At one of the police departments I worked at, vehicle chases were pretty common. It happened 3 to 4 times a month on average. Needless to say, I became used to being in chases fairly quickly. During one shift, we received a call that a stolen Mustang was driving into our jurisdiction. We were told that the Mustang was red and that it was driving on a flat tire. As soon as the call came out I saw the stolen vehicle. It was going in the opposite direction of me, so I spun my car around and called out my location on the radio. Colin heard what I said and he got behind the vehicle before I did. Both of us are behind the vehicle with our lights and sirens on. The red Mustang then speeds up. The whole time we are driving, you can hear that the Mustang is driving on a flat tire. We are speeding through the city and the Mustang is bouncing awkwardly but still driving quickly. All of a sudden, I hear a loud bang and the flat tire on the mustang flies off. The car begins to slow down and Kyle came out of nowhere to help in the chase. As the car slowed down, Colin came over the radio and yelled now. He drove in the opposite lanes of traffic and cut off the Mustang. Kyle then pulled in behind it and we had the car trapped. (If this maneuver sounds familiar it is the exact same one I used. The same maneuver that Colin told me was a terrible idea and I should never do it again…)
After the Mustang was stopped, all three of us jumped out of our vehicles and approached the Mustang. With our guns out and pointed at the driver we yelled “get out the car!” and “let me see your hands!” The driver, who I will refer to as Nate, looked at us hissed, and tried to start his car. Apparently at some point during the chase, his car just shut down. Colin yelled, “quick get him out.” Without missing a beat Kyle pulled out his baton and said “last chance. Get out the car!” Nate looked Kyle in the eye and after a brief pause, he just hissed again. Kyle swung his baton once and smashed out the window. He then pulled open the door. Kyle and Colin then each grabbed one of Nate’s arms. What they didn’t realize was that Nate had his seatbelt on. Kyle and Colin are both pulling on Nate with all their strength and Nate is just hissing at them not moving. I stand and watch this for a few seconds and say “uh guys I’ll just unbuckle him.” Kyle and Colin look at each other, nod, and pull Nate’s arms out of the way so I can reach his seatbelt buckle. As soon as I unbuckle Nate I just hear “ahhhhh!” Kyle and Colin were still pulling on Nate so when I unbuckled the seatbelt the three of them fell to the ground. Nate is now caught up in his seatbelt and still fighting us. Colin grabs one of Nate’s arms and looks at Kyle and yells “cut him loose. Kyle grabs Nate’s midsection and yells at me “cut him
loose.” I grin and say “ I got this.” I was excited because the very first day I became a police officer, an old man convinced me to buy a seatbelt cutter. I constantly got made fun of by my police friends for carrying one and I never had a chance to use it but now, now was that chance. I pulled out my seatbelt cutter just like I would practice and sliced through the seatbelt. It went through the seatbelt like a hot knife through butter. Colin fell back but Kyle quickly rolled around and grabbed one of Nate’s hands. Colin grabbed Nate’s legs, but Nate broke out and kicked Colin in the chest. Colin took the kick like nothing happened and dove on top of both legs. I then grabbed Nate’s free hand and put it in a handcuff. Kyle held the other hand while I placed it in another handcuff. We then lifted Nate and began to walk him towards my vehicle. While walking him over to my vehicle, Nate is constantly trying to break free from my grip and hissing. As soon as we forced Nate into my vehicle and shut the door he asks “why are you guys arresting me?” All of us look at Nate in shock. I don’t remember who but someone says “for the stolen car, the car chase, and resisting arrest.” Nate takes his time to look at all three of us then he begins to kick the window bars of my vehicle and hisses. A few minutes later we had the vehicle towed and paperwork completed. During this time Nate calmed down. I drove Nate to the jail and played some music on the radio. I change the radio to a Christian station and as soon as I do Nate begins to hiss and kick at everything he can. I turn off the radio and Nate immediately stops moving and just growls. At that point only one thought is going through my head repeatedly “this man is possessed.” I prayed silently the whole ride to the jail. When I get closer to the jail, Nate begins to fight again. Luckily the jail was ready. As soon as I parked about six jail officers ran to my vehicle, pulled Nate out, and brought him inside. When I met up with Kyle and Colin I just kept telling them how great my seatbelt cutter worked and it was the best 15 dollars I ever spent.
Originally posted on my blog (https://ourstoriesfrombehindthebadge.wordpress.com/)
