RANDOM LIFE STORY: POLICE CHASE

I forgot about the random life story series I used to do on this blog. A conversation I had with my roommates yesterday reminded me of a run-in with the police I had in high school. Let me share it with you.

It was the first day of summer after my 10th grade year. All was quiet on Sunset Drive until we heard sirens in the distance. Everyone in the house went outside to see where the cop car was coming from because that was like big action at the time in West Kaysville. Soon enough we could see that it was not one cop car but a line of cops and they were in a car chase! It got even more exciting when the car they were chasing crashed into a mailbox two houses down and the people got out and ran for it. Soon, Sunset Drive was flooded with law enforcement.

We got the scoop on what was going on. Two convicts had escaped from the jail near by, stolen a car, and went on their merry way to freedom - until they crashed into the mailbox. So the Police were searching the fields for an escaped convict. Why were they only searching for one when there were two that escaped? Well this part is hilarious and true, get ready. One of the men was wearing such baggy pants that he tripped trying to run into the field and was run down by the police. So his buddy got away and was hanging out somewhere in the 50 + acres of farm land that surrounded him. Police helicopters were searching from the air and every access point to Sunset was cut off so this guy couldn't go anywhere unless he wanted to swim across the Great Salt Lake for freedom.

My sister Heidi and I were convinced that if we could just get some binoculars and climb on top of the silo, we could find this guy. My worry wort mother locked the house and turned on the alarm just to make sure the convict wouldn't get into to our house to take a nap or eat any of our food. My mom thought I was inside the house as well but little did she know, I was out playing detective. My cousin came over to the house and the alarm went off but she didn't know. Soon the police scanners got word that our house's alarm just went off and my mother told them I was inside.

The Police barged inside looking for me everywhere thinking the convict man had broken into the house and that I might be in there as well. They didn't find me. And no, the convict wasn't in their either. My mother was convinced I was stolen by convict man or something worse (she is the type that thinks her keys were stolen when she can't find them in her purse). So the Police are now looking for convict man and a teenage girl that might have been taken. While all this is going on, I am in the back pasture trying to hunt down convict man for myself. Heidi and I didn't have any luck so I decided to return to the house. When I came around the corner of the barn there were five police officers there that quickly surrounded me AT GUNPOINT! Officer Red Mustache yelled at me, "are you Ashley Belnap?" Thoughts swirled in my head, "no," "yes," "why do you know my name," "I am not the convict." I was finally able to mutter out that yes, I was indeed the girl in question. The officers lowered their guns and I was ordered to go find my frantic mother because she was looking for me. Whew! Dodged that bullet (literally).

At the end of it all, I was not murdered by the Police and they did find convict man. He had been sitting under a tree in the field trying to figure out his next move. It made for a great story and a great start to my summer. And shockingly, I am not afraid of guns at all. I quite like them actually.