No one is above the law—not even the law. One police officer thought the rules didn’t apply to him and blocked an ambulance. He found out the hard way that his sergeant could make his own rules. And use a tow truck to enforce them.

Our story comes from a tow truck driver whose company dispatched him to a fender bender. Upon arrival, he realized there was already a flatbed at the scene with more than enough room for both cars.

The scene was already swarmed with emergency services: “There was one ambulance and five police cruisers—three cruisers blocking the road, one directing traffic.” As he watched, a sixth police cruiser arrived. This officer “felt the need to park his cruiser crossways diagonally in front of the ambulance.” Then he sauntered up to the officer directing traffic and started chatting with his buddy.

The ambulance crew realizes a police cruiser parked them in

Once the EMTs were ready to go, they realized there was a police cruiser directly in front of their rig. Getting out would have required them to reverse around obstacles—not an easy task in an ambulance. The team asked around and found the police officer who had parked the cruiser blocking them. They asked him to move it. His response?

“When I’m ready.”

Oh boy, that’s not a very nice way to treat EMTs. What happened to the camaraderie between emergency services personnel? As the tow truck driver watched, a sergeant arrived at the scene. Once the ambulance drivers asked him about the cruiser, he decided to move it himself. “I see him stomping in my direction and then walks to the cruiser, and the door was locked.”

At this point, the upset sergeant yelled to the police officer, who was still hanging out in the street. No response. The tow truck driver wasn’t sure why: “He either didn’t respond, ignored, or wasn’t aware his superior was there.”

The sergeant began to reach for his own radio. Then he noticed the tow truck parked nearby. “He looked at me and asked what my drop fee was.”

The police officer parked in front of an ambulance gets justice

If a tow truck responds to a scene where a car is parked illegally and goes through the trouble of hooking it up, they often have a “drop fee” they’ll charge the owner to put the car back on the ground. This pays for the driver’s time and the gas to get to the scene.

The sergeant actually waited to see if his police officer would make the right choice. The driver said, “Five minutes go by, and he waves to me to get the cruiser, so I line up and sting it and dragged it out of the way, and the ambulance drivers waved and left the area.”

So, time to put the cruiser back where it was parked? Not according to the sergeant. “He told me to keep the cruiser hooked because he wanted to teach the a—— a lesson.”

The cop realizes his cruiser got towed

The police officer was shocked. “He rushed back and demanded I put the car down.” The tow truck driver refused. 

So the officer tried to change his tune, arguing that “it’s not a funny joke.” The truck driver wasn’t joking around at all. “I reminded him that all tows are fair in the county if the car is illegally parked.” 

The officer then asked the sergeant for help but found no mercy there. “The sergeant reminded him that the ordinance extends to emergency vehicles.”

The tow truck driver knew this wasn’t true, but decided not to correct the sergeant. He explained his drop fee was $100. That’s when the police officer attempted bargaining. “He tried to negotiate to 40.” Again, the tow truck driver said no.

“He hesitates, but he pulls five 20s from his wallet, and I put his cruiser down. He got in his cruiser, and he didn’t look too happy as he pulled away.”

What about the officer’s boss? “The sergeant busts out laughing and said that kid needed that.” Apparently, the officer had only been on the force a few weeks but was already “acting like he ran the place.” The sergeant had found the perfect way to put his officer back in his place—while giving a hardworking tow truck driver a little extra spending money. The tow truck driver chatted with the sergeant for a while, then went home to post his once-in-a-career story on Reddit.