I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them - Isaac Asimov

We Own This Road
by Hal_10000

Katy teen Stephen Gegenheimer had just bought $50 worth of roman candles and fireworks Monday afternoon and was headed home to set them off in his front yard when he spotted flashing lights in his rearview mirror.

An arson officer with the Houston Fire Marshal’s Office told the 17-year-old that he’d violated the law by driving through an annexed area of Houston with fireworks in his trunk.

Gegenheimer was baffled. Fireworks are illegal in the city of Houston, but legal in Harris County. He’d bought his fireworks legally at a stand in unincorporated Harris County and was planning to take them to his house in Katy, a few miles away, where he could legally use them.

But Gegenheimer’s direct route from the Wal-Mart in the 1300 block of Fry Road to his house in the 20600 block of Morning Creek Drive passed through a small stretch of Fry Road that has been annexed by the city of Houston, so the officer ticketed him.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Gegenheimer. “I feel I haven’t done anything wrong, but here I am with a $500 to $2,000 fine.”

As Americans prepare to celebrate the nation’s independence this weekend, Gegenheimer’s tale highlights the sometimes confusing laws surrounding the sale, use and transport of fireworks in the Houston area.

City officials have issued more than 1,200 fireworks-related criminal citations since 1997, according to a Municipal Court database of alleged violations obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

“We’re just enraged because we feel it’s as close to entrapment as you can get,” said Gegenheimer’s mother, Missy. “He’s a good kid. He’s never had a violation or a citation in his life and he was just trying to have fun on the Fourth of July.”

As you can probably guess, I’m not terribly fond of fireworks restrictions except in the case of fire danger. I was in Bozeman one Fourth of July and it was like the city was being bombed. People were setting off county fair level fireworks in their back yard. Yet somehow, no one died.

But that’s neither here nor there. This is, plain and simple, a money grab by the Houston cops. Twelve hundred tickets at $500-2000 a pop is about a million dollars funneled form unincorporated suburbs into the coffers of Houston. They are not increasing the safety of Houstonites one iota. They’re just taking people’s money.

Posted by Hal_10000 on 07/03/08 at 02:02 PM (Discuss this in the forums)

Comments

Posted by on 07/03/08 at 04:09 PM from

““I feel I haven’t done anything wrong, but here I am with a $500 to $2,000 fine.””

“Honestly, officer, when that asshole ran the stop and nearly ran me over on my way to the Metro this morning, and I dragged him out of his car and beat him to death with my copy of Stephen King’s ‘Lisey’s Story’, I don’t feel that I did anything wrong.”

Did this guy know fireworks were illegal in Houston? Did he know the street he was on was part of Houston?

Seriously, though, “I feel I didn’t do anything wrong” has nothing to do with it. If that were a legal excuse, I’d’ve killed about fifty people.

Posted by Hal_10000 on 07/03/08 at 04:11 PM from

Did this guy know fireworks were illegal in Houston? Did he know the street he was on was part of Houston?

I think you’re missing the point. Houston has annexed parts of roads so that they can enforce their laws on unincorporated suburbs when people happen to pass through annexed intersections. Where he bought them and where he was going to use them, fireworks were legal.

Posted by on 07/03/08 at 04:45 PM from

This is another one of those power abuse stories very popular here that just does not pass the smell test for me

Unless the officer has xray vision, how did he know that there was fireworks in the trunk? What was the probable cause for the stop? Who gave him permission to search the trunk? Since when does “fire marshalls” have police officer powers and can stop vehicles on the highway?

This kid needs to fight this ticket in court. If Mr. fire marshall observed the kid put the fireworks in the trunk then followed him to the area where it was banned, then stopped him, this is clearly an illegal stop and the officer is deserving of a serious reprimand.

Posted by on 07/03/08 at 05:24 PM from

Seriously, though, “I feel I didn’t do anything wrong” has nothing to do with it. If that were a legal excuse, I’d’ve killed about fifty people.

Wait, the ONLY thing stopping you from murdering people is the fact that it is illegal? Bureaucratic compromises and pandering that leads to laws is what decides your own sense of morality and ethics?

If that is truly the case, which I don’t think it REALLY is, then it seems like you need some serious help. But chances are you were just engaging in some deliciously hyperbolic straw man goodness instead. Which is fine too, I guess.

But I’m still gonna inform homeland security just to be on the safe side.

Posted by on 07/03/08 at 05:26 PM from

They are not increasing the safety of Houstonites one iota.

Well, we are quite dry right now....

Seriously - it does sound fishy. How did they know he had them?

In our old neighborhood in Spring (Harris County) every 4th of July it’s like a war zone. It takes half the night for all the smoke to clear, once they finally stop.

Posted by Lee on 07/03/08 at 05:54 PM from

Okay, here’s the scoop. I grew up in Houston, and it was well known that the cops would wait by fireworks stands, then randomly follow people (usually kids) who they thought might drive on an annexed road. They even point this out on the news every year. I remember the morning DJs I listened to repeatedly warning everyone, “When you buy fireworks, make sure you’re not driving inside Houston territory.”

Now, this is clearly nothing more than a money grab by the city. I don’t really have a problem with them keeping an eye on people who buy a lot of fireworks, maybe following them to see if they’re going into Houston. But there should be a matter of intent. Clearly this kid had no intent to take the fireworks into Houston, he was on a public street, and his intent was to take them to his house in Katy, which is outside Houston city limits. (I went to high school in Katy.)

This is bullshit, and any judge with integrity would toss it out. This is nothing more than a speed trap, just a way of writing tickets to increase city revenues at the expense of its citizens.

Posted by Hal_10000 on 07/03/08 at 06:09 PM from

Seriously - it does sound fishy. How did they know he had them?

As Lee said, and the full article makes clear, they were staking out he fireworks stands.

We’re quite dry up here as well and, as I said, I absolutely support fireworks restrictions when there’ a fire danger. No one has a right to celebrate the independence of their country by blowing up a small part of it. Indeed, the spectacular display I saw in Bozeman was because that was the first year in many years that they had not been under fire restrictions.

Posted by HARLEY on 07/03/08 at 06:39 PM from

fucking cops.
but hey, the letter or the law is the letter of the law.

Posted by on 07/03/08 at 06:58 PM from

This is nothing more than a speed trap, just a way of writing tickets to increase city revenues at the expense of its citizens.

Well it’s good that they got their priorities straight instead of wasting manpower and resources on unimportant things, like stopping murderers and rapists.

Posted by on 07/03/08 at 08:42 PM from

Well it’s good that they got their priorities straight instead of wasting manpower and resources on unimportant things, like stopping murderers and rapists.

How do you stop those, unless you know in advance they are going to take place?

I’m not necessarily defending Houston police, but I do know that plenty have died in the recent past while doing their job.

Posted by on 07/03/08 at 08:59 PM from

How do you stop those, unless you know in advance they are going to take place?

Perhaps by walking a beat around locations where murders and rapes could happen, instead of having trained officers sitting outside a fireworks shop waiting for some kid to come out with a carload?

Posted by on 07/03/08 at 09:58 PM from

Perhaps by walking a beat around locations where murders and rapes could happen

Exactly. Being able to respond to an emergency call just one minute faster in many cases is more than enough to save a life.

I’m not necessarily defending Houston police, but I do know that plenty have died in the recent past while doing their job.

Well, if a lone officer is pinned down in a firefight, it doesn’t help if his potential backup isn’t there… and is instead tasked with stalking kids that have celebratory fireworks over an invisible line.

It’s best for victims AND law enforcement if they stick to what is important, which is saving lives.

Posted by Ed Kline on 07/03/08 at 11:30 PM from

(I went to high school in Katy.)

Yes, but did you bang Renee Zellwegger?

Posted by Lee on 07/03/08 at 11:58 PM from

We didn’t go to the same high school. However, she graduated in 87 and I in 88. I had tons of friends who went to Katy High and I used to go to parties out there all the time. It’s entirely possible that I did indeed go to a party with her one night.

But bang her? No. She hasn’t looked good since Bridget Jones’ Diary.

Posted by Ed Kline on 07/04/08 at 12:07 AM from