Ark Valley News - Out of the office

Out of the office
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: February 23, 2016

Officer threatens to arrest me

I was nearly arrested over the weekend.

Seriously.

About 4 p.m. April 25 as I was getting ready to mow the lawn, I heard on the scanner that there was a wreck at 85th and Broadway, and that it involved a Sedgwick County sheriff's deputy.

Ugh, I thought to myself. I prayed that everyone was OK as I grabbed a camera and headed out the door.

When I got to the intersection, I parked in a driveway on the east side of Broadway, walked across 85th and into the north ditch toward the accident scene. I stopped about 50 yards away from the wreck and began taking pictures.

All of a sudden, a Sedgwick County deputy ran toward his patrol cruiser that was parked on 85th near the intersection. He pointed toward me and yelled, "No, no, no."

He got in his car and sped away from the scene.

I wasn't sure what he was ordering me to do, but I guessed he didn't want me to come any closer. I had no intentions of going any closer to the wreck. I could see the crashed cars from where I stood, and I had a long enough lens to take decent pictures.

By the way, this wreck is what journalism schools call a news story.

Anyway, after a few minutes, I figured I had enough pictures and wanted to see if there was a "staging" area for media, so I could get information about the wreck. As I was walking back to my vehicle, another law enforcement officer began talking to me.

I noticed that he was from Bel Aire. He apparently was at the scene to help with traffic control.

He said that I was told not to take pictures. He repeated himself and then said he was now asking me nicely not to take pictures. Mind you, I was not taking pictures at the time. I was walking away from the accident scene and toward my vehicle.

I was surprised by the request, but I didn't want him to think I was simply gawking at the wreck. So, I told him I was with the newspaper in Valley Center.

The officer wasn't impressed. He said that if I didn't leave the area, I would be arrested and my camera would be confiscated "as evidence."

I was shocked. I got in my car and left.

I guess I should consider myself lucky. I read a story in the Baltimore Sun this week about a photojournalist who was "taken down" by police during the protests in Baltimore. The photographer said he was hit in the head with multiple police shields as he was shooting pictures.

I'll let you know if that ever happens to me.

I try to always make a point of staying out of officers' and firefighters' way. I just want to observe the story and not be part of it.

I learned a valuable lesson several years ago, when I was covering a late-night house fire in Sedgwick. This was long before I came to Valley Center.

When the fire was out, I noticed a man in the back of a police car, which was parked several yards from the house. The car door was open and the man was sitting on the edge of the seat, with his legs outside of the vehicle.

He appeared to be the owner of the house.

I approached the man and asked if he was the homeowner. He said he was, but he didn't want to talk about the fire.

I said, "OK," and began to walk toward my vehicle, which was about a half-mile down the road.

As I was leaving, I noticed a bouncing light from behind me. I turned and saw a police officer running toward me. (That's a sight you never want to see.)

Anyway, the officer caught up to me and, out of breath, he said something like, "Don't ever talk to a person in my vehicle again."

That was scary, and I'll never forget it.

Hopefully, it will keep me from being arrested while trying to do my job.

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On a different note, doesn't it seem like Valley Center has a unique ability to squat and take a big old dump on you sometimes? Well, I suppose Valley is no different than any other small town in that respect.

You just have to roll with the punches, I guess.

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Our deck visitor has returned. The robin that hatched a family last year — or one very similar — did it again. She built a nest and laid four eggs.

Chris Strunk is publisher of The Ark Valley News. Reach him at 755-0821, news@arkvalleynews.com or on Facebook.