EVERETT – A woman in a Lexus claimed the light was green when she raced through it.
She likely didn’t see the man standing on the corner, and if she did, she didn’t realize he was a police officer who watched her run the red light.
Everett Sgt. Dan Templeman, sans police uniform, stood in civilian clothes on the corner at Evergreen Way and Casino Road Friday looking for drivers breaking the law.
He targeted people who ran red lights, blocked the busy intersection, drove aggressively or didn’t wear their seatbelts.
He found plenty.
In about three hours, four officers stopped 36 drivers. They wrote 20 tickets, handed out 15 warnings and arrested one person on an outstanding warrant.
They could have written more $101 tickets. There were enough violations.
There weren’t enough officers to keep up with business and only those drivers who blatantly broke the law were ticketed.
“We’re not here to trap or trick anyone,” Templeman said. “We do want people to take traffic safety seriously. Pay attention to your driving – not your cellphone.”
The Lexus driver wasn’t the only one who argued about the color of the light. There were others who said they didn’t know it was illegal to block the intersection.
“They speed up to make the light, get stuck in the intersection and block traffic,” Templeman said. “That’s when you see road rage.”
Friday’s sting is one of a handful that the department will do this summer specifically targeting problem intersections.
It was paid in part by a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
Other patrols will be scheduled to target pedestrian and school bus safety.
“We can’t be everywhere but we want to give the impression that we could be anywhere,” Templeman said. “We want people to have the feeling that a police officer could be watching.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
Everett Police Officer Sherman Mah tickets a motorist for running a red light and blocking the intersection at Evergreen Way and Casino Road in Everett on Friday. Everett police wrote 20 tickets and 15 warnings during a crackdown on aggressive drivers.
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