In the illustrious words of President George W. Bush, "my walk is not a swagger, it's how we walk here in Texas." Texas is bigger, seems to have more and is home to arguably some of the best high school football in the nation. I have been to Texas on several occasions and to say that the state is unique, seems to be an understatement. It's buildings are bigger, cities larger, natural resources more plentiful and it's people, "by God seem to be bigger," then the rest of the countries.
Cattle, oil and agricultural products drive the states financial markets. From Austin to Lubbock to Houston to Dallas, the economy of this lone star state drives the entire southwestern part of the United States. Everything seems to run hot in Texas, even the weather, for most of the year.
Law enforcement in Texas is a no nonsense, in your face, get on the ground type of operation and one that does not take kindly to back-talk during any type of altercation. There is absolutely no doubt who is in charge during an incident with Texas law.
So you understand the contentious outrage that one Mesquite, Texas police officer felt when he was confronted by a perpetrator unwilling to drop to the ground spread eagle so that the officer could handcuff him. The situation was grave, given the fact that the perp was menacing and threatening a group of middle school kids in this early morning stand-off.
The cop, to his credit had positioned himself between the menacing aggressor and the school kids. Guns wouldn't work, Tasers were ineffective and back-up was en-route. Needless to say, the situation was deteriorating with every passing second. As the wily bad guy made a quick menacing move, the cop made a split second decision and drew his pepper spray canister for the impending assault.
With deft dexterity, the police officer opened fire with the phlegm inducing chemical spray bottle. Instantly the offender dropped to the ground and begin a wriggling gyration that completely diffused the situation. Cheers rose from the young children, not of appreciation, but rather condemnation, "don't spray him, don't spray him, you'll kill him, you'll kill him."
The cop, with a discussed look on his face and feeling a twinge of pain for how the school students did not appreciate his heroic actions to protect their safety, turned away to survey the crime scene and to protect it's integrity. Back-up arrived within minutes and it was time to completely secure the suspect, interview potential witnesses and wrap up the incident.
The still whithering perp was collected up, placed in the back of a meat wagon and taken to the city animal control facility. You see, the perpetrator in this early morning crisis was a three pound, at the most, squirrel. The city police officer guessed that the small, but possible lethal critter might have been infected with rabies, because it wouldn't obey commands to halt and assume the position.
The story does have a happy ending however, as a Mesquite animal control officer, after caring for the animal, released the squirrel back to the wild, hopefully several miles from the Kimbrough Middle School and the possibly traumatized school children.
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