Executioner's Song, The - Norman Mailer [118]
She heard somebody from the police say, "I've got to cut you off now." Cut her off, they did. For an hour and a half. It was all of that before she knew what had happened.
Craig called Spence McGrath and said Gary was in trouble and might try to get over to his place. Craig thought the police were after him. Spencer said, "Wow, that's kind of wild," and got out his deer rifle, and had it lying right next to the door.
Lights shone through the window, and the cops were shouting at Craig Taylor, "Come out with your hands up." They searched the house. Julie appeared in her bathrobe, but the cops weren't all that courteous. They found Gary's clothes, told Craig to drive down to Provo and give a statement. He was up all night.
8
A SWAT team from Provo, five officers from Orem, and three from Pleasant Grove, a couple of County Sheriffs and some Highway Patrol had all met at the Pleasant Grove High School where an impromptu command post was established. Since there was every chance of a shootout, they had started cleaning out the area around Craig Taylor's house. It meant tiptoeing from door to door, waking people up, leading them out of the neighborhood-it took time. In the meanwhile, they set up roadblocks,
When the word came down that somebody was driving away from Craig Taylor's in a white truck, everybody expected a vehicle to come barreling through. What fooled them was that the white truck drove at a moderate rate of speed, slowed down, and went right around. It hadn't been that heavy a roadblock. Just a barrier across one-half of the two-lane, with a police car parked to the side.
When the guy in the white truck had gone past, it was reported that he had a goatee. Then it registered. That was him. Two of their vehicles took off.
A couple of the cops stayed right where they were. They were thinking this fellow might have been a decoy passing the in hopes everybody would chase him. Then Gilmore could walk right on out.
One trouble with a roadblock is that it could start a lot of firing. So Lieutenant Peacock, who was running the operation at the command post at the Pleasant Grove High School, had told people that if there was any doubt, they were to let a white vehicle through. Next thing, he got the news. The driver in the white did fit Gilmore's description. Then Peacock could actually see the truck, just a few hundred yards away from the high school, headed east toward the mountains on a street called Battle Creek. Going along at no great speed, in fact. Maybe five or ten miles over the speed limit, which was only 25 miles an hour there.
He radioed for a car to follow the truck, but when he heard that vehicles in the vicinity were tied up, he got into his unmarked car, a plain four-door '76 Chevelle, and proceeded after it. Within a few blocks he got near enough to see the truck again.
While he had been radioing in his position, another car driven by cops fell in behind.
The white truck made a right-hand turn and started going down an empty country road at the edge of Pleasant Grove.
There were just a few houses on either side, but he was heading back toward population. At that point, still another patrol car had gotten in line, and Peacock decided he now had sufficient assistance to make a stop on the truck. While the road they were on was not real wide, it would still be broad enough for three cars to get abreast. So, at that point, he radioed for the other two to come up on his left-hand side, and soon as they did, all three turned on their spotlights at once and their overhead revolving red lights.
On the PA system, Peacock cried out: "DRIVER IN THE WHITE TRUCK, STOP YOUR VEHICLE, STOP YOUR VEHICLE." He could see the truck waver, slow down, come to a halt.
Peacock opened his door. He had a Remington 12-gauge shotgun in the front seat, but, instinctively, he came out with his service weapon.
The white truck had stopped in the center of the road. Peacock stood behind the protection of his open door. He could hear Ron Allen commanding Gilmore to put