happened, this story is about something much different.

This story is about Sheriff James Merrick endangering our lives.  By following us closely for 20-30 miles with his headlights beaming in my rear view mirror and side mirrors, blinding me, keeping me from seeing the road in front of me.  His headlights blinded me for an inordinate amount of time. By him following us so closely on this saturated road that was covered in puddles, we hydroplaned several times, and could have got into a serious car wreck!

The BEST part about this entire situation is on the ticket I was given, this sheriff marked the road conditions as DRY!  See for yourself in the picture below!

Dallas Chambers
Dallas Chambers
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I get him pulling me over for having plates that had expired tags, and the fact that I didn't have the bill of sale on me didn't help things. But, if you're going to pull me over for that, pull me over! Don't ride my rear for almost 30 miles, blinding me, keeping me from seeing the road in front of me and causing me to hydroplane numerous times! Also, the fact that he put road conditions were "dry" on my ticket, that's a flat-out lie!  Anyone who lives in the Texas Panhandle knows that it rained from around 8 p.m. until 3 a.m. on Saturday night!

This isn't about me and Tommy being DJs on a radio station, this is about a sheriff putting citizens' lives in danger, and then lying on the ticket and saying the road conditions were dry.

Has this ever happened to you? What bad experiences with sheriffs in small towns of the Panhandle have you encountered?

Also, what would you do if you were in my position?  How would you proceed with this?

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