BC Cook
JOYRIDING refers to stealing a vehicle for the sole purpose of driving it fast and recklessly. The hope is that the joyride will end when the thieves have had enough fun, but it often ends with a crash, significant property damage and someone in the hospital or morgue. Like skittle parties and butt bongs, it is another symptom of a world “living for today, for tomorrow we may die.” Some don’t make it that long.
A popular form of joyriding is to steal a car that has airbags and deliberately crash into a wall at high speed. The driver hopes the airbag will deploy and save their life, but it often does not work out that way. Sometimes the airbags do not deploy, or the vehicle hits the wall at such great speed that no airbag ever devised will save them.
A curious case of joyriding occurred in Portland, Oregon last week. The thief broke into where the vehicle was kept at night, stole it and took police on a 40-mile that ended with a crash and arrest. Did I mention it was a boat?
The Portland Fire and Rescue Department said an individual “unlawfully” entered the boathouse on the Williamette River near downtown and made off with the department’s rescue boat. “With the Coast Guard in pursuit, he sped north to the Port of Kalama, Washington on the Columbia River.”
After crashing to rescue boat, the man took off on foot but was caught in the Kalama area by members of the Coast Guard who were in pursuit. The boat, which was driven onto the shore, was taken in tow to a nearby pier for inspection. There was damage to the hull and both propellers were significantly damaged. From the pictures, it does not look like they can be repaired.
As for the suspect, he was transferred into the custody of Oregon police, who will decide what charges to bring. If this is his first offense, he will likely get probation but serve no jail time.
We can write this off as foolish hijinks by a young man. After all, no one was hurt and the property damage was minimal. But I am troubled by the fact that he stole a rescue boat that is used by the fire department and first responders to save lives. When he began his evening of banditry, he had no way of knowing how it would end, possibly with the destruction of the vessel and possibly with the loss of his own life. After all, no one goes into these things thinking they are going to die, yet many do.
The emergency services exist for our protection. Can we agree to not do anything that hinders their ability to come to our aid? I hate to think if there was an emergency and they needed the boat but thanks to this guy it was not available. Not such a joyride then.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for over 30 years. He is a director and historian at Sealark Exploration.
