Police Story
" We just need info because at this point we got zip.”
I was getting in my car in the 7/11 parking lot when I heard a commotion, looked over my shoulder and saw someone moving rapidly out of the lot and down the adjacent residential street.
What caught my eye was the person was standing with both feet parallel, and a bulbous wheel between them propelling him with no apparent handlebars, no nothing. It looked like a segue, a self powered single roller blade that used some sort of sensory balancing system. A one man, one wheel unicycle. It was amazing and struck me as something out of a sci fi movie.
I thought nothing more about it as I loaded my small bag of items ( a bag of chips, a candy bar and a 16 oz. can of beer) onto the passenger side seat and was just getting behind the wheel when I heard someone screaming “Stop that guy!”
I stood back up and watched the store clerk bursting out of the glass double door, looking all around, waving his arms, “That guy robbed us!”
I looked back at the parking lot entrance but the character was long gone. So I got in my car and left.
The next day I was having my morning coffee, checking out internet news sites, when I hear my doorbell. Looking out the window I see two people dressed in business attire, so I open the door and say “Morning. Can I help you?”
“You Rick Elkin?”
“Yep. And who are you?”
“I am Roger Ruiz a detective with the Escondido PD, and this is my partner Marissa Halsey. Can we talk?”
“Of course. About what?”
“Were you at the 7/11 on Country Club yesterday?”
“ I was. Now I think I know what you are investigating… want to come in?”
“Well, if you don’t mind, could you come down to the station so we can show you some pictures and get your story?”
“About the robbery?”
“How do you know there was a robbery?”
“Well the clerk that had just rung me up came running out the front door screaming ‘That guy just robbed us!’ So I assumed that is what you want to talk to me about. Am I wrong?”
“You are correct. Can we talk some more at the station? It’s only a couple of minutes from here. Could you be there in an hour. Give you time to get dressed and finish your coffee (glancing at the cup in my hand). That sound like a plan?”
“At the new station on Center City?”
“Yeah”.
“OK. I have never been there, always wanted to see the inside. I’ll be there. One hour. At 10 am, OK?”
“Great.Thanks, see you then.”
* * *
I want to be a good citizen. I did apparently see the robber, if only for a brief moment. I was so distracted at that moment, not knowing a crime had been committed, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. That a person can ride a single wheeled device, a skateboard basically, so effortlessly. No control handle, no helmet, no motor that I could see. Are these machines readily available? Is this a new utility I am unaware of? Maybe the cops can clue me in… so I will sit down and see what I can do to help.
As I walk into the modern entry, he receptionist looks up and says, “Hello. Can I help you?”
“I was asked to come in and talk with detectives about an incident at the 7/11 on Country Club Lane”.
“Hi Mr. Elkin. Have a seat, I’ll let Mr. Ruiz know you’re here.”
She picks up the phone/intercom and announces me. Then says “He’ll be right down”.
I look around at the directional signs and see arrows pointing to “Jail” and “Administrative “ and “Coffee Room” and “Interrogation Rooms”. Guess that’s where I’m headed.
Detective Ruiz and partner Ms. Halsey come down the hall from the elevator. “Thanks for taking the time to come in. We really appreciate it. Follow me.”
They escort me into a small room with only three chairs and a table. Monochrome white paint, no windows, only a dark two way mirror on one wall. Ms. Halsey points to the one chair, “Have a seat please. Water?”
“I’m fine thanks.”
Detective Ruiz: “Please describe what you saw yesterday. You are not under arrest, otherwise we would be reading you your rights. We just need info because at this point we got zip.”
“OK. I was leaving after buying a 16 oz. can of beer and some chips. I was planning to watch the ballgame on TV. I was just getting into my car when I saw someone go right by me on some sort of mono-wheel device. I was just blown away cause I’ve never seen one of those things. I thought to myself, man, I wish I had one of those when I was younger. I was really cool and I watched the guy go out of the parking lot and turn right on the residential street. He didn’t go out to Country Club Lane. He disappeared behind the corner of the building pretty quick”.
“Did you see what he was wearing?”
“I would be guessing cause I was not at that time aware of any problem. Moments later I was crawling into the drivers seat and I heard yelling. I looked up and saw the clerk screaming ‘Stop that guy! He robbed us!’ Or something like that”.
“Was he carrying anything?”
“If he was it was small and in front of his body, so I was only seeing his backside. That is one thing I did notice, he wasn’t steering the skateboard, or the unicycle, or whatever. He was standing astride the wheel, facing directly where he was going. It was so weird to me. I wondered what the “f” was this guy riding?”
“So no clothes description?”
“I would have to say ‘non-descript’. Levis and a long-sleeve T-shirt. Maybe a cap or possibly a helmet”.
“If we could show you some pictures, would you be able to pick him out?”
“No. Like I said, I was looking at his backside as he rolled away. I am not even sure it was a ‘he’. I couldn’t honestly say I saw a face at all! Sorry. I only assumed it was a guy because the clerk said ‘Stop that guy!”
“OK. So then what? You just drove home?”
“Actually I did drive down the street to see if I could see anything. Thinking if I did I would go back and report it. But he was long gone, nothing in any garages or driveways that caught my attention, so I went on home.”
“Do you shop at 7/11 often?”
“Hardly ever. I was just trying to save time so I could catch the last half ot the Padre game and I had no beer at home.”
“Do you know the clerk at all?”
“Nope. Not sure I could even identify him either.”
“Can you think of anything else that might help us Mr. Elkin?”
“Well, how many people in the area own one of those 21st century segue skateboards? I mean I have never seen one before and it looked like it came from another planet or some time in the future. Maybe there is a way to find out who sells those things and look at their sales records and warranty registrations. There can’t be a ton of those things in Escondido, right?”
“Maybe you should be a detective. That is a good idea. We’ll look into it. Sorry to take up your time, but we need to run every lead we get. It wasn’t a big robbery, just a couple hundred bucks, but the guy, or girl, was wearing oversize dark glasses and flashed a gun, so we take it seriously. Someone could have been hurt. Thanks for coming in. If you think of anything else, here’s my card, just give me a call.”
“We’re good?”
“We’re good. See ya.”
“ Real quick… how did you know I was there yesterday?”
“ They have video cameras. You were the only one in the parking lot during the time frame. We could see your license plate.”
“ Amazing, Can I get a tour of the jail?”
“Not today. We do have public tours so I will put your name on our mailing list for an invite. We don’t have the manpower to do it today.”
“ I just thought it might be cool to see the inside of the jail without actually being ‘in jail’. You know what I mean?”
“ That’s what the tours are for.”
I was disappointed since I was already there but in hindsight it might have been depressing. I wondered, how long do people arrested by Escondido PD actually stay in their jail? Over night, or a couple of days? Probably mostly chronic homeless, druggies, drunk drivers and juvenile delinquents. From what I know most petty thefts are not pursued because of restrictive California enforcement laws and manpower shortages. Only when a gun is involved do they put any significant time into investigations. So I wasn’t going to see any celebrities like Ted Bundy or the guy who shot Luigi Mangione in there, that’s for sure.
Now, where can I get a demo on one of those mono-wheel thingies?