Evaded the cops…

Thinking nothing of police pulling up behind our stalled car (again with me behind the wheel) they came up and asked what was going on. I explained the situation to them and the casually asked for all of our ID’s. As we handed them over and they returned to their vehicle to start running the info, Josh and I joked about trying to see if the car would start now, and if it did just taking off (since it probably wouldn’t stay running for long). We sat and chatted until we all determined that it was taking a little longer than we thought it should to verify all of our identities.

Shortly before they walked back up to us, they turned on the red and blues. Always a nice comforting feeling. Not putting much more thought into that action we watched as they approached us again. They handed back my son’s and his girlfriends ID’s, and then asked me if I had insurance. Thinking that was odd, I informed them that I did indeed (more on that fun little statement later) and the discussion continued. Apparently they thought the vehicle was mine and when my son informed them it was his and that his insurance was automatically deducted from his account, things became a bit clearer. Apparently the payment had not processed, and since his insurance used email to notify him (the one method he rarely checks) he wasn’t even aware of it. The police informed us they HAD to take the license plate, and the vehicle could no be operated on public roads until these matters were resolved.

OK, so now we didn’t have a rental car OR a vehicle to take us anywhere else, along with the fact that we now have to figure out exactly what to do with his vehicle. (Remember we wanted to be on the road about this time already on our way to Cali). But wait… the cops weren’t done yet. Looking at me, they informed me there was a problem with my license. WTH?!?!?! The officer asked me how tall I was and I informed him I was 6’1″. He then stated that my license states different and then started asking if I had EVER gone by any other names or aliases. Informing him (repeatedly as he asked the question multiple times in various ways) that I had not ever gone by anything other than the name stated on my license he then informed me that apparently there is someone around here, that matches my description except for the fact that their height is different (I’m assuming matching the height of 5’1″ that my license has incorrect), and this person has some felony warrants. After more discussion the officer agreed it wasn’t me (didn’t take much convincing thankfully) and they then informed us that while they would be taking the license plate, they would not issue any tickets (apparently this would have been a $450 ticket issued to the current person driving the car, yep… yours truly). So we thanked them for that, and they were on their way.

So as we sat in a car that would barely remain running, without the “legal” ability to even operate it on public streets even if it did start, we decided to try to start it (it did) and move it to a parking spot at the airport. It barely even made it that far before stalling out again and we sat to decide how to proceed from here. We walked back into the airport to see if it would be possible to leave it in their parking lot over the long weekend and we would get it taken care of Tuesday upon returning home (thankfully we were) and see if by chance a car was now available from the rental place, if not, we decided we’d get a taxi/ride home and then proceed from there. The guy at the rental counter informed us he should have one about 3PM (it was now about 2) so we decided to just wait it out at the airport. About 20 minutes before 3 he then informed us he had a minivan if we wanted it, at the same price as the vehicle I had attempted to schedule. We said of course, and within a bit of time we were on our way. Returned home, loaded the van up, and got the hell out of town before anything more could happen.

Tomorrow, I’ll wrap up this whole sordid story with the fiasco that awaited us upon returning. Thankfully the trip back and forth to Cali (and our time there) went pretty much as we’d expected. Apparently all the extra stress was reserved for while we were back in Arizona…