Back in the good old days, around 1983, the police had procedures not applicable today. The rules would be considered too harsh for today’s society. You know, back when there was less crime. This story takes place on a wintery night in Fort Worth, Texas. These nights almost never included snow. This night is different. About two in the morning, the soft white moisture began to fall. The rarely seen beautiful flakes caused everything to stop. Calls for police service came to a standstill. There was no crime, and everyone was in awe at the wonder of nature. It was this night I became involved in one of the only pursuits in a driving snowstorm in the history of the Fort Worth Police Department.
The snow started slowly, and the city garage began calling patrol cars downtown to get rarely used snow chains put on. The process was slow because there wasn’t any big hurry. The snow was falling but wasn’t sticking on the roads. It made the roads wet. The chains were being put on because the forecast said the roads would freeze causing hazardous driving conditions. When it snows in Fort Worth it’s usually only for a short time and the accumulation isn’t significant.
After an hour the snow became crazy. It was coming down so hard you couldn’t see out the front windshield. The defrosters were blowing full blast, and the wipers were on high. The snow was still freezing on the windshield, making it difficult to see a hundred feet in front of the car. I decided to pull into the parking lot of a closed grocery store and sit it out. The process of putting chains on cars was still going painfully slow. The roads quickly became dangerous. People from the north who drive regularly in snow don’t think anything about it because snow has traction. Not in Texas. The snow melts and then ices over. The roads are slick from the frozen ice and snow chains are essential.
The radio was quiet, and everyone was hunkered down enjoying the winter wonderland. I sat there waiting for my turn to get chains staring at the extreme snowfall in amazement. It was comforting and serene. I relaxed and looked over some paperwork.
It was quiet for a while, and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open in the soft white environment. It would’ve been great sleeping weather if I was home in bed. The guy on the beat next to me was quiet as well. He was a veteran of over twenty years. He was still working the midnight shift because he loved it. He was a good friend of mine and a mentor.
I had never been in a blizzard before, but this had to be what it was like. The snow was coming down so hard I was concerned about making it to the garage to get snow chains. I continued to sit in the tranquility of the beautiful snowflakes falling all around when the radio came alive. It was my buddy the next beat over, “Frank three fourteen I’ve got a burglary in progress at the gas station, forty three zero eight White Settlement Road!”
My adrenalin jumped through the roof. I was a few blocks away. I told the dispatcher I was enroute and pulled out of the parking lot. I turned on my overhead red and blue lights and siren. As I pulled out onto the street I began to slip and slide. I slowed my roll to gain control and gingerly went towards the gas station.
My buddy comes on the radio again, “I’m in pursuit. He’s heading east bound on White Settlement.”
The chase is heading towards me. I’m traveling at a snail’s pace trying to see anything through the massive snowfall. I had been in many chases but I’m wondering what this one will be like. As I delicately moved down the road, I see headlights coming towards me and behind them were red and blue over head lights. The lights are getting closer, but they too are moving at a slow pace. The headlights from the bad guy’s car are moving back and forth. He’s trying to go fast but the car keeps sliding on the frozen streets. My buddy is also trying to keep up and his car is slipping and sliding. They pass me going about twenty-five miles an hour. I slowly turn around and join the pursuit. Frank three fourteen was the lead car and calling the chase to the dispatcher. I’ve been in many chases on University Drive going seventy and eighty miles per hour. This chase was barely moving. As the pursuit was called the dispatcher almost seemed bored. All three cars slid around a corner at University Drive bouncing off the curb like errant bowling balls dipping in and back out of the gutter. We all managed to straighten out and the twenty mile per hour chase continued. The tires on all three cars were spinning while they tried in vain to accelerate and skidded when the brakes were applied.
My buddy finally got close enough to bump the bad guy’s car. Both the officer and I let off the gas as our cars slowed and the bad guy plowed into a tree. We jumped out and ran through the driving snowstorm to drag him out of the car. We followed arrest procedures as we all got covered in snow. This was officially a blizzard. With the chase over and the bad guy in handcuffs I walked him back to my car through what was now about three inches of snow on the ground. My buddy was searching the bad guy’s car while a wrecker was coming to tow it away. I just wanted to get warm. I put the bad guy in the back seat and got into the warm cozy patrol car. I tried to relax and dissect what had just happened. While sitting there my buddy, the old, grizzled veteran, came walking back towards my car with a gun and he seemed pissed off.
He opened the back door and jerked the bad guy out. He slammed the gun on top of the car. He stood him up against the car and started taking off the handcuffs. I got out and asked him what the hell was going on? Now we’re all getting covered in snow. He said, "When I walked up on this guy at the gas station he was reaching for his gun." He got the handcuffs off and proceeded to beat the hell out of the guy.
It was a hard and fast rule back then if you had to chase someone and they had a gun, they went to the hospital. Well, this guy definitely went to the hospital by way of the Fort Worth jail. It was one of those nights where it was both a great night and a miserable night. It was great because I enjoyed the serenity of the snow fall, but it was miserable because I had to get out in it. I know people from up north will laugh at this statement, but snow is great to look at from inside a cozy warm place but when you actually get in the snow it’s wet and freezing cold. To the Yankees who are laughing at this right now, come to Texas in August when it’s 114 degrees and spend hours out doing physical activity. We’ll see how that goes over.......
