Lucky Two Times ~ 24yrs ago

I will never forget seeing the car continue towards me and wondered why she wasn't hitting her brakes! (Yup, I could see it was a woman driver.) I had a split second thought of, "Why is this happening to me?" and then the mental image of movie stunt-men jumping over moving cars and another split second decision to jump as high as I could. It all happened quickly but at the time it was like slow motion. A few minutes earlier I had parked my patrol car nearby and was out on foot at the fence of a trailer park, waiting and watching for one or all three suspects to jump over this fence. They were trying to lose another officer who had followed them in the park, but had quickly parked and abandoned their car and were on foot in the trailer park. That officer was only seconds behind, not yet in pursuit, not wanting them to run, awaiting the return on the license plate. As we all heard dispatch announce it was a reported stolen vehicle, I was already nearby, having heard him say on the radio, that he was following a 425A (suspicious vehicle) "occupied three times." I was to be his back up officer when he made the car stop. But, as it sometimes happens in police work, the bad guys didn't agree with our plan. So I took up the position where I was, the standard, police method of containment, locate and arrest - only we had just one side of the perimeter so far - me. Holding my portable radio next to my ear to listen as other arriving units searched the trailer park, I heard possible suspects were seen going over the block wall a few blocks east of me. I turned to run to my car that I had backed up under a large cottonwood tree, shading it from the nearby street light. I was hoping they wouldn't see it and go over the wall where I was. They had a different plan and now they were too far for me to run and catch up to.
I had been talking to young man who lived in this park, Derek Swatling, also a member of my ward then, and when I took off to run, he'd yelled at me "Watch out." He'd seen the car but I hadn't; the portable radio still held up to my left ear, the on-coming car blocked from my view. After dodging left then right only to have the car do the same thing, and still wonder why this car wasn't stopping, I jumped; stunt-man-imitation-like. I remember seeing the night sky as I flipped over the car. I don't remember actually hitting the car, but I know I did. The next thing I was aware of, I was coming down with my hands in front of me, sliding down the car, landing on my butt. I thought it was the front and was readying myself to become as flat as I could get as the car would pass over me. An instantaneous thought, "will I live through this?" came to mind. I was relieved when I saw the car going away from me. I had come down at the rear of the car and I was not being run over. Derek was now next to me and had picked up my radio. He was yelling into it, "Officer down! Officer down!" I reached up, took the radio, and as calmly as I could, reported what had happened. (Real "manly-cops" remain calm on the radio.) Dispatch said, "Medical is en route." (Dispatchers do a great job, a tough job sometimes and don't get credit for it.) I tried to get up and felt sharp pains in my legs, sitting back down then laying on my back, remembering how odd it was that the pavement could feel so good. It was still warm from the day's sun. I soon had other cops around me, helping me out of my gun belt, offering to take my patrol car back to the station, etc, while I was being loaded into the ambulance. It was a surreal experience as I’ve always watched others going through this, it wasn’t suppose to be me. Derek , said he thought I was dead, having flown so high in the air. No, I was alive because he had warned me. I realized that "small still voices" can come in varying ways.

Ten days later as I recovered, I witnessed the birth of Lindsay. I assured everyone I was well enough to drive and I went to the hospital as another ward member and good friend Julie Jenkins, had filled in for me as birthing coach to Carol. They had gone earlier when she went into labor. Driving home from the hospital I realized how close I came to have not been alive to seen this, to be her dad. I am so thankful I am. I will be eternally grateful to those who came to my aid during my recovery period. (and Carol who was a great nurse!) Jerry Page comes to mind, who sadly, has passed away. Also, Ron Mecham and his sons took over my lawn mowing accounts until Carol and Marlene W. did them while I recovered. I was lucky twice, 24 years ago.....