Burglary at a Furniture Store

I could have called this, "Adrenaline Rush # 246", but that would have been just a number made up out of thin air. Reflecting on my choice of being a cop only meant that I had a certain penchant for high energy “rush” situations. Some folks like to jump out of airplanes, some just . . .I’m getting ahead of the story. A tip of the hat to Brad, The Unrepentant Individual, a fellow Adrenaline Junkie for giving me today’s topic. ( linked via title bar)

I was working evening shift patrol out of Central (downtown). This happened so long ago that I can’t even remember what my unit number was. I was riding with R. C. (Bob) Kersten, my regular partner, and it was late into the shift; close to getting off time. We ran an alarm on a furniture store at the edge of downtown, close to where the Eastex Freeway elevated section crossed Franklin Street.

We found entry had been gained and called for a back up unit. When the other two man unit arrived we started going through the warehouse section of the building. The more we searched the more it looked like we might get lucky and catch some bad guys. We didn’t want to leave any “leaf” unturned; climbing a ladder that took our search into the crawl spaces above the furniture store showroom. We were most careful while making our way across supports that were only there to hold up the false ceiling and lighting fixtures; not all of us were as careful as we should have been.

Officer Villareal, I leave off the first name or initials in the event that it might embarrass him, found that there was a weak spot. The light from his flashlight disappeared as he used gravity to propel him to the level below. As luck would have it, his leg wrapped around some of the wiring and slowed his motion. It also didn’t hurt that he landed on top of a soft sofa. It’s a shame that so much of the ceiling, not to mention all the years of collected dust and insulation, had to fall all over those plush white sofas.

The really good luck was that Office Villareal landed right where the burglary suspect had landed. Where’s a VCR camera when you need one? The arrest was made, full credit to officer Villareal, for following the suspects trail, and all the reports were completed. Needless to say all the damage was listed as a result of the suspects falling through the ceiling, no need in complicating matters.