COP TALES

BRIAN SMITH SHARES TRUE STORIES, TOLD IN THE FIRST PERSON, FROM PEACE OFFICERS ACROSS THE NATION

A FRIEND FOR LIFE

Early in the highway patrol’s Air Operations program, I did a medevac of a young teenage boy who had been kicked in the throat by a horse up in the mountains. The young man was in critical shape and nearly died during the flight. Fortunately, good surgeons were able to fix his crushed trachea and he survived. Fast forward about 20 years and my son told me about one of his water polo teammates whose father had a raspy sounding voice. He had been kicked in the throat by a horse.

When I arrived at the water polo venue, I introduced myself to the father. I then asked him some specific details about the incident that I had handled. Both of our recollections matched precisely. I informed him that I was the helicopter pilot who had flown him to the hospital on that eventful day. Tears welled up in his eyes, he embraced me, and said that I had been instrumental in saving his life that day. He then stated that he had two sons because he lived through that ordeal.

In law enforcement you rarely know if you really make a difference. That young man now has a son who is a Space Force lieutenant and another who is entering a master’s degree program, and I have a friend for life.

— MB

A NEW RECORD

Over my 33-year career in law enforcement, perhaps the best times were when I was a highway patrol motor cop in the big city during the 1970s. One night, I was sitting on a freeway ramp waiting for that 100 mph speeder to go by when my attention was drawn to a 30 mph motorhome that was using both the slow lane and the right shoulder.

I fired up the Kawasaki and went to check things out. Early on in my career, I learned to always make a visual identification of who was actually driving the motorhome prior to making the stop as sometimes people would switch positions after the stop to get someone sober behind the wheel. I observed the driver, then fell back and lit up the motorhome. After some time, it finally pulled over on a wide right shoulder near the off-ramp.

As I walked up on the right side, the right side door opened. Surer than heck, the guy sitting behind the steering wheel was not the guy who was driving earlier. The original driver was now on a couch in the living area of the motorhome and he was severely impaired. As soon as I got him out of the vehicle, I could see there was no need to even give him any field sobriety tests; he could barely talk, let alone stand. I hooked him up and called for a patrol car to transport him to the jail.

My attention was then drawn to the “new driver,” who was also very intoxicated. I got him out and arrested him as well. As my car unit arrived for the transportation of not one, but now two arrestees, the motorhome started to drive away and promptly lost control in a ditch along the right shoulder.

When I ran up to see what happened — you guessed it — the remaining guy in the motorhome, also drunk, tried to drive away and got stuck in this ditch. I don’t know if that incident will end up in the Guinness Book of World Records, but arresting three DUIs out of the same vehicle was a record for me. By the way, they all pleaded guilty prior to trial.

— GG

GLAD I DIDN’T CHASE HIM

I was a highway patrolman working the day shift freeway beat.

Slightly after noon, I monitored a radio call of a misdemeanor hitand-run north of my location. I was northbound when I observed a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle going south. I turned through the divider and pulled the vehicle over. The partial license from the broadcast matched the car. I observed three young men in the car, two up front and one in the back seat. I requested a warrant check on the license number.

The driver exited the vehicle and I had him join me by my right front tire. He didn’t have any identification, so I asked him questions with the intention of asking his passengers the same questions. I conducted a pat down of the driver and he was wearing two pairs of sweatpants. The outer pair had no pockets, but I could feel shotgun shells in the inner pockets. I started to handcuff him when he bolted away and ran to the driver’s side of the car. I resisted the urge to pursue and instead drew my service weapon and took cover behind the fender of my car.

The suspect drove his car away at a high speed. As I went in pursuit of the vehicle, dispatch advised that the car was stolen and the occupants were wanted for burglary. The pursuit involved multiple highway patrol areas and ended 90 miles later in a major metro city when the suspects ran out of gas and surrendered. A loaded shotgun was found in the back seat. Other officers took custody of the passengers, aged 15 and 16. I took the driver, 18, back to my home area for booking.

On the way back, the driver was cooperative. Since it was a long drive, I handcuffed his hands to the front. I missed lunch and was hungry, so I went through a drive-thru and purchased burgers, fries and a drink for both of us. While driving, the young man looked at me and said he thought I was a nice guy. Then he said he was glad I didn’t chase him to the car, because the young man in the back seat was supposed to shoot me with the shotgun if I approached the car.

— JH

Brian Smith served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and retired as an assistant chief with the California Highway Patrol. He resides in Bakersfield. If you have a personal “Cop Tale” to share, please contact Smith at bmsmith778@gmail.com.