My Idea Of Fun

I run a lot of license plates during my shift. As a result, I get lots of people with suspended licenses, warrants, and more. Occasionally I hit the jackpot.

The other day, I ran an out-of-state plate on the car in front of me. Before the hit came back, the car turned off into a grocery store parking lot. A second later, it came back as a stolen car. I whipped into the parking lot, but the car was gone. Vanished. Disappeared.

I got two other squads started my way to help me search, and I began checking the parking lot and surrounding streets. Nothing. After about 10 minutes, I was frustrated and mad that I'd let one get away.

I decided that if the guy was heading to a grocery (the only thing open at that time) for cigarettes or beer, maybe he'd go to a nearby convenience store instead. I was on my way to the closest one when who do you suppose drove right by me, heading back toward the shopping center? I whipped my squad around, hit the lights and siren, and tried to catch up. Unbelievably, other traffic did exactly what they were supposed to do - pull over and get out of my way.

As I pulled up behind the stolen, the driver shot into the grocery store parking lot, hit the brakes hard, and did a 180 in the ice and snow. I was sure he was going to take off in the other direction, but he actually stopped and threw his hands up. I radioed my situation (I'm sure my voice was about 12 octaves higher than normal), jumped out of my squad car, and got the driver at gunpoint. My back-up arrived and we took the guy into custody.

I realized then that adrenaline was practically shooting out of my eyeballs: I was breathing hard, my hands were shaking, and I was pacing back and forth like a caged lion. Once the dust settled, I advised the guy he was under arrest for the stolen car, possession of drugs and paraphernalia, and driving under suspension.

His response? "OK, but I'm gonna fight the suspension". Good luck to ya', buddy.