My First Slow Speed Chase

Well, my first one as a witness. Was getting ready to depart from my volunteer duties at the church yesterday when I noticed a wrecked car in the parking lot across the street. It was struggling to pull its crumpled mass to the exit. The car was badly damaged, dragging rubber and trim on a fram whose front had taken a sizable impact. The back end wasn't much better.

Finally, beyond the sight of the undead wreck, I spied an unmarked police car and a marked one increase speed toward the parking lot entrance. I stared in wonder at what I was witnessing. Did they already pull the driver over, ticket them and were now letting them go? There were no sirens or flashing lights. Surely they weren't chasing this wounded mechanical sloth.

The wreck shambled out onto Roswell Road ahead of the two police cruisers, who embarrased at not being able to corner the wounded prey, sped up even more and finally activated their "you've really done it now" lights and sirens.

They caught up to the crippled escape vehicle less than a hundred yards from the parking lot exit and got on their loudspeakers and told the driver to pull over and stop the vehicle. I had seen the driver. Looked like a young white woman with electrified hair. Coulda been a boy I guess. Obviously her wild hair blocked out the noise of the sirens and amplified instuctions as she kept driving toward the major intersection down the road.

I dodged a couple more speeding police cruisers as I crossed the street, the procession now having grown to about five strobing squad cars and a number of civilian vehicles 'in tow' in the weeknight, homebound traffic.

Figured that was the end of the show.

Found out that the girl had crashed throught the wooden fence at the back of the parking lot seperating a subdivision from the commercial property. Don't know why nor where she came from, but she wasn't stopping. In fact, as I looked back the way she had gone, I discovered that the police had 'let her' turn the car around and was now heading back toward me on Roswell Road. How bizzare. Right before reaching the church property and my sidewalk location, the game of follow the leader turned off on a side street and while the sounds of the slow pursuit faded, you could still hear them from a distance.

Then I remembered my camera phone in my pocket and laughed.

I promise I'll be quicker on the draw next time.

Honest.