A familiar face …

Joseph Hinkston grew up in Oakland.  His street smarts and Oakland brogue can intimidate even the most hardened felons.  But beneath the tough exterior is a young man possessed of a great sense of humor and passion for the job.

During his training period, Hinkston cornered a bank-robbery suspect in his car.  He used his patrol car to block the driver-side door, then rushed to the passenger side of the car with his weapon drawn and ready to use.

In the Chronicle that follows, Hinkston captures the ultimate suspect … and experiences a powerful sense of déjà vu that takes him back to his days as an intake counselor at a juvenile facility.

*****

Most of the morning was dedicated to monitoring the daily commute traffic—stops, warnings, citations.  It occurred to Joe that he was a victim of the morning traffic commute just like everyone else, only he had to work in it!  Every day!

He couldn't shake the BOL (cop code for “be on the look-out”) he read at briefing: Darryl Spencer.  Wanted for shooting his girlfriend point blank in the head.  Believed to be driving a white Honda Civic, 3RHI725.  Stop and hold; proceed with great caution.

Back when Spencer was a juvenile, Hinkston had met him at intake on several occasions.  A chronic problem to his parents and to the local cops, Spencer seemed unreachable even then.  Hinkston wondered if he would recognize him again if he saw him; it had been years since their last encounter. 

Backed into a spot at the Willow Road Market, Joe surveyed the intersection in front of him and nursed his second cup of cold coffee.  At first Hinkston couldn't identify the face he saw in a car that caught his eye out on the street.  He squinted over the cup below his eyes and then froze.  The car wasn't right, but the face fit his memory perfectly—it was Darryl Spencer.

Stopped for the light, Spencer's attention was on the traffic.  He didn't see Hinkston.  The next seconds were crucial, and Hinkston had to make them count.  If he waited for Spencer to clear the intersection and then attempted to trail him, Joe knew he'd be in for a long and dangerous pursuit.

Hinkston set his coffee down and drove instinctively toward the crosswalk, driving on the wrong side of the road.  The maneuver meant he would actually have to pass Spencer on the way.  He figured Spencer would just think he was en route to a call …  When Hinkston cradled the mike to report his plan, he knew backup would be coming Code 3 (cop talk for “emergency situation: use lights and sirens”).  He also knew it would still be a while before backup would arrive, and he had to act immediately.

The light turned green for Spencer's traffic line.  Just before the first car began to move forward, Hinkston applied his lights and blocked the path of the first car, trapping Spencer's vehicle as well as the long line of motorists behind him.  Hinkston quickly exited his car.  Ignoring the angry honking that now erupted, he drew his weapon and ran to the black SUV.

Spencer's face was caught in an expression of both surprise and fear.  Hinkston leveled his handgun near Spencer's face and ordered him to turn his car off.  Spencer's initial objection turned to compliance as Hinkston's finger went from trigger guard to trigger.

The honking abated as Hinkston removed Spencer from his car at gunpoint, laid him out in the middle of the street, and handcuffed him.  Hinkston marched Spencer to his car and waited for the sirens he could hear approaching.  He then backed his car from its blocking position, parked it out of the way of traffic, exited his car and began directing traffic around the black SUV.

When the army of assistance arrived, Joe was working the traffic around a black SUV.  His suspect safely cuffed and secured in his vehicle, it occurred to Joe that the often-derided commute traffic deserved an assist in this particular arrest …