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Traffic police in Cancun, Mexico didn’t know what they were in for when they pulled over an American couple, and threatened to charge the driver with speeding, unless he paid them to stay out of jail. Turns out that his wife, also in the car, was a Minnesota state lawmaker. Anchor Katy Clark gets the story from State Senator Michelle Fischbach.

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KATY CLARK: I’m Katy Clark and this is The World.  So it’s the last day of your vacation in a tropical resort.  You’re driving along with friends, when the cops pull you over.  They tell you you’re speeding.  And then they demand cash, or they’ll throw you in jail.  Well, that’s what happened to Scott Fischbach in Cancun, Mexico, earlier this year.   Scott’s wife Michelle was also in the car.  She’s on the phone now from her home in St Paul, Minnesota.  And Michelle, welcome.  How much money did they want from you?

MICHELLE FISCHBACH:  Well, they wanted $300 and actually, that’s what they ended up getting, US$300 in cash.

CLARK:  And just to clarify, this wasn’t one of those on the spot fines.  These cops wanted a bribe, right?

FISCHBACH:  Yes, they wanted a bribe.  They were trying very hard to get my husband on drunk driving.  They were actually what I think has been referred to now as the “Cancun breathalyzer test” where they were having him– they cupped their hands and had him blow into their hands, and then they would sniff at their hands to see if there was any kind of alcohol on his breath, and he had not been drinking.  So they couldn’t get him for that.  But then they wanted $300 and they wanted it in cash.  They were holding his driver’s license, and they said that they would take him to jail if he did not come up with the $300 cash.

CLARK:  And you paid them.  Why did you pay?  Why not protest and file a police report?

FISCHBACH:  Well, it was pretty intimidating.  I mean, it was three police officers.  It was dark, it was late.  We were in foreign country.  None of us in the car spoke Spanish, and it was rather intimidating and so we felt like we didn’t have a whole lot of choice.

CLARK:  Had you heard about things like this happening in parts of Mexico?

FISCHBACH:  You know, I had heard that there was a variety of things that went on, but I didn’t realize that you could be pulled over by the police and, you know, have $300 extorted from you on the spot.  I guess I had– you know, there’s a variety of things that you’d heard of, but nothing like this.

CLARK:  So none of this sat well with you, and when you got home to Paynesville, Minnesota, you decided to seek redress and now this is where we should mention that you are in fact a fourth term Minnesota state senator.  So tell us what you did.

FISCHBACH:  Well, you know, as time went on, after we paid the money, we started to get very angry.  And I’d actually talked to the concierge and it didn’t seem to bother him.  He goes, “Oh well, if they would have got you for drunk driving, it would have been $1,000.”

CLARK:  So you were lucky.

FISCHBACH:  Yes, we got off cheap, I guess.  But it just seemed plain old wrong.  It was just wrong.  And so I just decided, you know, what, I’m going to write a letter.  And we sent a letter off, explaining what had happened, and actually, my niece was in the car.  She’s a grown woman, so it wasn’t a child, but she was writing down everything that she could about the vehicle, about the officers.  They had on name tags that had their first names on them, things like that.  So we had a lot of information.  So we included all of that in the letter and sent it on down, and we didn’t hear anything for a while.  And then they called in and said they wanted to issue me a refund.

CLARK:  So you got all of your money back?  You got a check from the Cancun city government for the full $300?

FISCHBACH:  Yes.

CLARK:  And you cashed it, and it didn’t bounce.

FISCHBACH:  You know what, I haven’t cashed it yet.  It’s kind of a conversation piece at this point still.

CLARK:  Do you know what happened to the police officers who swindled you here?

FISCHBACH:  My understanding is that they were fired and from the press reports that I’ve seen, it’s that there’s going to be a further investigation also.

CLARK:  Do you feel like you got special treatment in this case because you are an elected official, or do you think regular people could go after the justice that you got here as well?

FISCHBACH:  I certainly hope that’s not the case, and that anybody who would write and tell them what happened to them would get the same kind of attention.

CLARK:  Well, sadly you are not the first American tourist overseas to be fleeced in this way, and you probably won’t be the last.  What advice do you give people who might find themselves in a similar position?

FISCHBACH:  Well, first, if you feel like you’re in any danger or anything, I’m not advocating they pay them, but I don’t want anyone to try to stand up to somebody that they would feel in danger of.  But most certainly, if anything happens, get any information you can, and make sure you send it to the folks in Cancun, or wherever it may be, and let the officials in the government know what’s going on.

CLARK:  Do you think you’ll be going back to Cancun any time soon?

FISCHBACH:  You know, it wasn’t our first trip to Mexico, so I don’t know if we’ll go back soon, but I’m certainly not counting it out.  It depends on if my husband will take me on a nice vacation.

CLARK:  Okay, Michelle Fischbach, Minnesota state senator, thanks for joining us.

FISCHBACH:  Thank you very much.  I really appreciate it.

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