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When I was a wild youth, my buds and I used to toss water ballons at passing cars in our neighborhood. I was about 10 I think. Once we tossed a neat pair at this passing sedan. It was real dark. HIS balloon hit the windshield....and mine a moment later would have hit the side window...had that window been CLOSED. Things went rapidly downhill as the COP car immediately put on his overhead lights and spun in it's own length on that little neighborhood side street where the speed limit was about 20 mph.

We did what any self respecting 10 yr old would do...we HAULED A$$! Ran between two houses and broke out onto the nearby GOLF COURSE. Sprinted across the main fairway towards a green on the far side, when suddenly the ground just dropped away beneath us! We'd hit a sandtrap with the grass overhanging in a sort of "lip." There was no way to see it in advance. We instinctively rolled and came up runnin.' Pounded hard across and into a hedge near the trap.

The COP had followed us in his car between the houses (barely room enough) and onto the golf course. He was hot on our tails...headlights softly jouncing up and down over the terrain. Consequently HE couldn't "see" the sand trap either and when he hit that small lip, his car sailed into the middle of the huge sand trap and promptly sank up to the headlights in the sand. He got out of the car, cursing like I've not heard even a sergeant major curse....he was soaking wet, hair plastered down and shirt soaked. That guy would have killed happily at that point, I think.

We sat around after he radio'd for help. His sergeant rolled up and stood there slowly shaking his head while the tow truck TORE the green to pieces trying to manuever into to tow the car out without getting stuck himself. Then the neighbors showed up and the local news. After awhile we left the hedge and joined the crowd. Looked inside the car to see all his reports all stuck together and the ink smeared....

We felt pretty bad. I think that was the end of those days. The local constabulary was promising a full and complete investigation...but they never even started. The reign of terror came to an end...that night. In retrospect, after reading this sad story, I'm glad when I grew up in a time not quite so dangerous for our kids. It wasn't the gun (obviously), it was a mindset in a human being that allowed him to morally put vandalism into the category of a capital crime. I'm guessing with some accuracy I think, that had the gun not been there, this animal would likely have used the vehicle to flatten the kid. That's really sad.

way to go and kill the serious discussion on this subject!

Great story, I was a wild youth at times also, and the thing is there are people who feel it was justified to kill you on the spot for what you did. Obviously when you progressed to dropping cinder blocks from overpasses you must have been a terrible shot and didn't kill anyone. How anyone can justify murder for a kid throwing an egg is beyond me.