cawacko
Well-known member
In the ranking of the world's important events this one is pretty low but nonetheless it's great to be a powerful gov't official isn't it? I mean its not like she's in any security danger shopping in the rich playground of St. Helena. But when you can do whatever the hell you want just do it right?
Nancy Pelosi’s high-security shoe-shopping trip
They’re still buzzing up in the Wine Country over House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s VIP ride — complete with flashing lights — to a swank St. Helena shoe boutique.
As local businessman Thomas “Paul” Smith first described in a letter to the hometown St. Helena Star, he was chatting with friends on Main Street on a recent Saturday afternoon when he spotted “a large, perfectly polished and gleaming black SUV” approaching from a side street.
“The big black SUV then darts out across both lanes of traffic with (red and blue lights) flashing in both front and rear windows,” Smith wrote. “It goes directly into the red zone/fire hydrant area” and stops in front of Footcandy — a shoe store frequented by the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Victoria Beckham, where a pair of shoes can set you back anywhere from $100 to more than $1,000.
The VIP stunt maneuver was also witnessed by a passing St. Helena police officer who was “shaking his arm and hollering at the driver of the SUV,” Smith said.
Unfazed, the SUV’s driver helped a woman from the passenger’s side of the vehicle. The woman turned out to be Pelosi, who dashed into Footcandy while the driver waited by the SUV in the red zone, Smith said.
Smith soon walked up the street to take a closer look.
“As I approach Footcandy, Nancy Pelosi comes out with her shopping bags and the man assists her into the awaiting SUV,” he wrote. The VIP SUV then burst back into southbound traffic with lights flashing, Smith said.
“I understand people like that need security,” Smith told us, “but this didn’t look like any official business to me.”
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill confirmed that his boss was in Napa County on the weekend in question, but insisted that Smith had gotten it wrong. “This is not at all an accurate account,” he said without elaborating. “The security detail always complies with appropriate laws and regulations.”
Asked by the town’s paper to weigh in, St. Helena Police Chief Bill Imboden wrote that his hands were tied because the U.S. Capitol Police and the Secret Service provide dignitary protection for certain high-ranking members of the government, “and the protection comes with the discretion to violate some state and local laws under the guise of providing the best possible protection.”
Imboden told us that Pelosi visits St. Helena a lot — she and her husband have a winery just outside town — and that her security detail at times plays fast and loose with the traffic laws. But Pelosi’s isn’t the only one, he said — it happens with other VIPs as well.
“Typically, they turn where they want to, or double park, or park in red zones ... and in front of fire hydrants,” the chief said. “But I’ve never seen them in a handicapped zone.”
These antics “happen occasionally, and it makes us cringe a little,” Imboden said. “It’s not something we would do, but it’s not something we can stop them from doing.”
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...hp?t=de28e358d43aa214ae&cmpid=twitter-premium
Nancy Pelosi’s high-security shoe-shopping trip
They’re still buzzing up in the Wine Country over House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s VIP ride — complete with flashing lights — to a swank St. Helena shoe boutique.
As local businessman Thomas “Paul” Smith first described in a letter to the hometown St. Helena Star, he was chatting with friends on Main Street on a recent Saturday afternoon when he spotted “a large, perfectly polished and gleaming black SUV” approaching from a side street.
“The big black SUV then darts out across both lanes of traffic with (red and blue lights) flashing in both front and rear windows,” Smith wrote. “It goes directly into the red zone/fire hydrant area” and stops in front of Footcandy — a shoe store frequented by the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Victoria Beckham, where a pair of shoes can set you back anywhere from $100 to more than $1,000.
The VIP stunt maneuver was also witnessed by a passing St. Helena police officer who was “shaking his arm and hollering at the driver of the SUV,” Smith said.
Unfazed, the SUV’s driver helped a woman from the passenger’s side of the vehicle. The woman turned out to be Pelosi, who dashed into Footcandy while the driver waited by the SUV in the red zone, Smith said.
Smith soon walked up the street to take a closer look.
“As I approach Footcandy, Nancy Pelosi comes out with her shopping bags and the man assists her into the awaiting SUV,” he wrote. The VIP SUV then burst back into southbound traffic with lights flashing, Smith said.
“I understand people like that need security,” Smith told us, “but this didn’t look like any official business to me.”
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill confirmed that his boss was in Napa County on the weekend in question, but insisted that Smith had gotten it wrong. “This is not at all an accurate account,” he said without elaborating. “The security detail always complies with appropriate laws and regulations.”
Asked by the town’s paper to weigh in, St. Helena Police Chief Bill Imboden wrote that his hands were tied because the U.S. Capitol Police and the Secret Service provide dignitary protection for certain high-ranking members of the government, “and the protection comes with the discretion to violate some state and local laws under the guise of providing the best possible protection.”
Imboden told us that Pelosi visits St. Helena a lot — she and her husband have a winery just outside town — and that her security detail at times plays fast and loose with the traffic laws. But Pelosi’s isn’t the only one, he said — it happens with other VIPs as well.
“Typically, they turn where they want to, or double park, or park in red zones ... and in front of fire hydrants,” the chief said. “But I’ve never seen them in a handicapped zone.”
These antics “happen occasionally, and it makes us cringe a little,” Imboden said. “It’s not something we would do, but it’s not something we can stop them from doing.”
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...hp?t=de28e358d43aa214ae&cmpid=twitter-premium
