One cold winter morning on my day shift patrol, I started east on my patrol rounds checking businesses. Allen went south, and I went straight east on Bankhead Highway to start in downtown Lithia Springs. (Zone 2 = two deputies.)

It was winter and still very dark in the morning. I arrived at the businesses in Lithia Springs and started weaving, ever so quietly, behind the stores in my patrol car looking for any “foul play.” We were then required to “rattle doors”. We had to park our patrol cars and walk from front door to front door and pull on each front door of each business. The deputies grumbled every time. Yeah, I was a grumbler.

While doing so, I saw a 70s-style van two shopping centers down. No big deal, Lithia Springs was just that small. The van looked like an old ’70s customized van. It was sitting in front of the business owned by Frank. The vapor from its exhaust had developed a huge cloud.

Frank owned his business in downtown Lithia. He had the middle building in an empty three-building complex built in the 1940s style of architecture. Frank was a tall, lanky fellow and a little strange. He was a very friendly guy and I considered him a good friend.

As I said, it was a hard winter morning, and the custom van was sitting in front of Frank’s store with its engine running. The steam from its exhaust was very noticeable. The driver’s door on the van was standing wide open, and I noticed faint lights on inside Frank’s business.

So, I turned down my car radio and pulled in behind the van. Country music was blaring from inside the van. I saw where Frank’s business’s front door was standing wide open. I pulled into the vapors behind the van. I softly told the radio of a possible “10-15” in progress. I gave out pertinent information about the vehicle and location. Shift Sergeant, Eddie P. told me to wait for backup. I did as I was ordered…for a minute or so.

I remembered that Allen would be coming from the 92/166 area way to my south, and Sarge would be coming from the office in Douglasville from the west. Even with blue lights and siren, it would take them at least 5 minutes to get here. I waited behind the van with a shotgun on the door for a long minute. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I didn’t tell anybody, but I started for the van. I was disobeying a direct order from the Sergeant to stay put. I thought, hell, I’m 22/23-and-a-half-years-old. It’s been a blast for 3 years. I decided to take the fight to the burglars. We all knew, “sometimes you have got to do, what you have got to do.”

I didn’t want to lose the element of surprise. The store lights were off, and I quickly cleared the van, finding no occupants. I left its radio blaring. I entered the front door with shotgun at the ready. I could see a faint light coming from Frank’s office in the back. I heard loud grunts and rustling noises from behind the shower curtain that Frank used as an office door. Weird, I know!

I slowly tip-toed through the store in the darkness. I could hear the rustling getting more intense, and I heard furniture being shoved around. The sound got louder rather quickly. I went through the shower curtain while pointing my shotgun in the direction of the noises.

There was Frank! He had his back towards me with his pants around his ankles, and he had a female on his desk. Boy, they were going to town! They must have really been into it because neither one even noticed me. So, I slowly backed out of the shower curtain and tried to be as quiet as I could be. Hell, you snuck in here, now you can just sneak out. I made it halfway to the front door, then suddenly, “141”! – “141 your status?!” A loud female voice rang out from my shoulder mic. I had forgotten to turn my danged walkie-talkie down! It blared through the empty store like the horns of judgment day!

I slowly turned around to see Frank coming through the shower curtain, pulling up his pants. “Ho… ho… hold on, Eddie”. I sarcastically said, Frank, you left the front door open.

He said thanks, Eddie, as he snapped his pants shut. I said, “Oh, by the way, Frank, your van is running outside with its door open”. Frank thanked me again as he pushed me out. I heard Frank lock the door behind me, so I just turned off the van and closed the keys in it. It’s not like I wouldn’t be back in an hour to check businesses again anyway.

I advised the radio to “10-22” and disregard the call. Sergeant Eddie P. was the first to arrive and invited me to breakfast at the jail. Wow, what an honor! What a nice guy! When I arrived, the Sergeant took me by the elbow and into a jail supply closet and threatened to fire me on the spot! I had disobeyed a direct order from a superior officer! Eddie was not a man who would cuss, but I received a stern warning and lecture about how stupid I was. I now know that the Sheriff didn’t know about it, or I would’ve been looking for a new job. I never heard another word about it from anyone. I sure as heck never brought it up, until now.
Thanks, Sgt. Eddie Price (RIP)

P.S., A week or so later, I stopped by Frank’s shop. He made dentures for a living. I purposely asked Frank about the girl. He turned red and said he picked her up at the American Legion. I also congratulated Frank on his new van’s stereo system. (RIP) Frank.