Deputies Have Just the Ticket for the Holidays

When the police car pulled in behind Patricia Lauletta on Wednesday, its lights blazing blue and red, she wondered frantically what she had done.

Lauletta had just dropped off her son at Mesa Verde Middle School. She didn’t remember speeding or running any stop signs on the drive home.

In fact, she hadn’t, at least as far as Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Manory knew. He pulled her over because he had just watched her come to a full stop at a stop sign, her turn signals showing her intention to turn left. She had obeyed the rules of the road, and Manory, the department and Moorpark’s Kiwanis Club wanted to thank her.

This week, the deputies who patrol Moorpark are stopping and rewarding careful and courteous drivers. Those pulled over by the deputies are invited to a Jan. 16 dinner sponsored by the Kiwanis Club where they will receive gifts--such as movie tickets or a certificate for a free manicure--donated by local businesses.

Capt. Mike Lewis, who heads the department’s Moorpark division, said he hit on the idea as a relatively gentle way to get stressed-out, holiday season drivers to slow down.

“It reminds drivers that they need to be extra cautious during the holiday season,” he said. “Extend that little extra courtesy to other drivers, and maybe save an accident.”

Deputies on gift-giving duty prowl Moorpark streets accompanied by a Kiwanis member, searching for responsible souls.

“I’m kind of looking for drivers who are going above the call, being courteous to other drivers,” Manory said Wednesday as he cruised Tierra Rejada Road. “I’m trying to find someone who isn’t doing it because they’re seeing a police car.”

Finding such drivers can take time. After stopping Lauletta in her driveway, Manory hunted for more than 20 minutes without pulling over another car. During that time, Senior Deputy Ed Tumbleson, who was following in an unmarked car, stopped a driver who was tailgating through an intersection, honking her horn. She got off with a warning.

“Whatever happened to defensive driving?” Tumbleson said as he climbed back in his car.

For the good drivers stopped by the deputies, the experience can be momentarily harrowing. Manory pulled over Shari Berry in the Kmart parking lot on Los Angeles Avenue as she arrived for work. She wondered if her co-workers saw the flashing police lights.

“They’re probably all laughing at me,” she said.

Once Manory and Kiwanis member Barry Teasley explained the situation, however, she said she appreciated the gesture.

“This is really nice,” she said. “It’s really important during the holiday season. People are really stressed.”