Around midnight, a pickup truck was heard spinning its wheels for many minutes in a vain attempt to get enough momentum and traction to drive away from its snow-piled curbside parking spot. In the first comment, the rest of the story.
First Street btw Liberty and William
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Suddenly, police vehicles arrived (four of them), and the driver of the truck was removed, handcuffed, and placed in the rear seat of one of the police cars, leaving the truck door open, the lights on and the motor still running. I did not notice any pat-down. The officers proceeded for some time to examine the truck very carefully using flashlights–under the hood, under the body, and inside. Next, two firetrucks arrived and about six firefighters emerged, most of them in full gear, and began to inspect the truck as well. This went on for quite some time until finally the officers and firefighters left the scene in their respective vehicles. Finally, a very long tow-truck (Don’s?) loaded and removed the mysterious (to me, at least) pickup truck.
And the beginning of the story (as told to me later by an excellent inside source) was that the “perp” had just tried to enter and rob a building on First Street. When he was trying to make “a quick get-away” in his pickup truck, was foiled by the snowbank. His numerous frantic and futile attempts to extricate the truck caused a rupture in the power steering line, and then the truck caught fire. I did not find out who called the police. but, as described in my original Stopped/Watched blurb (see above), they soon appeared in four official vehicles and were shortly joined by firefighters in two firetrucks.
Anna, does this location square up with the previous activity you described by this hapless pickup truck driver: [.jpg of crimemapping.com screen shot]
Yes, it could well be that very location. Today, I noticed a couple of newly-boarded-up windows in the building that sits in the 300 block of W. Liberty at the corner of First St., so that makes sense. Thanks for finding another piece of the puzzle, Dave.
This story reminds me very much of the wonderful kids’ book by Ellen Raskin, “Nothing Ever Happens On My Block.”
Thanks for sharing!