My wife and I decided to go to the local Golden Corral for dinner last night. On our way there, we witnessed some craziness that I think could have potentially went very bad. We pulled up to the access road that leads into the Golden Corral parking lot from the main road. As we turn the corner, we see a man standing at the driver's side door of a red jeep. At first, I thought it was just this man and the driver talking because people around here do pick odd places to just stop and talk like that.
As we approached to turn onto the access road, we hear the woman driving the jeep yelling at this man to get out. Now that we're close enough to see clearly what is happening, we can see the man is reaching through the open driver side window. I start fishing for my cell phone because I couldn't remember into which pocket I stuffed it as we were leaving. My wife asks me at the same instant if I'm going to call 911 since she is driving, and doesn't have her phone handy. I tell her I'm fishing for it.
I finally find the phone a few seconds later. I knew I had it, but just didn't remember which pocket had it. I dial 911, and start talking to the dispatcher, relating what we witnessed and our location. Meanwhile, my wife turns into the nearby Logan's Roadhouse parking lot. She backs out, and turns around so that we're behind the jeep. As we close in on the jeep, we see several people coming down to the jeep from the Logan's parking lot. We also notice the man now has the driver door opened, and is trying to pull the woman out of the vehicle. I can only guess that she must be fastened in by her seat belt or is hanging on with all her strength. We pull up right behind the jeep so that I have a clear view of the jeep's tag number. So, I relate the make, model, color, tag state and number, and other such pertinent information as quickly as it comes to mind. I remain on the line with the dispatcher as he asks more questions, so I'm trying to relate the necessary information while trying to keep an eye on what is happening.
The dispatcher was asking me about the man's description. My wife was trying to tell me something. I told him dark blue pullover with white shirt underneath and a pair of blue jeans. Dispatcher asked me about race. I really couldn't tell because I was sitting in the back seat with the baby, and the man was not directly facing us. My wife was trying to tell me something else, and I snapped at her, "No, he's asking about the man's race!" The dispatcher repeated the question about race. I was beginning to get aggravated at the two conversations at once. I snapped at him, "He's trying to pull her out of the car, you need to get someone here quickly!" I was getting frustrated with hearing two conversations at once, and also trying to watch the scene for relevant developments the dispatcher would need to report.
The dispatcher calmly assured me police were on the way because someone else had already called the incident in ahead of me. I replied, "Okay, good." I still couldn't tell any racial details about the man since I was in the back seat with the baby. I asked my wife if she could see him better. She told me caucasian, so I relayed that to the dispatcher. The dispatcher then informed me I should be seeing a police car momentarily.
Meanwhile, a couple of men from the group that came to help from Logan's parking lot carefully approached the man, and started trying to talk to him to calm him down. I couldn't understand what they were saying because I was concentrating on my conversation with the dispatcher and watching the scene for developments he might need to put in his report. They did convince the man to step back from the jeep.
Once everyone was clear, the woman in the jeep made a right turn and drove away. The group from Logan's parking lot then went back to the parking lot. The man walked across the road to the Wal-Mart parking lot. My wife pulled ahead to the stop sign. We saw the police car approaching us from the left. I notified the dispatcher that the police car was approaching us now. I also told him the remainder of the new developments. My wife made a right turn, and turned in to the parking lot of the hotel on our right. She circled back to the access road between the hotel and Logan's Roadhouse. We were now behind the police car. I told the dispatcher we were behind the police car, and also told my wife to flash our headlights to get the officer's attention so he could talk to us if needed. The dispatcher informed me that we were free to go because the officer was going to proceed to Wal-Mart to catch up with the man on foot.
So, we pulled up behind the patrol car. The patrol car proceeded across the road into the Wal-Mart parking lot. We turned right, and circled back through the hotel parking lot once again to get back on the access road. Then, we turned left, and proceeded to Golden Corral for supper. Talk about a bit of craziness! I'm just glad it had a better ending than it could have had since the woman was able to drive away. I do wonder what will happen next, but probably won't hear any more about it unless I read it in the paper or catch it on the news.
As we approached to turn onto the access road, we hear the woman driving the jeep yelling at this man to get out. Now that we're close enough to see clearly what is happening, we can see the man is reaching through the open driver side window. I start fishing for my cell phone because I couldn't remember into which pocket I stuffed it as we were leaving. My wife asks me at the same instant if I'm going to call 911 since she is driving, and doesn't have her phone handy. I tell her I'm fishing for it.
I finally find the phone a few seconds later. I knew I had it, but just didn't remember which pocket had it. I dial 911, and start talking to the dispatcher, relating what we witnessed and our location. Meanwhile, my wife turns into the nearby Logan's Roadhouse parking lot. She backs out, and turns around so that we're behind the jeep. As we close in on the jeep, we see several people coming down to the jeep from the Logan's parking lot. We also notice the man now has the driver door opened, and is trying to pull the woman out of the vehicle. I can only guess that she must be fastened in by her seat belt or is hanging on with all her strength. We pull up right behind the jeep so that I have a clear view of the jeep's tag number. So, I relate the make, model, color, tag state and number, and other such pertinent information as quickly as it comes to mind. I remain on the line with the dispatcher as he asks more questions, so I'm trying to relate the necessary information while trying to keep an eye on what is happening.
The dispatcher was asking me about the man's description. My wife was trying to tell me something. I told him dark blue pullover with white shirt underneath and a pair of blue jeans. Dispatcher asked me about race. I really couldn't tell because I was sitting in the back seat with the baby, and the man was not directly facing us. My wife was trying to tell me something else, and I snapped at her, "No, he's asking about the man's race!" The dispatcher repeated the question about race. I was beginning to get aggravated at the two conversations at once. I snapped at him, "He's trying to pull her out of the car, you need to get someone here quickly!" I was getting frustrated with hearing two conversations at once, and also trying to watch the scene for relevant developments the dispatcher would need to report.
The dispatcher calmly assured me police were on the way because someone else had already called the incident in ahead of me. I replied, "Okay, good." I still couldn't tell any racial details about the man since I was in the back seat with the baby. I asked my wife if she could see him better. She told me caucasian, so I relayed that to the dispatcher. The dispatcher then informed me I should be seeing a police car momentarily.
Meanwhile, a couple of men from the group that came to help from Logan's parking lot carefully approached the man, and started trying to talk to him to calm him down. I couldn't understand what they were saying because I was concentrating on my conversation with the dispatcher and watching the scene for developments he might need to put in his report. They did convince the man to step back from the jeep.
Once everyone was clear, the woman in the jeep made a right turn and drove away. The group from Logan's parking lot then went back to the parking lot. The man walked across the road to the Wal-Mart parking lot. My wife pulled ahead to the stop sign. We saw the police car approaching us from the left. I notified the dispatcher that the police car was approaching us now. I also told him the remainder of the new developments. My wife made a right turn, and turned in to the parking lot of the hotel on our right. She circled back to the access road between the hotel and Logan's Roadhouse. We were now behind the police car. I told the dispatcher we were behind the police car, and also told my wife to flash our headlights to get the officer's attention so he could talk to us if needed. The dispatcher informed me that we were free to go because the officer was going to proceed to Wal-Mart to catch up with the man on foot.
So, we pulled up behind the patrol car. The patrol car proceeded across the road into the Wal-Mart parking lot. We turned right, and circled back through the hotel parking lot once again to get back on the access road. Then, we turned left, and proceeded to Golden Corral for supper. Talk about a bit of craziness! I'm just glad it had a better ending than it could have had since the woman was able to drive away. I do wonder what will happen next, but probably won't hear any more about it unless I read it in the paper or catch it on the news.
Comment