To the editor:

I was recently stopped by a Cape Coral police officer in one of those unmarked police vehicles. I felt so strongly about this officer’s behavior in this event that I wrote two letters to Police Chief Sizemore, one of them certified. I have lived in Cape Coral for 15 years and this is the first time I have ever had to pay a traffic ticket.

I have been told on several occasions that the purpose of the unmarked vehicles on our streets is to make them safer and not for the purpose of garnering additional revenue for city coffers. I have my doubts about that after recently having been frightened by a police officer in one of these unmarked cars that made me think I was caught up in a road rage incident.

I noticed a vehicle following me for a couple of miles going west on Diplomat Parkway from Santa Barbara. I was slowing down for the stop sign at Chiquita when this car came charging up on my left and slammed on his brakes. This scared the bejesus out of me and I immediately took off before coming to a complete stop. An eighth mile later this vehicle comes charging up alongside of me again and my blood pressure (I’m 81 years old) went through the roof. I was just about to do a panic stop when he dropped back, pulled in behind me and turned on his lights.

Once I saw the lights I immediately pulled over and made a right hand turn onto Northwest 18th Place and stopped. When the officer came up to my window I admonished him in the strongest verbiage for his reckless driving and scaring the hell out of me. He said that he had been following me for two miles at speeds up to 54 mph. I told him if he had just turned on his lights sooner I would have pulled over just as I did. But this way a 9 mph over ticket was parlayed into an 18 mph over speeding ticket with a failure to stop thrown in.

I’m hoping that this was a one-off event and that not all the officers that drive these vehicles do so in such a manner that it frightens an older preson. If not, it is just a matter of time before one instigates an accident or medical emergency and Cape Coral ends up in a lawsuit.

Since this incident no one will ever convince me that the primary reason for these cars is safety. I’m sure that the citizens of Cape Coral never intended these UNMARKED cars to be used in such a manner.

Michael Newton

Cape Coral