OK - Hulbert's Speed Enforcement Reputation Continues

Hulbert's Speed Enforcement Reputation Continues
KOTV - 6/30/2006 11:30 AM - Updated: 6/30/2006 6:04 PM

If you're headed to the Illinois River this holiday weekend you'll want to avoid what's always been known as a speed trap in Hulbert. But according to some unlucky travelers, the town of Hulbert is much more than a speed trap. They say one Hulbert Police officer crossed the line and they weren't even speeding.

News on 6 reporter Jennifer Loren says Andreas Schott is an intern from Germany, living in Tulsa. His friend Marshall Lind, a Tulsa native, was leading the way to a float trip on the Illinois River last weekend.

Before they left, Lind warned both cars full of people about a speed trap in Hulbert. "We really slowed down when we came through and made sure we obeyed all the speed limit signs."

But as they were leaving Hulbert, they say sure enough, they heard police sirens and pulled over. "The officer came to my window and the first thing he said to me is do you want to go to jail tonight? And I hadn't any idea what I did wrong!"

The officer told Schott, he had been trying to pull them over for almost three miles with lights and sirens. All eight people in the car say that's not true. Andreas Schott: "It is injustice. I have seven witnesses that the siren wasn't on for two and a half miles." The officer wrote Schott three tickets, one for a misplaced sticker on his tag, one for not pulling over quickly and another for having his back window blocked. Then he wrote Marshall a ticket too. "Then he said I gotta make it worth my while. Then he started writing the $80 ticket."

The Hulbert Police Chief refused to talk to the News on 6 on camera. But he says its all in the numbers and gave me a break down of all the tickets they've given in the last three years which he says are standard.

But compared to Oologah, a similar sized town that sits on a similar highway, Hulbert's numbers are not standard. In 2005, Hulbert Police wrote almost 100 more speeding tickets than Oologah, 370 more improper tag tickets and almost three times their total number of tickets.

Andreas Schott: "I learned my lesson, which means I never drive through this town again. Its, it shocked me really. It’s a bad memory for me."

The News on 6 talked to the Hulbert Police officer who pulled them over and he disputes all of their allegations.

But if you're going through Hulbert make sure your tags are current and in the right place because officers write almost as many tickets for improper tags as for speeding.