It was probably around mid-night when a call came in about an impaired driver on the interstate. Being the DWI hound that I was at the time, I was dispatched to intercept him.
He was easy to spot. Too easy. He was literally swerving from dirt to dirt. Baring in mind that this is a two lane interstate with plenty of shoulder. I straddled the center lane and activated everything I had. There were several tense moments when I thought he was about to roll his truck, but because the road was wet, and apparently because he was moving so lethargically he was able to just correct himself. At times he was slidding sideways down the interstate. This went on for what seemed like forever but was probably in fact only a couple of minutes.
After I finally got him to stop, he spilled out of his truck as my partner and I approached his vehicle. In all other aspects he was your typical highly impaired driver. Didn't know he had missed his turn several miles back and in fact was on the wrong road. Pin point constricted pupils slurred speech, staggering... the works.
To sum it up, he was both drunk and high. He was shooting up OC's. The evidence was recovered from his vehicle along with several different pills.
We took him to a hospital then we took him to jail.
The same guy wrapped his truck around a telephone poll two weeks later.
We got lucky that night in that we were able to stop him without anyone getting hurt or killed. There was a long line of cars behind him on the interstate because they were smart enough not to try and pass him. Thank God he didn't cross the median.
518/901
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Dumb get rid of the Dope Attempts
Lets get the obvious out of the way first. People get stupid when there is an impending arrest and they are to be the subject of that arrest.
I sit here thinking about all of the dumb ways people tried to get rid of the dope.
There was the time the young male, who was quite impaired I might add, had marijuana stuck in his teeth and pieces of it still on his lips. I asked him to smile and not move while I picked a piece of it out of his teeth with a tooth pick.
Or the time I stopped the guys on the interstate and the passenger had marijuana pieces from his collar to his belt. The spilt remains of the bag he ate as I was stopping them. I found it so funny I let them go, figuring he was punished enough for having to eat that crap.
Then there's the I'll just drop it right out of the car window and pretend it's not mine routine. That one ALWAYS works.
Oh and lets not forget the "I'll just drop my dime bag of MJ at my feet and maybe he won't notice and if he doe's I'll deny it's mine." Never mind that he already examined the ground where I was standing and the bag wasn't there 2 seconds ago.
Or the maybe I'll throw it on the other side of the armrest where he can't see it. Uh-oh... he approached from the passenger window.
Or the Imph Sorrph Offipher, I diphent see youph. Whaph? I donph haf any thingph in myf mouph.
and I love this one. The old "Hey man hold this for me while I talk to the cop that's stopping us." Sir where did you get this from... The driver. No kidding.
Or the spill it on the floorboard and grind it in. They won't notice it.
Then there's the ole' throw the dope to your buddy and yell "take that and run!" Works if you actually reach him with the throw.
How about I try and hide the pill bottle in the dish water while the police are kicking in my door? Oh damn... it floats and my hands are soaking wet.
These are just off the top of my head, and I'm sure as I sit here and think about it, I'll remember many more funny attempts at getting rid of the dope.
I'd love to hear stories of dumb attempts to get rid of the dope. Feel free to post.
518/901
I sit here thinking about all of the dumb ways people tried to get rid of the dope.
There was the time the young male, who was quite impaired I might add, had marijuana stuck in his teeth and pieces of it still on his lips. I asked him to smile and not move while I picked a piece of it out of his teeth with a tooth pick.
Or the time I stopped the guys on the interstate and the passenger had marijuana pieces from his collar to his belt. The spilt remains of the bag he ate as I was stopping them. I found it so funny I let them go, figuring he was punished enough for having to eat that crap.
Then there's the I'll just drop it right out of the car window and pretend it's not mine routine. That one ALWAYS works.
Oh and lets not forget the "I'll just drop my dime bag of MJ at my feet and maybe he won't notice and if he doe's I'll deny it's mine." Never mind that he already examined the ground where I was standing and the bag wasn't there 2 seconds ago.
Or the maybe I'll throw it on the other side of the armrest where he can't see it. Uh-oh... he approached from the passenger window.
Or the Imph Sorrph Offipher, I diphent see youph. Whaph? I donph haf any thingph in myf mouph.
and I love this one. The old "Hey man hold this for me while I talk to the cop that's stopping us." Sir where did you get this from... The driver. No kidding.
Or the spill it on the floorboard and grind it in. They won't notice it.
Then there's the ole' throw the dope to your buddy and yell "take that and run!" Works if you actually reach him with the throw.
How about I try and hide the pill bottle in the dish water while the police are kicking in my door? Oh damn... it floats and my hands are soaking wet.
These are just off the top of my head, and I'm sure as I sit here and think about it, I'll remember many more funny attempts at getting rid of the dope.
I'd love to hear stories of dumb attempts to get rid of the dope. Feel free to post.
518/901
Friday, January 19, 2007
The K-9 bit ME
We were out working a special detail one Saturday afternoon. I was assigned to work with the K-9 officer in a high drug traffic area of town. I'm well known in the department for my pursuit of street level narcotics and pairing us together was a direct reflection of that.
Ultimately we initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle during the course of which our narcotics officer contacted me via cell phone that he had been getting several complaints about the driver selling pills. I told him that I would take care of it.
I asked for consent to search which the driver indicated he was willing to sign. While I was retrieving the consent form from the patrol unit, the K-9 officer began to frisk him for weapons. While he was frisking him, his hand hit a square bottle of pills in the drivers front pocket. When he asked him about the bottle, the driver took off running.
The K-9 officer needed time to get his K-9 out of his unit and I instinctively took up the foot chase with the driver. I heard when the K-9 officer gave the warnings to the fleeing suspect that he would release the K-9 if he didn't stop. I backed WAY off.
Soon the K-9 was chasing said bad guy. I ran behind (from a good distance) when I saw the bad guy take a hard left by a building. I'm not sure how it happened but the K-9 became confused for a minute. I saw the suspect run into a building and slam the door. By this time, I was at a full sprint and followed the suspect into the building. The suspect was literally trying to force his way through the back wall of the building when I slammed into him.
So there I am in this small shed/building fighting with the suspect trying to take him down when what do I suddenly hear in the shed with us. You guessed it. The K-9.
As I "tussled" with the suspect, I positioned him between the K-9 and myself. However, I have a pretty wide stance to keep my leverage on the suspect. The next thing I know the K-9 has latched onto my right ankle. Oh crap.
Well thankfully I had two things going for me in that scenario. One, I was wearing boots. Two, I knew that as long as I didn't pull away from the K-9 that it wouldn't bare down any harder. At that time the bite was firm, but not painful. So know I'm still fighting with the bad guy, and I have K-9 latched onto my ankle. Can it get any wilder? When the clouds parted and the lights from heaven shown through the door of the building and in walked the K-9 officer. He pulled the K-9 off of my leg (Thank you!) and held him at bay while I got a cuff on one of the suspects wrist. The suspect was still trying to get away and made the mistake of swinging his arm at the K-9. Well, I wasn't the only one bitten that day. I didn't have a mark on me, the suspect however wasn't so lucky.
Apparently the K-9 had responded to the sounds of us fighting.
Bad guy got medical care and went to jail.
There were some calculated risks taken and some mistakes made. It is best to stay clear when the K-9 is in pursuit. I made a decision that I didn't want to loose the hot pursuit of the suspect who at the speed of real time I thought had forced his way into a residence. It wasn't until I was in the attached building that I realized it was a storage shed. I mean, can you imagine the horror to a family to have a felon busting through the door of your home?
All ended well and we live to chase another day.
518/901
Ultimately we initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle during the course of which our narcotics officer contacted me via cell phone that he had been getting several complaints about the driver selling pills. I told him that I would take care of it.
I asked for consent to search which the driver indicated he was willing to sign. While I was retrieving the consent form from the patrol unit, the K-9 officer began to frisk him for weapons. While he was frisking him, his hand hit a square bottle of pills in the drivers front pocket. When he asked him about the bottle, the driver took off running.
The K-9 officer needed time to get his K-9 out of his unit and I instinctively took up the foot chase with the driver. I heard when the K-9 officer gave the warnings to the fleeing suspect that he would release the K-9 if he didn't stop. I backed WAY off.
Soon the K-9 was chasing said bad guy. I ran behind (from a good distance) when I saw the bad guy take a hard left by a building. I'm not sure how it happened but the K-9 became confused for a minute. I saw the suspect run into a building and slam the door. By this time, I was at a full sprint and followed the suspect into the building. The suspect was literally trying to force his way through the back wall of the building when I slammed into him.
So there I am in this small shed/building fighting with the suspect trying to take him down when what do I suddenly hear in the shed with us. You guessed it. The K-9.
As I "tussled" with the suspect, I positioned him between the K-9 and myself. However, I have a pretty wide stance to keep my leverage on the suspect. The next thing I know the K-9 has latched onto my right ankle. Oh crap.
Well thankfully I had two things going for me in that scenario. One, I was wearing boots. Two, I knew that as long as I didn't pull away from the K-9 that it wouldn't bare down any harder. At that time the bite was firm, but not painful. So know I'm still fighting with the bad guy, and I have K-9 latched onto my ankle. Can it get any wilder? When the clouds parted and the lights from heaven shown through the door of the building and in walked the K-9 officer. He pulled the K-9 off of my leg (Thank you!) and held him at bay while I got a cuff on one of the suspects wrist. The suspect was still trying to get away and made the mistake of swinging his arm at the K-9. Well, I wasn't the only one bitten that day. I didn't have a mark on me, the suspect however wasn't so lucky.
Apparently the K-9 had responded to the sounds of us fighting.
Bad guy got medical care and went to jail.
There were some calculated risks taken and some mistakes made. It is best to stay clear when the K-9 is in pursuit. I made a decision that I didn't want to loose the hot pursuit of the suspect who at the speed of real time I thought had forced his way into a residence. It wasn't until I was in the attached building that I realized it was a storage shed. I mean, can you imagine the horror to a family to have a felon busting through the door of your home?
All ended well and we live to chase another day.
518/901
Monday, January 15, 2007
A night of Drunks
Friday Night.
I knew it was going to be a fun night when seconds after I started my patrol unit, I heard the dispatcher putting out a call where residents were complaining about drug activity on the corner. I arrived on scene behind two other units just in time for the suspect to make a run for it. He was cut off a couple of blocks later as he emerged from behind a house to find the laser from an officers taser pointing at his chest. That laser has an amazing nerve settling effect, but the suspect, while afraid to run, was not ready to just give up. I subdued him and handcuffed him, during the course of which my ear mike got broken. Dammit!
With a full crew out on the road and a trusted friend riding shotgun it wasn't long before I stopped a guy who couldn't manage to keep his truck on the road. After all was said and done he blew a .293. The amazing thing was the guy was standing upright. He claimed to have only consumed one beer. Suuuuuurrre.
Finished up with him, when the state police were calling for assistance with a stolen vehicle that one of the occupants had fled on foot. My partner spotted the suspect hiding a quarter mile away under a semi. We immediately left that call to assist with a crash on the the other end of town that took out a power pole.
The driver of that vehicle was a sheet or two to the wind. Lucky for him, no one was hurt. Before we could complete that call, we had a fire on a power pole and my partner and I departed to go assist, when a vehicle pulled in front of us and nearly caused an accident. I stopped him and you guessed it. "Strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person."
At the station, I learned that one of my fellow Officers had dealt with a drunk who put his van in the ditch just prior to the call from the State Police about the stolen vehicle.
Was it a full moon? Not sure, but I love the excitement and energy on busy nights like that. I don't like the drunks being on the road and I take great pleasure in catching them.
God I love this job.
518/901
I knew it was going to be a fun night when seconds after I started my patrol unit, I heard the dispatcher putting out a call where residents were complaining about drug activity on the corner. I arrived on scene behind two other units just in time for the suspect to make a run for it. He was cut off a couple of blocks later as he emerged from behind a house to find the laser from an officers taser pointing at his chest. That laser has an amazing nerve settling effect, but the suspect, while afraid to run, was not ready to just give up. I subdued him and handcuffed him, during the course of which my ear mike got broken. Dammit!
With a full crew out on the road and a trusted friend riding shotgun it wasn't long before I stopped a guy who couldn't manage to keep his truck on the road. After all was said and done he blew a .293. The amazing thing was the guy was standing upright. He claimed to have only consumed one beer. Suuuuuurrre.
Finished up with him, when the state police were calling for assistance with a stolen vehicle that one of the occupants had fled on foot. My partner spotted the suspect hiding a quarter mile away under a semi. We immediately left that call to assist with a crash on the the other end of town that took out a power pole.
The driver of that vehicle was a sheet or two to the wind. Lucky for him, no one was hurt. Before we could complete that call, we had a fire on a power pole and my partner and I departed to go assist, when a vehicle pulled in front of us and nearly caused an accident. I stopped him and you guessed it. "Strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person."
At the station, I learned that one of my fellow Officers had dealt with a drunk who put his van in the ditch just prior to the call from the State Police about the stolen vehicle.
Was it a full moon? Not sure, but I love the excitement and energy on busy nights like that. I don't like the drunks being on the road and I take great pleasure in catching them.
God I love this job.
518/901
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Driving a parked car
My friends and I were treated to an entertaining spectacle one night at a bar just outside of town. We were dispatched to go assist with an eighteen wheeler that was stuck in the ditch on a foggy night on a dark stretch of highway. The truck was blocking both lanes of travel and was a serious accident waiting to happen.
We arrived in several patrol units and setup units on both sides of the truck with our overhead lights flashing to warn on coming vehicles of the hazard.
The driveway the truck was trying to exit belonged to a bar that had shut down about an hour earlier. We noticed a car still in the lot of the bar and it appeared that there was someone at the wheel slumped over. Of course we went investigate.
Getting to the car we discovered a woman who appeared to be sleeping in the drivers seat. I'm at the drivers window and a buddy of mine is at the passenger window. I'm shinning my light in the car and start tapping on the window to wake her up. After several moments she awoke abruptly, looked around in a near panic then grabbed hold of the steering wheel of the vehicle and began to try steering the car. She was working the brake and the gas and looking straight ahead trying to turn the wheel.
It was apparent to us that she thought she had fallen asleep at the wheel while driving.
You know, it's pretty damned hard to maintain your professionalism when you are watching this in real time and our laughter erupted.
We wanted to pretend to be running on the side of the car and tap on the window yelling for her to pull over, but good sense and better judgement stopped us.
Someone was called to come bring the extremely intoxicated young woman home.
It's just one of those stories that stays with you.
518/901
We arrived in several patrol units and setup units on both sides of the truck with our overhead lights flashing to warn on coming vehicles of the hazard.
The driveway the truck was trying to exit belonged to a bar that had shut down about an hour earlier. We noticed a car still in the lot of the bar and it appeared that there was someone at the wheel slumped over. Of course we went investigate.
Getting to the car we discovered a woman who appeared to be sleeping in the drivers seat. I'm at the drivers window and a buddy of mine is at the passenger window. I'm shinning my light in the car and start tapping on the window to wake her up. After several moments she awoke abruptly, looked around in a near panic then grabbed hold of the steering wheel of the vehicle and began to try steering the car. She was working the brake and the gas and looking straight ahead trying to turn the wheel.
It was apparent to us that she thought she had fallen asleep at the wheel while driving.
You know, it's pretty damned hard to maintain your professionalism when you are watching this in real time and our laughter erupted.
We wanted to pretend to be running on the side of the car and tap on the window yelling for her to pull over, but good sense and better judgement stopped us.
Someone was called to come bring the extremely intoxicated young woman home.
It's just one of those stories that stays with you.
518/901
Saturday, January 6, 2007
My first pursuit
My first "Police Pursuit" occured at the start of 2003 when I was on patrol with a buddy in a non-standard patrol unit. (In other words it was a marked jeep). The suspect vehicle traveling towards us, ran the red light without ever realizing it was a police car opposite of him. We turned around to shut him down, when the fun began.
We quite literally chased the vehicle around the same block several times before he made a run for it. To say my adrenaline was up and my heart was pumping would be an understatement. My partner and I were both aware that a jeep was NOT the best vehicle to get into a pursuit with, but we did the best we could under the circumstance.
We chased the guy for several more blocks before he suddenly pulled over. My partner was out of the patrol unit, before I was at a complete stop, taking the guy to the ground.
The driver was not licensed, which he professed to be his reason for not stopping immediately. I was pretty sure he was lying, but a search of his person and vehicle produced nothing but a pack of rolling papers.
(I know you old seasoned law dogs out there already know where this is going, but stay with me)
He of course was taken to jail, and his car towed.
The next morning the residents living on one of the corners where he turned, called the station to report that they found a sandwich bag containing almost a whole cookie of crack cocaine in their yard. He threw it. We didn't see it happen, but ... He got away with that one, but we caught him again on another day and that time he didn't get a chance to dump it.
No one was hurt and the event was a success when viewed in that light. Since then I've had numerous pursuits, and everyone of them resulted in either the occupants bailing or the occupants looking for the opportunity to throw something out of the window.
518/901
We quite literally chased the vehicle around the same block several times before he made a run for it. To say my adrenaline was up and my heart was pumping would be an understatement. My partner and I were both aware that a jeep was NOT the best vehicle to get into a pursuit with, but we did the best we could under the circumstance.
We chased the guy for several more blocks before he suddenly pulled over. My partner was out of the patrol unit, before I was at a complete stop, taking the guy to the ground.
The driver was not licensed, which he professed to be his reason for not stopping immediately. I was pretty sure he was lying, but a search of his person and vehicle produced nothing but a pack of rolling papers.
(I know you old seasoned law dogs out there already know where this is going, but stay with me)
He of course was taken to jail, and his car towed.
The next morning the residents living on one of the corners where he turned, called the station to report that they found a sandwich bag containing almost a whole cookie of crack cocaine in their yard. He threw it. We didn't see it happen, but ... He got away with that one, but we caught him again on another day and that time he didn't get a chance to dump it.
No one was hurt and the event was a success when viewed in that light. Since then I've had numerous pursuits, and everyone of them resulted in either the occupants bailing or the occupants looking for the opportunity to throw something out of the window.
518/901
New Recruit ride along
I went patrol this Friday with a new recruit, who happens to be an old friend of mine. I was really hoping to show him a bit of excitement and give him something to talk about the next day with his family and friends.
It worked out pretty well.
The night started easy enough with a couple of officers catching a couple of drag racers. This has become a hot button topic in our part of the world lately, since a couple of people in a neighboring city were killed as a result of other people drag racing.
Soon after we responded to a call where a couple of real smart young men were covering the Judges car with shaving cream. So you know they got the scare of their life when they suddenly found their vehicle surrounded by three police cars. As we approached the suspect vehicle it was pretty obvious we had the correct suspects, as there was shaving cream around the door handle. (oops) Turns out they were friends with the judges son and were just having some fairly harmless fun with him. We soon learned that there were 4 other "friends" in the neighborhood had received their attention. We let them go at the request of the victims... AFTER they cleaned the cars with the only cloth they had available to them... the shirts off of their backs.
Minor stuff, but funny... at least to us at the time.
Later that night we were dispatched to a residence where a woman called stating that a man was in the front of her house brandishing a gun. Of course we get there and see three men to the side of the ladies front yard and from where we stood it looked like one of the men had a semi-automatic pistol in his hand. We drew down on them ordering them to the ground. Turns out it was an air-soft pistol. One of the men was a known drug dealer... hmmm wonder if there is a connection.
Later, I was dispatched to a suspicious vehicle in the yard of an unoccupied residence. I arrived to find a single young woman servicing FOUR yes FOUR young men. I bet her parents were proud of her.
I called it a night just as officers stopped a truck that the occupants inside of which, thought it would be funny to drive by and throw empty beer bottles at a pedestrian walking down the street. Real geniuses. Somebody went to jail over that one.
518/901
It worked out pretty well.
The night started easy enough with a couple of officers catching a couple of drag racers. This has become a hot button topic in our part of the world lately, since a couple of people in a neighboring city were killed as a result of other people drag racing.
Soon after we responded to a call where a couple of real smart young men were covering the Judges car with shaving cream. So you know they got the scare of their life when they suddenly found their vehicle surrounded by three police cars. As we approached the suspect vehicle it was pretty obvious we had the correct suspects, as there was shaving cream around the door handle. (oops) Turns out they were friends with the judges son and were just having some fairly harmless fun with him. We soon learned that there were 4 other "friends" in the neighborhood had received their attention. We let them go at the request of the victims... AFTER they cleaned the cars with the only cloth they had available to them... the shirts off of their backs.
Minor stuff, but funny... at least to us at the time.
Later that night we were dispatched to a residence where a woman called stating that a man was in the front of her house brandishing a gun. Of course we get there and see three men to the side of the ladies front yard and from where we stood it looked like one of the men had a semi-automatic pistol in his hand. We drew down on them ordering them to the ground. Turns out it was an air-soft pistol. One of the men was a known drug dealer... hmmm wonder if there is a connection.
Later, I was dispatched to a suspicious vehicle in the yard of an unoccupied residence. I arrived to find a single young woman servicing FOUR yes FOUR young men. I bet her parents were proud of her.
I called it a night just as officers stopped a truck that the occupants inside of which, thought it would be funny to drive by and throw empty beer bottles at a pedestrian walking down the street. Real geniuses. Somebody went to jail over that one.
518/901
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