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Monday, March 19, 2012

My 911 Call

Last Thursday morning I was driving my mom to Chester, IL, for a second look at the assisted living facility she'll be moving into in May.  It's just under a 2-hour drive.  About half-way there, the car in front of me was weaving from one side of the road to the other.  Then he'd be okay for a few miles.  Then he'd cross the center line and jerk back to our lane.  It's a two-lane road, so crossing the line can be a head-on collision.  I watched him repeat this for about 15 minutes and decided I needed to do something about it.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the 20 hours of cop shows we watch every week.

I called 911 from my cell phone and told the operator what was going on.  She connected me with the Monroe County sheriff's office.  I repeated my observation and gave them his license plate number. I had pulled up close enough to get it, then backed off about a fourth of a mile.  She asked my location. We were just coming into Red Bud.  At the stop sign in town, I told her that he turned right and was going south on Rt. 3, the same way I was going, and that it was a white PT cruiser with no side windows - like a panel van.  She asked my name and phone number, which I gave her, and asked if I could stay on the line, and I said yes.  No further conversation for about 10 minutes.  Then, I saw a police car in my rear-view mirror.  When he got behind me, he turned on his lights.  I pulled over, he went around me and up behind the weaver, who pulled over, too.   The cop got him.  I was so relieved and very curious about why he was all over the road.  It WAS a guy, and he did look kind of weird. 

In my fantasy, he was drunk as a skunk and I saved a family from being hit head on and killed.  Or he was a drug runner from Mexico with 200 pounds of cocaine lining his car doors.  And no, I don't think I watch too much TV.  I'd like to call the sheriff's office tomorrow and find out what really happened.  He was probably falling asleep, which would be a logical explanation for the erratic behavior.  But, I like my fantasy better.

Later, I wondered if by me staying on the phone with the dispatcher, the police were tracking ME through my cell phone to get the idiot's location.  They never asked where I was exactly after the first time.  I don't know how technically advanced the county police are in southern Illinois, but I'm very thankful they responded and pulled him over.  I hope they did more than just give him a ticket, too.  Four hours later when we were going back home, there was no white car where he was pulled over. 

Elsa, my pregnant cat, is still pregnant with eight kittens.  When I got her a week and a half ago, I didn't think there was a chance in the world that she'd still be pregnant by the third Tuesday of the month for my quilt guild meeting.  Well, my meeting is in two days.  I think she'll be another week and I'll make the meeting.  However, I missed two meeting in three months last summer because of cats going into labor.   How do they know???

3 comments:

  1. eight kittens? wow! That's a lot!

    I've called 911 on erratic drivers too. I never like the part of getting close enough to read the license plate. There are some scary drivers out there.

    A few years back an erratic driver rear-ended me at 60 mph on the interstate. There was no one else on the road, and they just smashed right into my car, which made me spin out and then they hit the front of my car as I was spinning which got me spinning the other way. It was crazy. I managed to pull over without the car rolling but the idiot driver kept on going and was never caught. It's a crazy world out there.

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  2. Good for you for calling, Barb. Absolutely could have been alcohol or drugs...or even simply falling asleep. But whatever the reason, he was a definite danger.

    Oh, surely you'll have kittens this week? LOL. Well, I hope you make your meeting!

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  3. There is never a dull moment, is there!? I bet they were tracking you on your phone. Glad the guy didn't cause any mayhem!

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