BANG, BANG, BANG!!!
I heard three shots ring out in the early morning air as I was returning home from my morning run.
Each shot seemed to be a little louder and I immediately found out why. Accompanied by the sound of
racing engines and squealing tires, I saw two vehicles speeding down the quiet neighborhood street
bearing down on my position as I stood there spellbound by the sight.
After a few seconds, reason returned and I jumped out of the roadway and hid myself behind old Mr. Chapman's huge brick mailbox. Peering over the top I watched in disbelief as the two vehicles continued speeding toward me.
BANG, BANG, BANG!!!
Three more shots rang out, causing me to duck reflexively. Despite the danger, I just had to keep
watching as this drama played out. Now, I could see clearly that the lead vehicle was a late model
green import, one of those Japanese cars that so many middle-class people are buying. The vehicle
in pursuit was, of all things, a Checker Cab. That struck me as odd though I didn't figure out why
right away. It was only after things had settled down later that I realized that we don't have any
Checker Cabs working in our city.
Anyway, as I watched from the relative safety of Mr. Chapman's mailbox, I saw that the shots were coming from a handgun being held by a man reaching out the passenger's side window of the green car clearly aiming behind him. I could tell that either this wasn't a movie stunt or the man wasn't the 'good guy' because none of his shots were hitting their intended target, namely the Checker Cab racing along behind him.
BANG!
I saw the man take one more shot as the two cars sped past me and disappeared aroung the corner in
the direction of the freeway access road which seemed to be their intent.
That day at work, everyone I told of my experience, just said, "Yeah, sure." in obvious disbelief. However, around 12:15PM, I found myself retelling the story over and over as people discovered that it wasn't my vivid imagination after all since they just heard about it on a local news radio report.
It seems that early this morning an off-duty FBI agent witnessed some unusual activity behind the Second National Bank in the strip mall just down the street from where I run every morning. As he watched, two guys wearing masks and carrying what looked like bulging pillowcases ran out of the back door of the bank and jumped into the green car. Since he was on foot, and didn't see any way to follow them, he was just reaching for his cell phone to call the police when out of nowhere there appeared a Checker Cab that stopped right beside him. The passenger door flew open and the driver yelled, "Get in, we'll catch them!" Not taking time to work out the incongruity of it all, he jumped in and the cab sped off in pursuit of the apparent bank robbers.
While the cab driver kept the green car in sight (and actually got too close when the shooting started), the FBI agent called the local police and told them what was happening. They were already moving because of the bank's silent alarm, so they were able to reach the freeway on-ramps first and put down those tire rippers they use to stop cars in situations like this. They worked to perfection.
The people in the green car were so distracted by the Checker Cab on their tail that they didn't see the police cars and the tire rippers until all four of their tires were reduced to confetti and their wheels started throwing off showers of sparks.
The bank robbers were apprehended, the money was returned to the bank, the FBI agent was credited with catching them, ... and the Checker Cab was nowhere to be found. It had slipped away without anyone noticing. Who could that have been?