Piti mayor says he's fully empowered to pull over speeders

[Champ]

In an effort to prevent motorists with a heavy foot, one village mayor is taking the law into his own hands policing his village, no matter the consequences. Piti mayor Vicente "Ben" Gumataotao can be seen patrolling Marine Corps Drive in his government-official white Jeep Cherokee.

Fully equipped with red and blue lights and a siren, the mayor says he'll do whatever it takes to keep his village safe, even if the police say it's illegal. On Monday Gumataotao was passing by his village en route to Naval Station when he attempted to stop the driver of a white van that he maintains was speeding in excess of the stated speed limit. "He was running 55 miles or more," the mayor recalled. "So I put my siren on but he won't pull over. Just before we reached the red light, I told him to pull over, he wouldn't do it. So I tried to get in front of his lane; he wouldn't do it."

A few hours later, officers from the Guam Police Department's Agat Precinct paid a visit to the mayor and presented him with a ticket for the incident. Mayor Gumataotao says he was cited for reckless driving and improper use of red and blue lights. He questioned the legitimacy of such act, telling KUAM News, "Reckless? He's the one that caused me to do all these things. I didn't wreck anything. I'm not a reckless driver. I've been driving for over 70 years, since I was 7 years old."

Gumataotao maintains as a mayor he is a peace officer with the authority to pull over speeding motorists. "I have the authority as long as the boundary line. In other wards," he continued, "in the municipality of Piti, everywhere even the highway. The highway doesn't make me not have jurisdiction."

http://www.kuam.com/news/14352.aspx

[TrogL]

1. So what kind of training has he had?

Is it part of his duties as mayor?

Is he armed?

Has he been trained on how to approach a vehicle?

Has he been trained in how to arrest and/or question suspects?

Has he been trained in counterfeit techniques?

Does the village insurance policy cover this?

[Jokerman]

2. Does the village insurance policy cover this?

Good question. That alone should be enough for the village to rein in his dumb ass.

I have a friend who was a town marshall until he found out that they expected him to provide his own liability insurance.