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  #51  
Old 04-13-2011, 10:22 AM
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Steve Steve is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NoDrama43 View Post
Steve,

great story about herding the animals...I have had to do that a few times myself over the years... Maybe some day I will recite the story of tying a dazed deer to my 82 Diplomat with my hobble restraint. Dumb rookies can make mistakes like that at times.... lol.. Believe me it was not pretty when the deer "came to"...

great thread here guys !!
I know what you mean about the deer, Jim. One time on patrol I came across one that had been hit by a vehicle and was down, in the roadway, not moving at all. I thought it was dead; I was calling for DOT to come out and remove the body. All of the sudden it got up and took off at warp speed. I can only imagine what would have happened if it had been restrained in any way!
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  #52  
Old 04-13-2011, 10:28 AM
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Default Hank Goode

Mike, shouldn't be hard to contact Highway Hank. He's on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Here's a link to his website:

http://highwayhank.multiply.com/

He lives in Monticello, New York. He's probably got a fantastic collection of vintage patrol car photos.
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  #53  
Old 04-13-2011, 08:12 PM
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Default The Twilight Zone???

One night I was patrolling Northbound on Interstate 5, in the middle of nowhere. I5 in this area is a four-lane concrete freeway, two lanes in each direction, with a wide (about 40') dirt center divider and paved shoulders. At night during the week there isn't much traffic, mostly trucks, and so speeds tend to be high. In this area the road is almost flat and straight for about 10 miles in either direction. It was a clear night so I should have been able to see tail lights and truck running lights for miles ahead, framed by the bright starry night. But something was very wrong; dead ahead there was a black void. I could see the lights of approaching cars on the left, twinkling lights from the valley on the right, and the star canopy above. But immediately in front, at ground level, where the taillights of trucks should be seen, there was absolutely nothing. Just a void, an emptiness, as though someone had cut a rectangular piece out of a photo. This was beyond odd. What was happening on my beat? Was this a portal to another dimension? A wormhole in space? Was the next stop the "Twilight Zone"? I don't listen much to late-night talk radio and I'm not into UFO stories, but this was seriously weird.
As I continued, the void loomed slightly larger. Then it appeared I was getting close to something I could actually see. I turned on the high-beam headlights. The color of the void began to change from black to dark gray. Then I began to see shapes, lines...this thing wasn't a space portal, it was an object! But what? As I closed on it the answer was apparent: I was looking at the undercarriage of a 40' semitrailer, which had flipped onto its left side and was at rest completely covering both lanes at an almost perfect perpendicular angle. The trailer extended from the center divider all the way across both lanes and onto the shoulder, totally blocking the northbound lanes. The underside was dark and covered with road dirt, and with no lights on it was not readily visible to approaching traffic at a distance. The accident had apparently occurred within minutes because steam and smoke was still rising and I was the only one at the scene. I quickly activated every source of emergency light available plus the emergency flasher lights, and the red spotlight facing backward to give as much warning as possible to approaching traffic. I then located the tractor and verified that the driver was okay. I reported it to dispatch and called for a big rig tow asap then laid out a long flare pattern that merged traffic into the number one lane, then into the center divider and around the wreck. By the time the flare pattern was complete there was so much light there it could be seen for miles. Approaching trucks were coming in slow and careful; I'm certain the CB channel was busy.
I again contacted the driver who exited the cab by breaking out what was left of the windshield. He was shaken but unhurt. He had fallen asleep and the rig jacknifed, coming to rest on its side. It took both the medium and big rig tow trucks available in Los Banos to get the rig back onto its wheels and off the highway. Fortunately no one was injured and no other vehicles became involved. I felt very fortunate to have been first on the scene, in a position to immediately stabilize the situation and reduce the danger. I could just imagine a car with some family coming back from a long day at Disneyland, driving fast to get home, perhaps sleepy, rolling up on that hazard and seeing it much too late. It still gives me chills to think of what tragedy easily could have happened that night.
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  #54  
Old 04-13-2011, 08:41 PM
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ImEvil1 ImEvil1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve View Post
Mike, shouldn't be hard to contact Highway Hank. He's on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Here's a link to his website:

http://highwayhank.multiply.com/

He lives in Monticello, New York. He's probably got a fantastic collection of vintage patrol car photos.

Thanks....I'll shoot him a message and see what he says.

I've always worried about the kind of accident you described above....I think that they are one of the most dangerous you could ever roll up on.
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'82 SSP (Marketing Order)
'83 Colorado State Patrol #202
'83 Texas DPS
'85 Florida Highway Patrol #1422
'93 Florida Highway Patrol #1187
'93 Florida Highway Patrol #1363
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  #55  
Old 04-21-2011, 01:42 PM
Cobra Jet Cobra Jet is offline
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Hi Steve,

For your interest -

There was this 82 CHP that was listed just months ago on many Mustang forums, including this one (and it has sold as of March 2011). It was pretty much an original unit purchased right from CA. The below link has pictures of it and despite it's age & condition, it was in really great condition.

I'm not sure how the Seller's CHP # 0513 would correlate with an "E" number though...?

http://www.specialservicemustang.net...ead.php?t=3042

Thanks for sharing your pics, stories and info, definitely really interesting!
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  #56  
Old 04-21-2011, 05:41 PM
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Wolfe1013 Wolfe1013 is offline
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Cobra Jet, that would be E870513. Mine is either E850567 or E870567. Don't know. My assignment card got lost in the mail.
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1982 CHP Mustang Coupe, Unit # E870567 **SOLD to chp1982**
1988 Mustang 5.0 LX, Unit # HP 43 (Wyoming Highway Patrol)
1991 Ford Crown Victoria S (Brentwood, CA Police Dept/Cinema Vehicle Svcs)
1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS B4C, Unit # 360 (Colorado State Patrol) **SOLD BACK TO CSP**
1996 Bronco XL 5.8L (California Highway Patrol)
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  #57  
Old 04-21-2011, 07:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobra Jet View Post
Hi Steve,

For your interest -

There was this 82 CHP that was listed just months ago on many Mustang forums, including this one (and it has sold as of March 2011). It was pretty much an original unit purchased right from CA. The below link has pictures of it and despite it's age & condition, it was in really great condition.

I'm not sure how the Seller's CHP # 0513 would correlate with an "E" number though...?

http://www.specialservicemustang.net...ead.php?t=3042

Thanks for sharing your pics, stories and info, definitely really interesting!
Hi Cobra Jet, I think I saw that one (too late). Well maybe 870255 will show up, or Mike will decide to sell his '82...

Wolfe, your vehicle I believe was E870567. I am guessing that the E plate numbers were sequential, and as '82 was the first year, the E850 numbers would have been before the Mustangs. Guessing again, I'll say E850567 was probably a Dodge Diplomat.

Doing some math, and assuming 567 was the very last '82 Mustang, and since CHP bought 406 '82s first would have been 161. Could not have been all the way back to E850 by that reasoning.

I think I have one more pic of 870255, taken from the front. When (if) I find it I'll post it.

-Steve
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  #58  
Old 05-26-2011, 08:46 PM
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Wolfe1013 Wolfe1013 is offline
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Hey, Steve. My car served with yours!!! E870567 served out of Los Banos (461).

My assignment card arrived in the mail today. I thought it was lost forever.

E870567 entered service 03/28/83 and retired 04/04/85.

Any way you could help me pin down the car's driver since you worked with him/her?

I'll post more in my car's thread.

Greg
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1982 CHP Mustang Coupe, Unit # E870567 **SOLD to chp1982**
1988 Mustang 5.0 LX, Unit # HP 43 (Wyoming Highway Patrol)
1991 Ford Crown Victoria S (Brentwood, CA Police Dept/Cinema Vehicle Svcs)
1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS B4C, Unit # 360 (Colorado State Patrol) **SOLD BACK TO CSP**
1996 Bronco XL 5.8L (California Highway Patrol)
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  #59  
Old 05-26-2011, 10:29 PM
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Steve Steve is offline
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Hi Phil,

I think 0513 would have had a plate number of E870513. I'll check out the link.

Glad you liked the stories.

Steve







Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobra Jet View Post
Hi Steve,

For your interest -

There was this 82 CHP that was listed just months ago on many Mustang forums, including this one (and it has sold as of March 2011). It was pretty much an original unit purchased right from CA. The below link has pictures of it and despite it's age & condition, it was in really great condition.

I'm not sure how the Seller's CHP # 0513 would correlate with an "E" number though...?

http://www.specialservicemustang.net...ead.php?t=3042

Thanks for sharing your pics, stories and info, definitely really interesting!
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  #60  
Old 05-26-2011, 10:40 PM
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Steve Steve is offline
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Posts: 248
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Hello Greg,

That's a real coincidence. As I recall we had 3 or 4 Mustangs assigned to Los Banos since we did so much high speed work there. I used to put anywhere from 100 to 200+ miles per day on a vehicle as the area was big.

I remember all the guys that worked there, but I don't know who had what vehicle assigned by number. If it wasn't for the photos I wouldn't have remembered 870255. That was 27 years ago...But you know, every once in a great while I will stop by the office in Los Banos. If I can get by there in the daytime I'll go in and identify myself and see if they have any records. A shot in the dark, and I don't know what info they will release if any. But I'll give it a try.

That's very cool that you have an '82.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfe1013 View Post
Hey, Steve. My car served with yours!!! E870567 served out of Los Banos (461).

My assignment card arrived in the mail today. I thought it was lost forever.

E870567 entered service 03/28/83 and retired 04/04/85.

Any way you could help me pin down the car's driver since you worked with him/her?

I'll post more in my car's thread.

Greg

Last edited by Steve; 05-26-2011 at 10:42 PM. Reason: typo
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