Neighborhood Watch

Brent and I were enjoying our fantastic dinner of grilled tri-tip, pinto beans, and rice. One of our favorites. Brent saw an SUV Police vehicle inching down our street and said, "Uh oh." I turned to look out the window to see what it was. It was moving really slowly. Brent said, "They're looking for somebody."

Shortly thereafter, a police car drove by at an even slower pace, with its lights on. Sure enough, they were looking for somebody. Brent saw a police officer take off running across the street into a neighbor's back yard. We stood at the window and I realized I had left the garage open while I was grilling. My hero of a husband went to make sure no one was hiding in our garage, and closed it up so they couldn't use it for a hiding place.

I saw the officer emerge from the backyard across the street and he had his taser gun drawn at his side. He was walking militantly, with a definite purpose. Two more cars drove by.

We locked our doors and sat and watched, wondering what - who - they could be looking for, and why. We heard the officer yell, "He has to be back in here, Carlos!"

Neighbors started emerging and standing in front of their houses - watching, waiting. We saw more police cars crawl by, and a few officers on foot. We went to our next door neighbor's house, and the neighbor on the other side of them informed us the police were looking for a shirtless man covered in tattoos, but the police wouldn't tell them why. I told Brent, "behind our garage is a good hiding place," and he agreed. "I'm going to go see if someone's back there," I said. "Are you nuts, Val?" Brent asked. I guess I was, because I started walking back there to check. He came alongside me - not because he wanted to, but because he was going to protect his crazy wife from the even crazier criminal in the unlikely event there was one there........the coast - or behind the garage, anyway - was clear.

Finally after about twenty or more minutes of police driving and/or walking by, we heard squealing tires, and saw the cop cars congregate around the corner from us. Apparently the shirtless tattooed man was apprehended and all is back to normal.

For our quiet, family oriented street, this was a really big deal!! If the most action we ever see on this street is what happened today, I'll be okay with that. It was a bit unsettling for a while!!