Princeton, Texas
Clear Lake Park
Weather Condition; High 83 Low 71, Overcast
As usual we’ve been busy. We’ve been working most weekends until now.
It’s been business as usual until Tuesday night. I’ll make this as
short as possible!
On our fourth day we have reports to print and cleaning of the gate
house.
Anyway, on Tuesday night about 9:30 P.M. we were busy taking care of
our duties when Dawn noticed a car slowly approaching the gate house. As it got
closer it pulled towards the exit. Dawn said this car is about to drive through
the exit.
I looked out the window and watched the black sports car jump the curb
and come to a stop about twenty feet from the front of the gate house.
As we watched out the window we wondered if we were about to be robbed
or was this another drunk. We continued to watch the car and a moment later the
car door opened and an elderly gentleman stepped out.
He walked around the gate house to the window and asked Dawn if he
could pay her twenty dollars to use her phone. Dawn told him she wouldn’t take
his money but she would be happy to make a call for him. He told her that he
was lost. He said he was trying to get to his daughters house. He said he left
his home in Arkadelphia, Arkansas at one this afternoon and must have made a
wrong turn. That drive should have taken 3 to 3 and half hours.
He gave Dawn a phone number but it was two digits short. She asked him
to repeat the number. He did, and this time he was one digit short. He repeated
it again, this time he had enough digits. She put her cell phone on speaker so
the gentleman could hear. It rang a couple of times and then a recording
answered repeating the number dialed and said it was not available. The
gentleman leaned forward to the phone and said Wendy, its dad and I’ve been driving
around trying to find you. Dawn hung up the phone and I stepped into the
restroom with my cell phone and dialed Collin County Sheriff dispatch.
When dispatch answered, I told them who I was and told them an elderly
man showed up here claiming to be lost and seemed disoriented. The dispatcher
asked the gentlemen’s name.
I stepped out of the restroom, asked him his name and he called out his
last name several times. I repeated his name to the dispatcher. The dispatcher
said, thank god. We have been looking for him. He told me to keep him there and
do not let him leave. He said a deputy was on his way.
Meanwhile, the gentleman asked Dawn if she could call 911. He said his
daughter lived next door to the Princeton police department and he was supposed
to meet her there. Dawn told him that I had called someone for him.
I stepped out of the restroom and nodded to Dawn to let her know
someone was on their way. I then stepped outside and began talking with the
gentleman. Seeing him in the light, I
could see he was frail, shaky and appeared to have problems with his
balance. Dawn offered him bottle water.
He said thanks that would be great. We grabbed a chair from inside the building
and pulled it outside the door.
He sat in the chair and drank the water. I did my best to keep him
talking so the wait wouldn’t seem too long. He told us he was going to spend a
couple of days with his daughter. He seemed to enjoy the conversation and was
talkative.
It took roughly a half hour before the deputy drove up.
The elderly gentleman seemed relieved to see the deputy. The deputy
asked to see his driver’s license. The gentleman said his licenses were in his
car.
I told the deputy his car needed to be moved. The deputy asked if one
of us could move his car for him. He said yes and handed me his car keys.
This is a new model black Chevrolet Camaro with dark tinted windows.
I got into the car, started it and then prayed that the front end
wouldn’t get hung on the curb as I backed it up.
I backed off the curb without and damage and backed around the
landscape island to the proper side of the gate house. This type car is
difficult to see out of in the dark.
The gentleman opened the car door for me and I got out of the car. The
deputy again asked for his licenses. The gentleman reached inside his car and
retrieved his wallet. He handed the deputy his license. The deputy looked at
them and then told the gentleman he knew exactly where he needed to go and
would give him a ride.
I told the gentleman he needed to get his overnight bag and lock his
car. He said he didn’t have a bag. The deputy asked if he was sure he didn’t
have anything in the car he needed to take with him.
The gentleman said he didn’t have anything. He then locked the car and
we helped him into the back seat of the deputy’s car.
The deputy told us thanks for our help and drove off.
The following afternoon a woman came and got the car.
We’re not sure what the real story was with this gentleman but we are
grateful that we were able to help him.
Never a dull moment, REALLY!!!!!
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