Car Pool 'Passenger' Makes Police Say: 'C'mon, People'

The comparisons of Jon Gruden to the possessed doll Chucky from the movie Child's Play have been reinvigorated since Gruden was announced as the new Oakland Raiders coach earlier this week. It's the California Highway Patrol, though, that wins the prize for most creative reference after a citation in the car pool lane in Contra Costa County. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a single driver was pulled over Thursday and received a ticket for his not-valid passenger: a Chucky doll, strapped in and standing up shotgun to make him viewable to anyone who might be peeking inside the car.

The driver didn't escape punishment from the CHP. "We know JON GRUDEN is back, and we love it too, but this will definitely not work as your carpool passenger! But hilarious! A for effort, … and here's your carpool ticket," the agency tweeted Thursday evening. On its Facebook page, the CHP added: "This seriously happened today, … c'mon people." (More California stories.)