Lost cops?

Never let it be said that nothing interesting ever happens at a bus stop. In this case, Jennifer’s bus stop. I once saw a girl facedown on the sidewalk at this bus stop and panicked, thinking something had happened to her. (She was actually asleep. LOL) I thought that was the most excitement I’d see at that particular bus stop. The events which unfolded this morning proved me wrong.

We arrived early, and while Jen and I stood there huddled together, freezing our butts off, I noticed a police car driving around the area. I didn’t think too much on it, but I had a feeling something was up. Soon the other kids arrived, as well as one of the moms, and we were all standing there, making small talk.

Suddenly, the kids got excited about something down the street. I turned around to see three police cars racing up the street, sirens and lights going off. I had to pull Jennifer back to keep her on the sidewalk because she was practically getting into the street to see them. They raced past us and I could literally smell the rubber of their tires burning. It was two police vehicles and one city police vehicle (if that's what you call a regular car with sirens on the inside?). They pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex across the street, but not for long. The car in the back started pulling out backwards. The other two vehicles followed. They went up the street and into another parking area adjacent the building. But then they came back out again (this time, not in reverse) and zoomed past us to pull in at another parking area of that building.

I shook my head as I looked at the mom. “They’re lost,” she said.

I laughed. That’s not supposed to happen! Aren't police officers supposed to know their neighborhood??

Anyway, they came back out of THAT parking area again, flew past us yet again, this time with a state police car joining their pursuit, and they pulled into the lot they had gone into on the second try.

“Don’t they have computer maps in their cars?” I asked the mom.

She modded and the look on her face indicated that she didn’t get this situation, either. How could those cops get lost?

I told her about how I’d noticed a police car driving around the area earlier and that maybe it was canvassing the area. She agreed that that was probably what was going on.

I had to feel sorry for the bus driver, who was down the street caught in the middle of this chase. Maybe she didn’t know whether to stay put or keep going if the cops had finally gone into the right parking lot they meant to go into. When it seemed like they did find the right lot, she drove the bus on up to the stop and opened the doors. As the kids proceeded to climb onto the bus, once again the cops came speeding past us, lights and sirens going off. And then they went past us AGAIN just as the bus was pulling away.

While we were watching all this excitement, a guy on his bike stopped riding past us to check it all out. I noticed he was talking to the mom (couldn’t read his lips) then he took off on his bike back the way he came to check it out. A lady at the apartment complex across the street came over to us to talk about what had happened, motioning with her hand how the cops had driven all around over there.

Finally, it seemed like the cops were at the location they meant to be at because they pretty much stayed put this time. It had been like watching a tennis match, with them going back and forth. Me and the mom had a laugh over the whole thing and wished each other well before parting ways. After I got into my car, started the engine and drove away, I noticed the guy on his bike riding down the street, talking on his cell phone.

At least all that excitement helped us to forget about how cold it was.