Through the looking glass.

"Bad boys bad boys, whatcha gonna do?... Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?"

I think I'll have that song in my head all day! My brush with "Cops" came late last night. I live outside of the city, and rarely even hear sirens, nevermind see anything interesting "go down", so it was very surprising when our doorbell started ringing incessantly at 11pm. Husband, wary of late night visitors, especially since Ed McMahon is no longer with us, cracked the door and heard a desperate voice calling out "They robbed me for my LEG! I've been ROBBED! I need to call my grandma to pick me up!". Obviously, this is not something you hear every day, and sure enough, the guy was hopping on one leg (the absence of blood helped us put 2 and 2 together that it was a prosthetic limb that was missing). Still a bit leery, since there were now a number of red and blue lights blinking through the bushes that seperate our house from the street, Husband handed a phone through the door and went out to take a look, locking the door behind him.

I watched from the window as flashlights illuminated him and after some shouting, his hands went up in the air. A brief exchange, and then he countinued down the driveway and an officer came into view. He took one look at the legless man on our stoop and ordered him onto the ground. When he didn't comply right away, there were some shouts and soon the man was cuffed and facedown on the front sidewalk, covered in the boys (and girls) in blue. Other officers were swarming around the house with flashlights, followed soon after by a big angry dog.

Husband came strolling up the driveway with an officer and I finally got the story. Apparently our driveway was the end of a police car chase that originated downtown. The car was cockeyed on the driveway (unfortunately narrowly missing the address sign that I so desperately would like to replace) and completely missing the 2 tires on the passenger side (a result of spike strips MILES before). We were told to stay inside for the time being until they captured the others who had run from the car, as police dogs can't always tell who is innocent.

The dogs led a crowd of 8-10 officers far beyond our house, through the unseasonably wet, poison ivy-ridden, mosquito-infested property. I felt sorry for the cops, who admittedly called our property "a nightmare" since they are used to streets, alleys, and fences. The dark, unknown terrain was a whole other ballpark, but it made me somewhat happy that the "perps" were also wandering the fields, tripping over fallen trees, into puddles and poison ivy, while being chased by dogs and people with guns (that would be enough to make anyone think twice about driving a stolen car out here again).

All was quiet for a while, the flashing red and blue still staked out our property and a towtruck had arrived to haul off the maimed neon. I figured we had seen the last of it, until, while up feeding Girl, I heard voices and barking. Apparently an injured car thief had camped out behind a shed, presumably waiting until the police were gone. Caught ya sucker! (by the way, looking down the barrel of that police dog, who knows he's looking for you, plus 8-10 cops can't be a fun experience) I should mention his pants were also falling down. The moral of the story: always wear a belt for midnight runs through the bush.

Thumbs up to the Boys and Girls in blue!