A Chase, A Car On Fire…

It was a Sunday night, usually a quiet night in the week.  I was working a 4-12 shift after working all weekend. It was a 4am finish on Saturday morning then another 4am finish on Sunday morning then get some sleep in until you finish the weekend for a midnight finish.  You always hope for a quiet Sunday night without even after running around after drunken idiots, fights and domestics.  Dam alcohol.  Why can’t people drink without fighting each other.

Anyway, there was a couple of noise complaints, a few disturbances but rocking up in the dog van with satan’s spawn (my beloved dog in the back) was enough for anyone to shoosh up and calm down, a couple of kids ripping around on motorbikes in the neighborhood and after dealing with these minor issues, it was time to duck and have a feed and let the night wind down whilst everyone settled down at home to watch the Sunday night movie on TV.

Then, over the police radio was a goose who had stolen a car, be on the look out for.  Usually, when these calls come over, it’s very rare you run into them (wind back 10 years, armed holdup, coppers shot-another story).  Shortly after the bulletin, a uniformed car reported spotting the suspect vehicle and a pursuit ensued.  I was sitting in the school yard, when I knew times would be slow, polishing up a little dog training with super dog.  A bit of advanced obedience, send aways, hand signal obedience, very difficult scent discrimination and some hard surface tracking.

I overheard the pursuit over the radio on my portable setup over my shoulder, thinking to myself, I better get my butt into gear just in case this goose hits the toe.  I wandered to the car, put Geordie in the back, gave him a big drink and a little wrestle.  I then went through my pre-job routine.  I stopped still, for a good 10 seconds, this caused him to pause and look at me whilst he was standing in the back of the cage of the police vehicle.  He knew in an instant….I looked and I whispered to him…..’Watch those *&%*”, he began spinning in the cage, he knew, it was time to work and  got immediately excited.  I slammed the cage door shut and hopped in the car and off I went, towards where this so called chase had begun with the call emanating over the police radio.

I was a good 30 k’s from where this was happening based on the description that was coming over the radio, so off I went.  Then, all of a sudden, panic over the radio. ‘URGENT VKR, WE HAVE BEEN RAMMED!!’  WTF.  Geese, this guy was serious.  So serious that he put the police car out of commission.  Then, he was gone, no one knew where he went.

With no one around me, (Sunday night everyone’s in bed), I upped the tempo. Every police car available was now on the hunt.  Within minutes, another car spotted the suspect driving like a spastic.  Needless to say, another chase was on.  This guy in the car was obviously on something because he was driving like a man possessed.  The chase came to a major roundabout where he left the road and went bush in an attempt to evade the pursuing police, but to no avail, became…..bogged? for the want of a better word, or just stopped in a bush area.

I could hear all this emanating over the police radio moving at quite a rate of knots in the car towards where the scene was at this stage, about 15 ks.  Geordie knew what was going on by the speed of the car, police dogs usually pick up on cues to what is coming.

I could hear over the radio, police officers describing the scene. The offender and his vehicle had come to a sudden stop in a bushy type area, and he come to a halt.  Police had approached him and he threatened them from a distance that he had a firearm and was going to shoot them.  Not only that, the vehicle’s engine that he had been driving had become so hot, the it had began to set the grass surrounding the vehicle to ignite.  The firey’s, (fire brigade) were already there and the media.

I arrived on the scene.  I drove past the parked  3 police vehicles, 1 fire brigade unit and channel 10 all watching this goose, half out of the car yelling “Don’t come near me, I’ll shoot you all’.  I jumped out of the police van and ran back to the officers on scene and asked, ‘what was the go?’.

He’s threatening us with a firearm.

I could see there were flames starting to come out of the base of his vehicle and thought to myself, I gotta get him away from that car in case it blows, or we are all in big trouble.

I rushed back to the dog van, and got Geordie, he was spinning at this stage. I got him out and began to run back towards the scene.

I came up to police officers, who I knew and we ducked behind a police vehicle.  I said to them.

“You come with me, I will have the dog, if he pulls out a gun and points it at us, you shoot him.”

I approached the vehicle, I was about 20 metres away at this stage and the shouting match began.

I yelled, “Move away from the vehicle, get away from the car!!”.

Geordie was on a lead at this stage and he was going, ‘BALLISTIC’.  I had the 2 police officers flanking me with their guns drawn on him, in case he pulled out a firearm.  I made the decision, I had to get him away from that vehicle in case it exploded.

It was a mexican standoff.  I continually yelled at him, “Move away from the vehicle!”

He would come back with “F%^$ck off copper’s, I’ll shoot youse”, all the while, the flames were beginning to engulf the vehicle.

“Shit, this cars gunna blow”, the firey’s were sitting behind us ready to put the fire out.  I have to get this goose out of there before we all get hurt, I said to myself.

He was half leaning out of the car with half of his body in the car, as if he was hanging on to something. He and I were engaging in yelling match, with me slowly edging forward, Geordie at the end of my leash going nuts, ready to pounce.

I saw my chance, he momentarily glanced in the vehicle…I yelled….’ROUSE’ and let go of the lead, and Geordie bolted towards the man in the car  instantly closing down the distance between us and him and biting his legs.  I sprinted straight after him.

The offender lost all sense of awareness with the police dog on him and forgot all about us. In a second I was on him and grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him away from the vehicle hoping like hell he didn’t have a firearm in his grasp.

As it turned out, he didn’t have a firearm in his grasp.  He was on the ground with the police dog monstering him and the two police officers accompanying me right on top of him.

‘OH MY GOD’,These police officers assisting me were just rushing in and helping and I instantaneously thought, ‘GEORDIE’S GUNNA GET INTO THE BOYS’.

I knew with past experience that anyone rushing Geordie in his heightened state would be open slather to his teeth, I instantly grabbed him and ripped him away from the scene with the two police offciers restraining the offender and promptly rushing him away from the burning vehicle, which at this stage, had a full blown fire engulfing the car.

The firey’s promptly rushed in and extinguished the fire and it was all good.  The goose was placed in the rear of a police vehicle and escorted to the watchouse where he was charged with his offences.

Me, well, I knocked off.  I was a little…pumped after that.  I decided I needed to knock off and have a refreshment.

I went home, cracked a beer and got Geordie, and him I sat under the house in the dark.

“Wow, how about that mate…..Gee, you did a good job then buddy”, I said to him.

Police Dogs….Unreal, I tell you.

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