CHARLIE SANDERS

 

 This yarn, by CCSO retired Capt Dave Johnson, remembers an SO legend, Charlie Sanders.  As Dave tells it:

 Charlie was assigned to the Everglades Substation. A trusted Deputy, everyone knew and respected, many local residents  called him at home, in the middle of the night, to report crimes. That way, they could remain anonymous and avoid scrutiny by talking with Dispatchers in the far away land of Naples. To some of the folks in Everglades, at the time, certain extracurricular activities made being particular with the cop contacts a necessity.

  One such night somebody called Charlie reporting a drunk with a rifle, cranking off rounds on the Barron River Bridge.  Nobody was out on patrol because the Everglades Station shut down at 2 AM.  Charlie had a fanatical sense of duty so instead of calling Dispatch, he rolled out of bed and took care of it himself.  

  Being an ex-NASCAR driver, Charlie was an expert at making the 15+ mile trip from Copeland to Everglades in record time.  As it turned out, Charlie's obsessive habit of driving like a Moonshine runner literally saved his life.  

  The object of the call was a hometown boy who was zonked out of his gourd on drugs.  He'd stolen an AR-15 Assault Rifle and decided to have some fun shooting everything in sight.  He heard Charlie coming and decided that shooting up a patrol car would really top off his night.

  Charlie was hittin' close to triple digits as he approached the bridge which welcomes you to beautiful downtown Everglades. The idiot hunkered down behind the bridge rail and started firing on Charlie at about 400 yards out.  He only managed to get off about 5 rounds before Charlie blasted right on by him.  Charlie heard the rounds hit the car, but mistook the sound for running over something in the road.  

  As luck would have it, God intervened by allowing a jammed round to render the rifle inert.  When the numbskull saw it was Charlie he had shot at, he sobered up and started crying.  (Charlie could have that effect on you) He surrendered on the spot.  

 Later, when the car was examined, several rounds were found imbedded behind the dashboard.  Being a WWII combat wounded Paratrooper, Charlie laughed the whole thing off saying the guy was from a good family and was just feeling his oats because of the drugs.  

 Of course the guy went to jail, but wrote Charlie "I'm sorry" letters the whole time he was gone.  When his sentence was over I'm sure Charlie welcomed him home and helped him get a job.  That was Charlie Sanders.