This is the kind of true story that should happen every year a few days before Christmas.
The often maligned Culver City Police Dept. of Chief Don Pedersen gallantly rode to the rescue of an ordinary citizen.
The curtain went up last Thursday afternoon when my wife telephoned to invite a close, elderly friend to our First Night of Chanukah Party last night.
Past 80 years old, his health, lately, has been shaky. A widower, he is very active, buzzing across the community every day.
But it is of concern that he lives by himself.
Mr. Friend, we shall call him, always responds to telephone calls faster than if he were just across the room.
Because he is aging, each time he comes to our home for Shabbat dinner, we have asked him to telephone after he reaches his house. Since we don’t answer the telephone on Shabbat, we use a pre-arranged signal, and he never has missed making his assurance call.
Only Silence
Last Thursday, unusually, ended without a callback.
A brief crisis flared on Friday morning, and I had occasion to telephone Mr. Friend three times for information. Not one call was returned.
This was getting worrisome.
I stopped by his home on Friday afternoon, and found two weeks’ worth of the Culver City print newspapers on his lawn.
Insistent knocking on the front door only yielded barking from two dogs.
Mr. Friend’s neighbor said he had not seen the gentleman in question for a couple of days. He didn’t think that was worrisome.
Frustrated, I drove away, puzzled and uncertain what course to choose.
Two blocks later, while cruising out of the neighborhood, I encountered Parking Enforcement Officer Enrique Hernandez.
Taking a Request Seriously — and Efficiently
Explaining my exasperation, I asked if he would have someone follow up, check Mr. Friend’s longtime home more thoroughly than a lay person can.
Mr. Hernandez promised to follow up.
An hour later, Communications Officer Jason Bradford telephoned with encouraging news.
He said two of Culver City’s finest — my phrase, not his — Officer Jeff Zerbey and Sgt. Brian Fitzpatrick were on the case.
They had checked out Mr. Friend’s home without finding anything amiss. Then they walked the neighborhood for on-site information.
One neighbor told the officers he had seen Mr. Friend about 11:30 that day — which turned out not to be true.
Mr. Bradford seemed to think the officers were on the way to solving our nettlesome mystery.
Later, Mr. Bradford called back one more time to say that Mr. Friend’s daughter had been contacted, and she said her father was out of town on fun business.
Whew. That was a relief, but only because of the diligent work of Mr. Hernandez, Mr. Zerbey, Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Bradford.
Chief Pedersen was proud but sounded unflappable.
“This is what we do every day,” he said this morning.
Thanks to the Police Dept., Culver City appears to be in safe hands for Christmas, Chanukah, New Year’s and far beyond.
Remember that the next time you see a Culver City cop. Thank him, or thank her, for being of efficient service to us.
