Vengeance of the Freeway Phantom
Chapter 10
The following morning, Ponch was very much ready to leave the city behind. He had gotten his gear all set and packed in the car the evening before. So this morning, all he had to do was grab a jacket and head out the door.
The Phantom was all set to carry out his delayed plan. Today was going to be the day he was finally going to 'take out' his pigeon. Once Ponch was disposed of, he'd move back on to even greener pastures...California's highways were full of Chippies! Much earlier that morning, he had spotted and 'borrowed' his latest car. He was always grateful to the people that made it so easy to 'take' their vehicles.
Now he was waiting for his next victim to come out of his apartment complex and start heading to work. But when Ponch left the building, he was dressed in blue jeans, a red and black shirt and carrying a jacket, instead of being in his uniform. That led the Phantom to correctly surmise that the CHP officer had the day off. It made no difference to him. Today was going to be the day.
Ponch drove out of the parking area and was soon on the highway. Just knowing he was leaving the city behind for a little while, even if it was just for two days, made him smile. Then he thought about Jon, who was working for Baricza today. He honestly didn't know how Baker could do it. After the funeral yesterday, Ponch felt he needed this break. He really needed to get away and clear his head. He got to thinking that maybe since the friends he was meeting weren't cops, which would mean the conversation would be totally law enforcement free, maybe that would help in distancing himself even more. Then again, he figured if anyof the guys he was going to be with the next two days had heard about the 'Phantom' that would be a conversation he couldn't avoid.
The Phantom wasn't all that far behind the off-duty officer. The psycho wasn't really all that concerned about his pigeon being in his car instead of on his motorcycle. The felon just needed to adjust his tactics a little. Adjustments presented no problem. He would just have to be patient and hopefully, the conditions would be right and other drivers would cooperate...this time.
They had driven quite a ways on the 405, when suddenly---the Phantom not only saw his chance, but also realized the terrain they were coming up to could make for one dandy 'accident'. If he played his cards right, off-duty CHP Officer Poncher--something, er other, would definitely be put out of commission. The car that was to his victim's right finally pulled ahead, which opened up the space for the Phantom to change lanes and move up on his target. "About time!!" he vehemently spoke out loud as he had been waiting, as far as he was concerned, far too long for this opportunity.
He swung into the vacated portion of that lane and moved up enough to be just slightly ahead of Ponch's vehicle. Now he had to make sure the cars up ahead stayed far enough ahead to give him plenty of room to get out of the way once the action really started happening.
Ponch took a quick look at the sporty-looking vehicle that was just to his right. He smiled as he realized paranoia was setting in. His grin broadened when he realized he was in his personal car and not his motor. But his grin quickly faded when all of a sudden that very car made a hard left, which connected with the right side of his car. It happened so fast he had no time to react, there wasn't anything he could do.
The hit caused the desired effect, as far as the Phantom was concerned. Ponch's car spun around connected with one care and the his driver's side was now facing oncoming traffic. The first car behind him hit him nearly broadside even though the driver desperately tried to avoid the out of control car in front of him. That first impact jolted Ponch away from--and then slammed him back against his car door. His head struck the car's window hard enough to render him unconscious.
Meanwhile, a second vehicle failed---also miserably, to avoid being involved. Its driver swerved to miss the car that had piled into Ponch's and ended up slamming into the Firebird, as well--just moments after the initial impact. Following the second hit, Ponch's careening car flipped over and kept rolling over till it went off the shoulder and then rolled down the embankment coming to rest on the driver's side. As Ponch's car disappeared, other cars were still colliding together, no matter how hard drivers were trying to avoid getting involved. When the accident was finally over, about seven cars--not including Ponch's Firebird--had been involved.
A motorist who had a car phone quickly called in to 911 and requested ambulances, police and fire crew. Actually, the emergency dispatcher received numerous calls reporting the same accident.
Another motorist who had managed to witness the carnage from a safe distance had spotted a brown car go tumbling down the embankment. He pulled over onto the shoulder and ran over to the spot where he had seen the vehicle disappear. He was very concerned as he wasn't so sure anyone in the car could have made it through what happened. So he carefully worked his way down to check on the driver.
Now what about the Phantom? Well, this time even he barely escaped being involved in the mess. Because, when Ponch's Firebird spun out of control, it had clipped the back of his own car. However, he managed to see his victim's vehicle coming around toward his tail and had punched the accelerator--just in the nick of time. He looked back in his rearview mirror and watched his pigeon's crumpled car disappear over the embankment. he felt assured that his mission had been accomplished. It would be some time, if ever, before that cop would be bothering him or anyone else on the highway again. The Freeway Phantom wiped the sweat from his brow and then fled the scene of the collision.
Speaking of the accident...back at the scene, the motorist who had gone down the embankment to check on the Firebird's driver, soon realized that there wasn't any way that he could reach the car's unconscious occupant without help. Although the man had somehow managed to get on top of the vehicle, he couldn't budge the front passenger's side door. When he got back down on the ground he could hear the sirens of various emergency vehicles.
One of the sirens stopped wailing, so he began yelling at the top of his voice, "Down here! Down here! I need help!" Seconds later, a CHP officer appeared and looked down the embankment. The Good Samaritan motioned for the officer to join him, "C'mon, this guy needs help!"
Before Baker started making his way down to help the shouting motorist, he took a second to see if any firemen or paramedics were available to assist him. At the moment, the few units that were there were already tied up. So the officer went solo and descended the hill as quickly as he safely could.
As he got closer to the vehicle, Baker stopped dead in his tracks, "Ponch!" Upon closer inspection he had somehow managed to recognize the battered car. Baker felt his stomach turn, and his face turned pale. He had to force himself to move and noticed that his feet felt as though they were made of lead.
The motorist heard the officer call out a name and then literally saw the color drain from his face, "Officer, you okay?"
The question startled Jon back to reality. He'd forgotten the guy was even there, "Yeah! Go topside! Get some paramedics and firemen down here!" The motorist quickly left as ordered.
Jon got up on Ponch's car and pulled, yanked and twisted till somehow he managed to pull open the stubborn front passenger's door. He was about to ease himself down into the car when help arrived. "Hold it Officer, let us do that," the captain of one of the many fire departments on scene advised...Station 51, according to the number on his helmet.
Baker was about to tell him, 'Forget it!', but before he could another fireman began to guide him safely back down onto the ground. Jon was not happy at all about being relieved--but he knew Ponch needed the experience that these guys had in dealing with this kind of situation along with the necessary tools needed to get him out of the car.
One of the paramedics eased himself down into the car as carefully as he could so as not to further injure the victim. He started assessing the patient's medical situation.
While he did that, his partner contacted the hospital, "Rampart, this is Squad 51, how do you read?"
"We read you loud and clear, 51."
"Rampart, we have a victim of an automobile accident. The vehicle rolled down an embankment. Patient is trapped in the car; we're now working on extricating him at this time."
"We'll be standing by, 51."
"Heads up, Johnny!" another firefighter, with KELLY emblazoned across the back of his turnout coat yelled and then dropped a blanket down to the dark-haired paramedic inside the car. Johnny covered the patient as well as himself to shield them both from any flying glass. His colleagues intended to smash the windshield as that would be the safest way to get the victim out. While they were covered, the paramedic continued checking over his patient. He didn't like the vital signs he was getting. "Guys, you're gonna have to hurry or we're gonna lose him!"
"We're working as fast as we can, pal," was Captain Stanley's calm yet reassuring reply.
When Jon heard what the paramedic said, his heart almost stopped. He felt like his feet were cemented to the spot as he watched the firemen begin to feverishly work at tearing away the metal that held his friend prisoner.
"Easy, Marco!" Johnny yelled, as the steering wheel and crumpled metal popped and twisted itself away from the victim. The paramedic had to put pressure on a deep laceration just above Ponch's left eye. Although the fire crew had to be careful, he knew they also had to hurry.
"Okay, Johnny," Marco finally spoke up, "that should do it."
With the obstruction cleared, Johnny removed the blanket. That's when he noticed another very serious injury. As the jaws of life were shut down, the paramedic yelled to his partner, "Roy, we've got a compound fracture of the left femur. I'm gonna need a tourniquet--before we move him." They'd have to put on a traction splint as soon as they had their victim out of the car and on the ground. Johnny got the requested equipment and quickly applied the tourniquet. He did whatever else he could to minimize any further injury while the patient was being extricated. Now that it was quiet, the paramedic also didn't like the sound of his patient's breathing. Under the circumstances, there was just so much of a medical assessment he could make. But from all the signs, it seemed the victim could quite possibly have a collapsed lung...on top of countless other injuries that were not yet assessed.
Finally, Ponch was out of the car and both paramedics got busy. Johnny continued the assessment, giving Roy what he found. It surely wasn't good.
Roy quickly got back on the biophone to the hospital, "Rampart, this is Squad 51, patient's been extricated from the vehicle. Patient has possible broken ribs on both sides, possible collapsed lung on the left as there are no breath sounds and a compound fracture of the left femur. We've applied a tourniquet and traction splint. Patient also has a laceration above the left eye and major bruising on left temple apparently from hitting the side window."
While Roy filled in the doctor, Johnny was putting the heart monitor patches on Ponch's chest. He hooked everything up and suddenly interrupted his partner's traffic, "Roy, V-fib!!" Roy threw down the receiver to assist his partner.
The captain was closest to the radio so he continued with the hospital, "Rampart, Squad 51, patient has gone into cardiac arrest. CPR has been started."
"Is he patched in, 51?"
"Affirmative, Rampart."
"Lead two, Cap!" Roy told him.
"Lead two, Rampart," the captain repeated.
Seconds later, "Defibrillate victim, 51!"
Roy and Johnny quickly readied the machine and the paddles. When it reached the desired charge, the paddles were placed in position. Johnny yelled, "Clear!" then pushed the buttons. Ponch's body jerked, as the shock hit him. Both paramedics checked the monitor, which was still flat line. Again the machine was readied and charged, paddles were in position and again the warning was given to, "Clear!" Again Ponch's body jerked, but this time to everyone's relief, slowly, but surely, Johnny declared, "Sinus rhythm!"
"Yeah, but for how long?" Roy quietly thought out loud and then quickly retrieved the handset of the biophone, "Rampart this is Squad 51, patient is in sinus rhythm. We're ready to move him to the ambulance." Then he told his partner, "C'mon, let's get him packaged and up the hill. The quicker we get him to Rampart the better chance he's gonna have."
They set their victim in the stokes and then loaded the equipment around him. After everything was ready, the necessary number of men needed to carry the stokes gathered and took their places to start the trek back up the hill.
Jon was still standing there like a stone cemented in place, he winced each time they had to use the defibrillator to try to get Ponch's heart to start beating again. He was so panic stricken as all he could think of was he was going to lose his best friend.
Fireman Chet Kelly was about to carry up some of the equipment used in the rescue, when he saw Jon standing there looking absolutely dazed. "Officer, you okay?" he asked and then walked over to him just to be sure. But Jon didn't respond, "Ah, Officer Baker, you okay?" he repeated, as he noted the nameplate on Jon's shirt. But he still failed to get any reaction. He tried nudging the officer to see if he could get through to him, "Officer?"
"Huh? Uhh...yeah," Jon finally acknowledged. He turned to see the rescue crew carrying his friend up the hill. "Better get goin, hey?"
So both men started hiking up the hill. Along the way, all Jon could think about was the multiple injuries his friend had. The majority were of a very serious nature--plus the cardiac arrest didn't help in the least either. Yes, Baker was really frightened for his friend. But the nagging question was, 'How in the world did this accident happen?' Both men continued to the top of the hill.
Baker saw Ponch being loaded into the ambulance and quickened his pace. He asked one of the paramedics, "What hospital?"
"Rampart General!" the paramedic named Roy replied, as he closed the rear doors and slapped them twice signaling the driver he was cleared to go. Apparently Roy could tell by the look on his face that Baker's concern had to be more than just that of a police officer dealing with a really bad accident, so he felt compelled to stop and ask, "Officer, by any chance do you know this patient?"
"Yeah...he's my friend and fellow police officer, uh, my partner," Jon quietly confessed.
The last part about the victim being this officer's partner and how he was reacting to the situation was something Roy knew he could totally relate to. So he tried to be as conforting as he could "Look, they'll do everything they can for him at Rampart. He'll be okay."
"Yeah, sure." After Jon saw Ponch as they pulled him out of the car and then learned of his injuries, he just had a hard time being convinced that Ponch was simply going to be 'okay'.
Roy turned and headed for the squad. He had to go meet up with his partner at the hospital. Jon turned too and ran for his motor.
Bonnie saw her colleague was getting ready to leave the area as she saw him put on his helmet, so she called out, "Hey Jon, where you going?" She was busy working her lane of traffic and thought it was very strange that Baker would disappear when she, Baricza and Turner could use all the help they could get.
"Hospital! Ponch is hurt pretty badly," was all Jon took the time to tell her before racing off.
"Ponch? Here?!"she spoke to no one in particular and then got busy dealing with the traffic.