Pursuits
1) My first pursuit started just before 10 PM. Actually, I was on my way to the police station when I spotted a car that had no lights on the right side of the car. I presumed it would be a quick traffic ticket and I could call it a night after that, however, this knucklehead had other plans as he tourned off into a cul de sac opposite a state hospital and next to a graveyard.
The knucklehead drive to the end of the cul de sac and stopped. I parked my unit at an angle to block him in. I got out of my unit and considered several possibilities. Suddenly the knucklehead gunned it. He managed to pass between my front bumper and a house with only a few inches to give on each side of my unit. I jumped in my unit and called in the (now) pursuit.
The knucklehead drove east, right by the PD, where three units joined the chase. The chase continued east to the river where the knucklehead turned into the rover park.
NOTE: The river park had a great many cottonwood trees with spaces in between where one can park. The cottonwood trees have trunks 9 feet in diameter and can reach 100 feet in height.
The knucklehead actually made us look like fools as he drove around the trees. Finally, going deep into the brush he totaled his car as he smashed into a boulder deposited by an earlier flood. The crash didn't end the pursuit as the car was driven by Tony G. Tony was a local badass that could easily fight three men at the same time.
He came out of his car spoiling for a fight. For nearly a minute he easily fought off three of us, but one officer tackled him from behind and the four of us at the scene piled on and hog tied him for transport to the jail.
2) The next pursuit was actually only a pursuit for the state police. State police told us that they were pursuing a motorcycle, heading south, coming towards the village. At the center of the village a pair of highways met. The three units on duty went to the intersection where the highways met and we blocked off the intersection (pissing people off) and immediately two of us sprinted up the lanes of the (now) blocked southbound traffic with shotguns in hand. As we came to the end of the blocked cars the state police cars came screeching to a halt. "Where is he? Where is he?" state police asked.
On one side of the highway was railroad tracks and a deep ditch between the highway and tracks. On the other side, was, starting from the intersection, a former gas station (built around 1900) and a series of out buildings. In between the buildings was a high fence, behind which was a tow yard. Retracing our steps, we noticed a divot in the dirt about ten feet from one of the gates leading into the tow yard. I asked another officer about the divot, then he spotted something that I had not seen as he pointed up into a tree adjacent to the gate. The fleeing driver was up in the tree, impaled on a tree branch. The lieutenant, who walked up as I looked at the dead driver, said "Well, he's the state police's problem now."
"What about the bike?" the other officer asked.
We deduced from the clues that the motorcycle driver was going at least 80 when he created that divot, then hit a big stone used to hold the gate open. Given that the driver was in the tree, the motorcycle must be in the yard.
3) My second pursuit was similar to my first. I started a traffic stop. The driver slowed and before coming to a stop, gunned it. Like the first driver, he headed for the river.
NOTE: This particular night, myself, the lieutenant and two rookies were on duty.
Parallel to the river is the "high line ditch." The river is (mostly) diverted into a series of irrigation ditches north of the village. The Lieutenant took the lead in the pursuit with me in second place as we raced north down the high line ditch. We were going somewhere around 40 and tires begin losing traction on a dirt road at about 30. Suddenly the Lieutenant said my first name on the radio and I saw it-part of the ditch was washed out and there were two wood telephone poles in place of the road. I lined my tires up and somehow made it across those logs without totaling my police unit.
One of the rookies was forward thinking. He raced down the north highway, knowing that the road alongside the ditch ended just north of the village. He parked his police unit on the ditch road terminus to block the traffic coming at him (us). The suspect would have to stop. His choices were to hit the police unit, go into the ditch, or go into a wet area in between the road and the highway. As the four vehicles approached the rookie officer's car, on the radio he said "I'm activating my emergency gear" and a second later, in a higher octave, he screamed "I'M ACTIVATING MY EMERGENCY GEAR!!"
The suspect stood on his brakes. His car slightly bumped the stopped police car. The suspect bailed, ran past the lieutenant's car and then right into me. As I started to wrestle with him, the lieutenant and two rookie officers piled into him. We all went down in a heap, landing just inches away from the muddy area.
5) This pursuit, as it were, happened just days before I left the small town PD. I had busted a suspect on a traffic warrant. In lieu of going to jail, the suspect decided to call a bail bondsman. Bail bondsmen usually take a while to get to the station and once they arrive, it's about a half hour of paperwork before we're all free. Usually, this was no big deal, but when we went into the paperwork phase, a pursuit dropped. The next town over was chasing a wife beater. Two of their units were in the pursuit as well as a county unit and a state police unit.
The lieutenant and a rookie officer went to the southern end of the village to await the pursuit. In the booking room, I wanted this paperwork to end so I could join in. Just as we finished, the pursuit reached the village. The lieutenant pulled out from the highway shoulder in an effort to stop the suspect. The suspect was going 80+ mph. His vehicle slammed into the lieutenant's vehicle, totaling both cars. A unit from the town over was damaged as the totaled cars spun from the collision.
A veteran officer from my PD had just came on duty. We were both directed to another pursuit in progress at the same time. An 18 wheeler, going south was being pursued by state police.
There is a freeway at the far west side of the village, but the PD never enters the freeway unless there is an emergency, or in this case-to assist state police. Mindful of the accident happening just minutes before, we parked our units behind large bridge pillars. We both grabbed our shotguns and took station behind the pillars. I had been waiting for such an opportunity for over a year.
I had prepared a special round for an occasion like this. I had taken a shotgun slug round, drilled a hole, then filled in the (hollow) slug with gunpowder. I sealed the hole in the slug with a primer and superglue.
State police wanted us to shoot at the truck tires. I had my special slug loaded and prepped. We heard the nearing sirens. We took aim and waited. As the 18 wheeler approached the bridge, we both fired, him first. When I fired, the engine compartment on the 18 wheeler exploded and the engine began a loud ROP BOP BOP BOP BOP BOP BOP BOP as the engine wound down and the 18 wheeler slowed to a stop. State police swarmed the 18 wheeler and pulled the driver out. The officer I was with asked "What kind of round was that?"
"Just a lucky shot", I told him.
6) This one wasn't a pursuit, but deserves notice. I was never in any vehicle pursuits in the big city but of the three vehicle incidents, this one was the most interesting.
It was end of shift and I was about to exit the freeway to get to the station when I spotted a vehicle on fire parked near the offramp. The fire was at the stage where there was smoke coming out from under the hood.
I called in the fire and location. After dispatch confirmed my call, the assistant shift supervisor, an overly cautious type, basically ordered me to stay in my unit and wait for the fire department to arrive. I was parked about fifteen feet behind the burning car. I suddenly got a weird feeling and decided to move my unit about twenty five feet in front of the burning car.
A couple of minutes later the fire truck arrived. Firefighters began pulling a hose. Suddenly, flaming gasoline spilled out from under the car and headed towards the traffic lanes as well as towards the fire truck. Firefighters ran everywhere to escape the flames. I called dispatch and advised that there was an explosion and there were flames everywhere and extra fire trucks would be needed. The second she said "10-4" the assistant shift supervisor came on the radio "219, GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!!"
I hated leaving the scene, but there was nothing else I could do. The incident was recorded on traffic cameras and made the local news. Three firefighters suffered bad burns that day.