Whatever you do, do not run the red light because you are fearful of the homeless man  at the red light.

02/24/06

Disguised cops nab red-light runners

Florida Highway Patrol troopers stop 27 drivers

PORT CHARLOTTE -- Edward Pope normally doesn't wear a long, brown curly wig to work. He also rarely sits at a street corner with a sign that reads, "Will work for food."

He did both Thursday.

Pope also held a sign warning motorists: "Don't Run Red Lights."

They ignored him.

Drivers didn't realize the "homeless man" sitting outside the Shell gas station at U.S. 41 and Olean Boulevard was actually a Florida Highway Patrol trooper.

Every time a driver ignored Pope's sign, he called his colleagues who were stationed around the area waiting to chase down a red-light runner.

"Operation Red Light" netted 63 traffic stops during the patrol's first sting Jan. 27, Pope said.

State troopers created the operation to educate the public and prevent this year from becoming another deadly one on Charlotte County roads.

"We're trying to do everything we possibly can," Pope said.

In 2004, there were 37 traffic deaths recorded in Charlotte. The number climbed to 47 last year.

"This is basically something we started to fix the fatality rates," Pope said.

The handful of troopers from Charlotte and Sarasota counties joined nine auxiliary troopers, who are trained volunteers.

North Port resident Patrick Flynn joined Pope on Thursday and dressed as a homeless man, giving the troopers another set of eyes for red-light runners.

"I think it's actually a good thing," said Flynn, who works as a car sales manager in Palmetto. "We did one last month, and it was pretty effective."

Citizens who learned about the operation donated pizzas to feed the troopers before their 4 p.m. sting began.

"The public has been real supportive," Pope said.

Troopers stopped three motorists just five minutes into the sting.

Sgt. Conner Cardwell and Trooper Jim Wiley first stopped a Punta Gorda woman, who said she just wasn't thinking when she ran the light.

Pope said many drivers are preoccupied with cell phones, putting on their makeup or doing other tasks when running red lights.

Cardwell and Wiley also stopped a teenage girl who tried to suppress pre-tear quivers as she spoke of never being pulled over by an officer. Her shaky voice never steadied as the tears began falling.

She, like many others Thursday, received a $180.50 ticket along with 4 points on her license. A driver can receive up to 12 points on a license in a 12-month period before it is suspended, Cardwell said.

A gas leak north of the sting area may have reduced the number of red-light runners because it caused heavier-than-usual U.S. 41 traffic Thursday, Pope said.

Troopers ticketed 27 red-light runners and issued four additional citations during the two-hour operation, Pope said.

The highway patrol plans to conduct similar operations in the future.

http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/022406/ew8.htm?date=022406&story=ew8.htm