Those of you who out there who own/run your own tattoo studio: imagine someone driving their car and accidentally pressing the accelerator instead of the brake and subsequently smashing into your tattoo studio. Chances are you’d be pretty upset. Chances are you’d call the driver, who survives with no injuries and refuses to pay for the damages to your shop, a bit of a jerk. Or perhaps you’d even call him a moron. It’s okay, you’re allowed to be angry.
Sadly, that’s exactly what happened to Pierre Bullot, of Auckland, New Zealand. According to Bullot, couches, a television, computers, carvings and tattoo equipment were destroyed when a cop drove his squad car into Bullot’s Talisman TAT2 tattoo studio. The cop walked away uninjured, and the Auckland police department then proceeded to completely disrespect Pierre Bullot.
Bullot, who has no insurance on his tattoo studio, will lose a week’s salary as a result of the accident. He also believes that he might have to shut the business for good. For their part, the Auckland police department have told Bullot that he can send them a bill for reimbursement of the cost of the damages, but that there is no guarantee that they’ll actually pay it. Judging by the way in which Bullot claims the police have actually driven by his destroyed shop, slowed down and laughed, that reimbursement check will arrive somewhere around never and even longer than that.
That’s nice. It’s not bad enough that the APD ruin the guy’s living, but the fact that they’re petty enough to laugh at someone else’s business being destroyed is more than a little depraved. What nice people.
Good luck to you, Pierre. Hopefully you’ll throw some sort of fundraiser, or end up with some cash through the kindness of other tattoo artists who have a soft spot for guys who get fucked over by the police. I’d send you money if I had any. Sorry about that.