VIDEO: Did An Idaho Driver Really Bribe A Cop With Potatoes?
(The below video is for humor only, and no police officer accepted a real bribe)
Most of us have seen those flashing lights in the rearview mirror at least once in our life. As the officer approaches your car, certain behavior by the motorist will not be tolerated, especially bribery.
I've been ticketed probably a handful of times since getting my driver's license over 25 years ago. Illegal lane change, speeding, and driving with broken or malfunctioning lights are three citations that come to mind right away. I've never been one of those lucky ones to get away with a verbal warning.
Bribery is defined as, "Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action.," according to law.cornell.edu. It takes a good amount of machismo to try to pull off this not recommended action, but people do try it in some form or another on a daily basis.
I recently came across a Pinterest share titled "Must be in Idaho." It's of an alleged actual newspaper clipping written by someone named Leighton Bell. The title of the story is "Driver bribes cop with sweet potatoes." Obviously, the state of Idaho is synonymous with the potato. Just walk through the produce section of your local store and you'll likely see a bag of Idaho potatoes.
I googled the name of the "author" of the headline and found nothing. I also attempted to validate the story by searching through YouTube to see if perhaps a news agency did a story on it. The closest thing I found was a video of a driver sticking a donut out the window at a motorcycle cop.
The video is obviously a fake. The driver in the clip hands the cop a donut and says, "I can't seem to find my license." To which the "officer" looks both ways, takes the donut, and responds, "You have a good day sir."