Perry zooming down road?
Constable's log indicates a speeding biker who got away was the governor.
Web Posted: 08/18/2004 12:00 AM CDTW.
Gardner SelbyExpress-News Austin Bureau
AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry nearly got ticketed for speeding on a motorcycle last month, a law officer said, though Perry said Tuesday he couldn't recall any close call of that sort during a weekend ride on a scenic byway.
Bill Schlueter, a Travis County deputy constable, said he was driving easton Southwest Parkway around 3:45 p.m. on July 3 when he saw a solo motorcyclist wearing a helmet "cruising" west at 75 to 80 mph in a 55-mphspeed zone.
The hilly road, with three lanes in each direction, juts from Austin morethan eight miles southwest of the Governor's Mansion, ending at Texas 71 between Austin and Llano. The parkway, past limestone bluffs and close toBarton Creek, frequently draws hobby bicyclists and motorcyclists.
Schlueter said the motorcycle was out of sight after he turned around, but he pulled over a black SUV trailing about a quarter mile behind. The driver identified himself as a Department of Public Safety trooper with Perry.
"I didn't get a good clock on the governor, but he was over the speed limit," Schlueter said. "I did get a good clock on the trooper behind him."
Perry's office said the DPS trooper was in the second of two vehicles trailing Perry and was not told that he was speeding. The trooper could not be reached Tuesday.
Schlueter said the trooper did not get a ticket because he was on duty providing security.
"I just let it go," Schlueter said.
Schlueter, the Republican nominee for Hays County constable, Precinct 4, said Perry didn't get a ticket because he was "gone" from view.
"If I'd have stopped him, he'd have gotten a ticket because he's not a law enforcement officer in the line of duty," Schlueter said.
A Travis County citation for going 75 mph in a 55-mph zone would yield a$120 fine plus $87 in court costs.
Schlueter said he had not replayed the stop - even to colleagues - until a reporter inquired.
"I'd have never thought in a million years it was the governor."
Precinct 3 Constable Drew McAngus, Schlueter's boss, was unaware of the stop, an aide said.
McAngus' chief deputy, Stacy Suits, said Schlueter could not have chased Perry down after stopping the trooper.
"You can't catch everybody driving down a freeway," Suits said. "There're
tons of reckless drivers in this town."
Perry, visiting San Antonio on Tuesday, indicated through an aide that he had no recollection of the trooper getting stopped and was unavailable for questions on motorcycling.
His spokeswoman, Kathy Walt, said later that Perry acquired a motorcycle in 2002. He rides a Harley-Davidson, she said.
Walt said that on July 3 the governor passed a speed trap on the parkway without being pulled over.
"You're talking about a traffic stop that never occurred for a speeding violation that never occurred," Walt said. "He wasn't speeding. You're being grossly unfair with this approach."
The July stop happened four years after Perry was a passenger in a car stopped on U.S. 290 near Dripping Springs. The driver, a Perry aide, was given a warning for allegedly driving 75 mph in a 55-mph zone.
According to a DPS video of the June 2000 stop, Perry told the officer writing the warning: "Why don't you just let us get down the road?"
An activity log for July 3 filed by Schlueter states that en route to Shady Hollow, a community he patrols, he "observed motorcycle on S.W. Pkwy" going" 75/80 mph. Could not turn on him. Heavy traffic. Did traffic stop on blackvehicle following motorcycle. Turned out to be a DPS trooper with the governor's" security detail. "Motorcycle rider was governor."
The account concludes: "No ticket issued."
Have I done that which I can do to the best of my ability?
HELL NO !! - but I'm trying.
Sputnik
