I was on my own!

Chase, continued:

The driver still didn’t have his lights on.  9^th Street is a narrow street and at the time was a major arterial running east and west in the middle of the city, even though it dead-ended at both ends. 

He would swerve into the oncoming lane at traffic.  The other cars would go to their right to avoid him and then over correct and go back to the left --- right at me.  How some of them didn’t hit me I had no idea.  Notify the sergeant, I screamed into the radio.  “10-4 KOB329” was the answer. 

And Margaret was on the radio.

When in pursuit, especially when it is the first one, the officer becomes tunnel-visioned, that is, only focusing on the suspect and not hearing or seeing other cars, or anything else for that matter.  That is why dispatchers are so critical; they are there to help think for you.

Then, Joe Shirts came on the radio. 

Joe had been one of the firemen that crossed over to dispatch when the Communications Center came on-line.  We had an opening on the Police Department and he filled that position very well, but it was not the type work he wanted.  He then went back to the Communications Center and not only learned well, he was the best dispatcher we had.

Nothing seemed to bother Joe, he remained unflappable no matter what the situation, it is what made him a good fireman, a good police officer and a good dispatcher.

He was always the one used for training new dispatchers.  He had told me earlier in the evening he felt Margaret was doing well enough to be on her own on a “quiet night like this one.”   He had let her handle the radio for the past few days, but tonight he was going to leave the Comm Center and just listen to the radio traffic at our police department in another part of the building.  She would be handling all phones, radios, etc. 

When Joe came on the radio it was like having him reach out and put his hand on my shoulder and tell me everything would be okay.  I started calming down immediately and could concentrate on the chase and what was happening in front of me without worrying that no one knew what was going on.

He gave me the info on the registration and told me it was not stolen. 

We continued on 9^th street blowing two stop signs, both of which were at major intersections with streets running north and south.  A block after the 2^nd stop sign, 9^th Street dead-ends.  I watched as he turned left onto Court Street and headed north. 

He lost control and his car went up on passenger side two wheels with the driver’s side up off the street when the tires hit the curb.  At first it looked like he was going to rollover, but then the car righted itself. Bounced over the curb and sidewalk fishtailing.  He ended up going through a front yard and wiping out the front porch of a house with the back of the station wagon. I started to radio that he had wrecked, but he then got the car straightened out and headed North on Court Street towards downtown.  His speeds were considerably higher than the speed limit, but not so high that I couldn’t almost come to a stop at the stop signs and then proceed on through keeping him is sight.

He blew the stop sign at 4^th Street, at 3^rd Street and then 2^nd Street, all busy streets that could have a lot of traffic on them; fortunately there was not much traffic on the road that time of night.  Court Street dead ends at the north side of 1^st Street.  In the middle of 1^st Street, right down the center dividing eastbound lane from westbound lane are two railroad tracks.  Many a car with a drunk driver had turned onto those tracks, the car high-centered on the tracks and had to be pulled off with a tow truck.

He made a right turn on 1^st street, eastbound.  He fishtailed onto the tracks and they slowed him down, somewhat, but did not stop him.  His car was just high enough that it didn’t high center.  He continued running, bouncing over the railroad ties and the rails.  The next block he made a right turn so he was south on Washington, striking a car parked in the first parking stall. 

Again the car fishtailed, but he managed to straighten it out.

He sped around a car stopped at the red light at 2^nd street as he continued southbound, almost striking a car going west on 2^nd street as it was driving through a green light.  On up the street he ran and then he made a left onto 3^rd street and headed east.  I was within a block of him as we headed out of town.  That old Ford Station wagon wasn’t much for cornering but it was like a tank, it just ran over things and kept on going.  Since it was much heavier than the small Torino I was driving I figured I would just follow along.

As we hit Auction yard grade and continued south towards Maupin, he was picking up speed of over 100 miles an hour and still he didn’t have his headlights on. We topped Auction yard grade and started down the other side, he started slowing down, we were doing around 60 and it was obvious he wanted me to try and make a move on him.  I radioed what we were doing and said I intended to just keep on his tail. 

Joe told me to switch over to County frequency he was starting to loose me.

To be continued:

2 Peter 1:5-8 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
⁶ And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
⁷ And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
⁸ For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have read these verses many times, but as I read them this morning it struck me – here is the formula for our life in Christ and our work for Him.

As we read, each step builds to the next one.  It reinforces the fact that we often need time to meet the righteous attitude that God wants of each of us.

Failure to attain that righteousness can be discouraging to a Christian that wants to serve at the highest level, but always seems to fall a bit short.

Peter recognized those shortcomings in our lives – as we know he often struggled with ‘doing the right thing,’ he always was willing but there were times he just fell short.

But serving at the highest level for God takes time to develop; I often forget that and become discouraged and fall back even more.

That is why I seem to have such an affection for Peter, I identify with his implosive acts – where he declares one thing but is hit with the reality that he couldn’t do it.

As we know eventually he did; and in using him as an example we can do it too.  We may not have the ministry he had, however, he was who he was – and we are who we are.

While we may not have the impact on people he had, we do have a ministry and we can impact those that God sends our way.

In our jobs and hobbies we do not expect to be ‘perfect’ the first time and often the first hundred times we try.  It takes teaching or training from someone; it takes understanding the task that needs to be done and applying our skills to it and the practice, done correctly, helps in being more productive.

We have talked about natural abilities that some have that just seems to click and they can accomplish things in just a short time where it may take others several months or even years to become the talent these people are – but it doesn’t matter.

We ARE saved by the Grace of God.  We know that we must have determination to live for Him.

WE have faith that He saved us, now we concentrate on how to serve Him.  First we must be diligent – hard-working to maintain our faith; when we do that we find ourselves more intune with good and evil.  We start focusing on the righteousness of God which helps us sin less and demonstrate Christian virtue.

As we grow in Christ and service to Him we attain working knowledge of God’s Word.  We learn that He really does know what He is talking about and we can rely on His Word as well as telling others about it.

But we need more than just knowledge – it needs to be tempered with patience, how and when to use the knowledge enables us to not only live and proclaim the Gospel, but how and when to share it with others in our sphere of influence.

Patience doesn’t demand an immediate response from others – or even ourselves.  It understands that people mature at different rates – including ourselves.  By learning to be patient we become closer to God, we can face things that would have given us difficulties in the past.  When we have patience we allow God to work in the situation and in doing so we become calmer and more understanding.

As we get closer to God and His Godliness becomes more of a part of our lives, we find we can truly love others.  We do not focus on their faults, but on the fact they are a servant in training and need our support and love to carry on.

With that love comes a change in the way we see people; we start seeing them as God sees them, imperfect but they can still change and grow in Him.

When we focus on being the best we can personally be, then we can stand solidly for Christ and do things for Him we never thought would be possible.

Serving God is a non-stop building process for us.  While it is hard work, we are not doing it alone.  The Holy Spirit is out there actively recruiting people and as He prepares their heart they will be sent our way.

Learning to be ready for them growing our life in Christ as Peter writes, “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

It is up to us, how serious are we in effectively serving God.

We have the formula, it is a step by step process on learning to grow in Christ for the service to God.

Now, that is exciting!

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again