Director Lynn Shelton Gets SWAT Treatment from Seattle Police
Director Lynn Shelton, most recently of "Humpday" fame, was driving down Aurora Avenue last night with three crew members and Thee Emergency lead singer Zana Geddes all stuffed in Geddes' 1968 Ford LTD. They had just finished shooting for an MTV web video when Shelton noticed the cop car behind them.
Lynn Shelton's view down the barrel of a shotgun was less than pleasant.
The police officer didn't stop them immediately. Instead, it followed until they were near the Woodland Park Zoo, at which point it was joined by an arsenal of cops the likes of which hasn't been seen since the last Bad Boys movie.
Let's let Shelton pick up the story from here...
...Next thing we know, ten police cars have blocked all southbound traffic on 99 in order to descend upon us on all sides. After pulling over, we find ourselves staring into a cavalcade of blazing flashlights and up the barrels of various firearms--including a frigging shotgun. We exit the car, one by one, ("SLOWLY; hands visible AT ALL TIMES"), in order to be thoroughly frisked, questioned ("What's that police scanner doing in your car?" "Police scanner? Uh...I don't...oh you mean the blue box with the flashing lights? That's our audio recorder." "Oh."), and eventually lined up upon the curb like chastened, squatting children.Shelton told P-I's Seattle 911 blog that the officers were extra kind once the whole matter had been settled.
She says she realized later that they'd been filming near the North Precinct. And with the recent murder of Officer Timothy Brenton and the threatening note left at a maintenance yard arson, not to mention the extra rigs and lights on a car that sounds like a close match of the vehicle used in Brenton's murder, it's no surprise they piqued the interest of law enforcement.
3 comment(s)
JD says:
Thanks for understanding!
Posted On: Friday, Nov. 6 2009 @ 8:00AM
Cops not necessarily Heroes says:
So, are we know going to see the SPD unleash a wave of terror and profiling against the people of Seattle, maybe even murder a few innocent people, and have the media excuse it?
Posted On: Friday, Nov. 6 2009 @ 1:06PM
Caleb says:
You might be stretching things a bit far, "cops."
In this one particular scenario, it's easy to say the police overreacted. But we also have to remember that some wacko has declared war against them. Possibly more than one.
And in the end, I think it'd be best if we let Shelton determine whether or not the arsenal was justified. After all, she was the one who was there. (And for the record, she doesn't seem to hold a grudge.)
Posted On: Friday, Nov. 6 2009 @ 2:03PM