An unforgettable memory by Rajyogi.
It was 1984 and Diggie and I were on patrol in Antelope, Oregon. It was a quiet day – as usual – only a couple of crows looking for scraps in the street and an eagle circling up above. Diggie said, “Time for a veggie burger.” So we dropped in at Zorba the Buddha for lunch.
We were members of the Antelope Peace Force and we had an office just by the side of Zorba’s. We sat down at the counter and ordered the burgers. As we were chatting away, I heard the phone ring in our office. I told Diggs I would take the call.
I picked up the phone and a voice asked, “Is this Antelope Peace Force?”
“Yes, this is Officer Rajyogi speaking.”
“This is Sergeant James. I just wanted to warn you about this guy named Tiny, who just got out of Arizona Prison on parole. He is a member of Aryan Nation, Neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. He killed three men and was charged with manslaughter. He is 6 ft. 8 and weighs 300 pounds. He told someone in Madras that he is going down to Rajneeshpuram to find those guided missiles he said you are hiding.”
“Sergeant, why didn’t your officers stop him?”
“To tell ya the truth, they were afraid of him.”
“Thanks, Sergeant, for warning us,” I said and hung up the phone.
I drew in a deep breath. I could feel my heart thumping away in my chest. I picked up my Motorola and said, “This is 0 51, come in Dispatch.”
“This is Dispatch here.”
I told her about the phone call, and then our chief of Police, Barkha, came to the phone: “Raj, you have to stop this guy Tiny, check him for weapons and do what you can to deter him from coming to the Ranch.”
“OK, I will do my best,” I replied. I put my Motorola on the belt clip and went back into Zorba’s.
Diggie asked, “What was the call about?”
I told him it had been Sergeant James from Madras Police, and what he had said about Tiny. That I had called the Ranch, and what they’d said we should do.
To which Diggie said, “Fuck you, mate. I ain’t stopping that son of a bitch,” while he pulled away at a cig and then lit another one from the butt.
“Don’t worry, Diggs, you go up to the car when we stop him and I will be your support.”
“No way, Raj, you took the call. You got to stop him. I will stay with our car and give support.”
So we went back out on patrol – because the promised ex-con could show up at any time. The sergeant had said he was driving a red pickup truck. After a little while we saw such a truck turning the corner into Antelope. When it had passed we turned in behind it. I saw the truck had a brake light out – so that gave us a reason to stop him.
I turned on our flashing lights and he pulled over. I got out, walked slowly to the truck, glancing back to check if Diggs was in support. I will not lie – I was scared to death. I reached the truck. The giant was sitting there, glanced at the young girl who was sitting to his right, and put a finger on his lips as for her to be quiet. She looked like a rat in a trap, afraid even to move.
Tiny looked back at me with such hate in his eyes and said, “Why did you stop me? You stopped me for no reason.”
I said, “Can I see your driver’s license and car registration.”
“Why did you stop me?” he asked.
“First give me the documents and then I’ll tell you.”
But he just sat there. I could see a handgun lying on the dash. All of a sudden he reached toward the gun and I yelled, “Freeze,” and pulled my .357 magnum pistol.
He said, “I was reaching for my wallet” – which was next to the gun.
I was near the point of freaking out. I had come within an inch of killing this fucker… He gave me the license and said, “Where is the marijuana? And can you call the Ranch and tell them Tiny is coming down to destroy their guided missiles.”
I said, “I have nothing to do with the Ranch. I am Antelope Police. If you go down there, you are on your own and at great risk if you cause any trouble. If I were you I would head back to Madras.”
I gave him back his license and slowly walked back toward my patrol car as he kept shouting, “I said, where is the fucking grass?”
Sure that I looked like a blur – I was shaking so bad. Got in the car, pulled out around Tiny’s truck and drove down through town, pulled off the road and sat there, just trying to relax and calm down. When I saw that Tiny was turning around heading down to the Ranch I called Dispatch and told them what had happened and added, “Tiny is headed your way…”
The word was all through the Ranch and the head women were busy preparing for Tiny’s arrival. I forget her name, but Sheela had summoned this little woman who had worked in the emergency ward of a big hospital in NewYork and had dealt with every kind of weirdo on the planet. Everybody else had left the Welcome Center – only this woman was there.
I heard that when Tiny came in the door she started screaming at him like he was a little boy being scolded by his mother. Tiny freaked out, flew out the door, got in his truck and took off out of the Ranch – and we never heard from the dude again.
Adapted from two of Raj’s posts on Facebook
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