Faulkner
Member
I had an interesting call recently . . . .
“S.O. to Unit 4”, came the call from dispatch over the radio about 6:30 pm. After dropping off some evidence from a case I had worked that morning and I’d left the sheriff’s department about twenty minutes earlier after a long day and was on my home.
“Unit 4”. I answered.
“Unit 4, are you headed towards your 10-42?” That was a rhetorical question, on my way out of the office I’d stuck my head in the communications center and told her I was done for the day and was headed home.
“10-4 S.O., whatcha got?”
“State police has requested backup on an impending traffic stop on the highway near Shale Hill. I’m sorry, no one else is close by, can you assist?”
That’s actually right on my way home and I was only a couple of minutes away. “10-4 S.O.,” I radioed back. “What’s the situation?”
“State police received a call that a Greyhound bus is traveling south and that there is a domestic disturbance between a male and female passenger that is physical. Unknown if any weapons are involved. Subjects possibly code 2 (alcohol involved), also a small child involved. The responding trooper is A-16.”
“10-4 S.O.” In my 21 year career I can count on one hand the number of traffic stops I’ve made on coach buses.
“Break . . . Unit 4 to Adam 16 on county channel.” I know this trooper, he started his LE career as a deputy in our department and after about 4 years applied for an open spot with the state police. He’s one squared away officer.
“Adam 16 to Unit 4, I’ve just caught up with the bus about 2 miles north of Shale Hill. I’m going to initiate a traffic stop on that big gravel parking lot next to the Methodist Church.”
I’m only a quarter mile from there, “10-4 Adam 16, I’ll be waiting for you.”
I pulled over on the right shoulder across from the church and just a minute or so later I see the bus coming up the hill. About that time I saw the trooper's blue lights come on and the bus driver must have seen us and anticipated the stop because the blinker came on immediately and it pulled into the gravel lot just as planned. I then crossed over and pulled up next to the bus on its right side.
“Unit 4 to S.O., traffic stop with Adam 16 on a Greyhound bus at the Methodist Church on Shale Hill.”
“10-4 Unit 4. Time out 18:38.”
Adam 16’s patrol car was parked behind the bus and he was walking up to meet me as I got out of my sheriff’s patrol car. “Hey Faulkner, how’s it going. We received a 911 call from the bus driver saying that a man and woman were having a major knock down in the back of the bus. Seems a few passengers tried to break it up but they got roughed up a bit too. I was the only trooper in the area and it took me a while to catch up.”
The door hissed open as we walked up to the front of the bus and the female driver came down the steps to meet us. She said the couple near the back, guy in a red shirt and female in a purple shirt, had really been in a tussle. The woman also had a small baby with her, couldn’t be more than a year old. She said they’d been cussing and fussing and then it turned into fighting but that they’d settled back down in the last 15 minutes or so.
“How many other passengers on board?” Adam 16 asked.
“Eighteen. A couple of them tried to intervene but the guy told them he’d kill ‘em if they got involved.”
“Any indications of weapons . . . gun or knife or anything?” I asked the driver.
“None that I saw,” she replied. “But they been drinking.”
Adam 16 looked at me and said, “I got lead.”
I grinned at him, “I got your back.” He went up the steps and stood next to the driver’s seat and I stepped up and stood on the top step next to him. All eyes were on us.
In his official state trooper voice, Adam 16 announced, “I am Trooper Roe with the Arkansas State Police. I apologize for delaying the bus, but we have been advised of a situation we need to look into. You, sir, in the red shirt in the back, would you please come forward so we can speak with you?”
The guy just sat there looking at us.
“Sir, in the red shirt, would you please come forward!”
He kind of sat up in his seat a bit and replied, “You’re going to have to come back here and get me.”
Trooper Roe didn’t miss a beat, “Sir, I assure you that if we have to come back there you will wish you’d flown United Airlines rather than ride this bus. This is your last request to come forward. Please do it now.”
Frankly, it was all I could do to keep a straight face at Trooper Roe’s reply. The guy looked over at the female and they exchanged a few words that we could not hear, then he stood up, stepped out into the aisle and came down to the front of the bus. As he passed me I stepped behind him and asked if he had any weapons on him, he said no. I told him I was going to do a quick pat down just to make sure, he said okay. After a quick Terry pat, I didn’t find anything on him. Trooper Roe then escorted the man off the bus, I turned and asked the female to come forward. She did, bringing the baby with her, repeated the check for weapons, and then I escorted her off the bus.
As I stepped off the bus I saw that another state trooper had arrived so I handed off the female subject to him. The two troopers separated the couple and started interviewing them. I grabbed a handful of clipboards and witness statements and went back on the bus to interview passengers. The short version from the witnesses is the couple had gotten on the bus at a stop about an hour back and were already arguing as they got on the bus. As the bus got on the highway they got more and more animated in their arguing until it got to a point she tried to get up to go to another seat and he shoved her and she struck him back and then the fight was on. I could see they both had physical evidence of an altercation on their face and necks. I passed off the completed witness statements to the troopers, and it being their call, I backed off to let them take care of business. After about twenty-five minutes they let the bus driver take the bus and go on their way, minus the couple and their baby.
After stuffing the male subject in the back of his car, Trooper Roe came up to me and said, “hey, isn’t it past your supper time?”
“Yep, but I’m close enough to home that it might still be warm.”
He stuck out his hand and I took it, “We got this now, but thanks for backing me up.”
“Anytime brother!”
“S.O. to Unit 4”, came the call from dispatch over the radio about 6:30 pm. After dropping off some evidence from a case I had worked that morning and I’d left the sheriff’s department about twenty minutes earlier after a long day and was on my home.
“Unit 4”. I answered.
“Unit 4, are you headed towards your 10-42?” That was a rhetorical question, on my way out of the office I’d stuck my head in the communications center and told her I was done for the day and was headed home.
“10-4 S.O., whatcha got?”
“State police has requested backup on an impending traffic stop on the highway near Shale Hill. I’m sorry, no one else is close by, can you assist?”
That’s actually right on my way home and I was only a couple of minutes away. “10-4 S.O.,” I radioed back. “What’s the situation?”
“State police received a call that a Greyhound bus is traveling south and that there is a domestic disturbance between a male and female passenger that is physical. Unknown if any weapons are involved. Subjects possibly code 2 (alcohol involved), also a small child involved. The responding trooper is A-16.”
“10-4 S.O.” In my 21 year career I can count on one hand the number of traffic stops I’ve made on coach buses.
“Break . . . Unit 4 to Adam 16 on county channel.” I know this trooper, he started his LE career as a deputy in our department and after about 4 years applied for an open spot with the state police. He’s one squared away officer.
“Adam 16 to Unit 4, I’ve just caught up with the bus about 2 miles north of Shale Hill. I’m going to initiate a traffic stop on that big gravel parking lot next to the Methodist Church.”
I’m only a quarter mile from there, “10-4 Adam 16, I’ll be waiting for you.”
I pulled over on the right shoulder across from the church and just a minute or so later I see the bus coming up the hill. About that time I saw the trooper's blue lights come on and the bus driver must have seen us and anticipated the stop because the blinker came on immediately and it pulled into the gravel lot just as planned. I then crossed over and pulled up next to the bus on its right side.
“Unit 4 to S.O., traffic stop with Adam 16 on a Greyhound bus at the Methodist Church on Shale Hill.”
“10-4 Unit 4. Time out 18:38.”
Adam 16’s patrol car was parked behind the bus and he was walking up to meet me as I got out of my sheriff’s patrol car. “Hey Faulkner, how’s it going. We received a 911 call from the bus driver saying that a man and woman were having a major knock down in the back of the bus. Seems a few passengers tried to break it up but they got roughed up a bit too. I was the only trooper in the area and it took me a while to catch up.”
The door hissed open as we walked up to the front of the bus and the female driver came down the steps to meet us. She said the couple near the back, guy in a red shirt and female in a purple shirt, had really been in a tussle. The woman also had a small baby with her, couldn’t be more than a year old. She said they’d been cussing and fussing and then it turned into fighting but that they’d settled back down in the last 15 minutes or so.
“How many other passengers on board?” Adam 16 asked.
“Eighteen. A couple of them tried to intervene but the guy told them he’d kill ‘em if they got involved.”
“Any indications of weapons . . . gun or knife or anything?” I asked the driver.
“None that I saw,” she replied. “But they been drinking.”
Adam 16 looked at me and said, “I got lead.”
I grinned at him, “I got your back.” He went up the steps and stood next to the driver’s seat and I stepped up and stood on the top step next to him. All eyes were on us.
In his official state trooper voice, Adam 16 announced, “I am Trooper Roe with the Arkansas State Police. I apologize for delaying the bus, but we have been advised of a situation we need to look into. You, sir, in the red shirt in the back, would you please come forward so we can speak with you?”
The guy just sat there looking at us.
“Sir, in the red shirt, would you please come forward!”
He kind of sat up in his seat a bit and replied, “You’re going to have to come back here and get me.”
Trooper Roe didn’t miss a beat, “Sir, I assure you that if we have to come back there you will wish you’d flown United Airlines rather than ride this bus. This is your last request to come forward. Please do it now.”
Frankly, it was all I could do to keep a straight face at Trooper Roe’s reply. The guy looked over at the female and they exchanged a few words that we could not hear, then he stood up, stepped out into the aisle and came down to the front of the bus. As he passed me I stepped behind him and asked if he had any weapons on him, he said no. I told him I was going to do a quick pat down just to make sure, he said okay. After a quick Terry pat, I didn’t find anything on him. Trooper Roe then escorted the man off the bus, I turned and asked the female to come forward. She did, bringing the baby with her, repeated the check for weapons, and then I escorted her off the bus.
As I stepped off the bus I saw that another state trooper had arrived so I handed off the female subject to him. The two troopers separated the couple and started interviewing them. I grabbed a handful of clipboards and witness statements and went back on the bus to interview passengers. The short version from the witnesses is the couple had gotten on the bus at a stop about an hour back and were already arguing as they got on the bus. As the bus got on the highway they got more and more animated in their arguing until it got to a point she tried to get up to go to another seat and he shoved her and she struck him back and then the fight was on. I could see they both had physical evidence of an altercation on their face and necks. I passed off the completed witness statements to the troopers, and it being their call, I backed off to let them take care of business. After about twenty-five minutes they let the bus driver take the bus and go on their way, minus the couple and their baby.
After stuffing the male subject in the back of his car, Trooper Roe came up to me and said, “hey, isn’t it past your supper time?”
“Yep, but I’m close enough to home that it might still be warm.”
He stuck out his hand and I took it, “We got this now, but thanks for backing me up.”
“Anytime brother!”
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