While trying to eat some pizza and celebrate my first DUI arrest an officer came over the radio screaming for help. This was the same SGT. who trained me (See story #1) when at that time I referred to him as FTO. His name is SGT. Farley. After a week or so it was evident that Farley and I were not getting along. So we were kept separated from each other and this was the first time that we worked together since our falling out. Even though Farley and I did not like each other, as police officers you never ignore someone screaming for help … and oh boy Farley was screaming. All I heard over the radio was him yelling “Help!” Over and over again. The fear in his voice was palpable. All the officers who heard it were calling out to Farley to ask where he was. Farley responded by saying “I’m at the building.” If that explanation sounds vague that’s because it was.And Obviously I worked at a college consisting of multiple buildings around the downtown area. Farley did not clear anything up with that response. On the contrary it caused officers to panic more. An older veteran SGT. named Clive came on the radio and sternly commanded “everyone stop talking.” Then in an almost grandfatherly voice, he said “Farley. Calm down. Now tell us what building you are at and what’s going on”. Farley came back and still sounding startled said “the building under construction. Two males running”. I was standing right next to Clive and we looked at each other and knew exactly which building Farley meant. It just so happened to be across the street from where we were eating pizza. Clive and I ran to the building. He looked at me and nodded. Clive went left and I went right. While sprinting at full speed my phone fell out of my pocket. I didn’t have time to pick it up and I did not want anyone to steal it so I kicked my phone into the high grass. I then continued straight to the main doors of the building. As soon as I got there I heard loud banging coming from the basement of the building. The basement had windows that let out slightly below ground level. I ran to the window and stood in the shadows. All of a sudden I see a male shimmying out of the window and into the mud. The male laughed to himself and as he stood up I jumped on his back. I drove him straight into the ground and said “police! Give me your hands.” The male tried to swing at me while he was face down in the mud. He wasn’t even close to hitting me. I grabbed his wild swinging arm and twisted it. Before long he gave up and he was in handcuffs. I then said on the radio “one in custody.” As soon as I said that another Officer, Rock, yelled out “I got the other one.” Clive then came running over to check on me. It was now pretty comical to him when he saw me and the male covered in mud. Even funnier when he saw me looking for my lost phone in the grass. After finding my phone, all the officers met back up including Farley. Farley came walking over with a big grin on his face. I looked at Farley confused. Not a scratch or mud on the guy. I thought that he would’ve had to have been in some sort of skirmish by the way he was yelling on the radio. Surely I thought he would show signs of a few minor battle scars. We asked Farley what happened and he said that he saw the two males enter the building and that they began to damage all of the property inside. When he tried to confront them they ran from him. We all waited for some thrilling details from Farley but nothing else came out that would justify his panic attack. After that event I made a mental note to always be aware of how I sound on the radio. Clive congratulated Rock and I on catching the two guys. After we dropped off the vandals at the jail, Clive, Rock, and I were finally able to sit down and enjoy our slices of pizza.
Originally posted on my blog (https://ourstoriesfrombehindthebadge.wordpress.com/)