You guys are plenty safe. Yep, but this is a traffic stop and at this point you're borderline on obstruction. Sounds more like a pretextual stop to me. Where are you coming from? Doesn't matter. How much have you had to drink tonight? Want to give me a breathalyzer and find out? Welcome back to the Lackluster Channel. Today's story was submitted by a viewer who alleges that in the summer of 2022, he dropped his car off at a mechanic and had to walk home. On his route, he stopped to film the arrest of an intoxicated driver. During the incident, Officer Ulrich threatened to ticket him for obstruction. Walk on the other side of the street. You're obstructing me. I'll stand right here. It's public sidewalk. Yep. You can ask, you can't tell. Yep, I'll ask. Okay. I'll back up a little. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yep. I'm backed up. You guys are plenty safe. Yep, but this is a traffic stop and at this point you're borderline on obstruction, so yeah. Back up a little bit, all right? A little. Oh, that's very respectful. Have a nice day. Yep. In the end, nothing happened. A few months later, on December 17th of 2022, he was driving home and pulled to the side of the road to kick his mud flaps and free up the snow that had built up. The officer from the first incident appeared driving from the other direction. Officer Ulrich stopped in the middle of the road and began a consensual contact. The driver noticed that the emergency lights were not activated on the cruiser and hopped into his car, put his seatbelt on, and drove away. It is at this point that dashcam video begins. Officer Ulrich starts by making a U-turn to follow the driver. After making a left-hand turn, Officer Ulrich follows the driver for another three blocks. Not wanting to be followed, the driver began to pull off to the side of the road, giving Officer Ulrich an opportunity to pass. But instead, the officer activates his emergency lights and initiates a traffic stop. Can you give me my tape recorder? It's in the front passenger seat. Can you hand me my tape recorder? What? My tape recorder. Officer? Can I help you? Yep, I'm stopping you for a late turn signal off 4th Avenue to 6th Street here. You got to give a turn signal 100 ft of this turn. You got to give a turn signal. Okay. Can I have your driver's license registration? Um more like a pretextual stop to me. Okay. Where are you coming from? Doesn't matter. Okay. There's that. Okay. Step out here. Officer Olbrich takes a brief glance at his license and almost immediately hands it back to him. How much have you had to drink tonight? None. You sure? Want to give me a breathalyzer and find out, Chad? Well, Dude, you're accusing me of drinking. Is everything okay tonight? Yeah. You going through a tough time? Yes. Okay. You don't have to take it out on me. Well, you don't have to do a pretextual stop, I guess you do you? You got that wrong. I'm stopping you for something No, you turned around and followed me far before that. As we've discussed on the channel before, a pretextual stop has almost nothing to do with traffic safety. Often, officers pull people over for minor rule violations and use an arbitrary infraction as an excuse or pretext to conduct a search and go fishing for other crimes. In this case, it appears that Officer Olbrich pulled over this driver for not engaging in a consensual conversation. In the Supreme Court case of Wren v. United States, the court held that a traffic stop is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment if an officer has probable cause to believe that a traffic violation has occurred, even if the stop is a pretext for the investigation of a more serious offense, in this case, DUI. But, the driver who submitted this video has not been drinking. And in fact, if we look at the reason for the stop, it appears the officer made up the reason on the fly because he didn't expect the driver to pull off to the side of the road when being followed. The driver activated his turn signal for 6 seconds prior to making his turn from 4th Avenue onto 6th Street. In most states, and in this case in Minnesota, a signal of intention to turn right or left shall be given continuously during not less than the last 100 ft traveled by the vehicle before turning. The officer was a full block away when the driver activated his turn signal. But, if we zoom in on this frame, it appears the light begins flashing as the driver passes a bright yellow light. When visiting the street view of this location, the only light in sight is this light in front of the apartment building. And by using the integrated feature with Google Maps, we can estimate that the driver was using his turn signal for nearly 170 ft before even entering the intersection. We'll discuss more on that in just a moment. But, for now, Officer his investigation for an alleged traffic violation. I didn't install my traffic violation. In our opinion. I don't understand the statute. I'm not here to argue with you. It's a silly subject. 101? My father died on Wednesday. I'm just I'm just frustrated. I don't want to deal with anything right now. I'm sorry. All right. Have a good night. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, sir. It's hard to condemn the officer after breaking off the contact in the manner that he did. But, it's also difficult to applaud him after utilizing a questionable pretextual stop. The driver obtained the dash cam and body worn camera footage and submitted an officer complaint. And after investigating themselves, the department determined that the squad video was too far away to accurately substantiate the complaint, but elected to have a verbal coaching session with the officer, which likely consisted of telling the officer to make sure that if you're going to pull somebody over to try to search their car or affect a DUI arrest, you better make damn sure that the probable cause used to effectuate a pretextual stop is solid. The Supreme Court has a history of terrible opinions. So, let me know what you think down below. Are pretextual stops constitutional, or do you consider them to be a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights? How's going tonight? What are you doing here? I'll stand right here. It's public sidewalk. You can ask, you can't tell. Okay. I'll back up a little. Yep. So, I'm backed up. You guys are plenty safe. Yeah. Thanks for watching. If you have a video, use the submit link in the description or pinned comment. If you enjoyed this one, subscribe and hit the bell for future content, and check out our other channels, Lady and The Odd Side. Remember to like, share, and leave a comment about what you think of this interaction. It's the easiest way for you to help expose corruption and misconduct. Merchandise is available using the links below. Join Buster family for just a buck if you'd like to further support the channel. Get a luck logo next to your name, custom emotes, and early access to videos. I look forward to seeing you in the next one. All links are down below. Mhm.