Weird morning
Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:05 pm
Around 11:00 a.m. this morning, I happened to look out a window on the west side of my house and saw an unfamiliar vehicle (old Isuzu Trooper) in the driveway next door. The house is presently being remodeled and is unoccupied. I called the owner to see if he knew of someone working on his house and he said he didn't. I investigated a little and saw that the headlights were on, the keys were on the driver's seat and, on the dash there was something that might have been a (used) colostemy bag. There was all sorts of junk in the car. Just a little too weird for me. I ran the plates and found out it belonged to a man who lives several miles away. I called the police to investigate. Since it wasn't stolen and was on private property, they wouldn't do anything. The neighbor on the other side said the vehicle was there around 8:00 a.m. when she took her daughter to school. The owner of the house arrived and, as he needed access to his garage, we moved the vehicle into the street in front of his house. He and I discussed the situation and I decided to drive by the address to which the vehicle was registered. About three blocks from my house, I noticed a worker about my age (mid 50's) working in a hole in the ground between the sidewalk and curb. I didn't think much about it at first but then realized the man was 1) wearing shorts, 2) in a short sleeve shirt with some kind of police/boy scout patches on it and 3) barefooted. So I figure something is not quite right here. I turned around and drove up right up by him and asked if he was allright. He said he was. So I asked him his name. He told me and it was the same as the name to which the old Isuzu was registered. He had no tools was playing with some string and some pieces of rebar in the hole an irrigation company left while putting in a sprinkler system at the nature center near my home. I asked him why he parked so far away (1/2 mile or so). He said he was looking for a waterfall in the creek. He asked me if he needed to move his car and asked if I would take him to it. By this time I had noticed that his legs were bleeding (probably from wandering around the nature center property barefoot and in shorts). I declined to give him a ride. At this point, primarily concerned for his health, I called 911 again. This time, fire department paramedics and several police cars came (FD first). I explained everything to them and they went to find him. Not long afterwards, two police cars came back and I received a call from one of them asking for verification of the unfamiliar vehicle. I went outside and discussed the situation with the four officers and then realized the strange man was in the back of one of the cars. After assuring the officers that I was really only concerned for the man's health, and in spite of the fact that the man had no i.d. or proof of insurance, they allowed him to get in his vehicle and drive home while one of the police vehicles followed him home to make sure he made it OK. The officer I assumed to be the senior officer said he had had dealings with the man before and it had always been something similar to this.
