The last week we were in the US we drove one morning to the nearest Walmart from eldest daughters. Bear in mind that they live 30 miles from Gulf Coast, out in the country & the nearest town (Wiggins - the pickle capital of US) is more a large village than a decent sized town, as we know a town.
We were surprised to see about 6 police/sheriff cars as we pulled into the Walmart car park. There are a few other shops around but you couldn't by any stretch of the imagination call it a shopping mall. The police/sheriffs all had their guns out & were crouching beside their cars about 1/2 a mile from the Walmart entrance on the sliproad that runs adjacent to the main highway, where there are a few small shops. There were also ambulances waiting by Walmart
Obviously something BIG was going down. We went in did quite a bit of shopping & then left via the sliproad that we saw the police on. Police were still in attendance but whatever had happened had obviously wound down.
When Tom & Sarah got home that night we mentioned the police swarming near Walmart. Tom (an attorney) started to laugh & told us what had happened. A client of his had her car hijacked. The thief opened her car door when she stopped in the centre of Wiggins & told her to get out of her car & hand him the keys - which she did. He didn't really threaten her but she thought it was best that she do as he said. Bear in mind that Wiggins is a very small quiet quaint town with just one main street containing the police station a few shops, a bank & Toms office.
Now this is when it starts to get humourous!
The lady in question had just left the bank & had over $3,000 cash in her handbag. The carjacker didn't even ask her if she had any money on her, had he done so she would have given it to him. He actually handed her her handbag containing the cash before speeding off in her car.
Needless to say the lady got straight on the phone to the nearby police. The carjacker instead of driving the car straight to the coast or the nearest large town (both about 30 miles)via a good highway (dual carriageway) only 0.5 miles away decides the car is dirty so takes it to the car wash near Walmart - about 3 miles away from where he'd hijacked it.
In the meantime the police get the call & one of them sees him waiting to drive into the car wash.
The observant police officer decides to block the car once he drives it in the car wash. The thief sdrives into the car wash, sees the officer trying to block him in & promptly tries to get away by ramming the police car.
Unfortunately the police officer has his gun out & as the thief rams his car the officer lets off one shot - which unfortunately goes through the police officers other hand. In pain the officer lets off a few more shots two of which nicely go right through the engine of the hijacked car thereby rendering the almost new car into a total write off. He also managed to put shots through his police car & a parked car nearby. The police car was written off & the parked car is very poorly apparently.
The hijacker gives himself up but the officer is unable to deal with him as he's in too much pain so puts out a call - "officer down, shots fired" hence the huge police presence.
Tom had spent a fair bit of the afternoon helping the lady put in an insurance claim for her almost new (2-3 month old car) which the officer had rendered a total write off with his well aimed shots.
The police finally arrested the hijacker - who gave up without a fight. Apparently as soon as the 1st shot was fired he had his hands out of the car & above his head. (Apparently he was extremely lucky not to catch a bullet!) He had dented the police car a little but Tom wasn't sure exactly what he was going to be charged with. He will doubtless be going to prison.
Tom said he's not defending him - as he couldn't keep a straight face. The other attorney who the police call on is Toms' dad - he would not comment! PMSL
I'd charge him with "gross stupidity & obsessive car cleanliness":D
