EL PASO, Texas — An ABC-7 crew covering a crash on I-10 on Monday unwillingly became part of the story.
Motorists stuck in traffic witnessed veteran journalist Darren Hunt and photojournalist Ric Dupont being handcuffed and detained.
Just after 1:30 p.m., the two arrived to report on a flipped semi-truck on I-10 West near the Sunland Park exit. They parked on the left shoulder of the eastbound lanes of I-10 as witnesses ran toward victims to offer help.
A pregnant woman sat on the side of the freeway, sobbing, and, according to a witness, several men in military fatigues helped pull the driver of the semi-truck out of the cab.
As emergency crews tended to the driver, police Sgt. Raul Ramirez told the ABC-7 crew from across the barrier to leave. Several people and half a dozen cars were also stopped on the eastbound shoulder.
Darren continued to try to get information from the men in fatigues when the situation began to escalate. The sergeant jumped the barrier and told Darren to get in the truck (an ABC-7 news unit) and leave, then held Darren with his hands behind his back to the side of the truck belonging to a witness that was parked on the shoulder.
OBEY! Resistance is futile!
# 30 rosignol said, “intentionally endanger the lives of innocent people”, are you fucking kidding me? ”
Umm, no. Stopping in the fast lane of a freeway during drive time endangers the lives of other drivers. What about this concept don’t you comprehend?
“Stopping in the fast lane of a freeway during drive time endangers the lives of other drivers.”
Overturned trucks and dozens of fire and police vehicles causes traffic congestion, even in the ‘fast’ lane. Further more, the news crew is *NOT* in the fast lane, they’re on the shoulder COMPLETELY OUT OF TRAFFIC LANES. It’s quite clear in the video and was also stated at the beginning of the video. What about these concepts don’t *YOU* comprehend?
# 63 Hyperkinetic said, “Further more, the news crew is *NOT* in the fast lane, they’re on the shoulder ”
You are obviously blind, or a troll. They truck is parked next to the center divider in a no stopping lane. Thus, ILLEGAL and dangerous. It would have been better to just shoot them.
# 64
That would cause a traffic hazard and he would then need to shoot himself causing a further traffic hazard. Doesn’t seem like the sane solution.
Really John? You believe that there was nothing else to see? And you know this how? I’m not defending the cop, but I do believe there was more to it and we haven’t heard it all. Unlike you, I don’t believe the media tells us the truth all the time.
#66, Dan,
If there is something else then produce the evidence that would justify the arrest of both reporter and cameraman. Until then, this goes down as a bad bust by an out of control cop.
In my state people automatically slow down when they pass accidents or stopped vehicles, so I don’t see how a car on the shoulder increases accidents.
Only drunks plow into cars stopped on the highways, and there’s only so much we can do about those idiots.