It’s a Tangle Web We Weave
For a game warden, it’s difficult to feel like you’re completely off on your days off, because, like other peace officers, it’s in our nature to be on the lookout for things that well, seem a little off. That’s especially true when it comes to hunting and fishing, because watching people engaged in those activities is just what we do, whether we’re on the clock or not.
But sometimes you see things on your day off that are more serious than possibly watching someone hide an undersized fish. Like the time I took my wife and two-year-old son to a local restaurant shortly after my transfer to Atascosa County. Game Warden Derek Iden and I were working on a case where a guy had trespassed onto a ranch around La Parita to do a little night-hunting and steal a few things. One of the items he didn’t steal, was a game camera which captured a pretty good shot of the guy’s face. But unfortunately, a good photo doesn’t mean much if nobody can identify who the person is.
So, Derek and I went all over the county showing people this picture to try and figure out who he was. We got Texas Parks and Wildlife to put up some reward money through Operation Game Thief and posted the pic all over social media. Nothing. We were about to give up, when someone gave us a name that turned out to be a promising lead, and it just so happened that this guy had a warrant out for his arrest for assaulting a peace officer. Nice.
Unfortunately, even though we then knew all about him, we still weren’t having much luck finding him – that is, until that day with my family in the restaurant. We were sitting in the front corner table. After ordering, I got up to go to the bathroom, which was at the other end of the building. As I approached the doorway that led to the restroom, I looked down at the table to my left. There, sitting against the wall, was our guy. I thought to myself, “What am I gonna do now?” Well, first things first, I used the restroom. Then, I made a beeline back to the table and whispered to my wife what I’d seen. “You’re not going to try to arrest him, are you?” she whispered back. “Heck no,” I said, “I’m gonna call Derek!”
Derek answered right away, but he wasn’t in a spot where he could get to my location quick enough, so he called the sheriff’s office dispatch. In no time, an Atascosa County Deputy and a Jourdanton Police Officer walked in and stood at the doorway scanning the room. It was a tangle web we weaved from then on out, because at that point, I was on the phone with Derek, who was on the phone with dispatch, who was on the radio with the two officers at the doorway.
Before the officers saw him, the suspect got up and dashed into the restroom. I relayed that info to Derek, and it got passed on down the chain, with some delay. The moment the officers got the info was funny, because in unison, their heads turned towards the restroom and they headed that direction, post haste. The two officers disappeared behind the door, and a couple of minutes later, came out with our suspect in handcuffs. Hooray!
Well, maybe not. It turned out that the guy wasn’t our guy after all, and though he was the right guy on the warrant, he wasn’t even the guy who allegedly assaulted the peace officer – THAT GUY was his brother. We got it all straightened out eventually, but we never solved our original case. You never know; that’s just the way it goes sometimes. It’s a tangled web we weave, for sure.
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