My true crime story

Soap opera interruption

It was a little after 1 pm this afternoon and I was about to sit down to watch the soaps when I heard what sounded like a vehicle striking something. I opened my front door to see two police vans going about 50 mph west on my street. As they went by I noticed a U-Haul pickup truck in the front yard of the vacant house on the left. My neighbors, an older couple had moved on the first of December and I assumed someone else was now moving in. My neighbors had rented the house for 40 years and when it was sold they were out just like that. I pondered that the new neighbors might be moving in but I saw no one.

The driver's door of the truck was open and music was blaring and I could hear the profanity-filled lyrics. I prayed that the person using the truck was not going to be my new neighbor because I enjoyed living on a quiet street and did not desire the disruption of those who played the booming music with no thought of others.

Not going to watch the soap today

Five or six minutes later the truck door was still open and that music was coming into my home loud and intrusive. I went outside and saw no furniture in the back and no one was coming or going from the house. My neighbor on the left of this house walked up the sidewalk and we both went closer to the truck. There were skid marks where it had run off the street and the neighbor confirmed my suspicions that this was the truck the police had been chasing. He said he saw the driver get out and run towards the alley in the back of our homes.

A moment of clarity

For a moment I laughed to myself because this was like something on TV. The police had whizzed by unaware that they had driven right past the suspect and he was probably long gone by now. I dialed 911 and told them what had happened and several police cars showed up minutes later. My neighbor and I gave our statements and one officer took a police dog from a vehicle and began to search. I walked around the side of my house to make sure no one had tried to get in my back door or basement door and saw a black sock cap beside my back steps.

The suspect's hat had fallen off or he had thrown it right next to my steps as he fled. The idea of this man running from the police and being being so close to my home was unnerving. I could have been in the yard as he ran by or the U-Haul truck could have run into my yard or my other neighbor's yard. The man who used to live next door often sat on his front porch on mild days and he could have been in the middle of it all if he and his wife had not moved.

The police finally turned off the running vehicle and I went back into the house giving thanks that things were not worse and no one was hurt. About 10 minutes later I heard female voices and saw four African American women standing on the sidewalk talking with the police. Using deductive reasoning I came to the conclusion that the U-Haul truck was registered in the name of one of them and they had been called. I wondered if the man who evaded the police was supposed to be driving the truck or if he stolen it? Was it purchased for the purpose of moving items or to give someone the ability to drive a truck for a few days instead of renting a vehicle?

A tow truck eventually arrived and pulled the truck out of the next door yard and I wondered would it go back to U-Haul or be empounded for evidence. Nothing was online about the situation so I have no idea if the suspect had been apprehended but that’s my true crime tale.