# Sometimes Strange Things Happen - article



## Bruce Monkhouse (30 Oct 2008)

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_28629.aspx

Stunned Traffic Cop Watches Own Stolen Truck Come Cruising Down The Street
Thursday October 30, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
This is the kind of incident you might not believe if you saw it in a movie. But it really happened to Officer Jerry Varner on the streets of Frisco, Texas, near Dallas. 

Varner is a local cop who was out directing traffic after a concert Saturday night,  when he saw something that made him stop short. A truck was coming down the road where he was gesturing to drivers, and it looked awfully familiar. 
That's because it was. The veteran officer recognized the maroon vehicle headed his way as the truck he'd left parked about 100 yards away from where he was on duty. A thief was in the front seat and driving it straight past him. 

Varner yelled to another officer for help and both chased the vehicle. They ordered the driver to pull over, but the man inside had other ideas. He put the rig in reverse and tried to turn around, striking several other cars in the process. 
When that didn't work, he jumped out and tried to flee on foot. But that turned out to be futile, too - Varner is a long distance runner and a fitness instructor and is practically impossible to outflank. 

It didn't take long for him to catch the suspect as other cops came rushing to the area and surrounded the surprised suspect, who was finally taken into custody. 
Varner got his vehicle back, but was now confronted with another mystery: he was sure he'd locked the truck. But with no damage to the outside and no broken glass or locks, how did the suspected thief get inside in the first place? 

It turns out the man had a General Motors key that just happened to fit in the door and the ignition, another incredible coincidence. 
When he tried it and the door opened, he likely couldn't believe his luck, luck that was about to change for the worse seconds later. 
A 22-year-old is charged with theft and evading arrest. 

All of which just goes to show that if you're going to steal a car, make sure it doesn't belong to a cop - especially one standing just a few feet away. 


This reminds me of my story, cruising the back area of the old Guelph CC when upon turning a blind fence corner almost hit the Go-Boy dropping off the 15 foot fence. I'm not sure whose eyes got bigger,[ though I suspect it was his] mine trying to stop the van or his watching the van stop just inches from him. Anyway, after a short foot pursuit through a potato field I corral him and another vehicle arrives to take him back inside and upon getting the info required for the paperwork realize that this was the guy that had stolen my Chevy Chevette months before.

...I mean come on, who steals a Chevy Chevette?? ;D


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## vonGarvin (30 Oct 2008)

Bruce Monkhouse said:
			
		

> ...I mean come on, who steals a Chevy Chevette?? ;D


Same kind of person who owns a Chevy Chevette?  *ducking*


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## Greymatters (30 Oct 2008)

Would be nice to know how old the truck was - I thought the problem with these keys was fixed...


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## Bruce Monkhouse (30 Oct 2008)

Mortarman Rockpainter said:
			
		

> Same kind of person who owns a Chevy Chevette?  *ducking*



Hey, it came as part of the "great looking French girl" package.........and besides it was sexier than my next car, a Nissan Multi. :-[


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