Woman's attempt to oust retired detective from a public lake leads to her humbling exit

Most people prefer to mind their own business, especially in public spaces, but sometimes others seem eager to create conflict out of nowhere. A retired detective, u/Country_Fence, shared a Reddit story about an incident where a woman tried to force them off a public lake, accusing them of breaking the law. "I've always made every effort to stay on the right side of the law," they wrote, adding, "I consider hypocrisy one of the worst traits an officer can have."

The detective explained how their family would often take their ski boat out to a local public lake, a favorite spot for their 12- and 13-year-old kids. "One day, after a few hours on the lake, my daughter mentioned she needed to use the bathroom. The lake had a public swimming beach with restrooms, and we’d frequently stop there for breaks," they recalled. "We would always pull up far from the designated swimming area before heading to the facilities."

Upon pulling up to the docking area, the detective noted a lady sitting on a lounge chair about 50 feet from them. The family remained 250 feet away from the swimming area, so they were not breaking any rules. As soon as the woman noticed the boat pulling in, she stared angrily at the family. Meanwhile, the kids identified the lady as the "mean lunch lady" they had at their previous elementary school.

As they pulled into the shore, the agitated woman began to yell at them, saying they were breaking the law. Not losing their cool, the detective calmly replied, "Really? What law?" Unfazed by the query, the woman continued to yell that they were driving a motorboat into the swimming area.

The individual pointed to the marked swimming area that was still 250 feet away and inquired, "You mean that swimming area?" to which she said yes. They then explained to her that they never entered the swimming area. Not prepared to let it go, the woman said the law did not allow boats to pull up to any shore. This did not make any sense because it meant that people would have to swim out of boats to get to the shore!

The woman then proceeded to call her son, a deputy, who she said would land the detective in trouble for where they docked the boat. When her son answered the call, she read out the boat's hull number to him. "Then she says (with a smirk on her face), 'My son is going to order you from the lake, RIGHT NOW...' and what happens next shocked me. This woman CALLS ME BY MY FULL NAME!!! Then she hands me the phone...," u/Country_Fence recounted.

"Now, I should say, this, what has just happened, is a clear, VERY clear, violation of the law. In my state, it's known as a LEIN violation, and police officers/deputies are very often charged with this crime...I read about it several times a year. If an officer uses his police computer to divulge personal information...say a deputy tells his mom the name of the registered owner of a boat that she is having a disagreement with, for example, it is a crime, no ifs ands or buts. Every cop knows this," they explained.

Being a detective, the Reddit user immediately recognized what probably happened. The woman handed them the phone and the son began to identify himself. The detective interrupted him to inquire if he knew what LIEN violations were. The deputy attempted to ignore the detective's questions, but they continued to press him. After a few more inquiries, the deputy became silent, at which point the detective said, "Tell you what. I'm going to hand this phone back to your mother. Then you're going to tell your mother to leave this beach right now. Then we can all forget this ever happened. Understood?" They returned the phone to the lady, who listened to her son for a while and then quietly left the place immediately after packing her belongings.

People on the platform loved the detective's calm approach to the situation in the comments section. u/tatpig said, "I bet she uses her son, the ‘deputy’, as a club anytime she doesn’t get her way." u/HahaImStillHere pointed out: "You should report him, sir, now the mother and the son will do this on me or others who don't know what LEIN violation is."

This article originally appeared on 8.23.23.