Get Out of My Way
Yesterday, a Guardia Civil patrol car was stopping cars in A Estrada, on the lookout for a gang of housebreakers that had been working in the surrounding area. They had a car pulled over, one of the officers was standing by the stopped car, the other inside the patrol car checking the papers of the pulled-over driver. Suddenly, a small van came careening towards them, took a glancing hit off the officer standing outside, and slammed into the patrol car.
At first glance, it seemed like a story of revenge and opportunity. How many times haven't many of us who drive and have been stopped by Tráfico dreamed of gunning down one of the green and white cars? But, apparently, the woman who was driving had suddenly lost control of her van and crashed. She did have an anxiety attack, so perhaps it was just an accident. But there have been others that weren't.
Like in Gondomar a couple of years ago. One winter evening, a driver was stopped after seeing a flash behind him. The flash had been a radar gun, and those who stopped him wrote him a little note explaining he had been speeding and had to part with a good sum of money. The driver signed the note, said good night, and turned the car around. As he drove back along the stretch of road he had travelled earlier, he searched in the light of the streetlights for the right spot, found it, and went straight for the car with the radar gun. Slam! Unfortunately, he then had to face charges of assault and battery on a Guardia Civil officer, but I'm sure it was worth it, just to see the face of the officer working the radar, and the feeling of sweet revenge. I'm not saying that's the correct thing to do, but I bet many of us wish we had that initiative.
Then there are out and out delinquents who just can't be deterred from their delinquency. Four of them were hailed by a patrol to stop last year near Madrid. It was a routine control, but the driver seemed very young, too young to hold an actual, legal, driver's license, and the three passengers had their faces covered. Strange on a summer night. The driver just knocked down the officers with the car and disappeared into the night. Backups were called and the car was found later by some swamps, the orange light directing the officers to the torch the car had morphed into. It had been stolen, and the driver and passengers were hunted, but never found.
Then there are those who work hard at being delinquents, but don't quite get the hang of it. This past February, in Badajoz, Guardia Civiles at a routine control saw a car approach that had recently been involved in a hit and run accident. They took advantage to pull over the driver and resolve some paperwork. The driver and his passenger were having none of it, knocked against the patrol car and hied into the night. Other patrol cars were summoned, and the car was found at the beginning of the town of Monesterio. When they called in the license plates, they discovered the car had been stolen in Getxo, Bizkaia, all the way up north (Badajoz is on the border with Portugal, west of Madrid.). Cruising the streets of the small town, they saw the driver and his passenger walking along, carrying three televisions and other small items they had just stolen from a store in the town. They ran after them, but only caught one, the driver, who was nicely stoned. He was brought up on charges of grand theft, auto theft, driving under the influence of drugs, and assault and battery of two Guardia Civiles. Plenty to keep him in jail long enough to figure out just how the night went wrong.
At first glance, it seemed like a story of revenge and opportunity. How many times haven't many of us who drive and have been stopped by Tráfico dreamed of gunning down one of the green and white cars? But, apparently, the woman who was driving had suddenly lost control of her van and crashed. She did have an anxiety attack, so perhaps it was just an accident. But there have been others that weren't.
Like in Gondomar a couple of years ago. One winter evening, a driver was stopped after seeing a flash behind him. The flash had been a radar gun, and those who stopped him wrote him a little note explaining he had been speeding and had to part with a good sum of money. The driver signed the note, said good night, and turned the car around. As he drove back along the stretch of road he had travelled earlier, he searched in the light of the streetlights for the right spot, found it, and went straight for the car with the radar gun. Slam! Unfortunately, he then had to face charges of assault and battery on a Guardia Civil officer, but I'm sure it was worth it, just to see the face of the officer working the radar, and the feeling of sweet revenge. I'm not saying that's the correct thing to do, but I bet many of us wish we had that initiative.
Then there are out and out delinquents who just can't be deterred from their delinquency. Four of them were hailed by a patrol to stop last year near Madrid. It was a routine control, but the driver seemed very young, too young to hold an actual, legal, driver's license, and the three passengers had their faces covered. Strange on a summer night. The driver just knocked down the officers with the car and disappeared into the night. Backups were called and the car was found later by some swamps, the orange light directing the officers to the torch the car had morphed into. It had been stolen, and the driver and passengers were hunted, but never found.
Then there are those who work hard at being delinquents, but don't quite get the hang of it. This past February, in Badajoz, Guardia Civiles at a routine control saw a car approach that had recently been involved in a hit and run accident. They took advantage to pull over the driver and resolve some paperwork. The driver and his passenger were having none of it, knocked against the patrol car and hied into the night. Other patrol cars were summoned, and the car was found at the beginning of the town of Monesterio. When they called in the license plates, they discovered the car had been stolen in Getxo, Bizkaia, all the way up north (Badajoz is on the border with Portugal, west of Madrid.). Cruising the streets of the small town, they saw the driver and his passenger walking along, carrying three televisions and other small items they had just stolen from a store in the town. They ran after them, but only caught one, the driver, who was nicely stoned. He was brought up on charges of grand theft, auto theft, driving under the influence of drugs, and assault and battery of two Guardia Civiles. Plenty to keep him in jail long enough to figure out just how the night went wrong.
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