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Violent Streets

I was on duty working as a police officer in California when I stopped a car for suspicion of trying to buy drugs in this nice little neighborhood I was working. Well as you can imagine, the gentleman was less than cooperative and I was forced to place my hands on his person. We were outside the vehicle and he went crazy. As usual for cops I started this fight playing catch up. He snuck a well placed right hook somewhere left of center and right below my nose. Did I mention I was ALONE? Well I was. Also did I mention this little city I was working in that year was the number one per capita in murders out of the entire USA. We were all quite proud of that little achievement. Anyway the fight was on and I performed several well orchestrated attacks in an attempt to subdue the citizen. What we had there that night was a good old fashioned street brawl. One man fighting for his freedom and the other fighting for society’s right to live without fear. I was in the zone, doing battle with this other human and completely focused on my task of winning when I heard several gun shots ring out at close range. I could hear the bullets tearing through the bushes next to me and apparently so could the bad guy. He broke contact and fled. I figured whoever was shooting would have a harder time hitting a moving target so I took off in foot pursuit after the bad guy. I still have no idea where the shots came from or who fired them. I caught the guy on the next block and we began where we had left off, beating on each other. I called for help and could hear the sirens coming, what a grand sound. I heard them getting closer and closer and I was getting more and more winded as this fight was now about three to fours minutes long. Finally I saw the cop cars……as they passed right by and kept going in the direction that I had last transmitted as my direction of travel. Me and my new found friend were on the ground in some bushes and not visible to the responding officers who passed by and continued up the street.

I have been in so many fights on the street during my career I can’t place a number to them. I have always felt fear prior to the engagement, but after that first clash, there is no fear. Fear has always been replaced with anger. So as I watched those police cars pass by that anger grew and I felt the true sensation of being “Alone and Unafraid”. It’s a good feeling to have and empowers a person to accomplish thing they may have thought impossible.

The cops didn’t see me and stopped one block up and began milling around like lost sheep, calling me on the air, but I had lost my radio during the fight. My friend and I finally took a break and just got to our feet and stood facing each other trying to catch our breath. The bad guy suddenly turned and fled into the night with me close behind him AGAIN. Needless to say the cops at the end of the block snatched him up and he had no fight left so he went down like a sack of concrete. After the guy was in handcuffs I inventoried my gear and the only piece of gear I had left in my possession was my Glock 19. I had lost all other gear like flashlight, pepper spray, radio, and a couple other items like magazines.

Anyway the bad guy turned out to be wanted out of Nevada for a home invasion and another pawnshop robbery where he shot and killed the store owner.