KD the car thief
This is a story that should probably begin with once upon a time. It takes place in 1983. It’s a dark humorous story ending in a tragedy, which means no happily ever after.
The world of car thieves is one of different motivations. Some steal cars to sell them, some for car parts, and some for joy rides. KD is a skinny black kid who lives in the Butler housing projects. He’s sixteen years old and loves to steal cars. Since he’s a juvenile the system won’t punish him at all. KD has discovered this. My partner and I patrolled the Butler housing projects for the Fort Worth Police where KD lived. If you saw him on the streets, he was a nice, good looking kid. He was smart and carried himself well. However, KD was a rogue, in a teenager’s body. To say he stole cars and took them for a joyride is an understatement. KD knew how to make the most out of his joyrides.
Late at night KD would walk to a Cadillac dealership in downtown Fort Worth next to the railroad yards. The projects were next to the railroad yards, so it was a short walk. Once at the dealership he found a Cadillac to his liking and used a slim jim to open the door. He got inside and hotwired the ignition which started it up. It was easy. He pulled up to the rope blocking the exit and cut it. KD, a sixteen year old kid, was now cruising the streets in a new Cadillac.
He wouldn’t just joy ride for a few hours and dump the car, he made a night of it. Then, when the sun came up, he made a day of it. His M.O. (modus operandi, or method of operation, that’s police talk) was to leave the area in his new Cadillac and go find where the hookers congregated. He would drive by the ladies and take his pick. They flocked around his car, and he let a couple of fancy ones in. The hookers were of age to buy alcohol and KD supplied the money. He definitely knew the way of the streets. The girls made KD feel like a man in the biblical sense as they drank and drove around till the sun came up. At some point they would stop the car by the projects and sleep it off for a while. After a short time, they would wake up and start cruising again. Sometimes KD would take the girls to the mall on the west side of town and buy them clothes. Now you might wonder where KD got his money. Occasionally he would sell parts from the stolen Cadillacs and the money was good. KD and his friends would meander their way back to the projects about the time my partner and I came on duty.
It was always the same. It was almost an everyday occurrence. Some days I was driving, some days my partner was driving. We would be in the Butler housing projects and see a brand new Cadillac coming towards us. There were no new Cadillacs in the projects that were legal. We didn’t even have to check to see if it was stolen. Sure enough, the car past by us and there was KD with a big smile. Sometimes he would wave at us. I was driving this day and we turned around to give pursuit, which KD was used to. While he was having a good time the girls in the car were going crazy. They saw us and started screaming. KD didn’t care. He wasn’t about to stop and let them out. I called the dispatcher and told her we were in pursuit. I turned on the red and blue overhead lights and the siren.
We were hitting sixty and seventy miles an hour on small side streets. KD had a pattern when he ran. He would leave the projects and go into other neighborhoods. Usually, as today, he didn’t make it far. He came around a corner leaving the projects screeching the tires and slid sideways into a telephone pole. We pulled up and KD jumped out of the car and ran. The girl in the back seat did the same. The girl in the front seat hit her head on the dashboard and was stunned. We grabbed her and she was yelling she didn’t know anything about anything. If girls were in the car, we would take them downtown but usually let them go. If they had a bad criminal history, other than prostitution, we would charge them with something and let the district attorney turn them loose after a few days in jail.
We knew where KD lived, and we went to his mom’s apartment in the projects. We had a routine down. I went up to the front door and my partner went to the back door. I knocked and KD’s mom came to the door. She knew what we wanted. I walked in and asked, “Is KD up in his room?”
She nodded and I called in my partner from out back. We were getting ready to go upstairs and she protested, “He’s a good boy. You don’t have to take him!”
I stopped, I felt sorry for her, “Mrs. Johnson, I’m sorry but he keeps stealing cars. We just chased him in a stolen car. It’s against the law to steal cars and he puts people’s lives in danger when he runs. We’re going to take him in as a juvenile, and they’ll let him go soon. I know he has a birthday coming up and he’ll turn seventeen. When it happens, he’ll be charged as an adult. He goes to the big jail. Have a talk with him when he gets back and tell him he needs to stop. On his birthday he’ll be a man and needs to start acting like it.”
She looked down at the ground and slowly nodded. My partner and I went upstairs to KD’s room. He only had two hiding places, one was in the closet, and the other was under the bed. Normally as we walked up the stairs we would bet on where he was. The loser had to buy dinner. This night my partner said, “He’s in the closet.”
I rolled my eyes and said, “Okay, so I’ve got the under the bed. Which is messed up because I was thinking he’s going to be in the closet.”
My partner just smiled as we continued into the room. We walked in unannounced and no KD. We both walked to the closet. We stood there for a few seconds, and I suddenly opened the closet door. At first glance it was empty. Upon further inspection some clothes piled in the corner of the closet seemed lumpy. I looked back at my partner, “I think that pile of clothes looks suspicious. I’m going to put a bullet straight through it.”
That’s all it took. KD came out of the pile of clothes with a big smile, “Come on guys! It’s me! Don’t shoot!”
I had never taken my gun out of its holster. KD immediately saw we were joking and laughed with us. He knew the drill. We took him to Kimbo road, which was the juvenile detention center. He would be processed through and released. That’s the way they did it back then. On the way to the detention center we all talked. I finally brought up KD’s birthday. I said, “You’re going to turn seventeen here pretty soon, right?”
He said, “Yeah, in about two weeks. So?”
“Well, I wanted you to know when you turn seventeen you go to the big boy jail. You’re an adult. It’s a whole other procedure.”
KD hesitated while he was thinking, “Yeah, okay. I’m good.” We dropped him off and the evening was about over.
The next day we cruised into the projects. After about thirty minutes we spotted a new Cadillac coming down the street. Again, KD drives by smiling but this time he doesn’t have any women with him. I’m driving and turn around to chase. KD turns a corner and spins out. The rear end of his new Cadillac hits a light pole. He doesn’t even make it out of the projects. He jumps out of the car to run but this time we’re right there and grab him. Saves us a trip to the apartment and one of us from buying supper for the partner. As we escorted KD to the police car I asked him, “No women last night?”
KD had a slight stutter, “Uh, I I I just dropped them off before I I saw you. I I I just can’t help it sir. I loves those fallen women.” We all laughed and went to the car.
They release KD and he’s back home in a few hours. Ya gotta love the Tarrant County Justice System.
KD continued his escapades. As aware police officers we kept up with the local criminals. My partner and I came back from our day off and he reminded me that yesterday was KD’s birthday. He is now seventeen, he goes to the grown up jail. We have a chance to take KD to the big jail for the first time in his life.
We called in service to the dispatcher and immediately got a call. We answered several calls. We then had time to drive through the projects. It was later than usual when we came down the main street of the projects. As luck would have it here comes KD in his brand new red Cadillac Deville. My partner and I looked at each other and at the same time said, “Really, red?”
We turned around and the usual chase was on. KD had a woman with him. He always drove like a madman. He made it into the downtown area and was swerving back and forth trying to get us off his tail. KD had come close to hitting people and we decided to end it before someone got hurt. KD came around a corner and we rammed him, which was against department policy. He slammed into a bus stop and the chase was over. The woman was of course rattled and began telling us anything we needed to know. Meanwhile, KD started to run, and our focus was on him. After a brief foot chase, we grabbed him and took him back to the car.
As we walked back there was a seriousness about the situation. KD was smiling, “M my momma be cooking tonight if you want to come by.”
We stopped, I told KD, “You’re not going to be home for supper buddy. You go to the big jail now. You won’t get out for a couple of days.”
KD looked at me in disbelief, “I I don’t go to Juvy?”
“No, that’s why I told you, stop. In the long run it won’t end well. Think of your mom.”
KD was about to have his first experience with the adult criminal justice system, and he’s not going to like it.
KD was not detained long in the grown up system, but it was longer than in the juvenile system. He was now on the clock. Every time he committed a felony it added to his jail time. Eventually he would be spending a long time in jail. We tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. He continued his usual patterns only the between times for theft were longer. He was finally faced with long jail time.
It was a late August day, and it was a doozy, a hundred and nine degrees. My partner and I came on duty and as usual we had the windows down and the air conditioner on full blast. We answered a few calls and ended up in the projects. We had cruised through and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and started to leave the area. We were at the edge of the projects when a motorcycle passed us. It was carrying two people. In a flash we saw KD driving with another guy behind him. I turned around and gave pursuit. KD went into the projects and turned onto the main street which was a big hill. At the bottom of the hill was a T intersection. You could turn left or right but you couldn’t go straight. He roared down the street with us chasing. As he came to the bottom of the hill a school bus was passing by. The motorcycle plowed into the middle of the bus and exploded. There was a big ball of fire. Everything stopped. I took my foot off the accelerator and slowly glided towards the fire. My partner and I were staring in disbelief. The bus stopped, all traffic stopped, and people came out of their apartments. The motorcycle and both guys were engulfed in the flames. My partner called for more police units and told dispatch to start the fire department. The fire department arrived and put out what was left of the fire. Both KD and his young buddy were dead. Fortunately, there were no other casualties. The kids on the bus were fine but I’m sure the school district had to buy a new bus. KD was a character and just thinking about his death makes me sad. He was a good kid, and I can’t help but wonder if he would’ve had more time, he might have straightened himself out and been very successful at whatever he did. We’ll never know.
