Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Range Rover

Last time we were in Utah, we went to Park City with my dad. Since he has a 4-wheel drive car and it was snowing a bit, he drove us up. Our plan was to drop Doug off to ski a few runs and my dad, Darby and I would wander around Park City. As we got off the freeway to head into town, we saw this black Range Rover ahead of us that was drifting in and out of the lane, clearly distracted texting or something. So my dad kept his distance and then the person slowed down, so we got up next to him and could see him looking down, seemingly still texting. Being the samaritan that my dad is, he honked his horn hoping it would make this guy realize he was all over the road. Well the horn freaked this guy out and he yanked his wheel to the left, crashed into the middle median and a big sign and crossed over into the other side of the highway. I was sitting in the backseat with Darby cussing like a sailor watching this whole thing go down. At that point my dad called the cops on his cell phone because this guy was now just driving on the other side of the road into oncoming traffic. Instead of pulling off to the side of the road, Mr. Range Rover (brand new with no license plates) crosses back over the 3-4 ft. median, get in the lane right next to us and just keeps driving like it's no big thang. He slowed down a bit and gave us a little wave, like "I'm okay!"

My dad was determined not to let this guy get away, so we followed him as he made a right into a random hotel parking lot and then sat behind his car after he pulled into a parking spot. All of this with a new baby in the back seat, mind you. I was shaking and dramatically yelling at my dad to leave because I was convinced this crazy would have a gun. Then, the guy gets out of his car, walks up to my dad's window and tells him to roll it down. O.M.G. And my dad did. (My dad is a smart, logical person, so I'm not sure what had gotten into him. Maybe he was dreaming of a citizens arrest or something.) The guy says, "Hi. I'm okay, thanks for following me to make sure." At this point my dad is still on the phone with police dispatch relaying our location and what is going on, so he figured he would help out a little more by getting this guys name. "Oh, I'm Zach Smith. Don't worry, I'm okay." Mr. Zach Smith was slurring his speech and pretty wobbly on his feet, obviously drunk...at 1 in the afternoon. My dad decides he wants to wait for the cops to make sure they "get him" so we made my dad get out and I drove Doug to the ski resort and went back to pick up my dad.

When we got back there were three cop cars surrounding the Range Rover (which had a crazy amount of damage). Darby and I waited (safely) in a hotel lobby while my dad helped the cops track down Zach, who was now hiding in a nearby restaurant bathroom and then had to give a statement. We left shortly there after, so don't know what happened to Mr. Smith, but hopefully my dad's persistence paid off and got him off the road for a while.

I guess I won't have to think of Kim Kardashian now every time I see a black Range Rover.

Keep it classy Zach Smith.