Butch’s buddy almost shoots an innocent person

During most of the years that I served as a police officer here in Montgomery County, I worked the night shift. Even after I was elected Sheriff, I preferred working at night. Officers who worked in the daytime often had to take people to court, serve papers, and take reports. The nighttime hours are when many burglars, thieves, and other offenders do their thing…and I wanted to catch them!

Many times during night shifts, alarms would go off at various businesses or residences in the county, and we would have to check to see if it was an intruder or a false alarm. Ninety-nine per cent of those alarms turned out to be a malfunction or accidental set-off by the owner, but we still had to make sure. Another officer who worked with me and took those calls on the night shift for many years was Sgt. Larry Lough. He was a good friend and very dedicated officer who I had known since childhood. Through the years we responded to hundreds of calls together, backing each other up in various situations. He had a great sense of humor and could kid around, but when the going got tough, you could always count on Larry.

Late one night, we were dispatched to an alarm going off at the Larry Cummings Olds-GMC car dealership on Lafayette Road (now Christi Hubler Chevrolet). Their business alarm had gone off several times in the last few months, but all doors were secure, and the alarm was not malfunctioning. It was a puzzling and frustrating situation. On this night, however, Larry arrived before me and discovered an unlocked door. He got on his radio and told me to park behind the business in case there was an intruder who might try to escape out the back. The owner had left a couple of dimmed lights on inside the building, but there were many areas where someone could be hiding. Larry entered the unlocked door as I covered the back and south side. He unholstered his revolver as he slowly entered the showroom.

Upon finding no one in the showroom, Larry then radioed to me in a whisper, “I think someone is in the bay area…come on in and we’ll search together.” I entered through the unlocked door with a Maglite flashlight in my left hand and my right hand on my revolver. I went to the left and Larry searched to the right. The next thing I heard was Larry yelling, “Halt!…Police!…Don’t move!” I looked over and Larry was holding his revolver with both hands and had it aimed at the intruder in the shadows. I drew my revolver and ran around the counter towards Larry.

As I peered around the wall, I shined my light in the direction where Larry was pointing his gun…and there was the burglar! But guess what? The intruder was no danger at all. Larry had stopped him dead in his tracks. And there…motionless…and smiling at both us was…”Mr. Goodwrench,” a six foot tall cardboard image of a repairman that GM used as an advertisement in those days. Oh…my…God! We looked at each other, Larry just about swallowed his “chew”…and then we both laughed so hard that we had tears rolling down our cheeks. As the manager pulled into the lot to meet with us, we were still chuckling, “I can’t believe it was Mr. Goodwrench. Everyone will think I’m an idiot,” Larry quipped.

I tried to reassure him,”Well, Larry, look at this way…At least you didn’t shoot him. Mr. Goodwrench can keep his job, go on with his life, and be with his wife and kids tomorrow…safe and sound.” Folks, police work was serious business, but sometimes crazy and funny things happened. Larry passed away a few years ago, and Mr. Goodwrench is gone, too…but I’ll bet both of them are up in heaven right now… telling everyone how they first met…and having a great laugh together!

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 32 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.