Odd ends from a career as a street cop.

• The night I booked a suspect into jail and went back out on patrol without my firearm. I handled an entire call (with one hand over my holster) before driving back to the jail and retrieving my gun undetected.
• The burglary scene where I left my posse box containing evidence. An hour after returning to the station, I remembered where I left the police report and the evidence, in my posse box at the home of the burglary. One phone call later, I was on my way back to the victim’s house. Not good.
• Driving down Pacific Coast Highway when a couple ran across the street in front of me completely nude and entered an apartment. I stopped in the roadway and immediately was struck in the rear of my police crusier by a woman in an SUV. I had to call for a supervisor to investigate the collision while the culprits escaped.
• The night I drove a drunk to his home instead of to jail.  He passed out in the back seat and would not wake up.  I had to drag him to the front door but I couldn’t find his keys.  Finally I got him inside and left so I could drive back to the city I actually worked in.
• The night I caught the armed robber.  A robbery just ocurred in the Cheesecake Factory parking lot.  The suspect was described with a gun and a vehicle driving north from the scene. After at least fifteen minutes with no sighting, I stopped on the road north of the restaurant.  Apparently he had stopped too because he drove right past me 10 blocks from the scene of the crime.  I followed him downtown where he pulled into a parking space, then I held him at gunpoint until backup arrived.  He didn’t move.  I found the loaded gun and the stolen property under the passenger seat.  That was the knight I shined.