This story involves the same Officer Jones (not his real name) from the last story. This happened about 3 years earlier before everyone knew he was crazy. Maybe before he went crazy?

I was very early on in my career . I was working with another more experienced officer who really loved to "chase dope". He really loved to do any kind of police work that involved drugs. He knew all of the drug dealers in the area, knew their operations, and knew how to catch them. He has since been been transferred to Narcotics.

My partner and I approached a known a drug house on foot. I say "approached" but we really sneaked (snuck?) up from the rear of the house and as I was walking past the side window a guy inside the house said "whadya what, man"? I stood there for a second wondering what he meant and then my partner said "Gimme 2 dimes". The guy then said "ok, hang on". I was still standing there in disbelief. We were in full police uniform and he was going to sell us 2 rocks of crack. Apparently, he couldnt see us very well because it was pitch black on the side of the house.

My partner told me to stay there and whistle when I saw the crack and he took off for the front of the house. I whistled just as he was rounding the corner. He told me later that he ran over a guy who was "good eyeing" in the front. A "good eye" is a lookout.

My partner kicked in the front door and I grabbed the dealers arm when he stuck it out to hand me the crack. I tried to pull him out of the window but it wasnt open far enough. My partner got to him from the inside of the house and handcuffed him.

I then ran to the front of the house just in time to see someone running out the front door and the chase was on. I was young, just out of the Army and in great shape, but this guy was like a rabbit. He ran in between some houses, jumped a fence and ran down the alley with me right behind him, I radioed that I was "on the ground" (meaning I as in a foot chase) and I continued to chase him thru the alley. I almost got hit by a car as the alley crossed a regular street but I was able to jump out of the way. I wasnt able to catch the guy but I kept him in sight long enough for another squad to arrive and begin chasing him in their car. The guy eventually got away by cutting thru some more backyards and we lost sight of him.

We went back to the drug house and my partner said "dont worry, I know him and I know where he lives".

We waited about an hour and got a few more officers and surrounded his house. I was in the front so I didnt see what happened but somehow the guy got out the back door and by the officers watching the back and the chase was on again.

We had him contained within about a 5 house area and we knew he was hiding in one of the backyards. We started searching yard by yard. Officer Jones somehow ended up with me as we searched. I climbed over a ricketty chain link fence with no problems and then a few seconds later I heard Jones screaming. I looked back and saw that he was impaled on the top of the fence. The top pole of the fence was broken and the little forklike prong on top of the chain link was jammed into his thigh / groin.

My partner and I got to him about the same time and had to lift Jones' 225 pounds up and off of the fence. I could see that it was stuck deep into his thigh and was wincing just thinking about how badly it must hurt and how badly it was going to hurt when we lifted him. We got him off the fence and he had a 5 inch gash in his inner thigh and he was bleeding like a stuck pig. My partner applied pressure to his thigh to try to slow the bleeding while we waited for the ambulance.

During the commotion, the drug dealer tried to jump from his hiding spot which was only about 10 feet away and run, but another officer saw him and captured him.

My partner was awarded a life saving bar because it was determined that Jones may have bled to death because an artery had been damamged.

I find it strangely ironic that your partner was awarded the life saving bar in saving Officer Jones's life when later Officer Jones thought the police department was trying to end his life.

Great story.