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Legendary rapper MC Hammer was arrested during a stop at Hacienda Crossings Shopping Center earlier this week for allegedly resisting an officer, a police sergeant said Saturday.
Dublin Police Services Sgt. Herb Walters said Stanley Kirk Burrell – known to most as MC Hammer – was arrested around 10:20 p.m. Thursday night in the shopping center parking on suspicion of obstructing an officer in the performance of their duties and resisting an officer.
The Tracy resident was cited and later released.
It’s unclear what prompted the arrest, but the rapper best known for 1990s mega-hits “U Can’t Touch This” and “2 Legit to Quit,” took to
Twitter Saturday to relay his side of the story.
According to Burrell, a police officer approached and arrested him without cause.
In one Tweet, he said the officer “was tapping on my car window, I rolled down the window and he said, ‘Are you on parole or probation?'”
“It was comical to me until he pulled out his guns, blew his whistle and yelled for help…but make no mistake, he’s dangerous,” he tweeted.
When asked to comment on the rapper’s version of the arrest, Walters wrote in an email, “We patrol the area of Hacienda Crossings Shopping Center, especially at nighttime hours. That is about all I can say for now.”
Laura Dixon, Bay City News
By
Laura Dixon, Bay City News
By
So let’s see if I understand this correctly. There he is, sitting in his car minding his own business and doing absolutely nothing wrong. And this pig walks over and without any cause whatsoever starts interrogating him. And because many of us still remember when probable cause meant something, he finds the jerks unjustified advances humorous, gets arrested and taken to jail. The unchecked authority and mind set of the law has done nothing but turn the citizenry against them. Prepare for the day of the eagle pigs!
I started checking up on this years new laws after a friend of mine told me of being arrested for “illegal weapons” (a baton cut in half by his policeman son) while on the way to church. The cops have their way with our legislators getting the most abserd laws passed, while no one seems to care or pay any attention. There are more than 800 new laws gone into effect this year in California alone, many creating new exemptions and authoritarian judgement calls for police. Thomas Jefferson was right, and it’s time to take our nation back.
I am not sure why the first words out of the cops mouth needs to be “are you on parole or probation”, this shows immediate discrimination. If the car had expired tags, and because he was sitting in it, not driving it (ie it wasnt moving) the cop could tap on the window, Explain why he is tapping on window, ask for license and registration. Run the license, verify if in fact driver is on parole or probation. The cop needs to exlain why they are singling you out. This is America, we are not a police state. As it turns out the car was not Hammers, and he may not have even known the registration was expired, if in fact it was. Could be the tags were expired but registration had been paid. Also, the cop shouldnt need to reach into the car. Did he ask Hammer to step out of car? it is actions like that make people hate the police.
So here we have a Navy veteran, over 50 years old, an entertainer who has been married about 30 years (now an IT consultant) who has never been in trouble with the law in his life all of a sudden while sitting in a car is harassed and roughed up by some nitwit cop in Dublin.
No wonder the local police have such horrible reputations for overstepping their bounds.
When is the press going to publish the police officer’s name?
“suspicion of obstructing an officer in the performance of their duties” is the catch-all phrase that bad cops used to bully and intimidate people.
It’s not illegal to videotape police officers on the street in California, but I’ve seen cops threaten people who were videotaping the officers arresting people with the “suspicion of obstructing an officer in the performance of their duties” BS. Unfortunately, judges give the police the benefit of the doubt in such cases, never asking whether the police officer’s suspicion was a REASONABLE one–and that’s the REAL test.
Besides the chilling effect such bullying has on civil liberties, false arrests cost the American taxpayers millions of dollars a year in civil lawsuits.
The biggest price we pay, though, is the most precious currency of all: our faith in the objectivity and fairness of our peace officers. Some police officers have forgotten that they can’t do their jobs without the cooperation of the citizenry, and they’re not going to get it by bullying and threatening us.
Besides the frightening potential for abuse inherent in police authority that this incident highlights, the fact that the writer, either of the law or this wire service article, made the grammatical mistake of using a singular noun with plural possessive suggests a frightening lack of education.
“officer” + “his/her” + “duties”
“officers” + “their” + “duties”
Both embarrassing and scary at so many levels.
Mike
How can anybody sit in a car and mind their own business? duh…
I’ll bet the Hacienda Crossing shopping center and IMAX theater management companies are mortified by the actions of the Dublin Police. This shopping center is open later than anyone place in the area (1 AM) and I’m sure that business will be down after this fiasco.
Typical, the weekly with another article not checked for proper wording. The title reads “obstructing an office”.
Aside from that, I am surprised how many people are assuming the officer did something wrong here. OF COURSE the suspect is going to have a different version of events. Since police reports are public record, how about someone request a copy of the report from Dublin Police? There is likely a reason this guy was arrested. And somehow I doubt the officer just walked up and asked if he was on probation. I have been stopped before by Dublin cops and they have surprisingly been nothing but nice and respectful to me.
Lastly, I doubt “shopping center and imax companies are mortified by the actions of Dublin Police”. If I were them, I would be happy they were in the area and being proactive by arresting this guy THUS making our community a safer place.
@JJ – knowing the police will still arrest suspicious blacks despite their celebrity status is a good thing for most folks. I don’t normally go to the movies in Dublin (the Tells usually watch old movies from a projector), but I might start after hearing about this.
I guess the Dublin police duh nuh nuh nuh, duh-nuh, dun-nuh – *could* “touch this.” LOL!
The police don’t have a right to walk up and ask you questions unless you have done something wrong. The report doesn’t say that he did anything wrong. It is the reporter’s job to get the police report and report the facts, not ours. If the story doesn’t say what MC did then he probably didn’t do anything. Based on my experience with the Dublin Police I’m on MC’s side on this one. A few years ago I was at a stop light on my motorcycle behind some other motorcycles and they all raced off but I didn’t, yet I was pulled over by the Dublin Police and harassed and ticketed. They don’t like motorcycle there and any motorcyclist is under suspicion. I took it to court and the cop made a fool of himself and the judge let me off.
Some of the posts here are stupifying. You dimwits actually believe MC Hammer’s account of what went down?
First, remember Hammer has had a number of other scrapes with the law. Second, he has stiffed a lot of people financially – another indicator that his character is not great. Third, police don’t just come up to a car, tap on the window, and say “Are you on parole or probation?” Fourth, what was Hammer doing just sitting in his car at 10:30 PM in Hacienda Crossing? Are you gullible enough to think that was what was going on? Fifth, Hammer said the police just reached in and attempted to drag him out of the car through the window. Do you think a police officer is crazy enough to do that? That is a good way to for an officer to get killed.
With all the cr*p that goes on at Hacienda Crossing on weekend nights, I’m glad the Dublin Police are do their job. Now, if the Pleasanton Police would do likewise at Stoneridge Mall, that would be great.
To anonymous: police reports are not public records. You can’t just order any police report you want. Try it and see what the police dept tells you.
It is surprising and disheartening to read the postings that imply that Stanley Kirk Burrell is the most innocent person alive and that the police are all thugs. My son is a police officer and to think such stupid actions like pulling Stanley out of his car would occur show the lack of any common sense on the part of the people posting. Most, if not all, police vehicles are equipped with a camera which quickly disproves the outlandish claim that he was simply pulled out of his car. Also, further information which is available to all, shows that he was originally stopped for expired registration tags on a vehicle that turned out not even registered to him. Stanley can keep “twitting” his innocence; however the facts show that he was in the wrong and the police handled him in the proper fashion.
I guess he’s not “too legit.”
I think there is more to the story then we know.We should not say that all the cops are bad and rotten.At the same time it is true that there are cops who are bad and discriminate on the basis of a person’s color. There have been numerous cases all over the country.If the cop approached MC with his mind already made up that since this guy is Black he must be on probation then it is very bad and Dublin police MUST take action.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/dublin-police-respond-mc-hammers-arrest/nWYds/
From the link:
“Police approached MC Hammer in a car that had expired registration and was not registered to him. Hammer became argumentative with officers when questioned about the car. He then refused to exit the car when the officer asked him to and continued to argue. Hammer eventually exited the vehicle.”
And some on this thread speak of false arrest and bullying by police?
Dan
Last time I looked it was not illegal to drive someone else’s car. Last time I looked, driving someone else’s car with expired tags is not cause for being ordered to exit the vehicle. Last time I looked, being argumentative with a police officer is not sufficient grounds for being charged with obstruction.
Just when you think Hammer get can’t any lower than sucking up to and playing second fiddle to a flash in the pan Korean rap artist, he goes and gets himself arrested. Well played Hammer.
I thought the shopping complex is private property? What are the Dublin police doing cruzing a shooping center parking lot for exp reg?? Or anything of that nature????
I’m not surprised my many of the post! It goes to show what a narrow minded group of people live in the area. Yes MC Hammer said it so it must be true the Dublin cops are picking on him. Just maybe you shallow narrow minded good people should what and see what the police have to say. No that right when they come out with the arrest report they will be lying.
Dublin PD & Pleasanton PD keep up the good work.
Sitting in a car in a parking lot at 10:30PM. The police officer has the legal right to question that person as it obviously looked suspicious. If it was innocent, Hammer, like any law abiding citizen, would simply answer the officer’s questions. No big deal. Hammer must have made it a big deal.
You betcha – And when an inner city thug comes into your neighborhood you’ll be the first to call for “Police Protection”.
I wouldn’t be to quick to assume the Cops are are wrong, we haven’t heard their side of the whole thing that went down. If they did infadct ask Hammer if he was on parol they are totally wrong, that nformation they could get by running his CA Lic.#, why don’t we wait and see before we go Cop bashing, I know Dublin Cops, they have always been very fair and decent individuals.
This is why Obama was re-elected…drones like you believe everything you read and hear from the press. Your minds have been made up for you by one article without hearing from the Deputy…believe me there is more to this story which will come out.
Sitting in a parking lot at 10:30 in a car in a shopping center is not probable cause to be questioned by police. And sitting in a parking lot is not suspicious because the Starbucks is open in Hacienda Crossings until at least 1 AM on weekdays.
Last I heard, there was no curfew for adults.
It is easy to speculate what happened and what didnt. From all I read, (not including the comments here) we all don’t know WHY the person in the car was questioned. It’s easy to say racial profiling, but, until the time when the officer flles his report and it is released, we DONT know for sure. We only have our bias to let us comment.
This is not a good town to drive around with expired tags. This is how most officers initialize their contact with potential suspects. They are trained to look for simple “details” that lead them to stopping you for questions. upon doing so, if you respond with verbal aggression or suspicious behavior then they have to assume that something might be wrong.Unfortunately in Mr. Hammer’s case having expired tags was not so legit.
According to this article, he was driving and got pulled over by Dublin Police:
http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Police-MC-Hammer-pulled-over-for-expired-tags-4307101.php
I was pulled over once late at night on 880 for expired tags. (Someone fine person had stolen the little registration sticker off my plate.) I cooperated fully with the CHP and was on my way in less than five minutes. If I had been a belligerent jerk to the cop and not cooperated, I probably would have been arrested for obstruction and deservedly so.
MC Hammer is kind of a jerk. This is not news. He was driving a car with expired tags. When the cop asked him about it, he went into a tirade instead of explaining himself in a rational manner. The cops don’t have patience for idiots nor should they. If you don’t want to be asked about it, register your car, fool.
Well, here is a cop doing his job – see’s expired tags and taps on the window and asks for ID and registration. Nothing unusual in that.
What he gets back is resistance and attitude. All Hammer had to do was give the cop the registration and license. But he didn’t want to because it is not his car. So he knows he is going to be given a hard time. Nothing unusual in that.
But what does Hammer do? Instead of being a decent citizen makes it a race issue.
I have been pulled over twice in my life for expired tags. The first time – well guess what I had just left a bar and was in a rental car. I was pulled over with the cop saying the car had expired tags and was asked to show car registration and my ID. Well the rental did not have any registration, but luckily I did have the rental contract with me. However, I really believe the cop pulled me over to make sure we were ok to be driving (NOT DRUNK). So in none of this do I feel I was being picked on. The cop wants to help keep the streets safe and not have drunk drivers. The expired tag just helped to give them an opening to find out if there are other issues, like drinking and driving. The second time, while I dug out the registration, guess what there was the current tag, I felt stupid like I was too lazy to put it on myself. I apologized to the cop and he installed the sticker for me.
Folks if we want the police to do their job and help us find stolen cars and keep drunk drivers off the road then we need to let them do their job. Just because someone is black does not give them the right to not have updated stickers. This is not a race issue. Follow the law and guess what? You won’t get pulled over.
Why is everything a race issue? Oh you don’t like the clothes I wear – you are a racist. Oh you can’t ask me for my ID, – you are a racist.
Dear Pleasanton Neighbor. Yep, yep, have to agree with you on why is everything a race issue?
Just last week my 8th grade son told me this story…He was sitting outside at school having lunch with his 8th grade buddies. He did not finish his sandwich and laughing offered it to one of his buddies. Well lo and behold this 6th grade kid pops his head into the group and says “I’ll take it” and my son just stares at him. So the 6th grade kid says “why because I am black”?
I asked my son why he reacted the way he did and he said, “he is a whiny 6th grader and he follows us (8th) graders around”. If I gave it to him he would then think he is part of our group. 8th graders do not want 6th graders part of their group.
Mind you – while my son is white, of his two other buddies, well one is Indian and the other is Asian. So I hardly think there is a race issue here.
Like above, with Black people everything is a race issue. We are not allowed to just not like someone or the clothes they wear. If we do not say that we love their clothes or their music or the cars they drive or the way they talk – well it is a race issue.
Too bad, parent from PUSD, that your 8th grade white son does not want a 6th grade black child to join his group.
I see in your family, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Perhaps another way to put it would be “8th grader does not want 6th grader” hanging with him. I see nothing racial in that, so why continue to try to make it so. Stanley Kirk Burrell was apparently in the wrong and immediately pulls the “Oh woe is me, your picking on me because I’m black” card. Gets old in a hurry.
Actually Dave, I’m not aware of any middle school in Pleasanton where the 6th graders have lunch at the same time as 8th graders. Are you aware of any Pleasanton middle school where 6th graders eat lunch the same time as the 8th graders? I’m not aware of any.
So it is too bad that parent from PUSD’s white son does not want a black child to join his group.
Actually JJ,
Why isn’t it alright to say simply, don’t want to “play” with you. Not because of your skin color, but because your obnoxious.
Actually Dave, try doing that at work. Say to a co-worker “I don’t want to work with you because you’re obnoxious.” See how many minutes it takes until you are hauled into the HR department.
The attitudes of how parents negatively impact children’s perception of race and continue race segregation even in an integrated society are discussed more fully here – http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/02/us/ac360-race-study
JJ, come back to reality. you try and compare a work place setting to lunch at school? really? you can’t see how different those two situations are? if you want an apples to apples comparison, then compare the school lunch incident with who you hang out with after work, or who you go to lunch with. we still have that right these days don’t we? the right to associate with whom we choose? something tells me the three or four white kids in any given oakland school don’t get asked to many lunch tables, and guess what? WHO CARES?
Dear JJ,
The situation where my 8th grade son did not want to eat with/play with a 6th graders did happen. And I think it is it is absolutely normal that 8th graders wish to stay by themselves. This will become more pronounced in high school when they will have to steer clear of the upper classmen. Hmm, I think that is why schools have jr. varsity teams and varsity teams. But JJ will probably find a way to make that a race issue too.
The Dublin Police have dropped all charges! There is nothing like dropping all charges that prove that Dublin Police knew they were in the wrong and faced a multimillion dollar lawsuit.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_22751677/mc-hammer-takes-twitter-claims-all-charges-from