Question of the Day...........

QOD: When does it become your responsibility as a citizen to help 'catch a thief,' so to speak?

When you see a crime being committed, and one that can potentially harm or injure innocent bystanders - is it your civic duty to do all you can, all that is safe, to help catch that criminal? I believe so - and that's exactly what happened to me and my family on the way home from a Christening party.

I was driving because I only had 1 beer....and as we pulled up to a light at an intersection, a driver in a red, late-model Toyotal Corolla swung his head to look at Mike in the passenger seat who promptly said, "Stay away from that guy, he is hammered!" I slowly accelerated at the turn of the light to green and followed as this guy bumped up against one line and then the other - a sure sign of impaired driving. The driver was accelerating and then slowing down erratically - I said, "Call 911!" and we set off in pursuit.

The chase was low speed - but my heart was pounding. At one intersection, the driver appeared to pass out or just space out - with several cars behind him! When a large truck pulled around - he seemed to wake up and accelerate and try to pass the truck. We began a wild ride around the city, watching the driver take swigs from his Tall Boy while driving in a dangerous manner. In one crosswalk, where 8 people had the right of way, he plowed right on through. We had to wait for the pedestrians to make it through and almost lost the trail. All the while, we were on the phone with the police department, wondering where in the heck they were!

In all, it took 10 minutes from the start of our endeavor until three police cars pulled up and found the guy stopped - almost slumped in the parking lot of an industrial section. You see, our bright blue luxury car was not very inconspicuous, and he had figured out that we were following him. At one point driving in circles around a cul-de-sac, and then backing up as if to ram our car.

Needless to say, the Police took him out of the car, and plopped his sorry ass into the back seat. There was no question of his sobriety - and although the cops asked for our information, "In case of a jury trial," we figured that any contest of the charges at hand was unlikely.

And so, in light of our wild ride, and in spite of the potential dangers to me and my family - I absolutely advocate that it is your civic duty to do all you can to help the police apprehend someone who is blatantly breaking the law. This guy was so wasted, we were afraid that we would be witness to an accident before the police were able to hook him up. Fortunately, it was ten minutes of anxiety - followed by the relief that this guy was going to be spending the night in the clink - hopefully with one hell of a hangover - where no harm would come at the hands, or wheel, of a very stupid, wasted jerk.

Just call me Emily, pursuer of doers of bad deeds.........