"SKATEBOARDING IS A CRIME!! "
Ex G&S teamrider from the 1970's and current scion of Skogging Chris Yandall (a.k.a. "The Wild Samoan") was arrested by San Diego Police for skateboarding with his girlfriend on their way to the beach for some skating.
According to Yandall, they were in the Pacific Beach area, skating toward the Mission Beach Boardwalk, when he carved into the street to avoice some pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk. Yandall used the Bike Lane to get around the sidewalk traffic, but then had to avoid yet another pedestrian that stepped out into the bike lane with a small child in tow. Yandall, who can turn on a dime with one foot on the board, tossed down a hard turn and footbrake to stop fully right in front of the flustered Dad, who apologized and went back up onto the sidewalk. Yandall apparently laughed it off and headed up the bike lane for a few yards, then back up a driveway onto the sidewalk.
This might be just another "no big deal" part of the silver-crested Samoan's day, but our men in blue were nearby, witnessing this horrible crime with mouths agape in horror. You, gentle readers, will be glad to know that the public safety was preserved, order was maintained and this may make a permanent mark on someone's record!
Immediately following that swerving/avoidance incident, a San Diego police officer in a patrol car pulled up behind Yandall and, using the public address loudspeaker, commanded Yandall to "get out of the street". This command was well-timed, catching the criminal element just as Yandall was about to cross into asphalt at the next intersection. Yandall pulled back onto the sidewalk with his trademark grin, expecting to have the cruiser roll on past, but the officer pulled up alongside Yandall and informed him that it's "illegal to skate in the street" while rolling along beside him. Yandall, noting that he was on a white, concrete sidewalk, pointed this out and so begins the following tactical response and capture of a dangerous man...
After our skater responded without the necessary downcast eyes, or perhaps a "Yessir!", the officer swerved his patrol car up into the driveway while frantically calling for backup. Bounding from his car, our legal beagle began lecturing Yandall that he posed a danger while skating in the street. You've heard it before, Yandall has probably heard it before and anyone could tell that Chris was about to earn himself a big, fat ticket. As the first protector of the public was preparing to write Yandall a ticket, a second Police cruiser pulled up and all that officer could see was a giant, dark-skinned man with gray hair, rippling biceps, triceps and lats, calves the size of honeydew melons and... a skateboard!
You can guess what happened next and so, the second cop leapt from his car and jumped Yandall, pulling his arms behind his back and shoving him into the hood of the police cruiser. The scent of blood was in the air (the proximity of a Dunkin' Donuts has absolutely no bearing on this story) and another 2 officers arrived on scene. One of them joined in with the cop that was already dry-humping the hapless old skater, pushing him and wrenchng his hands backwards while handcuffed.
Yandall says he showed no threat or violence towards the police officers during all of this. According to him, they were treating him as if he was some kind of dangerous criminal. However, our reporters noted that the Police were kind enough not to shoot the dangerous skater 30 or 40 times, as is occasionaly done to prove a point. Perhaps, Yandall should have argued more. At least he might have received 3 or 4 Taser blasts to the gonads. Heck, there are times when we've wanted to Tase the guy, just to see him dance around in that jerky, 80's disco style that men of his generation thought was so cool!
Anyway, back to our story: the police stuffed old man Yandall into the back of a squad car, rolled him downtown and booked him. Misdemeanor Ugly and Felony Swerve should have been the charges, but it was probably "Resisting a Peace Officer". We're not sure, because Yandall was released on $5,000 bail and went into seclusion with two new "girlfriends" he met in jail. They have coed holding cells? Oh....dammmmmm!
Either way, the Sultan of Skogg, the Swervin' Samoan, Chris Yandall was arrested for skateboarding in Pacific Beach, California, on June 17th, 2008. His court date is pending. Post your condolences, advice, admonitions, recriminations, stoke and more to him in the forums. Just to be clear: he's frustrated, but he ain't whining. He's pissed about aggro cops, but you might be, too. Check the "General" forum for a thread, or start your own. Chris has pics and commentary for ya.
