A Fair Cop. Michael Bunting

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СКАЧАТЬ and, at that very moment, a man poked his head through the hole from inside the Co-op. This job was live! Within a few seconds, two men darted out through the hole and ran off. I slammed on the brakes and we got out of the car and began to chase them.

      There was a wall six feet high next to the parked Escort and both men scaled it effortlessly. I ran at the wall, and pulled myself over, also with relative ease. The men had split up. One of them was running back around to the front of the Co-op. I shouted at him, telling him that I wanted him to stop. I also informed the control room that I was chasing. He was just over five feet tall, but very stocky. He wore a black balaclava with two eyeholes. And he was quick.

      He ran along the front of the Co-op and I sensed he wasn’t local as he was heading back to where he had come from, which would make it more difficult for him to evade capture, compared to the maze of tiny streets he would have ended up in if he’d gone the other way.

      He climbed up a banking which led back towards the car park where we’d disturbed them, then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. I found this very peculiar, as I was only about twenty yards behind. I began to climb after him. He was standing directly above. He turned to face me and my head was at the level of his feet as I was still at the bottom of the banking. He unzipped his jacket and placed his hand inside it. My joy of almost catching him unexpectedly turned into fear, as I thought he was about to reveal a knife, or even a firearm. However, my instinct was to keep on climbing, as I felt extremely vulnerable beneath him.

      I kept watching him. He frantically moved his hand inside his jacket as I tried to climb the banking. Maybe I could reach him and tackle him before he removed the object, whatever it was, I thought. But my optimism was premature. I planted my left boot onto a rock, but the earth beneath it crumbled and gave way just as I put my body weight onto it. I slipped back down the banking and ended up right back where I had started, with my head at the intruder’s feet. This gave him valuable seconds. As I looked up again, I saw a crowbar coming straight down towards my head. I instinctively raised my right arm to protect myself. The crowbar struck my hand with considerable force. Strangely, though, it didn’t hurt at that moment. I tried to pull myself up the banking once again before another blow landed. Fortunately, it didn’t come. The effect of the first blow seemed to place springs in my feet, as I managed climb the banking in seconds. He dropped the crowbar and ran. At this point, I knew that I’d catch him because he ran onto open land and he had very little start on me this time. I put my head down, channelled all of my energy into my legs and sprinted towards him. The man stopped in his tracks again. I found this bewildering because I had almost caught up with him. He turned around and faced me square on. What next? I thought, with some trepidation.

      ‘Okay, mate, you’ve got me.’ He lifted his balaclava. I was shocked by what I saw. His face was covered in scars, nasty scars. He was hard-featured and his appearance intimidated me. He was gasping for breath.

      ‘Get to the floor face down, now!’ I bellowed. This may sound melodramatic, but when you’re facing someone as unpredictable as this and you’re frightened by what they’ve just done to you, you can’t take any chances. I didn’t know what he was going to do next. I was also extremely out of breath, which heightened my anxiety.

      ‘Alright, mate. I won’t kick off,’ he replied.

       ‘Get down!’ I shouted.

      ‘Fuck you,’ he said. His compliance had altered back to aggression in a second. He was very volatile and therefore very dangerous; I was afraid for my safety.

      I quickly took hold of him by his jacket sleeve. ‘You’re locked up,’ I informed him.

      The law requires that officers must inform suspects of the offence for which they have been arrested, followed by the verbal caution as soon as practicable. I didn’t feel it was safe to caution him at this time, as I perceived that he still posed a threat to me. I was breathless, too. Even though I’ve always been very fit, I used to find that I became fatigued easily during a chase in the course of my duty, due to the surge of adrenaline which inevitably came with it. I used to get a burning sensation in the back of my throat and it was extremely uncomfortable following this particular chase.

      The suspect bent his arms so that his elbows were at right angles and I felt him tense his whole body. From experience, I knew this meant he wasn’t going to come quietly and that he was going to resist the arrest with some degree of force.

      ‘Calm down, fella. It’s over now,’ I said, trying to diffuse the situation. He raised his elbows in an attempt to break free from my hold. It is impossible to use the radio in situations like this because it’s dangerous to let go of someone so violent. I put my arms around him in a bear hug and tried to push him to the ground. He made a wide base with his feet and tensed up even more and he began to make a growling sound, a common feature with violent men. He was strong, much stronger than me, and I feared that the arrest was going to be far from easy.

      ‘Get to the floor,’ I demanded. He made no reply, and just continued to struggle violently by throwing his arms around, using clenched fists.

      ‘Brian!’ I shouted. ‘Brian. I’m in the car park. Can you hear me?’

      It seems ironic that, with today’s technology in communications, I had to resort to shouting, but fortunately it worked and just a few moments later Brian came charging around the corner. I was still holding the man in a bear hug, but his strength lifted me from the ground every five or six seconds. Just as Brian arrived, I managed to manoeuvre myself to the man’s side and sweep my leg around his ankles and knock him off balance. I lost mine in the process and as I landed on the ground with the man, I felt a sharp pain in my right knee. Brian quickly joined us on the ground with his handcuffs out and ready. I pulled the man over onto his front, grabbed one of his arms and dragged it behind his back. It was difficult as he was still tensed up. Brian did the same with the other arm. The man’s strength seemed to increase in proportion to his determination to avoid arrest. I knew that getting his hands close enough together in order to apply the handcuffs would be impossible even with the two of us, and so I knelt on him in order to make it possible for me to use my radio, the microphone of which had come unclipped from my shirt and was dangling around like a pendulum.

      I eventually managed to call for more assistance. I could already hear sirens in the distance so I knew help was approaching. Within a couple of seconds of making the call, the man again demonstrated his unpredictability. His whole body went limp and the struggle seemed to end without bother. He lay face down on the ground. I didn’t let go of him, though. I’d fallen for tricks like this in the past and I wasn’t going to fall for this one. He remained completely motionless.

      ‘Pass me the cuffs, mate,’ I said to Brian.

      ‘Here, Mick, what’s up with him?’

      ‘Don’t know, mate, but let’s find out when we’ve got him cuffed. He’s tried to have me, has this one.’

      To my amazement, the suspect remained still and lifeless even as I applied the handcuffs. He turned his head to the side. His face was pressed against the tarmac. He dribbled from the mouth and continued to breathe heavily. His eyes were closed. The once energetic and vicious man with seemingly killer instincts had now altered into a vulnerable, inert being who seemed utterly overwhelmed by the circumstances.

      ‘Okay, mate. It’s over,’ he murmured. He opened his eyes slightly as he said it. They were heavy-looking and tired. This time, I knew the struggle really was over.

      I asked Brian whether he’d seen the other suspect. He hadn’t. Using my radio, I requested for a police dog to attend and also X-ray 99 (the helicopter) to assist us in the search for him. Brian and I helped the arrested СКАЧАТЬ