One of my brothers turned 60 in February. I often think about how age gaps seem to diminish as we get older. Jeff is 14 years older than I, which is almost another generation, but now I don”t really think about him as being so much older. There”s another brother between us who is 53. A family joke was that Mama and Daddy had a baby every time there was a good crop (Daddy was a farmer).
Anyway, I wanted to share a story.
I was sitting outside an hour or so ago, enjoying a cold drink and throwing a ball for Rio. I heard loud voices and was thinking some of the neighborhood kids had gotten into some sort of argument, but it sounded very nearby. I then heard running footsteps even more nearby. Suddenly a guy hit the gate between our house and laundry room, opening it. Another guy was right behind him and slammed into the first guy and pinned him to the ground. Rio was going crazy.
I let out a small yelp of surprise and went to the gate. A former student very calmly said, “Call 911.” I asked what”s going on? He said, “Really, call 911.”
The guy on the ground had allegedly stolen a wallet from a young woman at a nearby convenience store. The guy on top of him is the man who has G.I. Hot Wings, next door to the convenience store. … He”s a former military guy and is apparently still in top shape. The man on the ground kept saying, “Please sir, let me up. I can”t breathe.” G.I. Hot Wings guy told him he”d let him up when the police got there.
The police came and put the alleged robber in the back of the car. Everything settled down for a bit. I sat back down outside and saw … aw dang … is that a gun? Yep. The alleged robber had apparently thrown his gun into our yard when he was tackled.
More police came into the yard & eventually took away the weapon — a .25, unloaded, thankfully.
Now we”re going to dinner — not at G.I. Hot Wings tonight but SOON we will go, and so should you!
Rio is our border collie. We live on McHall Drive, off Airline Road near Fairview Baptist. The wallet was taken at Jumbo”s. I”m not sure exactly how the G.I. Hot Wings guy got involved. I think he told Michelle that the owner of the wallet yelled into his restaurant; then he took pursuit along with Jordan Richey, the former student I mentioned. The robber is probably a former student; I didn”t see his face. One of the policemen told me he”s 19 and well-known to the police department.
I know that Scott Colom just wrote about G.I. Hot Wings … but I thought others would like to know about local heroes.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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