The Month in Review: March 2008 - Part 1 of 4

This is just a compilation of interesting things I saw or heard during the past month. Most of them do not pertain to my immediate neighborhood, but there is a strong connection. They all involve the police, and many of the other parties appear to have been high on crack at the time of the incidents. Anyone who says F.W. is boring needs to get a clue. Just listen to the police scanner (especially late at night) and you‘ll probably hear something interesting. Again, I had to break this up into several posts because I can’t figure out how to post more than five photos at a time.


Tuesday, March 4

(16:00) A man was running from the police in the area of Lilly and Anthony when he tossed his gun. When I heard this, I was thinking that would probably be a tough decision for the cop to make. Do you follow the guy that was running, or do you stop and retrieve the gun? The officer called for someone to secure the gun, which means he opted to follow the suspect. I had to leave the house, so I did not hear the follow up to this. I wonder how quickly another officer arrived to retrieve the gun. It seems to me that a gun lying on the ground wouldn’t stay there very long. I don’t know if they caught the suspect.

(16:50) It was reported that a man was threatening someone. Officers were advised that the person making the threat had a prior arrest for carrying a weapon without a permit. They listed the name of the suspect, and I am certain that I had heard it before. That’s going to really bug me until I can figure that out. Right after this, a man was reported to have been selling drugs at a Speedway gas station. I’m not sure if that was related to the previous call.

(18:25) An officer was pursuing two men. I believe he was just getting out of his car when he shouted “Come back here,” immediately after that I heard dogs barking. I believe the officer had released his dogs to chase the suspects, but I’m not sure. It could have just been dogs in the neighborhood that were barking.

Thursday, March 6

(22:09) Someone from Wal-Mart called to report that the photos they were developing appeared to be of a man in a prison uniform. They thought he might have been an escapee.

Tuesday, March 11

(03:00) I encountered a car that had wrecked into a telephone pole on Beaver Avenue, just north of Wildwood Avenue. This is a block east of Wildwood Liquor on Broadway. Both front doors and the trunk were open, and the airbag had been deployed. There was nobody in the car or anywhere to be seen in the area. Since the car was halfway out in the street, I decided to call it in from a nearby phone booth. I told them I wasn’t going to stay around to speak with the officers, as I really hadn’t witnessed the wreck itself. I returned to the scene to snap a couple of photos, and the police arrived while I was still there. That was pretty damn quick for a non-emergency. The photos did not turn out, as I have a piece-of-shoot camera. I still can’t believe that none of the people that live in that area came out to see what was going on.

Wednesday, March 12

(16:25) A woman bought a gun and wanted to shoot her husband. The responding officer had secured the gun, but advised that this would probably be a signal-66 (demented person). As I listened to this, I was thinking to myself - Shouldn’t you get to know the husband first, before judging her mental state? Maybe he deserved to be shot!

Saturday, March 15

(03:30) An officer radioed in that a car was “…heading north on Lafayette, or Clinton, whichever it is.” This made me feel good to know that I’m not the only one who gets these two streets mixed up.

(3:45) A person was shot at one of the Showgirl strip clubs. I think it was Showgirl I on Goshen Road. So, evidently it is true that these types of businesses induce crime!

(04:00) A man was pushed from a moving car while driving on Jefferson Boulevard. I really don’t understand why the police were called. If two morons are arguing, the best solution is to simply separate them from each other. It sounds to me like they had resolved the matter themselves.

(04:15) A person called in to report that a car was pulling into neighbor’s driveways. The driver would get out, look at the house, then get back in and go to the next house. Responding officer reported that it was a newspaper delivery vehicle. I think they should have went to the caller’s house and checked him for drugs!

Tuesday, March 18

(00:30) An officer began pursuing a vehicle around the area of McKinnie and Anthony. The pursuit lasted for five to ten minutes and was very interesting to listen to. While running from the police, the driver of the vehicle apparently continued slowing or stopping as he came to each intersection (must not have been a stolen vehicle). As he neared the end of his run, he drove through somebody’s yard. His truck finally stopped in an alley and he tried to flea on foot but was quickly caught.

The alley where he was stopped is exceptionally long (¼ mile) and the houses on both sides of the alley had very little space between them. As you drive this alley, because of it’s length and the tightness of the houses, you almost feel as though you’re driving through a tunnel. Driving through there during the dark of night, especially while being pursued, might easily cause one to become disorientated. A quarter mile is a considerable distance to drive blind, and he really had no idea what might be waiting for him when he finally got to the other end of the alley. I suspect that might be the reason he decided to bail half way through.

The most interesting part of this was listening to the pursuing officer radio in his location. They must have crossed or traveled along Pontiac Street at least eight times. McKinnie was called out several times. And they went through the idiot circle (Pontiac x Wayne Trace) at least once. Throughout the chase, the officer constantly radioed in which street he was on, which direction he was traveling, and the streets he was crossing. I was impressed by this because even if all the streets were marked, they couldn’t be easily read while traveling fast and late at night. That cop definitely knew his territory.

I drove to the location, but was unable to get in close to take a picture without interfering with the officers. It doesn’t matter though, as my piece-of-shoot camera hardly ever produces good night time photos. I went there the next day and took a couple photos. The first one is the full length of the alley, and you can not even tell where it ends from there. The second photo is from halfway through the alley. Although I could make out the end of the alley from there, I expect it was less clear at night. That poor guy must have thought he was driving down an endless alley, and I expect this perception was further enhanced by the fact that he was (probably) high at the time. I’ve included a satellite photo of the location as well to show how long it is. The alley is highlighted in red.