Posted on 03/02/2010 7:20:53 AM PST by Star Traveler
Well, for the second time in my life, I watched one of these "live busts" into someone's house, with law enforcement rushing the place with guns drawn and ready for a shoot-out...
The first one many years ago I called the police, which resulted in the bust, but with this one, I was just an observer, watching it go down in the house next door.
But, the police all congregated in our front yard before they rushed the house next door. Our house was the only "cover" that they had on four sides of the house they were rushing, so that's why they came at it from our place. On all the three other sides of the house being busted, it was wide-open and anyone would be a "sitting duck" from those sides, in a shoot-out.
It all started with a white Cadillac Escalade driving up, with heavily tinted windows and parking on the wrong side of the street (for the direction it was going) and stopping with its nose on our property (half on the street and half on the property), and three other cars lining up behind it the same way.
Right away I knew "something" was up, but didn't know exactly what, at that second. But, in ten seconds after it stopped, then I knew...
Out of the passenger door jumped out a Tulsa Police guy (had one of those bullet-proof vests on and the pull-over shirt that said "Tulsa Police"). And he had a gun in his hand and the gun was out in front of him. Then everyone else piled out, all with guns in their hands and out in front of them. And then there was a guy with a battering ram.
They headed over towards our front steps of the front porch -- and no... I wasn't worried, even though I happened to be sitting right at the front window, looking out when it all came down.... LOL ...
But, I knew what had been going on with the neighbors, so as soon as I saw them, and even though they were all headed over to our house, I knew they were headed over to the neighbors. But, I decided to step out onto the porch and greet them, anyway.... :-)
Well, as soon as they saw me, I got a very curt "Get back inside!" and that was it. So, since they didn't seem to want to be very sociable at the time, I just stepped back inside and looked out the front window.
Later I counted at least seven cars that had driven up, all of them unmarked, except for one police car, around the "other" neighbor's house (not the one being busted, on the other side of us, from the neighbor being busted). There were about ten or twelve cops, all with guns out and pointed forward of them, and walking in a crouching style, and slinking along the front side of our house, to keep a low-profile so that the neighbor, next door, couldn't see them coming.
When I was at the front window, they were so close to the house that I could have opened the window, reached out and put my hands on some of their shoulders. But, I didn't open the window... however my nose was right up against that window looking out... LOL... (and they all saw me there, but didn't say anything. One cop looked like he was going to come over and talk to me through window, I could see he was just about to do that, but he hesitated and then decided not to, and kept going. And they were all walking along in a half-crouching position, as they move along the front of our house.
I watched as they quickly got over to the front door and I heard yelling and screaming and I heard (I thought) hollers like "Get down! Get down!"... and a bunch of other screaming and hollering I couldn't make out.
There was a cop that had gotten over to the back corner of the neighbor's house, because they have a rear exit to the house coming out of their house, on our side (where we can see it from our house) and the cop was half-way behind the corner of the house, pointing his gun straight out and aimed right at that exit door. He was there for quite a while as (I imagine...) the rest inside "cleared" the house and secured it.
A funny thing was that guy was standing back there and we had four weenie dogs (of ours) barking their heads off at him (about ten feet from him on our side of the fence) and so I yelled at them to stop it and get back inside and they all came back inside... LOL...
The guy was still standing there with his gun pointed at the exit, but he looked at me and kinda smiled and smirked as I got the dogs back inside... :-)
They all drove up at exactly 2 PM, so I imagine that they had it all planned for that time, so that they all arrived at 2 on the nose, as that's when they all came up. I think usually when they do that kind of thing, they usually "stage" at a close-by area, and then all leave at the same time and rush to the location. [And now I remember one other time when I saw a big bust like this, making it three times I've seen this sort of thing come down, and when they did it, they also "staged" at a close-by area. At that time, I happened to be a manager for the building that they were going to rush, an apartment inside, and I stumbled upon them staging before they did it...]
Anyway, about an hour and a half later and they finished all that they were doing inside. I noticed that they searched the cars outside, too. It was probably a drug bust and maybe an arrest in regards to a situation where a baby was taken away from the family there, a few days ago. There was a 16-year old who had a baby (a few months ago) and it was in a coma (recently), being a "shaken-baby" situation and social services took it away. The girl who had the baby wasn't arrested, but the mother of that girl (who had the baby) was arrested and that same older woman's boyfriend was arrested too. It was suspected that they were cooking meth there, at least that was the rumor (didn't know for sure, and you know how rumors are...).
This happened in the Brookside area of Tulsa, roughly near I-44 and S. Peoria, and it's a decent neighborhood, but you never can tell about neighbors.
Fortunately no bullets went flying, and I never heard a shot, so I guess they surprised them pretty well.
It's always interesting to see this sort of thing "up close and personal" -- especially when it's not involving you, personally... LOL... I've seen a number of them up close and personal, as I've said and it's always interesting how they really "rush" the place and do it very quickly. The first one I saw like that was from about 25 years ago, in Oregon, and they had three police agencies, rushing the place in cars, driving up from every compass point (about 12-15 cars, I would say) and all jumping out and rushing the neighbor's house. With that one, I was expecting it since I had called the police and I watched it all go down, too.
So far, they haven't done that to me... and I hope to keep it that way... :-)
Glad to hear your dogs survived. That's rare these days.
LOL... fortunately we were not the "targets" or else our dogs might not have survived... (and they were on our side of the fence, too).
They trespassed on your property and started ordering you around?
Freakin' thugs. Sue 'em.
LOL... but I knew what they were there for, without them saying a word. And in a situation like that, you're not going to find me arguing with them. I know when to "get back inside" and when to argue... :-)
People need a few "smarts" for when they deal with the police, and I've never had a problem dealing with them, because I know how to respect them... and one should...
And..., mind you..., I've also faced down a whole "gang" of police (about ten of them; they were Federal Agents) when our workplace was served with a search warrant (and they all came in with their guns out) and they wanted access into a secure area. I stepped out of the secure area, locked the door behind me and demanded to see their search warrant. They complied and I read it and saw that it was for that address, the date and what the search was for... so I then let them in (but I was "reading fast"... doncha know... LOL...).
I hear that there are some bad parts of Tusla that resemble Ft Worth. lol
That would be North Tulsa..., but it's sort of "relatively speaking" actually. It's not that you go into North Tulsa and you're gonna get shot or robbed or anything like that. It's just that shootings do happen there and there is more crime there, but it shouldn't stop anyone from traveling around in there, at least it doesn't stop me.
It was about a couple of years ago (thereabouts) I came across a drive-by shooting in North Tulsa, and took some pictures of it (another car was shot up and it crashed). That's the only direct experience I've had with anything in North Tulsa, but I read about stuff.
However, as I was just saying above, in our much better neighborhood around here (and even though we had those bad neighbors), there was a gun-shooting robbery at the local Sonic drive-in and also at the Braum's ice cream place. So, it can happen anywhere.
In my neighborhood, robberies of businesses were the first sign of trouble. Before long, most of the businesses folded. The rest of the neighborhood went downhill after that.
When I was a child, we had stores in our business district for just about anything. Seldom had to go into downtown to shop (no shopping malls back then). You could buy men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, shoes, appliances, furniture, not to mention the movie theater. All of them are gone now. We have empty storefronts, except for the check cashing place. Generally, when one of those check cashing places open, that’s the beginning of the end for that community. Oh and the state store (liquor) — it does a booming business. Sigh!
“Tulsa? Well, at least you don’t live next to the Chicken Hut...”
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Maybe the Chicken Hut ran out extra crispy?
I'm guessing not.
Not real advisable to be standing at the window watching a bunch of armed men running towards a potential/probable gun battle “right next door”. Live, real-world SRT operations are not generally very bystander friendly.
I'm sure it was exciting to watch it unfold an all, but most bullets have little regard for siding and sheetrock, let alone glass.
It'd be a waste of a perfectly good Freeper....
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Maybe the Chicken Hut ran out extra crispy?
LOL... that was North Tulsa... we're in the Brookside area... which is way south Tulsa... roughly around where I-44 and S Peoria is...
It really doesn't matter what neighborhood anyone is in anymore, you just never know what's going to happen around you or who the neighbors may be, that move in... that's just the way it is these days...
right! I understand.
These things don’t just happen in crappy neighborhood. I live about 4 miles from Sacramento’s most pricey neighborhoods - El Dorado Hills. Just two weeks ago, the cops raided one one the million dollar homes (about 5,000 sq. ft) and found the whole house was a ‘green house’ for marijuana. The house was rented to some woman and was growing more than a thousand marijuana plants.
True, true... bullets have no regard for whom they hit... but at that point, and where I was at (from the neighbor’s house) I was shielded by several walls. I mean... if a bullet could get through that, then there would not have been any place in the house where I could have been safe, actually... (just saying... that’s all...). I didn’t mention this but the outside of our house is stone work, actually, and I think it would stop a bullet.
I don’t know... I’ve just never been scared about that sort of stuff... One time I called the police because of someone threatening to kill someone with a knife (in an apartment building I was managing at the time, many years ago)..., and they had their guns out and I just walked right behind them up a flight of stairs and then waited slightly around a corner while they confronted the guy. They almost shot him because they thought he was reaching in a doorway (where his hand was out of sight) and someone might be handing him a gun. He was actually dropping his cigarette down... but it could have been a gun and there could have been shots fired then.
I just figure if it’s my time then I’l get it, otherwise, I don’t worry...
I didn’t intend to get into a drawn out thing here, and I wasn’t implying anything about fear, but standing at the window watching for an incipient gun fight to unfold is a whole bunch different from being safe behind “several walls”, “stone work”, etc. when it ensues.
Sure, your walls and stone would probably help, but you did say that you were watching at the window.... just sayin’....
It’s not about being scared, it’s about knowing about cover, concealment, and that if you can see “them”, “they” can see you.
In my experience, one’s “time” seems to come earlier for those who don’t care.
All that said, it sounds like you had an interesting afternoon. Glad that’s all you had.
Thanks for your words of warning... and yes, people should be normally careful and not careless... :-)
Having been on raids multiple times, this sounds pretty accurate. Just because a neighbor screwed up doesn’t mean your neighborhood is a gonner.
Having been on raids multiple times, this sounds pretty accurate. Just because a neighbor screwed up doesn’t mean your neighborhood is a gonner.
I agree about the neighborhood, basically because we do know the neighbors for a few blocks around and they are good neighbors. Many are long-time home-owners (and it's mostly home owners around here), with just a smattering of rentals here and there. This one next door happens to be the rental... :-)
There's a big church nearby which is very active and has a church school and a lot of Christian parents bring their kids there. Of course, just that by itself doesn't make a difference, but it is a general indication of the area, nonetheless. And the businesses are moderate to upscale, and we're not too far away from E. 71st St S., which if anyone knows Tulsa, they'll know that every conceivable store that exists in the Tulsa area can be found somewhere on 71st (a whole lot of shopping going on there... LOL...).
Twice, Our neighborhood has gone into “Lockdown” because of a Viet Vet who barricades himself with his shotguns. (Thank You for your Service, Dear brother, BUT PLEASE TAKE YOUR MEDS)
In our area, the police do a “Reverse 911” call to everybody to go to the back of the house and lie down on the floor when this happens, and keep the kids away from the windows.
(sigh)
Wow... that’s interesting... I hadn’t heard about the “reverse 911” but it makes sense... :-)
“Reverse 911” was used in Massachusetts too, in my Mom’s Neighborhood when there was a “problem”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.