Cops Threaten to Jail Dad Picking Up Kids From Day Care

I am the law!

​San Francisco, the city famous for having more dogs than children, is not the most kid-friendly city (just ask Chris Daly!). Consider this little tidbit from Ed Sidawi. While recently picking up his 1- and 3-year-old sons from day care, the Mission resident was threatened with arrest by a cranky man wielding a badge and sitting in an unmarked car. His crime? Asking him to move his car.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when Sidawi -- full disclosure: he's a friend of mine -- was looking for a parking spot near his kids' day care, which is located in the state building at 455 Golden Gate Avenue. Usually, he says, parents park in a passenger zone in front of the building and then run in and get their kids. But he says on this particular occasion what appeared to be an unmarked police car was hogging up two spots in the white zone, forcing some parents to have to park further away and make a lengthier journey back to the car with their children.

On his way into the building, Sidawi mentioned something to the two guys in the unmarked car about taking up two spots. On the way out, with his kids in tow, Sidawi saw the car hadn't moved and so he said something again, suggesting they move and make room for others to park. That didn't produce any results either. Then as he was leaving, Sidawi -- a criminal defense lawyer who is obviously not afraid to badger a witness -- drove up next to the unmarked car and motioned for the driver to roll down his window. The driver instead swung open his door and flashed a badge -- Sidawi couldn't make out what law enforcement agency the circular star-shaped badge identified -- and yelled "Get out of here or I'm going to arrest you and take you to jail."

Not wanting to alarm his kids any more than they already were, Sidawi obeyed. As they left, 3-year-old Theo asked his father who the angry man was. Sidawi said it was a police officer. "Police officers are mean," Theo concluded.

In his legal work, Sidawi has had his share of run-ins with law-enforcement types (although usually it's in a courtroom). But before you dismiss him as a cop-hater, he followed up his story about the jerko officers with a sweet anecdote about the state's top law enforcement official, Attorney General Jerry Brown.

Last week Sidawi was again picking up the kids from day care at the state building. This time he saw Brown's car (the AG has an office in the building) double parked in front of the passenger unloading zone. According to Sidawi, within moments of telling the former governor that his car was preventing parents from being able to park there, Brown ordered his driver to get out of the way.

Sidawi informs us that, yes, he will be voting for Brown if he runs for governor next year.