Having Fun with Tragedy

This morning on KPRC’s website there was a story about a fellow who got killed trying to cross one of our freeways. Idle curiosity had me reading the details; turns out he was fleeing the police.



“According to police, the victim was a suspect in an altercation in downtown Houston. He then got on a METRO bus and exits at the Acres Homes stop, according to police. METRO police apprehended him at a James Coney Island on the northbound feeder road, police said. The man got into a confrontation with officers and proceeds to run across the freeway, police said.”


“HPD said the man managed to get across the northbound lanes on I-45 but was hit by a Ford Expedition and possibly two other vehicles as he tried to cross the southbound lanes on I-45, police said.”


There’s a scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; actually a couple of scenes come to mind. “Next time I say, Let’s go to Bolivia…” I can’t picture Butch and Sundance heading out of town on a Metro bus much less scuffling with police at James’ Coney Island.


The professional trackers were hot on their trail, looking back once in a while, “Who are those guys?” rapidly making their way across rocky terrain, higher and higher. Surrounded with no way out and faced with the decision; “We could shoot it out or jump” followed by Sundance’s, “I can’t swim”. Butch laughs while moving ever closer to the edge, the river far below, “Hell, the fall will probably kill you”. The two of them step off into the arms of gravity, “Ohhhhhhh…(think of a letter, any letter)…hit!”


I could have used the movie, Speed, lots of action there too. Towards the end the mad bomber’s holding the detonation device while our hero is wrestling with him on top of a speeding out of control train. “You know what I like about you. You’re tall.” Splat, as the overhead marker catches the bad guy and takes his head off.


The same basic scene was in another movie, Narrow Margin; Gene Hackman playing the part of a resolute prosecutor trying to get a key witness to testify against a murdering thug. While on top of the speeding train, about to get blasted by one of the many bad guy’s hired guns and approaching a tunnel, “You know what I like about you... You’re tall.” Thump, the bad lady meets her final reward.


I may have altered the exact dialog; but the ending left little for the imagination. Forgive my retired night shift cop humor; it comes up at the most extraordinary times. Getting slammed by an Expedition going sixty miles an hour couldn’t have been better than a comfortable jail cell for the night. He must never have heard the old saying, “You may beat the rap; but you can’t beat the ride”


As a matter of minor interest; both of my daughters have wrecked cars at that particular location. I think there’s an evil spirit built into the roadway and the City of Houston should put up road signs, “Bad Karma Ahead, Exit Now!” Okay, I admit it; I should probably seek professional counseling.


This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.