CHAPTER FOUR - HEADING FOR THE FINISH LINE

 One morning I got a call from a shoe store that a gun had dropped out of a man's waist band and fell to the floor. He was with another man at the time and they were last seen walking toward the food court. I was by myself that morning and on the far end of the mall when I got the call. As I walked toward the shoe store I figured that the men were long gone and had already left the mall. To my surprise I saw them walking back toward the shoe store from the direction of the food court. They fit the description given to me over the phone. I called 911 and remained on the phone with the operator as I followed them from a safe distance.

They walked into store after store throughout the mall heading toward the west end where they eventually turned around and headed back toward the food court. As they walked near to the exit doors I was afraid that they were going to get away. There was no sign of the police. Then, in a flash, the police burst in through the food court entrance and from the entrance doors to a nearby book store. After questioning the men they discovered that the men were casing stores in order to rob one of them. A third man was the getaway driver sitting in the parking lot and he was now in possession of the gun. These guys could have made an episode of America's Dumbest Criminals". If I had dropped a gun where everyone could see it I would have left the property as quick as I could get out of there. Why they hung around I will never know.

The most bizarre and funniest incident that I have experienced since I have worked at the mall happened in April 2013. I received a call from one of the tenants that a man was trying to fight customers in the mall. My partner and I began looking for the man. We searched for about twenty minutes but couldn't find him. After a while I called off the search and we returned to normal duty. A few minutes later my other officer notified me over the radio that he had spotted the man in center court. I told him to keep a visual on him until I could get there. On my way over to their location I called the police. The man left center court and headed over to a nearby Sports Bar.

I told the police his location as I was walking to the restaurant. The man was standing in the sports bar watching television when I spotted him. I quietly asked the man if he could come outside and talk to me. He said yes and we walked out to a spot on the west side of the restaurant where I could speak to him in private. I was trying to buy some time until the police arrived. As I was talking to him I smelled alcohol on his breath and he was swaying back and forth. He suddenly reached down toward his foot, which startled me because I thought that he might be reaching for a knife or a gun in an ankle holster. I quickly realized that he was reaching down to take off his flip flops. Suddenly, he spun around and took off running toward the fountain.

I am not supposed to chase anybody but I was afraid that he might get into a car and drive off. He could hurt himself or others. I took off running, hoping to get his license number in the event he drove off before the police arrived. Despite his state of inebriation he was running pretty fast. As he neared the fountain he fell hard on his face. Anyone else would have knocked themselves out but he immediately jumped up. I told him that if he hadn't been running he wouldn't have hurt himself. He told me not to worry because I couldn't catch him. For an old guy with heart trouble I did pretty well, however.

He ran toward our beauty school and disappeared out of sight as he ran around the corner of the building. When I came out on the backside of the building a lady in an SUV asked me if I needed any help. I asked if she saw where the man went and she pointed toward a nearby Department store where I spotted him standing on a sidewalk trying to catch his breath. As I started running toward him several police cruisers arrived and boxed him in on the sidewalk.

When I arrived on the scene I told one of the officers that he might need medical assistance since he fell so hard on his face. An officer asked him if he needed an ambulance. Slurring his words and swaying back and forth he pointed his finger at me and said, " Your damn right I do. You see that guy over there. He stuck his finger up my ass !!!" I said "Whoa, I never touched him." The cops were cracking up at this point and it was obvious that they weren't taking him seriously. As we stood there waiting for the ambulance to arrive he kept pointing at me, repeating over and over, " Stinky fingers, sticky fingers". When the ambulance arrived a female EMT was pulling on her rubber gloves as she asked a police officer what the problem was. With an evil grin the officer pointed at me and said " You see that security officer over there he stuck his finger up his ass". The look on her face was priceless. She said "Excuse me". The Murfreesboro Post ran the following article in their newspaper.

BIZARRE: Drunken man attempts to fight others.

By: THE MURFREESBORO POST

Posted: Sunday, April 28, 2013 12:00 am

A 31 year old Murfreesboro man was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.Sunday April 21 after a security guard at Stones River Mall called police.

The suspect was accused of "attempting to fight strangers in the parking lot" outside Sam's All American Sports Grill, according to an arrest report filed by Murfreesboro Police Officer Zachary Ferrell.

When Ferrell arrived the suspect fled from the security guard, but the officer quickly caught up to the man who allegedly smelled strongly of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet.

He had injuries to his feet and elbows which resulted from running from security, according to witnesses.

According to the suspect, the injuries came when "someone knocked him out and that a finger went inside his rectum" Ferrell reported. But witnesses said no one assaulted the suspect.

He was then transported to MTMC where he "was belligerent and begun cursing at the ER staff. (He) became hostile... to the point that ER doctors refused to treat him," Ferrell said.

He was booked into the Adult Detention Center where he was held on a 750.00 bond.

So far this incident is by far the funniest thing that has ever happened to me since I have been working at the mall. For several days afterward I would break out in laughter just thinking about it.