A "Racy" Night in October

So I wanted to tell you all about the night in October that was surreal and weird, to say the least.

This is a true story.

It was the night of October 24th/early morning October 25th. Time? Approximately 2 am.

I had heard Scarlett crying in her room while Jake was changing her diaper. I got up to see if he needed help, and he asked me to make her a bottle so he could rock her back to sleep. I obliged, sleepily measuring powdered baby-crack in the little scooper, and then shaking the closed bottle in a hurried fashion because I could hear Scarlett fussing in the next room. I knew I had to get her bottle to her. So I gave it to Jake and decided I would stay up for a little while and play online as I was awake and needed to get sleepy again.

As I sat in our big, comfy recliner in our living room, I heard police sirens in the distance. No biggie, I thought. We live right near 580 and people get pulled over on the main drag which is a block away from our house, all the time. But the sirens didn't stop. The kept going, and going and going. Suddenly, there was another noise that joined the late night wailing of police cruisers. It was a police helicopter, or "ghetto bird" as it's known to Jake and I. Uh oh, someone was busted big time! But the sirens wouldn't stop, they kept wailing, and they were getting closer. The helicopter's blades were so close, the living room windows started to shake. What the HELL was going on? Being the ambulance-chaser that the genes my grandfather gave me would prove, I got up from the chair and started into the kitchen. The window above the sink had a clear view of the main drag where the sirens seemed to be coming from, and I needed to know what was going on.

As I started walking to the doorway that leads to the kitchen, I heard it. A loud "SCRAPE" that sounded like metal against concrete. I looked quickly, just in time to see a dark SUV race up our street with sparks flying from the back! Following VERY closely behind was a police cruiser, and another, and another, and another, and another...and it goes on. One parked in front of our house, and I yelled for Jake to come into the living room. We looked out the front window, and saw a Sheriff run up the street with a rifle drawn. I knew this was trouble. I called the non-emergency police line and asked the operator if we should be on the lookout for anyone on foot, or were we in some kind of danger??? She said it was a high speed freeway chase, to lock our doors and windows and stay inside. I did just that, and turned off all the lights in the house. What does Jake do? Put on his shoes and run outside onto the porch. Obviously, someone seems to be more of an ambulance chaser than I am. Go figure.

When I knew we were safe, I joined Jake on the porch in time to see two of the men in the SUV escorted to the Sheriff's cars waiting for them at the bottom of the street, in handcuffs. They didn't look our way, and I stayed silent. A part of me was worried that they would remember me watching them get arrested, get out and come back for us. Weird, I know. It made sense at the time.

It turns out, there was an armed robbery in Windsor, which is an hour North of us. Three men held up a family for $2500, 8 lbs (yes POUNDS) of marijuana, and a cell phone. The victims broke free of their binds and called the cops. Shortly afterwards, the men were pulled over since they matched the description of what the victims told police. Well, Duh - it was them! They took off, and went through Sonoma county. Then they entered Marin county and exited off the freeway, then got back on. They decided to then cross the Richmond/San Rafael bridge which had a spike-strip waiting for them. They ran it over, and kept going, eventually loosing the wheel entirely right before getting on our side of the bridge. They decided to get off the freeway (we are the first exit after the bridge ends), and of all the streets and exits to take, they drove up ours. They got to the end of our street riding on three flat tires and a roader (sp?), only to have the car catch on fire when they reached the end of our street. The fire was put out and all three men were arrested.

Things of note usually happen when I'm not around, so this was definitely something that made up for it. It was nothing if not an adrenaline rush and scary as hell at the same time.