Course-poursuite

A couple of nights ago I heard a few helicopters around 11 p.m.. I didn't pay much attention-- we live near the coast, and the helicopters are always flying nearby, surveying the Pacific Coast Highway and the beach. On the weekends, there are lots of small planes too, trailing advertising banners for beer.

N's friend Paul is visiting from Paris. He came into my study and said, "Viens voir, c'est une course-poursuite!" [Come see, it's a police chase!]

We went out on the balcony and saw three police helicopters with searchlights. They were almost overhead, and their searchlights seemed to be trained on the large vacant lot a few houses away from us. Homeless guys camp out there at night. C went exploring there one day and found lots of tents out of sight in the grass.

"There are a lot of police cars out front, too," said Paul. "Four or five!"

The searchlights were moving steadily and had converged, and the helicopters were  thundering in our ears. It occurred to me that the person they were looking for might be armed and dangerous, and very nearby.

There didn't seem to be much we could do, so after a few minutes, we went back inside. The helicopters and police cars fell silent a little while later, and peace returned to the neighborhood.

Comments

[blueVicar]

The same thing happened to us once years ago when we visited friends who live in Denver. J and I were petrified but our friends said it happened fairly often as they lived near a large (and beautiful) park that often experienced drug related incidents at night. It's a harrowing experience; one that I wouldn't want to have regularly.

Meilleurs voeux!!