by William Skink
When I almost got my ass kicked on a cold February night in downtown Missoula it was because I told a dude outside of Red’s I didn’t have a lighter. I was walking to my car after watching a documentary about homeless train kids, so I wasn’t drunk like this asshole. If I was I might not have handled the situation as well as I think I did.
After a three day hiatus from posting, I’m back from my Labor Day break, catching up on what’s been happening. Apparently if you were in downtown Missoula Friday night, around 12:30am, right where I had my incident, you’re lucky you didn’t catch a bullet:
Officers responded to the corner of Ryman and Main streets shortly before 12:30 a.m. Saturday for a report of a disturbance.
The man involved in the incident got into a vehicle and attempted to flee the scene, according to a news release issued by the Missoula Police Department.
The man crashed into another car, then drove toward one of the officers, hitting him. Another policeman fired his duty weapon at the driver, police said.
The suspect, who was not injured, stopped and was taken into custody. Montana Highway Patrol processed the driver for drunken driving. The officer who was hit by the vehicle was treated and released from the hospital with minor injuries.
It’s a miracle no one was hurt in this incident.
If alcohol was a factor (it almost certainly was) I’d want to know where he was served, by who, and how much.
I have a feeling certain stakeholders will be taking a hard look at what alcohol is doing to our community, and some of the ugliest stuff is happening downtown. I literally lost track of how many women were allegedly raped downtown, some in vans, some in alleys—sometimes in the same fucking alley:
Missoula police are investigating the third alleged rape in the past week – and the second in the same downtown alley.
Police spokesman Travis Welsh told the Missoulian the latest rape allegedly occurred Tuesday in an alley adjacent to the 200 block of Ryman Street.
What the hell is it with Ryman Street?
So far much of the reaction to the shooting has been criticism of the officer, and that’s too bad, because I think the story not being told is the reckless rivers of booze intoxicating revelers beyond, I suspect, what the law allows.
I hope those who sell alcohol are familiar with the laws and have all their employees serve-safe trained because I have a feeling closer scrutiny is coming.