One of my favorite Gumptionista moments came a few years ago when I witnessed a hit and run accident. I remember the day clearly. I was at a red light making a left hand turn. At the light on the other side of the street, a man slowly stopped and then rolled into the car in front of him. As soon as the light turned green, the woman preceded to pull over, but the man made a quick right turn and took off. I could not believe what I was seeing. I immediately chased after him and thankfully he was stopped at another red light. I wrote down his license plate number, details of his car, and whatever features I could see from behind. I went back to the scene, hoping that the victim was still there. I figured I could hand off the information and continue on with my day. Unfortunately, she had already left. I called the police, who showed up in minutes to take my report. I’ll never forget the officer saying to me, “ya know, people get killed doing this sort of stuff.” I responded, “well Officer Canterbury, this wasn’t going to happen on my watch. I was the victim of a hit and run accident a year previous and I wish someone had taken the time to do what I did today.”
About an hour later, I got a call from Officer Canterbury, indicating that the same car had hit another vehicle and the man left the car at the scene and walked home. I was asked to come and identify the man, who was drunk out of his mind, standing in his yard with another officer. I positively identified him and he was taken into custody. I received a call from Officer Canterbury later that night, thanking me for taking the time out of my day and doing the right thing. Apparently, I was the only person who came forward and this man went to jail for DUI for the second time for hitting three cars that day, drunk. I thought at that moment, I have on my Gumptionista bullet proof vest and as long as I was doing what I believed, nothing and no one could hurt me.
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