The beginning of the end! What stated my exit from Law Enforcement...

I am not sure why I have never written this story. Maybe it was too painful, maybe it was just not the time, who knows? I have told the story over and over but never wrote it down. Well, no matter, and here it is now…Must be a time and place for everything…

I have been asked numerous times why I left Law Enforcement and there are a number of reasons why. The pay sucked, the duties became tedious and tiresome, It seemed the harder you worked, the less you were appreciated, other deputies would easily cut your throat to get themselves recognition and advancement, it wasn’t really how good you were that made you move up, its how far you had your head up someone’s ass that made for advancement….Like I said, many things, many limitations!

But there was a breaking point. A point where I knew that this was no longer for me, in spite of all those other messages telling me to “get out” I stuck it out and drudged my way through my days and hours. Now granted, there was still a lot of excitement, I had some very good friends, and the “perks” of being a cop are great, so it wasn’t that it was all bad, just a lot of it was bad.

Well, the breaking point, the point where I knew it was time to change came on Easter Sunday 2001. I will recall the details as best I can but what took place is still as clear today as it was the day of the event…Maybe clearer now.

As I recall, I was working the evening shift and got to work a little late that day. As I was preparing my car and doing my standard checks of lights, siren and equipment, a call went out in San Leon of a family disturbance. At this time, I was working with Jack Allen, and Kenneth Williams. Jack was working the Bayshore, and Kenneth was working “STEP” (which is a traffic unit), I was working Dickinson.

This was not an uncommon call for this area so I was in no hurry to get out there to something we already had two full time guys going to and a reserve deputy (I think it was David Martin on reserve that day) there. As I finished my equipment check, I continued to hear the chatter on the radio and realized pretty quickly that I knew who the subject involved in the disturbance was.

As I listened, I pulled out of the North County Building parking lot and started to roll towards the Bayshore. There were three or four units in San Leon (all of the patrol guys) and they said the subject had left the area and I knew where this guy lived and hung out.

In the Bayshore, there were two active gangs. One was the “Brown Assassins,” and the other was the “4^th Street Players.” The “Brown Assassins” (or B.A.’s) were a local Hispanic gang and the 4^th street boys were primarily white. They were just young punks selling dope, stealing things, etc… But they battled for territory. There were drive by’s weekly and sometimes more frequently than that on each others homes and hang out spots. In all reality, these gangs were much more of a pain in the ass than they were a threat.

They were so stupid, that on a couple of occasions, they used Molotov Cocktails as weapons and one time used diesel as the fuel, and another time used plastic 2 liter bottles to hold the fuel. Man, stupid is, is stupid does huh!?

 They would drive by and shoot up each others residences but most times, they could never even hit the house…It was a huge amount of paperwork and like I said, more of a pain in the ass than anything else, but then again, criminals aren’t criminals because they are the brightest crayon in the box…That’s for sure. We as deputies would even joke about how we would take time off and teach these guys how to shoot properly so ay least the time spent doing paperwork was worth the effort…one less piece of trash on the streets as far as we were concerned!

Well, I had known all the players in these gangs for some time. I was more aware of the 4^th street guys because they were generally more active in the drug selling and other acts associated with their group. One of the players was Bob Tucker and he was one of the “Original Gangsta’s” That started the group…he was probably number 2 or 3 in charge and I had dealt with him numerous times…Enough that I knew him on site, knew his kids name, knew his girls name, his momma, grandma, brothers, etc…

In all reality, Bob wasn’t that bad of a kid. He just had crappy parents who didn’t care about what he did or how he did it. As a matter of fact, many times it seemed as though they supported his activities…In all reality, they probably did. Scumbags to the core…plain white trash that has no idea of morality or conscience; Bob never had a chance!

Well, Bob had started in the group when he was 14 or 15. It was him and a few others that were the common players but they were recruiting and had little minions everywhere. Kids from the ages of 9 years old, up to their 20’s that were gang members and took part in the activities of the gang. They would actually have the 9 and 10 year olds hold the dope while they transported it because they knew we couldn’t do anything to them…

They would have the teenagers as their “runners” and when we would stop them, the kids would bail out of the car, holding all the dope and money and then they would get away clean as a whistle…Rarely did we catch the kids, but if we did, juvenile laws are a joke!! One young (underage) girl with 4^th street, we made nine felonies on her…NINE!!! Before she went and did any time in juvenile…and even then, she only did 30 days…GET THAT!!... 30 Days with nine felonies!! And when she becomes an adult, basically her slate is whipped clean and she gets to start over…the system is broken!!

Well, once I realized it was Bob, I started to roll to Bacliff and find him. All of the other units were in San Leon and I called on the radio to tell them I was in route to check on his regular hang outs and see what was up.

Apparently, what had taken place was Bob was upset about the church his girlfriend had chosen to take their child to, got loaded that afternoon and went to confront her at her place. It got heated and Bob got physical. Bob was known to get loaded quite a bit, and when he did, he got very stupid. Bob had taken an overdose one time a year or so prior to this and had never quite been the same since that experience. He was more edgy, more apt to “jump” and not as bright about his actions anymore…he had gotten sloppy in his criminal career.

Well, I pulled down the street where I knew his Grandmother lived because that was generally the place you could find Bob and his crew. It was a little house, trashy, set in the trees, at the end of the street, riddled with bullet holes and trash.

As I pulled up to his Grandmothers house, I noticed Bob, his little brother, his Grandmother and about 4 other known gang members standing out in the street in front of Grandmas house. As I pulled up, Bob turned, saw me, and took off running. I called on the radio that Bob was “on the ground” and I gave chase.

For some reason, I can clearly see it even to this day, I consciously turned my car off and pulled my keys out of my unit before I exited my vehicle and took off after Bob. I never did that!! I always bailed with the car running!

Well, Bob ran to the left of the house and around back, so I ran to the right of the house and around back. As I ran to the house, the other gang members stood in my path to try and stop me from pursuing him and I drove through them like a linebacker, shoving them out of my way, yelling at them to “move their punk asses.” I ran to the fence, jumped it, ran around back, didn’t see Bob and could hear the gang members yelling in the front of the house.

I was concerned that the gang members would trash my unit, gave the direction that I thought Bob had run to dispatch, and then started back towards my unit to secure it. I jumped back over the fence, went into the driveway, and saw Bob about 75 yards from me, in the street and we caught each others eye at the same time. Bob took off running and I yelled at him. “Bob, come back here man, tell me what the hell is going on.” And kept walking towards the street to where he was standing.

Bob turned, looked at me, reached into his pocket, pulled out a knife and started to advance towards me with his arms spread as wide as he could make them, knife in one hand, yelling “Fuck you Golden…Kill me bitch!!” and started to advance towards me.

I immediately called on the radio “Bob Tucker is coming at me with a knife” and then yelled commands for Bob to “DROP THE KNIFE.” Dispatch cleared the channel and sent help my way.

So you understand, Bacliff and San Leon are two little towns that are connected to each other on Galveston Bay and almost the most North Eastern point of Galveston County. The majority of the people who live here are lower socio-economic status of people, fishermen, carpenters, roofers, concrete workers, etc…

The houses in these areas are varied. The houses on the waterfront are million dollar homes, one row back from the waterfront and there are single wide trailers, parked in their lots crooked, tires on the roofs, pit bulls and chickens in the front yard, 5 vehicles parked there with MAYBE one that runs…Which makes no difference, because most of the people in this area had suspended drivers licenses.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some fine people in this area. People I still stay in touch with, I actually lived in this area when I moved to Texas and my ex-wife Polly, as far as I know, still lives here. Sadly, the trash population is the overbearing one.

Bacliff and San Leon are connected, but from one end of San Leon, to the other end of Bacliff, is close to 10 miles and its not a real straight shot to get to any one place in either town. So, the guys who were to be my rescue, my back up, they were 8 miles or so away when I dropped the call that Bob had a knife…they were on their way, but it wasn’t going to be anytime real soon.

WHOOOOOOSH!!!! Now let me tell you…The stories you hear about situations such as this…”Time slows down, tunnel vision, tunnel hearing,” all of that… its ABSOULUTELY TRUE and it happens in an INSTANT! We are told from day one in the Academy that “training will save your life” and we are constantly being trained in various areas of Law Enforcement.

After I made the call that Bob was coming at me, things started to slow down… Bob made his advancement, yelling at me to “fucking kill me Golden” and I was responding “Drop the knife Bob!! Drop the knife!!”

At first, I didn’t even draw my weapon. I carried a Smith and Wesson 10mm, model 1066 that was my pride and joy. Trust me; any job in Law Enforcement requiring a weapon, this gun would suffice! It was a BAD MUTHA!’ Well, Bob continued to advance towards me, I had his 4 other gang member, his Brother and his Grandmother behind me yelling at me too. If you were to ask me what they were saying, I couldn’t tell you…All I heard was screaming behind me. I was focused on the advancing threat!

Bob kept advancing, arms spread, knife in his hand, yelling at me to kill him, and at about 30-35 yards from me, I pulled my weapon….WHOOOOOSH!!! Things slowed down even more…funny, as I type this; my fingers seem to be slowing down!!

The noise level behind me became more muted but I could hear my commands, and Bob’s yelling at me clearly. I kept telling Bob to “DROP THE KNIFE!!” got back on the radio one more time to tell them he was still advancing…

TRAINING!!! Cover your ass!! The more I document on the radio, the more I am covered from liability…Not even a thought about this then…Just training…pure and simple! All my instructors were right! I could hear that Jack, Kenneth and DPS trooper Jeff Buukk were on their way…But they were a long way out. I was alone!

Bob continued to advance towards me, and now I had my pistol pointing at him, yelling for him to “DROP THE KNIFE!!” Bob continued to advance, screaming at me to kill him and when Bob reached about 15 yards from me…..WHOOOOOOSH!!! It slowed down even more, I could no longer hear the gang members yelling, the radio or any outside noise at all…Just Bob and my voice…”FUCKING SHOOT ME GOLDEN!!’… “DROP THE KNIFE BOB!!!’

10 yards…..WHOOOOSH!!!!

Now all I could see was Bobs chest…CENTER MASS!! No longer could I see his face or anything around him…Just his chest and him screaming…

“KILL ME GOLDEN! FUCKING KILL ME BITCH!”...

“DROP THE KNIFE BOB!!”

And then I actually visualized two impacts from rounds hitting Bobs Chest…DOUBLE TAP!! TRAINING, pure and simple!!

I could ACTUALLY see his shirt move from the impacts…

One more step towards me, and I said, and I remember it like it was on a PA System…

”BOB, YOU TAKE ONE MORE FUCKING STEP AND I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!”

Bob took about a half of a step…WHOOOSH!!!

And I could feel my finger squeezing the trigger….The hammer was coming back on my trusted 1066…He was about to DIE, dead as shit…RIGHT THERE!!!!

Center mass acquired, 9 yards away, calm, collected, READY!! NO WAY would I miss this target! NO WAY!!

As I reflect back, it was amazing the calm that came over me! I even have the recording of me on the radio…No panic in my voice, no fear…TRAINING!!

Bob stopped, 9 yards out, hesitated for a moment, and dropped the knife, and took off running my direction, but to the left of me. The threat was gone; I holstered my weapon and gave chase….

WHOOOOOSH!!!

Reality came back, the world was at full speed again, the gang members were all around me, Grandma was there yelling as well and as I took off after Bob, the gang members took off after me.

One training I didn’t take, and again, there are no accidents in this world, was “Knife Defense” training…I was later told by folks who had taken that training, that it states a man with a knife, advancing at you, can kill you, with your gun drawn, pointed at him, from 20 yards. Reaction is always slower than action! There are plenty of videos out there to support this… Again, I never took that training, so I was “winging it.”

Now remember, although this time frame seemed like and eternity, it probably took place over the course of about two minutes. I had the radio going crazy with people trying to check on me, but I could not respond.

As I chased Bob, he stopped in the middle of the road and squared off with me. Bob was about 18 or 19 at this time and was almost my size, as we stood toe to toe, we exchanged blows with each other. My instincts told me I was surrounded, I drew my weapon, struck Bob with it once across his head as he advanced towards me, dazed him, and then turned with my weapon drawn at the other gang members yelling at them to “GET BACK MOTHER FUCKERS!!”

Bob was dazed from the hit and as the gang members stood back, I went after Bob again… he had taken a few steps from me, turned and confronted me again…WHACK, I struck him again, but this time he was ready for it, and blocked it with his arm…

Instincts hitting me again, I turned towards the advancing gang members, pointed my weapon “I SAID GET BACK MOTHER FUCKERS!!”, They stood back and Bob took off again… I gave chase.

I was able to break from the gang, I holstered my weapon, went to take a dive at Bob, and he turned..

WHAP!! He caught me with one hell of a punch and dazed me, I pulled my weapon again to defend myself…Bob took off back towards my unit.

Now I was surrounded by gang members… They had circled around me… I pulled my weapon and kept them at bay…One would jump at me from behind, I would turn and point my weapon..One would jump at me again; I would point my weapon at that one and the whole time, keeping my eye on Bob and yelling at them to “GET BACK!”.

Now I hear the songs of Angels….Sirens!!! I could hear the Calvary coming!! But in a situation like this, still an eternity away! When you are in need of the police, trust me, sirens sound like Church Bells!

Bob ran to my unit, jumped in my car and tried to start it…

Remember, I took my keys from the ignition…And I NEVER did that before…NEVER!!

NO ACCIDENTS in this world!!!

I ran to the unit, the little gangsters in tow and tried to open the door. Bob hit the locks, and locked himself in my car. I got on the radio…”Bob is in my unit and trying to take it…he is locked in.”

Sirens now ringing louder!

Bobs Grandmother ran up to the passenger side of the unit, Bob unlocked the door, she opened it and let him out…he took off running… I called again…”He is out of the car, running towards the house” and again, gave chase.

I ran around the back of the unit, pursued Bob, and he turned and stood off with me again…We were back to punches!

I was able to get Bob on the ground and was on top of him, and then I felt someone jump on my back and hit me in the back of the head…One of the other gang members were on my back. Now remember, these members were just kids…Bob was the oldest of the group…Most of these guys were 14 or 15 years old… The punches were simply a distraction and I was focused on getting Bob in custody.

I pulled my pepper spray out and about that time, I felt a weight lifted off of me, I turned to look and there was Trooper Jeff Buukk, about 6’3” tall and all corn-fed East Texas County boy!! He was slinging these kids off of me like rag dolls…One kid in one hand, and slinging another kid 5-6 feet from us with one arm…

Bob was up again, pepper sprayed and running blindly towards the house…Again, I gave chase! On the front porch of the house, he turned and I gave him another dose of pepper spray…Buukk was right behind me and together, we took Bob to the ground and were able to get him in custody, cuffed and secured.

I immediately turned and went after the other gang members… They jumped in a car and took off down the road…Then the Calvary showed…Kenneth and Jack… I knew all was well now!

I told them the direction, the actors, and the car they were in and both took off after the kids. I put Bob in my unit, snot running out of his head, drooling from the pepper spray, screaming in pain, and turned to the Grandmother to arrest her for basically “aiding and abetting” when she helped Bob out of my unit.

This lady was in her 60’s, over weight, wearing a “moo-moo.” I placed her up against the car and went to put her in custody…

Now let me take a different direction here… Many people have asked me why I didn’t shoot in that whole situation and to tell you the truth, I don’t know for sure “why.” Trust me, I was known as an aggressive Deputy and wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone or do whatever it took to stop a crime or someone getting hurt…Something inside of me told me not to shoot, and for whatever reason, I didn’t…

Now let me get on with it..

As I patted grandma down and cuffed her, I heard a “CHINK” on the ground and looked between her legs and there was a pistol laying there… a little .25 caliber automatic, fully loaded, and one in the pipe, ready to go!

Now think about this…. I talk/teach all the time about “no accidents in this world” and here again is the proof!

As I was standing with Bob, and as he advanced towards me, all my attention was on the advancing threat…Not to those people behind me. If I would have shot Bob (or any of those other gang members) I NEVER saw Grandma as a threat and never even paid attention to her. She could have, at any time, walked up behind me and put one of those baby bullets right in the back of my head…I would have never seen it coming!! In my opinion, THAT’S why I didn’t shoot!

So, we were able to get all the actors in custody, secured the scene, and transported the actors to the League City Jail. Most everyone was gone and I still had Bob in the back of my unit. I was asked by Buukk if I wanted him to take Bob and I told him “No, I got him.” And once I got all the information I needed for my report, I took Bob to the League City Jail. This is where things really shifted…

As I drove with Bob to the jail; about 10-12 miles… Bob was in the back of the unit, in pain, crying, sobbing for forgiveness and the more he talked, the more furious I became.

As I was driving, it occurred to me (and I let Bob know it) that Bob would not have to be responsible for his actions if I would have killed him…This anger grew like a airborne virus and man, just ate at my nerves.

If I would have killed Bob, he would be dead, I would have to answer to my actions to a Grand Jury, put more stress on myself that I had ever had, and then have to live with the idea that I killed a kid…I killed a kid that was all doped up… This would be with me forever…Even long after Bob was decaying in that casket..And Bob, he would have been a HERO…A Martyr!

Bob kept sobbing and sobbing…Begging for forgiveness, and I just kept telling him to “SHUT UP!” The more he sobbed, the angrier I became. I told him “Bob, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I am going to pull of the side of the road and beat your ass handcuffed and all…SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

Bob got quiet, but continued to sob, and I grew more and more angry… Now all I could see was me, on the side of the road, beating Bob to death…Literally!! I wanted to beat him so bad for putting me in that situation… I grew more and more angry with every mile…every INCH to the League City Jail.

I got to the jail, and as is standard procedure, I took Bob out of my unit and brought him around to the water hose at the back of the sally-port. I was very familiar with this jail and knew there was a spot near the back door where cameras couldn’t see me.

Bob was blind, cuffed and I brought him near that spot, had him bend over, turned on the water hose, and doused his face to relive the effects of the pepper spray. Again, my anger was still growing…

I casually started to force Bob to the area where there were no cameras by leading the water hose, and him chasing the flow to relieve his pain. When we got to the area where there were no cameras, Bob was bent halfway over, cuffed behind his back and I geared up to kick him right in his face.

The boots I wore in those days had steel toes and all I wanted to do was see his face caved in with the tip of my boot…My anger was so overpowering, and what is the most scary, I was completely calm and reserved.

Once I knew I was in a safe place, I geared back for the kick and I heard “Brad, You ok?” and I turned and saw Bruce Balchunas standing at the sally-port exit door looking at me.

Again, NO ACCIDENTS!!

Bruce was my Sergeant for a year or so a few years back and had promoted to Detective with the Sheriffs Department. He just happened to be out in his unit, ON GALVESTON ISLAND, on the weekend, when he heard me drop the call that Bob was coming after me with a knife. When he heard it, he started to head my way to help if need be.

I will tell ya one thing about Cops…As shitty as they can be, as cut throat as they can become, you let a call drop where a cop needs assistance, and EVERY cop within 20 miles will come to your aid!

Well, I turned to look at Bruce and I nodded, said “I am OK Bruce, what are you doing here?” and he explained how he had heard the whole deal. As he was explain it, he walked up to me, took the hose out of my hand, said “Why don’t you let me get this and go on inside and start your paperwork!”

Bruce, if you ever read this…THANK YOU!!

I went in and started my paperwork. As is policy in Galveston County, any felony charges filed have to be cleared by the “On Call District Attorney” and I had about 5 felonies on Bob and various others on the gang members and Grandma.

Well, me and this DA didn’t get along very well…He was arrogant, pompous, power hungry and a lot like me…Our personalities clashed!

After telling him the story and telling him the charges I wanted, he said “Hmmmmmmm, I don’t know Golden, I don’t see any evidence for felony charges.”

Are you fucking kidding me!!?? I blew up…The anger I had at Bob was unleashed on this D.A.. I was yelling at him, explaining how he was a pussy attorney and would never last on the streets…How he was always playing for the other side, how he was being biased because we dint get along…Yada, yada, yada… And he hung up on me!

OH-MY-GOD!! I could have actually popped at that time I was so pissed!! I was fuming and yelling and my Sergeant at the time (Hal Barrow) tried to calm me down and then the D.A. called back looking for Hal.

Hal got on the phone, spoke to the D.A. who was pissed as well, and tried to reason with him. The D.A., being right, argued until we said we would just go to a judge, then he gave us the charges.

Now I have an opinion about attorneys in general, and here is one of the reasons why…

That D.A., because he was just as in the wrong as I was for our interaction, decided he was going to “get me back” and not long after this arrest, made contact with Bob and his family and gave him evidence to fight the case against them with…

He actually went up to bat for the other team because he was pissed at one of the players on his…What a scumbag, bottom dwelling piece of trash!! We had to have a sit down with his boss and my boss to rectify this situation…It was not pretty and is a whole different story in and of itself!

As I was booking Bob in, I explained to him that he should not ever buy a lotto ticket, because his luck was all used up this day. He was very fortunate to be alive and breathing and I wanted him to know the situation he put me in, and just how lucky he was! Like he cared!!

Well, I was able to get all the charges filed on all the players that I wanted and went to leave the Jail. As I hit State Hwy 3, my stomach was in knots, my face was burning, I was starting to shake and get cold and then it just unleashed… I pulled off to the side of the road, and was overwhelmed with emotion…I sat there, in my unit, and sobbed…Sobbed like a little child… I was not in control anymore… AT ALL!!

After about ten minutes, I was able to contain myself and decided I needed to call Donna because if this made the news, and she caught wind of it, she would be terrified. She was at the Fire Station in Houston, downtown, and I had to talk to her.

I explained what had taken place and broke down to her like I did alone… She could tell I was overrun with emotions and said “I will be home shortly.”

I went back to the North County Building and completed my report and by the time I was done, I had enough time to go get some coffee, talk with Kenneth and Jack, Find Jeff Buukk and express my eternal gratitude for him coming to my rescue…

Jeff TRULY saved my life that day…I will be eternally grateful to him for that…As much as he hates me to tell him so! Thanks again Jeff!

Just a side note…At the time of this writing, Jeff is still a Trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety and to understand Jeff, is to know Jeff. He is just a “good ole boy” with a huge heart and is the epitome of “reliable” in my book. There are no words to express my gratitude to him…No words!

Jack Allen is no longer with the S.O.. He left not long after I did, bounced around a few other agencies, did a tour in Afghanistan and at the time of this writing, is working for Hays County in Texas. Jack was, and has always been, a stand up guy…There in the thickest of shit and the calmest of seas… We grew close in our time working together and he was always someone that gave me ease to know was on shift with me. I trusted him ABSOLUTELY!!

Kenneth Williams stayed with the Sheriffs Department, continued to work the streets for some time and then promoted to Sergeant at the Dickinson School District. Kenneth and I are still, to this day, best of friends. He was one of the first people I met that the Sheriffs Department and we worked the jail and the streets together.  We often say the old analogy about “when you die, if you can count all your true friends on one hand, you are blessed!” Well, Kenneth is one of those fingers for sure!! Probably the middle one!

As I talked to Jack and Kenneth about this incident, they both expressed how this was one of the days where they were the most scared. I have been in their situation before…A Deputy calls for assistance and you cannot get here fast enough…If you could push the accelerator through the floor to go faster, you would! They were terrified they would not get there in time.

Thanks guys… I will always remember our times and adventures on the streets together!

Well, I got done with all I needed to get done, finished out my shift, and went home to Donna. She was waiting there with her eyes bugged out, concerned for me and when I walked in the door, she just came to me and hugged me….

WHOOOOSH….I was no longer in control again! All those emotions came back and I sobbed while she held me and comforted me. She is, and has always been, a wonderful woman!

After I contained myself, I explained to Donna that I saw this as a message…It was time to start figuring out what I was going to do next, because right or wrong, I never want to have to live with the weight of taking another life on my shoulders… Not that I was scared, I just knew what the burden would be. If I felt this bad for ALMOST killing somebody, I could not imagine what it would be like if I actually did… I had to move on and get away from all of this! As much as I loved the “game” of police work, the excitement, the adrenaline, the PERKS!! I knew clearly at this point that this possibility was not something I wanted… I had to find something else.

Well, as the system works, Bob, a prior felon, now with about five more felonies, went to jail and served about a years time for all of this…A YEAR!! A previous felon with five new felonies and he served a year…Folks, the system is broken and the fix will not ever happen…TRUST ME!

I found out about two or three years ago, that Bob, along with some of the other 4^th street boys (some of the ones there that day) got caught up in a federal racket and got locked up again…As I understand it, at the time of this writing, Bob and the other players are still out on the streets. State and Federal charges and this guy (as well as MANY others) are walking the streets and having every day lives. BROKEN!! That is what the “system” is, B-R-O-K-E-N!!

Well, I went back to work, continued with my duties, served and protected and a few other things took place in that time that secured my idea that this was not the life for me. I had started to look at college but knew that going part time would leave me on the streets for some time and I wanted out.

I tried to put in transfers to other divisions. Was promised various positions from people I trusted (and later found I shouldn’t have) and figured if I could at least get off the streets, I would be able to carry on with this life… Again, false hope and promises just kept coming in…Trying to sooth me and keep me there. I was miserable!

A few moths later, I was training another Deputy, Michael Roy, and we were at the North County Building. Michael is a great guy…Funny, good natured, big hearted, and witty and just a fun guy to be around. We were at the North County Building doing paperwork.

The North County Building was where our office was but it also housed the Emergency Broadcast system for the County, some other departments for the county and a branch of the Adult Probation Department right next door to our office.

I was sitting in my chair at a desk, doing paperwork and I noticed a guy dash out of the probation office. I really thought nothing about it and about a second later one of the probation officers stuck their head in the door, panicked and said “That guy has a felony warrant and is running!”

WHOOOOOSH!!!

 I was up, out of my chair and out in the parking lot after this guy.

The North County Building was a raised building with about 15-20 steps that lead down from the front door to the parking lot. As I reached the door, I saw the guy get in and old beat up car and I knew he was going to drive off.

I rushed down the steps and as I entered the parking lot, this guy was backing out of his space. Delvin Archie was his name…19 years old…Black kid from the Dickinson Avenues, the “Projects” the “Hood” and my area of assignment for many years… And, a multiple convicted felon.

As Delvin pulled from his space and turned to exit the parking lot, I was right in front of his car….

WHOOOOSH!!!

 The world slowed down again!

I stopped, in front of him, drew my weapon, and pointed it at him…

WHOOSH!!!!!

The world got slower….tunnel vision again, all I can see is Delvin in the driver seat.

I am about 6 feet from the hood of the car; I draw down on him and tell him “STOP!!”

Delvin looks at me, revs the engine and starts moving forward towards me at a high speed….

WHOOOOOSH!!!

CENTER MASS and I am halfway squeezed on the trigger again. The world is moving in slow motion again…Things are like the slow motion speed on a movie…Frame by frame!!

Just as I was about to squeeze off on Delvin, 8-10 feet from me, center mass acquired again, NO WAY I WILL MISS!!

And I see Michael Roy diving through the driver’s side window to try and stop him…No way I can take the shot!

Delvin is still moving towards me, and like a “Fat Ballerina,” I turned to move out of the way, and the bumper of the car caught my pant leg of my pants. As the car went passed me, in slow motion, I looked right at the front tire…

TAP,TAP…TRAINING!!!

“Double Tap” on the front passenger tire… As the car moved past me, I looked  at the back tire…

TAP,TAP… “Double Tap” again, back passenger tire…

WHOOSH!!!!!!

The world cam back to regular speed as he passed by me. He went to the road, turned onto Hwy 646, out of the parking lot, and towards Dickinson. Michael Roy and I gave chase on foot but that was useless…He was driving off on two flat tires!

As I ran back to my unit, I called “SHOTS FIRED” on the radio and rushed to get my car. As I did, Hal Barrow, My Sergeant was in his unit and was pulling out of the lot chasing Delvin.

Apparently Hal, our receptionist, and the probation officers were in the entry way watching this all go down…

Again, remember, this took place in a matter of about 30-40 seconds. As soon as I fired, Hal ran to the back of the building, got in his unit and gave chase.

I was able to get to my unit and follow the chase on the radio. I knew Delvin, I was at his apartment just a week or so prior for some other call and knew where he was going. He was just taking the back way to get there!

I picked up Michael and took the short route to Delvins Apartment. We got there about the same time the chase got there and now it was Hal, me, Michael and about 3 Dickinson PD units on scene and Delvins car, smoking with two bare tire rims on the passenger side

Delvin jumps out of his vehicle and runs up the stairs to his apartment. He gets inside, gets to the kitchen and pulls a scene right out of Blazing Saddles. He reaches into a drawer, grabs a knife, corners himself in the kitchen, puts he knife to his neck and says “Stand back, I will cut a nigga’”

And me, all hyped up yell…

”DO IT MOTHER FUCKER…DO IT!!”

Hal turns to me and tells me to step out of the apartment and he with a Dickinson PD officer negotiates with Delvin. They eventually got him calm, got the knife and got him in custody.

This time, I wasn’t so emotional… it was now becoming a habit and I could tell that my soul was starting to get scarred and hard!

Once again, I call Donna to explain to her what happened, tell her I am OK; I would see her when I got home. I went back to the North County Building and completed the paperwork while Hal and the other officers went and booked him in…

God, I hear ya!!

After my shift, I went home and talked to Donna. We had been to the Texas Hill Country in the time between Bob and Delvin and knew this was where we were supposed to be. When I got home, I told her that his was a message…ANOTHER ONE and it was time to really look at all of this life we were living.

In the time between Delvin and Bob, Donna had injured her back in the line of duty to a point they were going to force her to retire. I explained to her that our lives together are so much more important than some 5 time loser, 20.00 crack rock, or bullshit family violence call where they would get back together during the week and then beat the shit out of each other on the weekends…OVER, and OVER, and OVER again…

My life was no longer “rich” in this field and hadn’t been for some time.

I have told many people that the reason I quit Law Enforcement was for numerous reasons but basically, it just wasn’t fun anymore and if you cant have fun, why play the game!?

Now I cant remember if it was that week, later that month or that night, but we found a newspaper from Bandera Texas with an article that said “2 bedroom, 1 bath house, on the river, 450.00 a month, month to month lease.”

I told Donna that this was our chance…This was the opportunity…here is the door opening to us…Lets do it!!

Lets go climb a fence!!

We figured out our finances, looked at cashing in my retirement, and decided it was time to start over. It was a couple of days later when we called the number in the ad, told the guy we would send him a deposit and to hold the house for us; we would be there in a month!

We didn’t even go look at the place. We figured we could live anywhere for a month or two, until we got our bearings.

When we were visiting the Hill Country, I made a stop at a Ford Dealership in Boerne Texas and secure a job with them…Not knowing if I would make it up in the time frame I said I would, but we had put the wheels in motion already.

Again, the timeframe is a bit blurry, but the wheels were turning…doors were opening and the messages were being heard loud and clear.

A short time later, I went into the North Country Building for my shift and typed up my formal resignation. When it was done, I walked up to Hal, handed it to him, he asked

“Are you sure this is what you want to do”

and I said…

“Quite sure man…Quite sure!”

Immediately after handing him my resignation, I got a call to the Bayshore for a family violence call. Jack was off, I was covering Bayshore, and Kenneth was covering Dickinson.

I rushed to the call, (at about 7:30am) and found a drunk guy at home who had just beat the shit out of his wife (For the 10^th time or more). After getting all the information I needed for the arrest and report, I put the guy in custody and started towards the League City Jail.

About ¾ of the way to the jail, Kenneth calls me and says

“Hey man, are you listening to the radio stations?? Something is happening!”

I turned on the FM radio and all the stations were broadcasting that “The World Trade Center had a plane fly into it. It was suspected it was a small plane and was an accident but that the building was on fire and people were trapped.”

The guy in the back and I listened intently as we drove to the jail and then the second plane hit…We were under attack!!

I got to the jail, booked the guy in and then went back into the PD where many officers were gathered around the TV watching the towers burn…People jumping out of windows, panic, planes flying to the Pentagon, one in a field out East somewhere…Panic in this nation was abound!

I went home, woke Donna up and turned the TV on…We sat together and cried as we watched the towers crumble to the ground. Being in the professions we were in, we knew the extent of this tragedy. We sobbed…Actually sat there and sobbed as we watched this unfold.

Well all of you know the rest of that story, but I often tell this story about where I was on that day and say…

 “See, I quit being a cop and the whole world fell apart.”

Three weeks later, we had our house sold, made about 1000.00 on it, cashed in my retirement, packed our two Great Danes, all we could fit in one U-Haul, 2 trucks, one 16 foot trailer and a Trans Am and gave what couldn’t fit away to neighbors and friends…

Goodbye Galveston County, Goodbye Houston, that life and all the bullshit associated with it…

We were on an adventure…

Climbing another fence!!