Looks can be deceiving

While riding as a training officer 'a few years ago' my rookie partner, Kenny Y and I were just cleared for dinner when dispatch asked if we could stop by and assist a citizen get back in his house. Sometimes people called the cops when they had no other resolve; this sounded like one of those times and we shrugged it off as just a short delay until we go to eat. We arrived to peaceful, serene looking palatial house in a very nice neighborhood similar to this one. We could smell the money in the air. ;-)After arriving we found out that this "assist a citizen" call was a middle aged male who was locked out of his house by his ex-wife. Not so simple anymore. This could be a civil or criminal matter, either way, we needed to solve it, for him and so we could go eat! We met the male half (police jargon for husband) at the curb. He explained how he and his wife are recently divorced, he'd been awarded the house in the settlement, and she was now inside and had locked him out. They had tried, unsuccessfully, to reconcile their marriage. He was calm, rational and a successful, wealthy business man. Tonight she was drunk and refused to leave. I took his side right away, as I had little patience for drunks. The male half needed our help to get his house back. This image below was similar to what we "subsequently faced upon trying to resolve this problem." (more police report jargon) Our first obstacle was getting access to the house through the front security gates. So many calls were resolved one step at a time, with only sometimes an idea on follow up plans.
We made contact with the "female half" who was smug and drunk as she stood behind the wrought iron gates. She was holding a small dog with one arm up to her chest, nicely dressed and non-threatening, just adamant she the house was hers. She wouldn't listen to reason - which was normal for a drunk - but being like most cops who can use deception to solve a problem (yes, legal per the Supreme Court) I told her I needed to come inside and use her phone to call her husband a taxi cab, and report in to my dispatcher. (none of this was true, it was a ruse I quickly came up with to get the guy back in his house- getting her out was secondary - one issue at a time. But I had a plan now anyway.)

She agreed and let us in. As soon as she unlocked the gate we all came in. She was furious and quickly saw our deception. She wanted us out of her house. The husband found the divorce papers showing he'd been awarded the house, so it was no longer a civil matter if she refused to leave, it was misdemeanor trespass, and we could get her out. I had Kenny give the guy a pre-printed card so he could read the "trespass warning" per NRS and make it legal. (we used these cards frequently & routinely in businesses with a larceny or defrauding suspect in custody) Knowing she wouldn't leave, we'd handcuff her, take her to jail, and then go eat! I broadcast on my portable police radio, "code four" letting dispatch and other units know we were okay, as it'd taken longer to get in as this event reads. - back and forth arguing with the drunk woman took awhile. As the ex-husband bent over a nearby table lamp for light, the woman took one step towards him, pulled a large kitchen knife that had been concealed under the cute little dog, and stabbed her ex-husband in the back! The speed of that arm was amazing and I felt lucky she only attacked the male.

I couldn't believe my eyes but the sound of his pain was unmistakable. I pushed her away from us and assisted the guy as we sat him down on the nearby carpet covered stairs. I remember Kenny asking if he should pull the knife out. I yelled "NO!" Somehow I knew that wouldn't be good for him. I grabbed my radio, "We need medical, code-three!" Dispatch didn't ask and I didn't tell her why. The ex-wife was sitting on the couch, the dog still in her arms. Not knowing if she had another knife hid somewhere nearby, I grabbed her free hand rolled her over onto her stomach, down onto the floor, hard. Oomph! She was screaming that I was treating her like a criminal. Image that. The dog whelped, ran and hid in the unlit gas fireplace. The medical team arrived, stabilized our victim, got him on a gurney on his stomach and wheeled him out to the ambulance. Sheet over him with the outline of the knife sticking out of his back for all the neighbors and local news crew to see. To make a long story short, she went to jail; booked for attempted murder & domestic violence battery. Animal Control took the dog. Kenny and I went to dinner and laughed how a guy calls us to help him and he ends up getting stabbed in the back. "Ya, but he got his house back." We both agreed that we were lucky she didn't go nuts and swing the knife at us too.

Things just aren't as they always appear to be in life.

To protect and serve; 1974 to 2003.