Mutual Trust – Thanking Olympia Police, Citizens after a Car Accident

stephanie keahey
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Submitted by Stephanie Keahey

stephanie keaheyYou’re driving on State Avenue in downtown Olympia, just up from the old Olympia Glass Co. when you notice the traffic in front of you putting on their brakes.  You start to slow down.  Your CD player is looping through “The Lion King II” for the second or third time that day.  Screeching brakes sound behind you.  You look up to see a red car in your rearview mirror.  Time slows down as you see the car get closer to you and your foot presses down harder on the brake, but you were already at an almost complete stop.  The music fades, and all you hear is those brakes.  You think about getting out of the way, but there isn’t anywhere to go.  You sit there while you wait for the red car to hit you.  You hear the bang.  You feel the jolt.  You feel your body hit the seatbelt.  You see the white truck in front of you get closer.  You feel a smaller jolt as your car is pushed into the truck.  Your left leg starts to quiver.  Your hands can’t stay on the wheel.  You instantly lose that mutual trust that you share with all other drivers on the road.

An older gentleman gets out of the white truck.  He looks at his truck.  He looks at you.  He notes that his truck is fine, so you see him get back in his truck and drive away.  You still aren’t sure what to do.  Cars drive around you as you look for somewhere to pull off to the side of the road.  The red car pulls in front of you and stops off to the side.  The driver gets out.  You note his long black shirt and baseball cap.  Your Driver’s Ed teacher did always warn you to watch out for boys wearing baseball hats in red sports cars.  You see a mechanic, who saw the whole thing, ask if you are okay.  You tell him yes, but you don’t know what to do.  He tells you to back up into the spot by the parking meters off to your right.  You’re in the process of doing so – legs still shaking – when you see the driver of the red car get back in and zoom off down State Ave.  You stare in disbelief as he weaves through traffic.  You hear the mechanic yell, “That’s a felony right there!”

stephanie keaheyYou are about to get out off the car when a police vehicle comes driving down the road.  You hear the mechanic flag him down and say something along the lines of, “Hey, there was a red car that just hit this girl. You should go get him!”  You open your car door as the officer drives off to find the guy.  You cross the street when you hear a voice from above you say, “I called 911 for you.”  You look up to see a painter up on a ladder.  He tells you that he saw the whole thing.

You stand by the mechanic shop and start talking to a guy who was having his car worked on during the time of the accident.  You introduce yourself and learn that his name is Tim.  He tells you that he saw the whole thing because he came out when he heard screeching brakes.  He compliments your driving.  He tells you that it was the other guy’s fault.  You were slowing down just fine.  You had the perfect amount of distance between you and the truck.  You were paying attention.  You say thanks and tell him that you’ll have to tell your dad, because he is the one that taught you how to drive.  You both stand there in mutual silence as the mechanic walks down the street to see if the officer caught the guy.  You look at your car across the street and notice that that is the best parallel parking job you’ve ever done.  You then think it’s odd that that’s what you’re thinking about.  You tell Tim that your lower back hurts.  You see the mechanic come back and say they didn’t get the guy.  You’re all standing there when the guy on the ladder says he saw another police car pull around the corner and that he’s pretty sure they got him.

You watch as the police officer talks to the mechanic and then moves to talk to you.  He asks if you will come with him to identify the suspect.  You follow the officer around the corner, expecting the red car to be there.  Instead, you see the police car and the officer opens the passenger door for you.  You feel excited that you get to ride in a police car.  The officer makes small talk as he drives you around town to where they caught the guy.  You hear him radio in that he is bringing the victim to ID the perp.  You are nearing the scene when the officer pulls up near some bushes so that the other driver cannot identify you.  He asks you if you recognize the car.  You do.  He then asks you to identify the man that another officer leads around to stand at the back of the red car.  You note that the guy is handcuffed.  You recognize him, especially his shirt and hat.  You tell the officer that that was the guy and that he was the driver of the car.  The officer radios in what you said.  He pulls up behind a bush and asks, “Do you feel safe here?”  You say yes.  The officer leaves to talk to the guy.  You sit in the police car and think about taking pictures.  You decide against it.

stephanie keaheyThe officer comes back and tells you that the driver was uninsured and that he made it worse for himself by running.  He shows you the other driver’s ID.  You note that it’s vertical.  The officer drives you back to your car and asks you to fill out a statement.  He asks if you want to write it in his car or yours.  You tell him that you’ll stay in his car.  He leaves to talk to the three witnesses while you write out the statement.  You feel cool sitting in the police car.  The officer comes back and says he took pictures of your car because there is a hole in the front bumper.  He hands you a plastic Toyota hood ornament.  It came off the car that hit you.  He says you should keep it because of all you’ve been through.  He then tells you what to do next.  Call your doctor because of your back.  Call your insurance to tell them what happened.  He then tells you that if this happens again to call 911 right away and they’ll take care of it.  He gives you his card.  You tell him thank you and say that you are going to go thank the three guys that helped you.  He says that’s probably a good idea but to be careful when crossing the street because the cars will be watching his lights, not you.  You walk to the crosswalk.  You yell up a thank you to the painter guy, who tells you, “No problem!”  You look for Tim, but you don’t see him anywhere.  You think that his car must have been finished.  You find the mechanic who says his name is Mark, or was it Mike?  Markie-Mike.  He looks very excited that they caught the guy.  You go back to your car.  You call your family.  You call your boss.  You call the doctor.

You drive back to work.  You realize that you should not be driving because you are paying more attention to the cars behind you than the ones in front of you.  You make it to work, and your boss tells you to go home for the rest of the day.  You have your mother-in-law pick you up.  You run around town with her, and she drives you to the doctor.  You find out that your back in strained, and you shouldn’t lift things that are over ten pounds for two weeks.  You learn that your back could hurt for up to six weeks.  You also realize that everyone, even the receptionist, wants to hear the whole story when they hear that the police caught the guy.  Your mother-in-law takes you back to your car.  You take the long way to her house on purpose so that you get used to driving after the whole incident.  You make it there fine, and you tell the story at least three more times.  Your oldest sister-in-law had the best reaction.  You love telling her stories.  You give her permission to tell other people.  You think about writing the story down for people to read…

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