I'll be interested to hear what people think about this.
So, we're just sitting here, hanging out after getting home on a Saturday night, and we hear this awful sound outside. Metal on metal grinding. And it's pretty late at night (between 11:30 and midnight), so we're understandably curious.
We step onto the porch to see what's going on out there. There is a long row of cars parked along the curb all the way up the road, and a van has come to a crooked stop on the other side of the street. We're about to go over there to see if everyone's ok, and all of a sudden, the van's door flies open and the driver takes off down the street and disappears up an alley.
Damn! So now our accident has turned into a crime.
At this point, while we're watching all this transpire, we give the cops a call and make sure someone is headed this way. In the meantime, people are starting to pour out of some nearby houses and it becomes clear that a couple of cars along the curb were hit by the van before it bounced over to the other side of the street, and a bunch of young people from the house right next to the damaged cars start swarming around the van.
Then comes the next shocker. Some other dude emerges from the van and all he's saying is "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" And he's not getting a warm reception from the people who surround him (some girl said "Don't talk to me, you drunk motherfucker! You fucked up my car!"). Perp-boy tries to apologize over and over again, and she keeps responding with variations on that theme.
In a few minutes, though, things calm down a bit and people get quieter. They're all pretty much standing around, waiting for the cops to show up. But then perp-boy panics, and suddenly he takes off and starts running through an empty lot next to his van. A bunch of people take off after him and a chase follows. Perp-boy doesn't get very far before he's taken down in a parking lot on the other side of the empty lot. Ouch.
They drag him back to the van and everyone mills about until a cop finally shows up. Then things get really weird.
Before the cop even showed up, perp-boy starts to cry. And when he sees the police car pull up, he really starts wailing. Within a few moments of the cop's arrival, perp-boy is face down on the pavement getting cuffed before he's led over to the police car and pushed into the back. He's really crying now.
After getting perp-boy into the car, the cop proceeds to talk to witnesses. He chats with quite a few and eventually the group ends up moving up onto the porch of the house that sits in front of the damaged vehicles. It's drizzling a bit, so they probably just wanted to get out of the rain. At this point, I figure we're just waiting for a tow truck to show up to take the van away.
But then something interesting happens. The cop comes down off the porch and with a flashlight in hand, starts poking around in the van. He then moves away from the van, with an unopened can of beer in his hand. He steps into the beams of the police cruiser's headlights, and, staring through the windshield at perp-boy in the back seat, pops open the beer can, pours it out onto the road, and then tosses the empty can back into the van. Someone on the porch says, "Hey, there ya go!"
The cop then returns to the porch with the witnesses and everyone hangs out until the tow truck shows up. It drags the van away, and a few minutes later, the cop comes off the porch and gets into his car. He drives over to a nearby alley, gets out and flashes his light down the alley for a few moments and then gets back behind the wheel and the car disappears down the alley.
At this point, that's the end of the story, just about an hour from when the drama began.
So, we're just sitting here, hanging out after getting home on a Saturday night, and we hear this awful sound outside. Metal on metal grinding. And it's pretty late at night (between 11:30 and midnight), so we're understandably curious.
We step onto the porch to see what's going on out there. There is a long row of cars parked along the curb all the way up the road, and a van has come to a crooked stop on the other side of the street. We're about to go over there to see if everyone's ok, and all of a sudden, the van's door flies open and the driver takes off down the street and disappears up an alley.
Damn! So now our accident has turned into a crime.
At this point, while we're watching all this transpire, we give the cops a call and make sure someone is headed this way. In the meantime, people are starting to pour out of some nearby houses and it becomes clear that a couple of cars along the curb were hit by the van before it bounced over to the other side of the street, and a bunch of young people from the house right next to the damaged cars start swarming around the van.
Then comes the next shocker. Some other dude emerges from the van and all he's saying is "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" And he's not getting a warm reception from the people who surround him (some girl said "Don't talk to me, you drunk motherfucker! You fucked up my car!"). Perp-boy tries to apologize over and over again, and she keeps responding with variations on that theme.
In a few minutes, though, things calm down a bit and people get quieter. They're all pretty much standing around, waiting for the cops to show up. But then perp-boy panics, and suddenly he takes off and starts running through an empty lot next to his van. A bunch of people take off after him and a chase follows. Perp-boy doesn't get very far before he's taken down in a parking lot on the other side of the empty lot. Ouch.
They drag him back to the van and everyone mills about until a cop finally shows up. Then things get really weird.
Before the cop even showed up, perp-boy starts to cry. And when he sees the police car pull up, he really starts wailing. Within a few moments of the cop's arrival, perp-boy is face down on the pavement getting cuffed before he's led over to the police car and pushed into the back. He's really crying now.
After getting perp-boy into the car, the cop proceeds to talk to witnesses. He chats with quite a few and eventually the group ends up moving up onto the porch of the house that sits in front of the damaged vehicles. It's drizzling a bit, so they probably just wanted to get out of the rain. At this point, I figure we're just waiting for a tow truck to show up to take the van away.
But then something interesting happens. The cop comes down off the porch and with a flashlight in hand, starts poking around in the van. He then moves away from the van, with an unopened can of beer in his hand. He steps into the beams of the police cruiser's headlights, and, staring through the windshield at perp-boy in the back seat, pops open the beer can, pours it out onto the road, and then tosses the empty can back into the van. Someone on the porch says, "Hey, there ya go!"
The cop then returns to the porch with the witnesses and everyone hangs out until the tow truck shows up. It drags the van away, and a few minutes later, the cop comes off the porch and gets into his car. He drives over to a nearby alley, gets out and flashes his light down the alley for a few moments and then gets back behind the wheel and the car disappears down the alley.
At this point, that's the end of the story, just about an hour from when the drama began.
8 comments:
My first thought is: Whatever I do, make sure it's not in front of a crowd. People in groups get UGLY.
My other thought is: Did this accident get investigated properly? Were the witnesses reliable or just full of adrenalin? I get the impression that the cop was not completely neutral (though he wouldn't be unique in being insulting to arrestees). Also: Was the cuffed perp actually the driver?
I would be really interested in seeing the charges filed against him. I wonder if there were other open containers in the van. If not, it will be interesting to see if the cop tries to get him with both a DWI and for violating the open container law.
Ya'll is all kinds of crazy over there on your block! We keeps it nice and quiet over here in our part of the hood. That sounds like the kind of thing that goes on over on 12th street. Please try to encourage the Balkanization of the drama up in the HP.
I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure the cuffed perp was just a passenger in the van. Which means he wasn't driving while intoxicated. He did try to leave the scene of an accident, and if he didn't give up his friend (and with friends like that, who needs enemies?), he could also be guilty of withholding information from an investigation.
So, from what I saw, the guy who stayed behind was not guilty of DWI or the open container law (unless, of course, there were other open containers in the van).
Chump, this is why you people still need your cable TV. You gots nothing to watch out there on the street...
Sadly,+too often,one of life's dramas
I've heard of cops carrying guns to put down at a scene, but this is the first time I've heard of alcohol!
damn...and all the excitement i had for saturday night was a howling wind.
I certainly hope the driver gets ratted-out and caught; it's fortunate he didn't kill anyone.
But I'd also be a little concerned about the deal with the beer can. I imagine the cop was probably just highlighting to perp-boy that there was beer in the van (I bet the guy initially denied alcohol was involved). And I imagine the officer noted in his report that one of the cans was poured out by him.
But... you've also got to wonder if the action has contaminated the scene or given something with which a can take issue. IANADA, but you might want to consider making sure the DA's office has a statement from you. I'd guess that one thing worse than having that can dumping happen is having it happen but be a surprise to the DA after bargaining or a trial has already started.
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