Seattle driving tip: Don’t snort cocaine during a traffic stop
Dec 4, 2015, 2:48 PM | Updated: 9:48 pm
Officer Nic Abts-Olsen caught a driver snorting cocaine in front of him during a routine traffic stop in Seattle. (Seattle Police Department)
(Seattle Police Department)
One might assume it was an episode of Reno 911. But no, it was an actual traffic stop caught on video in Seattle.
“Are you kidding? You’re about to snort coke on the side of the road?” asked Seattle Police Officer Nic Abts-Olsen in disbelief.
“No,” the man replied.
“I’m watching you do it,” Abts-Olsen said.
Officer Abts-Olsen initially pulled over the 73-year-old man driving a Toyota in Seattle’s Colman neighborhood because his headlights were out. It was 8:30 p.m. Tuesday evening.
The man pulled over and complied and provided his information. Abts-Olsen returned to his patrol car to look into the driver’s record. When he returned to the man’s car, he caught an unexpected sight. The man allegedly was handling a small glass vial, preparing a scoop of cocaine.
Officer Abts-Olsen knocked on the window, startling the man who then spilled his cocaine over his hands and car seat. The driver quickly explained to Officer Nic Abts-Olsen that he had vitamin pills in his possession.
“That is not a vitamin,” Officer Abts-Olsen pointed out.
“I know,” the man replied.
The dash cam video from the patrol car clearly shows Officer Abts-Olsen shocked by the driver’s behavior as he puts him in cuffs outside the car.
“What would possess you to do that on a traffic stop with a police officer right behind you?” Officer Nic Abts-Olsen asked. “I just don’t understand.”
“I don’t understand either,” the man said. “I’ve never had a traffic ticket.”
“I just saw that!” Officer Abts-Olsen said. “I was just going to give you a warning.”
The driver was booked into King County Jail for narcotics possession.
