HayesGreener
Ronin
The discussion of winter storms takes me back more than 40 years in Ohio. It was the midnight watch following major snowfall and ice and I was mostly prowling icy streets looking for stranded motorists. Dispatch was just taking priority calls due to the hazardous road conditions. It had been raining during the day and we got black ice on the roads covered with snow. About 2:00 am dispatch drops the tone and tells me there is a burglary in progress on the far side of my zone in a Kroger shopping center. We are sure it is a legit alarm because it is Sonitrol and the alarm company can hear the burglars talking. So here I am on the far side of my zone in my Crown Vic Interceptor with 460 engine, responding at about 15 mph because anything over that and the cruiser did a 360. I arrived in the shopping center blacked out and was creeping toward the store front when Sonitrol reports "they see a cruiser and they are running". (Actually there were several "OH, Sh#t!" quotes in there as well). About that time a guy carrying a trash bag full of meds and a portable typewriter runs out of the broken storefront and runs around toward the back of the building. I told dispatch I was chasing the suspect and they asked for a description. I reported he was the guy with my hood ornament on his a$$. My speedometer hit about 130 as I lost traction but never got over 15 mph on the ice during the pursuit. At some point the guy dropped the portable typewriter and I ran over it. He got as far as the back alley and jumped into a dumpster and pulled the lid shut. I waited with my trusty 870 for my partner to get there and he gave a fine Dirty Harry speech about having the second most powerful handgun in the world and it would go right through that dumpster. The lid popped up and the miscreant stood up with hands in the air and we got him in custody. We nicknamed that burglar Oscar The Grouch and the name stuck on him down at county jail. We caught the other guy in short order as the tracks in 2 feet of snow leading to his back door was a clue. Back at the crime scene we discovered what a 130 mph tire hitting a portable typewriter would do-pieces were spread from one end of the lot to another. The sergeant shows up and tells me it was a good arrest but I was going to have to pay for that typewriter (he was a comedian). 9 months later we moved to Florida.
