Faulkner
Member
I'd taken a few days of vacation that I had built up to take advantage of the somewhat cooler weather so I could get some stuff done around the Faulkner homestead. I cut up a tree for firewood that had blown over last spring, and did some bush hogging around the fence row after we'd cut hay a few weeks ago.
But, it was time to get back in the saddle and head to work. The one thing I've found attractive about law enforcement is that although it can be monotonous at times, there seems to always be something new or different around the corner. As I was headed to the office early in the morning I found it necessary to make a traffic stop on a young fellow who blew right through a STOP sign and out on the highway in front of me. He obviously wasn't paying attention because, first he ran the STOP sign with no indication of slowing down, and second, he did it right in front of a marked sheriff's patrol car.
I flipped on the blue lights and called dispatch.
"Unit 4 to S.O., I'll be traffic stop with a white Chevy pickup on Hall Road at West Cedar Creek. LPN is xxx-xxx, occupied one time."
"10-4 Unit 4, welcome back from vacation."
The vehicle pulled right over to the shoulder and after making contact with the twenty something year old young man, he stated he didn't see the STOP sign or me. I finally was able to determine he was talking on his cell phone. I wrote him a hard copy for the STOP sign and sent him on his way.
Once back in the car I radioed dispatch, "Unit 4 to S.O., I'm clear traffic stop. Citation issued."
"10-4 Unit 4 . . . we have a 911 caller on line that is not far from you. Can you proceed to Williams Ranch Road. We have a lady on the line that is pretty hysterical saying she is trapped in her home. We'll pass on more information while you're in route."
"10-4 S.O., show me in route."
Williams Ranch Road is indeed not too far away, it's early and not much traffic on the road so I should be able to get there in 8 or 9 minutes.
After a couple of minutes of no radio traffic, the dispatcher gives me a call. "S.O. to Unit 4."
"Unit 4 to S.O., go ahead."
"Unit 4, there is a lot of screaming and the caller is pretty hysterical. She has dropped the phone and the call disconnected. We've tried to call back but get no answer. We can't really tell what's going on but it seems like there might be an intruder. We're sending Unit 23 to back you up, his ETA is about 15 minutes." The dispatcher gave me the address on Williams Ranch Road.
"10-4 S.O., I'm code 3 only a couple of minutes away."
Fortunately, the address was well marked with numbers on the mailbox. You'd be surprised how many rural homes have no address markings on their mailbox or otherwise visible and it sometimes takes minutes, when every second counts, to figure out which address is which. I turned down the drive of a single story brick home sitting it what looked to be a 2 acre country lot. I see a barn behind the house and a couple of horses grazing. As I pull up to the end of the drive the double garage door is open with one side empty and a Ford Taurus on the other side.
"Unit 4 to S.O., I'm on the scene."
"10-4 Unit 4, still no contact with the caller."
I opened the door to my patrol car and step out and just stand there for a moment, listening for any signs of commotion. I can see the front door to the house, and see the door in the garage that goes into the house as well. At this point the front door opens and a lady screams, "he's in the garage . . . shoot him, shoot him. Oh Lord, shoot him before he gets away!!"
I look back to the garage and I'm not seeing anything. I squat down to see if there's something under the car, but I don't see anything. I stand back up and shout back at the lady at the front door, "ma'am, I don't see anything."
"Look above my car, it was right there," she shouts back.
I look at her car, then just above it and I see it. I walk out around my car door and walk up to the entrance of the garage and see a pretty big western rat snake hanging down from the garage door opener. I first pulled out my iPhone for a quick snapshot, then step back so the lady at the front door can see me.
"Ma'am, I think it's harmless, what would you like for me to do with it?"
She shouts back through the door, "just shoot it. My husband can fix any bullet holes. That thing took 30 years off my life and I want it dead, dead, dead."
"Okay ma'am, I'll take care of it." But first I need to radio dispatch. "Unit 4 to S.O., you can cancel my backup, I got this."
"Ah, 10-4 Unit 4."
I reached into my BDU pockets and pulled out a pair of gloves, then eased over to the side of the car so I could reach the snake. I'm not a snake person, but I'm necessarily scared of them either. I slowly reached up and was able to grab the snake behind it's head, give it slight tug and it let go and the whole thing dropped down on top of the car, with me hanging on behind it's head. I picked it up and walked back towards my patrol car so the lady inside the house could see.
"Ma'am, I got it now. I'm going to go get rid of it."
"Just take it out in the yard and shoot it, I hate snakes," she shouted back.
I walked over to my patrol car and popped the button on my key fob to open the truck. I rummaged around and found a plastic shopping bag that had some stuff in it, so I dumped the stuff and dropped the snake in it and tied off the top, then laid the bag in the truck.
I went back up to the front door with my clipboard and got the information I needed for a report. The lady told me she was going to a doctor's appointment this morning and she came out to her car to get in. She said as she got ready to step in the car the snake kind of dropped down and it's head was eye level with her, then it stuck it's tongue out at her. She said at that point, embarrassingly, she soiled herself and ran back inside and was hysterical when she called 911.
After getting the information I needed for the report she thanked me and thanked me again for saving her and I told her I would dispose of the snake. I radioed dispatch, "Unit 4 to S.O., give me the next incident number for my report and show me clear."
On my way to the office I was backtracking to where I'd made the earlier traffic stop, so when I got to West Cedar Creek I pulled over and got the snake out of the trunk and let it go next to the creek.
I'd actually thought about bringing the snake into the office as "evidence" to support my report, but upon further reflection I decided it probably wasn't the wisest thing to do.
But, it was time to get back in the saddle and head to work. The one thing I've found attractive about law enforcement is that although it can be monotonous at times, there seems to always be something new or different around the corner. As I was headed to the office early in the morning I found it necessary to make a traffic stop on a young fellow who blew right through a STOP sign and out on the highway in front of me. He obviously wasn't paying attention because, first he ran the STOP sign with no indication of slowing down, and second, he did it right in front of a marked sheriff's patrol car.
I flipped on the blue lights and called dispatch.
"Unit 4 to S.O., I'll be traffic stop with a white Chevy pickup on Hall Road at West Cedar Creek. LPN is xxx-xxx, occupied one time."
"10-4 Unit 4, welcome back from vacation."
The vehicle pulled right over to the shoulder and after making contact with the twenty something year old young man, he stated he didn't see the STOP sign or me. I finally was able to determine he was talking on his cell phone. I wrote him a hard copy for the STOP sign and sent him on his way.
Once back in the car I radioed dispatch, "Unit 4 to S.O., I'm clear traffic stop. Citation issued."
"10-4 Unit 4 . . . we have a 911 caller on line that is not far from you. Can you proceed to Williams Ranch Road. We have a lady on the line that is pretty hysterical saying she is trapped in her home. We'll pass on more information while you're in route."
"10-4 S.O., show me in route."
Williams Ranch Road is indeed not too far away, it's early and not much traffic on the road so I should be able to get there in 8 or 9 minutes.
After a couple of minutes of no radio traffic, the dispatcher gives me a call. "S.O. to Unit 4."
"Unit 4 to S.O., go ahead."
"Unit 4, there is a lot of screaming and the caller is pretty hysterical. She has dropped the phone and the call disconnected. We've tried to call back but get no answer. We can't really tell what's going on but it seems like there might be an intruder. We're sending Unit 23 to back you up, his ETA is about 15 minutes." The dispatcher gave me the address on Williams Ranch Road.
"10-4 S.O., I'm code 3 only a couple of minutes away."
Fortunately, the address was well marked with numbers on the mailbox. You'd be surprised how many rural homes have no address markings on their mailbox or otherwise visible and it sometimes takes minutes, when every second counts, to figure out which address is which. I turned down the drive of a single story brick home sitting it what looked to be a 2 acre country lot. I see a barn behind the house and a couple of horses grazing. As I pull up to the end of the drive the double garage door is open with one side empty and a Ford Taurus on the other side.
"Unit 4 to S.O., I'm on the scene."
"10-4 Unit 4, still no contact with the caller."
I opened the door to my patrol car and step out and just stand there for a moment, listening for any signs of commotion. I can see the front door to the house, and see the door in the garage that goes into the house as well. At this point the front door opens and a lady screams, "he's in the garage . . . shoot him, shoot him. Oh Lord, shoot him before he gets away!!"
I look back to the garage and I'm not seeing anything. I squat down to see if there's something under the car, but I don't see anything. I stand back up and shout back at the lady at the front door, "ma'am, I don't see anything."
"Look above my car, it was right there," she shouts back.
I look at her car, then just above it and I see it. I walk out around my car door and walk up to the entrance of the garage and see a pretty big western rat snake hanging down from the garage door opener. I first pulled out my iPhone for a quick snapshot, then step back so the lady at the front door can see me.
"Ma'am, I think it's harmless, what would you like for me to do with it?"
She shouts back through the door, "just shoot it. My husband can fix any bullet holes. That thing took 30 years off my life and I want it dead, dead, dead."
"Okay ma'am, I'll take care of it." But first I need to radio dispatch. "Unit 4 to S.O., you can cancel my backup, I got this."
"Ah, 10-4 Unit 4."
I reached into my BDU pockets and pulled out a pair of gloves, then eased over to the side of the car so I could reach the snake. I'm not a snake person, but I'm necessarily scared of them either. I slowly reached up and was able to grab the snake behind it's head, give it slight tug and it let go and the whole thing dropped down on top of the car, with me hanging on behind it's head. I picked it up and walked back towards my patrol car so the lady inside the house could see.
"Ma'am, I got it now. I'm going to go get rid of it."
"Just take it out in the yard and shoot it, I hate snakes," she shouted back.
I walked over to my patrol car and popped the button on my key fob to open the truck. I rummaged around and found a plastic shopping bag that had some stuff in it, so I dumped the stuff and dropped the snake in it and tied off the top, then laid the bag in the truck.
I went back up to the front door with my clipboard and got the information I needed for a report. The lady told me she was going to a doctor's appointment this morning and she came out to her car to get in. She said as she got ready to step in the car the snake kind of dropped down and it's head was eye level with her, then it stuck it's tongue out at her. She said at that point, embarrassingly, she soiled herself and ran back inside and was hysterical when she called 911.
After getting the information I needed for the report she thanked me and thanked me again for saving her and I told her I would dispose of the snake. I radioed dispatch, "Unit 4 to S.O., give me the next incident number for my report and show me clear."
On my way to the office I was backtracking to where I'd made the earlier traffic stop, so when I got to West Cedar Creek I pulled over and got the snake out of the trunk and let it go next to the creek.
I'd actually thought about bringing the snake into the office as "evidence" to support my report, but upon further reflection I decided it probably wasn't the wisest thing to do.
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After running over it with the front wheels, the MacArthur Fellow in the passenger seat decided to open his door and pick up the snake, and the serpent fittingly bit him at the base of the thumb. The two guys had the presence of mind to put the snake in a bag so it could be identified.
