| December 12, 2003 - 9:25pm - Unit #220 assisted a stranded motorist at the end of the on-ramp from westbound I-64 onto northbound I-270. The motorist was attempting to restart his vehicle when 220 arrived, but whenever it got to a certain RPM the car stopped running. 220 suggested that bad fuel could be the problem and so he offered to go to a gas station and pick up some Heet (anti-freeze) for the driver. Ten minutes later, 220 returned, added the anti-freeze to the fuel line, and the vehicle started right up. But once it returned to a higher RPM, the vehicle shut off. 220 then suggested that the motorist contact a towing company and 220 provided a list of towing companies. They both went back to 220's truck to make the call. While the motorist was in the process of contacting his wife, a tow truck pulled in front of the vehicle and two men stepped out. 220 looked at the motorist, and said "I know you didn't call a tow truck because I asked you that when I first saw you". At first glance, 220 and the motorist didn't think anything of the men. They both assumed that the tow company was probably called by a co-worker of the motorist that just happened to be driving by and recognized the vehicle. The motorist got off the phone with his wife, got out of the truck and went to talk with the men. 220 got out about a minute later to see if they were legit by asking questions. 220 quickly learned that something was fishy about the men. They had no decals on the tow truck, no rear license plate, they were not professionally dressed, and they had no business cards on them. They were dressed in street clothes and they didn't carry any form of identification on them or paperwork. As the two men walked back to the truck, 220 went to talk to the motorist about the guys. 220 stated, "I know this isn't any of my business, but these guys don't seem right to me. I just have a funny feeling about this. I think the only reason these guys are here is to rob you, kill you, or steal your car from you. But if you think otherwise, I won't stop you." 220 walked back to his truck and waited. The motorist seemed to have agreed because he told the men "no thanks" and walked back to 220's truck. The men left in the truck about two minutes later. 220 apologized to the motorist for interfering, but the motorist agreed that something was up. 220 stated he would report the incident to the Highway Patrol. The motorist got back on the phone again and called a friend who knew of a tow company that wouldn't charge much. The tow truck arrived at 10:40pm and the motorist thanked 220 for helping him get out of the jam. The motorist had just gotten off work when the trouble started. The motorist thought he might have put the wrong type of fuel in the gas tank by accident. 220 reported the suspicious tow truck and men to the Highway Patrol. 220 was told he will be contacted by a Lieutenant within the next day or so regarding the incident and any left over details. December 15, 2003 - 8:30pm - Unit #220 was at his friend's house waiting for the snow to end, when he heard a call over his scanner for a sick case in Chesterfield. 220 didn't think much about it at the time, but told his friend he was going to go for a drive out west to see how hard the snow was falling (220 plows snow, and a client lived out along Highway 141 near the call). When 220 got out to the area, he thought the sick call was probably taken care of because more than twenty minutes had passed since the call went out. As he rounded the last curve before Highway 141, 220 noticed two vehicles stopped in the road near the crest of a hill and not on the shoulder. 220 turned on his lights, stopped, and asked a woman standing outside if there was something wrong. She said, "Yes, I called the police, but they drove right past us." 220 told her that the police car was probably trying to determine whose police department is responsible for helping. 220 jumped into his truck and maneuvered it over the crest of the hill and into a position where any emergency vehicle could easily find the scene. Within two to three minutes, West County EMS found the scene and 220 was left to direct traffic around all three vehicles. 220 pointed out the male victim to the EMS team, and resumed traffic control. The woman was a passerby and the person that called 911. Another minute or two later, a Town & Country Police Officer arrived and allowed 220 to continue directing traffic. 220 told the officer that everyone was in the ambulance and that the man was getting examined. By 9:10pm things were wrapping up and the male driver was told to follow the ambulance to St. Luke's Hospital (about one mile away). Everything was back to normal by 9:15pm, and 220 was thanked by the police officer and the EMS driver for helping out at the scene. December 16, 2003 - 10:00pm - Unit #220 assisted a Freightliner 18-wheeler at the top of the Tesson Ferry on-ramp from I-270. The tractor-trailer was blocking the right traffic lane and out of fuel so 220 blocked the ramp until the truck was re-fueled and left the scene. December 16, 2003 - 10:15pm - Unit #220 assisted a Freightliner tandem dump truck that had a flat tire on I-55 southbound just south of I-255. Since the tire could not be changed on-site, 220 followed the slow moving truck to the truck stop on I-44 and Soccer Park Rd in Fenton. The driver was from North Dakota and was passing through when the tire blew out. He thanked 220 for his assistance. December 17, 2003 - 9:10pm - Unit #220 assisted at the scene of a multi-vehicle accident with injuries on Highway 141 at Gravois Bluffs Plaza in Fenton. Two vehicles were involved, which kept the traffic from the west side of Gravois Bluffs from going east onto northbound Highway 141 and the east side from going southbound on Highway 141. 220 directed traffic on the west side and directed them to go south on Highway 141. December 21, 2003 - 12:05am - Unit #220 heard a report of a piece of metal on I-55 north of Butler Hill. 220 headed northbound and found a 10ft aluminum ladder between the far two left lanes of I-55 so he stopped his truck on the inside lane and turned on his lights. He got out, waved traffic to the right lanes, and removed the ladder. 220 got back into his truck and noticed a vehicle parked on the outside shoulder, close to the I-270/ I-255 ramps and drove over to investigate. The driver mentioned that she got the flat tire from hitting the ladder. 220 asked the driver if she wanted a police report for her insurance company but she declined. A St. Louis County Police officer pulled up behind 220's truck and asked what had happened. 220 informed the officer about the ordeal and said "the driver does not want to make out a report about the incident". The officer left the scene after a few minutes. 220 offered to change the tire for the female driver, but there was a problem. The driver's wheels had custom rims and 220 couldn't get the tire off without a custom tire iron. 220 offered to call a tow truck but the driver did that already as well as called a few friends. 220 left the scene and said he'd come back a little later to check on her. December 21, 2003 - 1:00am - Unit #220 noticed a stranded motorist on I-270 south of Clayton Rd. 220 spoke with the female driver and found out that her car had overheated and she was out of anti-freeze. 220 got out some anti-freeze and checked on the fluid level in the engine. A Town & Country Police Officer arrived and 220 explained the situation to him. Since everything seemed to be okay with the engine and the heater, the female driver got out to talk to the officer and 220. She told the officer she was heading home to Webster Groves. 220 offered to follow behind in case something happened. 220 followed the driver to her exit at Elm and I-44 and then went on his way home. December
22, 2003 - 11:10pm - Unit #220 heard a report of a vehicle accident
on southbound I-270 near JJ Kelley Memorial Drive but instead found
a stranded motorist with a flat tire on the northbound side of I-270
north of JJ Kelley Memorial Drive. A number of fire apparatus was
called to the scene and they stopped at 220's location thinking
this was the accident. 220 told them that it was only a flat tire
and to tell the other fire equipment that this was not it. The fire
trucks continued down the highway, but no accident was ever found.
Apparently, because of the heavy rain someone called 911 thinking
there was an accident. December 24, 2003 - 12:55am - Unit #220 heard a report of a vehicle accident on the Bowles Avenue on-ramp to westbound I-44. 220 proceeded to the scene and found Fenton Fire Department down with the vehicle. The vehicle skidded off a piece of ice half-way down the on-ramp, and went out of control, crashing into a drainage ditch at the bottom of the ramp. 220 saw that two firefighters were heading up the ramp to investigate and so 220 positioned his truck at the top of the ramp to block on-coming cars from entering. A police officer arrived at the bottom of the on-ramp after 220 and the fire department arrived on the scene and backed his patrol car up the ramp to where 220 was situated. The officer asked, "Why is the on-ramp blocked?" Unit 220 stated, "The firemen were walking on the ramp and nobody was doing anything to protect them from getting hit". The officer asked 220 to move his truck. 220 left the scene without any further problems. December 26, 2003 - 11:00pm - Unit #65 (with unit #02 riding along) and unit #220 assisted a young lady with a flat tire on northbound I-55 at Butler Hill Road. The young lady didn't know how to change the flat so 65 got out his hydraulic jack and he and 02 changed the tire on the left side of the car while 220 pulled his truck into the right lane to shield them. Ten minutes later, the tire was changed, she thanked them for their help, and she was on her way.
December 26, 2003 - 11:30pm - Unit #220 stopped to assist a motorist on westbound I-64 just west of Mason Road. The motorist was from Texas and didn't know any local tow companies to call so 220 called a tow truck for him. Unit #65 (with #02 riding along) pulled up behind 220 while they were waiting for the tow truck. When the tow truck arrived, 220 pulled into the right lane to shield the tow driver while he stood on the white line to hook up the vehicle. A few minutes later, the motorist thanked 220 for stopping and he left in the tow truck.
December 30, 2003 - 11:30pm - Unit #220 assisted a motorist with a flat tire on Highway 141 under I-44. The driver needed a better jack than the one he had, 220 offered it to him and helped him change the tire. The motorist thanked 220 for the light and the 2-ton car jack. December 30, 2003 - 11:33pm - Unit #220 heard a report of a stranded motorist on eastbound I-64 at the Missouri River. At the same time, 220 heard a police pursuit in St. Charles County on his scanner and decided to get to the stranded motorist even though an officer was dispatched to it. 220 saw the police car behind the car, so he turned around at Hwy 94 and headed back to it. The Sheriff's Deputy told 220 that there was a pursuit in progress and asked if 220 if he could handle it. 220 said, "Yes, go to your call, I heard all about it". The Deputy pointed out the flat and then left the scene immediately. Unit 220 explained the situation to the female driver and said he'd change the tire. (Before the pursuit, the deputy had a tow truck en route, but cancelled it when 220 arrived on scene). The tire was changed in about 15 minutes and the driver made a donation and thanked 220 for all of his help. December 31, 2003 - 12:40am - Unit #220 attempted to assist a stranded motorist with car trouble at I-270 south of I-64. The driver had been sitting for approximately 40 minutes before 220 had even arrived. The driver was waiting for the tow truck. 220 offered to wait with the driver until the tow truck showed up, thinking the tow would be there at any minute. At 1:00am, no tow truck had arrived yet and 220 offered his list of tow truck companies that were open 24 hours to the driver. At 1:10am, the driver returned the list. At 1:15am, the driver wanted the list back and 220 obliged him. At 1:30am, the original tow truck driver finally arrived but the driver decided to call a different tow company instead. While chatting with the original tow truck driver, the second company stated it could not make it to the scene. So, the original tow truck driver was able to tow the vehicle away and the dilemma was over by 1:55am. December 31, 2003 - 1:30am - Unit #220, while at the previous call, noticed that the local police department had pulled over a vehicle on northbound I-270 just north of the Clayton Rd overpass (across from where 220 was sitting with the vehicle). Over his scanner, 220 heard that the driver had received a summons, but when the male driver went back to his vehicle to start it up, the vehicle died. 220 heard that the driver's parents were en route to pick him up, so the T&C Police Officer left two flares behind the vehicle. At 2:05am, 220 was able to get to the vehicle and check out the situation. The driver informed him that the car was dead and that his parents were on the way. 220 asked if the car needed a jump, and the driver stated so. 220 offered to help, but decided to wait until the parents arrived, just in case. The mother of the driver arrived and she asked 220 if he would help. 220 got out his portable quick start charger and got the vehicle jumped without a problem. 220 left the scene as soon as the drivers were ready to go and they both thanked 220 for his help. |
