He went thataway!

In Baltimore City, the police commissioner is asking citizens to tell the police just who is committing all this mayhem down there- the armed robberies, the shootings, the murders, and everything else  - because the usual sources of information are not forthcoming so much anymore.

There is a "Stop The Snitch" ethos in the city; people find it unsafe to tell the law who did what because they fear retribution. You can hardly blame someone for not naming the name of a vicious criminal, if they feel there's a chance that the viciousness might be visited upon them one day soon, especially given the unlikelihood that the bad guy(s) will be in prison for a long time. It's a difficult choice, understood.

But here's a story from Pflugerville,  Texas, where police tracked down the driver they think is responsible for a hit-and-run crash with some help from local Girl Scouts. The wreck occurred on East Pflugerville Parkway, where, I guess, maybe someone was driving a bit too pfast or something. Or maybe not; let's be pfair about it.

All I know is, 911 sent officers to the scene, and they were told on arrival that two cars were involved, but one vehicle took off toward a nearby Walgreens, leaving an 82-year old man at the scene complaining of a chest injury.

They couldn't find a suspect in the parking lot, but a gaggle of girls selling cookies in front of the store said they saw the guy go into the store.

And that's where he was found, in there buying some items. Upon questioning, he admitted that he was James Crawford, the guy driving the car involved. His story was that he was talking to a frontseat passenger when the car in front of him stopped suddenly and then  Boom!, as the late John Madden would have said. 

 

He took a nice booking photo.

Crawford, 41, told the cops that he stopped to check that the other driver was all right, but ran off because "he was nervous and wanted to use the phone." He also told the police he didn't think he needed to hang around the scene of the crash because he "didn't have any information to exchange with the other driver."

The other driver was checked out by a hospital and is ok, except for the part where his car is smashed up in the rear by a man who has no information. Crawford faces charges of failure to stop, causing bodily injury, and causing damage to a vehicle exceeding $200.

If Girl Scouts can still earn merit badges, these fine young ladies should be first in line!