Almost Arrested

Working at Enterprise this summer has brought back some memories of past experiences in the car rental world. We were talking today about weird instances we've experienced while renting cars, and it reminded me of this story.

I started with ERAC (Enterprise Rent A Car) five years ago. At first I was really good about putting my driver's license in my pocket. Everywhere I went, I took my cell phone and my driver's license. As time went on, I got out of the habit of grabbing my license. I actually lost my license in a rental car once because it fell out of my pocket, so I just stopped bringing it with me when I had to go pick someone up. The chances of me getting pulled over and getting in an accident were small, so I took the chance.

About six months into my job, my manager sent me and another co-worker to a customer's house to pick up the rental car. Typically we asked the customer to return to us and we'd drive them home, but this was a little old lady who didn't want to drive to our office, so out of courtesy for our customer, we told her we'd come get the car at her house. For whatever reason, I grabbed my purse. I NEVER took my purse on an errand like this, but on this day I took it with me.

I was driving, so I followed mapquest to her house. She lived directly across the street from an elementary school, so I was going slowly through the neighborhood. We found her house, so I pulled up next to the house on the street to let my co-worker out of the car. Once he was out of the car, I pulled up alongside the curb to make sure he got the keys and wasn't left stranded. I probably sat the curb for a total of two minutes.

My co-worker gave me a thumbs up, so I started to drive back toward the office, again going slowly. As I was driving past the school, a police officer turned the corner and came up behind me. He was following pretty closely, so I, of course, made sure to keep to the speed limit. After about 20 seconds of following me, the officer turned on his lights. I knew I wasn't speeding, so I thought maybe he needed to go around me. I pulled over, and he pulled up behind me.

At this point, I had a weird feeling. I wasn't speeding. I wasn't doing anything illegal. I was in a business suit for goodness sakes! I did not look creepy or drugged out in any way, shape or form. I rolled down my window as the police officer approached. He didn't come directly to my window; rather, he stood by the back window and was talking to someone through his radio.

"I've got a white female pulled over who's been roaming through the neighborhood."
I couldn't quite hear the response from the other end.
"We got a call from someone in the neighborhood that there was a car that has been driving by the school. I have her pulled over now. I'll find out her story.


There was some more chatter from the walkie talkie that I couldn’t understand, and then the officer came up to my window.

“I’ve gotten a report that you’ve been wandering through the neighborhood. More specifically, the person who called said you’ve been driving slowly past the school, and this is reason for alarm. Can you please explain to me why you’re interested in this school?”

I was flabbergasted. I had only been in the neighborhood less than five minutes and someone had called the police on me! Not only that, but I was working. Yes, I had been driving slowly through the sub-division, but that was only so I could find the house I was looking for.

In my calmest voice I could muster (I was nervous and upset), I explained to him my story. I figured we would both get a good laugh out of it and I’d be on my way.

BUT, he didn’t believe me! He thought I was lying to him.

“That’s a great story, but I’m going to need proof of that tale.”

Of all the days that I actually did grab my purse, this was the day I actually needed it. I grabbed my purse and started looking for a business card or something to prove that I worked for Enterprise. As I was searching, he was back on his walkie talkie telling them that I was claiming I worked for ERAC. I finally found a business card (it was my one and only card in my purse, so again I lucked out). That still wasn’t proof enough for him. He actually called ERAC and confirmed that I was an employee there. Once my co-workers verified this information, he was confident I was telling the truth. He told me I could head back to work.

He still must have been a little suspicious because then he actually followed me back to the office. He waited for me to park and walk into the building before he went on his way.

Once back in the office, my co-workers asked why an officer had followed me back to the office. I told them the story, and they thought it was the funniest thing they’d heard all day. The guy who confirmed I was an employee said he ALMOST told the officer I didn’t work there because he didn’t realize what was going on. Thank God he didn’t do that because I probably would have been arrested on the spot.