We came home late after a night out. As we pulled into our garage, we see the late-night “cool kids”–one is a bartender from Miami, the part-time overnight guard (D) is also quite fun–chatting and waving to us, so we pop down there for a visit.
We’re all chatting when a neighbor comes out of the elevator and says there is a car upside down in the street. She was waiting for her friend to arrive in a rideshare and saw the crash from her balcony.
We all run to look. D calls 911. It’s about 2:15am. The witness’s friend arrives with her luggage; they head upstairs.
Frantic guy (FG) was inside the car is searching for a bag and his phone–but he seemed to have his phone in hand, he was using the flashlight. He was also screaming his head off. Meanwhile, the car is leaking small fluids.
A guy on a cool bicycle with blue lights (BBG) came by and recounted what he saw filling in the rest of the picture for us:
- FG was going way too fast around the corner, swung wide in the 5-lane intersection, hopped the curb of a pay parking lot. FG and the car took out a medium sized tree, the pay parking machine, a handicapped parking sign, a small power pole, and some other posts before landing on the hood/windshield spanning the sidewalk and train tracks. None of us could believe he wasn’t visibly hurt.
- FG got out, seemingly unharmed, and started freaking out about his phone and bag. He climbed into the back searching for these things and screaming about them. BBG also heard him say he was “fucked” and couldn’t go back to prison.
- At this point, we all agree: stolen car, bag of drugs.
- Then, at the first sound of a siren, FG took off like shot. He ran away from our building and went behind a smaller building on the other side of the pay lot. If you ever run from anyone, do this; we couldn’t tell which direction he went next.
Because of the time, young adults who have been out dancing and drinking are getting dropped off in our mostly-residential area. They are walking/stumbling right past the leaking car and in the direction of FG’s escape. They are safe from him as he wants no part of humans right now, but they did get pretty close to the car before the area was roped off. Thankfully, no boom boom. Thankfully too, he crashed when he did and not 20-30 minutes later. He could have hurt a carload or two of people walking to their apartments.
Fire/50 show up. One of our neighbors yells to them the the guy ran off, but securing the scene and stuff is way more important, so they focus on that. A power company resets a light post FG hit. The train crews come make sure there is no debris on or damage to the tracks where FG landed.
Eventually a tow truck came. Eventually, the last cop left. The whole incident just kind of faded into the wee morning.
Today, I looked down to survey the aftermath. The property damage looks like it did last night. A car in that lot now has a ticket. And there are zero skid or yaw marks along FG’s path. He never hit the brakes.
