It was about 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and Lauren, the friend of a friend, was out driving. An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her and put his lights on. Lauren’s parents had told her never to pull over along the side of the road for an unmarked car, but rather to wait until they get to a gas station or other public place.

Lauren listened to her parents advice and also promptly called the police on her cell-phone to tell them her situation and that she would not pull over right away. She told the dispatcher that there was an unmarked car with a flashing red light on his rooftop behind her. The dispatcher checked to see if there were police cars at her location (they know these things) and there weren’t, so he told her to keep driving, remain calm, and that back up was already on the way.

Ten minutes later, four clearly marked police cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. Then she pulled over.

One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the individual from the car and tackled him to the ground. It turns out the man was a convicted rapist and was also wanted for other crimes.

So the moral of the story is … when driving alone (women especially) you need not immediately pull over in any location for an unmarked car. The police have to respect your right to keep going to a safe and public place. Just make some signal that you acknowledge them (i.e. put on your hazard lights) and call dispatch.