Chief Melekian's Santa Barbara take-down
Pasadena police Chief Bernard Melekian had the day off Monday and was driving through Santa Barbara on 101 when a car in front of him on the freeway veered to the right and crashed into a culvert.
The driver jumped from the car and ran from the scene.
The old patrolman's instincts kicked in for Barney, according to this story in the Santa Barbara Daily Sound. He pulled over and chased the 31-year-old man into an RV park, and even though the relative kid comandeered a bicycle, Barney got his perp and then called the local cops, who found Gustavo Rodriguez prone on the ground in the custody of the off-duty chief.
They also say they found him reeking of booze, and -- allegedly -- discovered open containers of hooch when they went back to the crashed Camry.
Melekian is a confirmed teetotaler who has seen way too much of what the demon alcohol can do to a family and to a driver behind the wheel. I'm guessing that makes this arrest a particularly pleasing one for a guy who spends most of his time behind a desk rather than out on the streets.
Sure makes for a good story, too, at the next gathering of the California Police Chiefs Association, of which Barney is the president this year.