Showing posts with label police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Amusing, but not amused, cop
I was stuck in the Gaslamp Quarter last night after a drop-off at the new Hard Rock Hotel on 5th Ave and K street (or is it L St?). I think they were surgeons, based on their conversation. After sitting in a line of cars that was stationary for no apparent reason (after dropping off), I tapped my horn once, briefly. A voice tried to speak to me through the passenger window, which was open. I turned down my stereo and looked, finding a bicycle cop. "What?" I asked. "Horns are for emergency use only," he said, "and trying to get cars to move is not an emergency." I stuck my head out the driver window and bellowed as loudly as I could: "Let's get a move on!!!" I looked back at the cop, who had a blank expression. He has dealt with my kind before.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Police call
I was staging across the street from a bar at 1 a.m., an hour before bars close in California. The door to the bar was open. It has been a very quiet night, with little traffic or street noise.
I heard what sounded like a bartender yelling. "Stop or I'll call the cops!"
Within three minutes a police car arrived with its lights on and stopped on the street in front of the bar. Two officers got out and went inside. A second car circled the block, looking for someone.
I heard one of our drivers call in a ride on the radio, and I knew he'd be driving past me and the bar. So I got on the radio and told him to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious, as the police are searching for someone in the area. Our HQ often gets calls from the police asking for us to be watching for suspects or missing persons. This time, I decided to pre-empt them. People running from the law often take cabs.
A few minutes later I was belled: "95, police call." It was to the bar. I pulled up alongside the police cars and the officers came out. I asked if they had requested me, and they said it was another officer a block away.
I went to the location and found a cop letting a mid-20s guy out of the back of his police car. "Tell it to the judge," the cop said to the guy.
The guy got in the cab asking to go to IB (Imperial Beach). I asked him what happened, and he said his two friends got in a fight with another guy, and when the bartender threatened to call the cops, everyone ran out the back door and down the alley.
He said he wasn't involved in the fight, but since he ran, he was chased down and handcuffed. The police determined he wasn't involved in the fight, so they sent him home. The guy said his friends hadn't been caught yet.
En route to IB, one of our drivers was speaking with dispatch on the cab radio.
Guy: Is that a police scanner?
Me: No, it's the cab radio.
Guy: You can't hear the cops on that?"
Me: No.
The guy was really nervous. I'm sure the cops had tried to get him to tell where his friends might be going. He probably wanted to hear whether they had been apprehended, too.
He got a phone call, and in hushed tones, said, "I can't talk right now. I'll call you back in a few minutes." It had to be one of the fighters.
I got him to IB without incident. The meter was $28, and that's what I got.
I heard what sounded like a bartender yelling. "Stop or I'll call the cops!"
Within three minutes a police car arrived with its lights on and stopped on the street in front of the bar. Two officers got out and went inside. A second car circled the block, looking for someone.
I heard one of our drivers call in a ride on the radio, and I knew he'd be driving past me and the bar. So I got on the radio and told him to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious, as the police are searching for someone in the area. Our HQ often gets calls from the police asking for us to be watching for suspects or missing persons. This time, I decided to pre-empt them. People running from the law often take cabs.
A few minutes later I was belled: "95, police call." It was to the bar. I pulled up alongside the police cars and the officers came out. I asked if they had requested me, and they said it was another officer a block away.
I went to the location and found a cop letting a mid-20s guy out of the back of his police car. "Tell it to the judge," the cop said to the guy.
The guy got in the cab asking to go to IB (Imperial Beach). I asked him what happened, and he said his two friends got in a fight with another guy, and when the bartender threatened to call the cops, everyone ran out the back door and down the alley.
He said he wasn't involved in the fight, but since he ran, he was chased down and handcuffed. The police determined he wasn't involved in the fight, so they sent him home. The guy said his friends hadn't been caught yet.
En route to IB, one of our drivers was speaking with dispatch on the cab radio.
Guy: Is that a police scanner?
Me: No, it's the cab radio.
Guy: You can't hear the cops on that?"
Me: No.
The guy was really nervous. I'm sure the cops had tried to get him to tell where his friends might be going. He probably wanted to hear whether they had been apprehended, too.
He got a phone call, and in hushed tones, said, "I can't talk right now. I'll call you back in a few minutes." It had to be one of the fighters.
I got him to IB without incident. The meter was $28, and that's what I got.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Police call
The last ride of the night was fairly entertaining. The police needed a cab on a lonely country highway. It was in the city, but on the edge of a canyon, so it felt like country. A police car was stopped behind an SUV, and I pulled in front of them. A 20-something man and woman came to the cab and got in.
"I'd ask how your day is going, but I think I already know," I said. They just laughed, saying it was no big deal. They had been parked for an hour, they said, when the cop arrived. They had been drinking, and the cop wanted to breathalyze them on suspicion of DUI. The guy had said it doesn't matter because they weren't driving. His keys were in his pocket, not the ignition or in his hand. Surprisingly, the cops didn't arrest them.
When I asked them what they were doing parked for an hour, they just smiled.
They went to a Burger King in Imperial Beach, in the South Bay area. They paid the $20 fare plus a $5 tip. As I was pulling away, the guy came running out and asked if I could wait while they got a burger, then bring them back. I agreed.
I surfed the web in the parking lot until they returned. I had cleared the meter, so technically I was wildcatting, but it was the same fare -- a continuation. I may be the only cabbie in San Diego who fears the big fine for wildcatting.
I brought them back to their truck and we all craned our necks to see if the police car was still around as we drove by. Then I doubled back and let them out, wishing them luck.
They didn't seem drunk to me, and besides, it's not my responsibility. I did feel a bit guilty about it, though. If the cops had returned, they would have been angry.
The round trip plus tip was $55. There's nothing like cash to make guilty feelings subside.
"I'd ask how your day is going, but I think I already know," I said. They just laughed, saying it was no big deal. They had been parked for an hour, they said, when the cop arrived. They had been drinking, and the cop wanted to breathalyze them on suspicion of DUI. The guy had said it doesn't matter because they weren't driving. His keys were in his pocket, not the ignition or in his hand. Surprisingly, the cops didn't arrest them.
When I asked them what they were doing parked for an hour, they just smiled.
They went to a Burger King in Imperial Beach, in the South Bay area. They paid the $20 fare plus a $5 tip. As I was pulling away, the guy came running out and asked if I could wait while they got a burger, then bring them back. I agreed.
I surfed the web in the parking lot until they returned. I had cleared the meter, so technically I was wildcatting, but it was the same fare -- a continuation. I may be the only cabbie in San Diego who fears the big fine for wildcatting.
I brought them back to their truck and we all craned our necks to see if the police car was still around as we drove by. Then I doubled back and let them out, wishing them luck.
They didn't seem drunk to me, and besides, it's not my responsibility. I did feel a bit guilty about it, though. If the cops had returned, they would have been angry.
The round trip plus tip was $55. There's nothing like cash to make guilty feelings subside.
