The CHASE of my LIFE

Being in a police chase is a life changing experience. I'm sure many of you may have at one time or another witnessed a chase, but to be the one being chased is like nothing else. For me, the fear, the confusion and the anger of it all seemed surreal. What I remember the most was the chase and how it ended, in an accident.
The evening of February 23, 2007 was like any other. My children and I were at home just finishing up with dinner. Alexis,my daughter, and i decided to go for ice cream at McDonald's. As we were walking out of the house a friend of mine, Rudy Morales, drove up. He asked us where we were headed; I replied "McDonald's" and Rudy offered to take Alexis and me.
So the three of us jumped into his black Sonoma truck and took off for McDonald's. We drove over to McDonald's, go through the drive-thru, placing an order for a large Oreo McFlurry. Alexis and I were playfully conversing with one another awaiting the McFlurry. Once we receicved the McFlurry, we pulled out of the parking lot.Rudy then mentioned to us he would be taking us by his friend George's house for just a minute. He didn't say for what reason but something I would later realize was that Rudy was drunk.
Rudy was so out going normally, that I couldn't see how drunk he really was. As we were headed to George's house Rudy stopped at a stop sign and when taking off from the sign he sped away quickly.
At that moment a Cathedral City police officer who was behind us heard the screeching of the tires and pulled Rudy over. Rudy pulled over and allowed the officer to exit his police unit and head over towards the cab of the truck. When the officer reached the tail gate of his truck, Rudy took off. I remember looking back watching the officer run to his police unit jump into the car and start chasing us.
Rudy was silent, not saying a word, but driving in excess of 80 mph trying to get away. As Rudy drove, I became more nervous and scared, Concerned for my daughter's safety. At one point Rudy turned into oncoming traffic, then ran red lights, went over medians and even maneuvered his way out of a blockade on a cul-de-sac. To add to the fear my daughter's seat belt had came unfastened and with all the motion of the vehicle i was i unable to buckle her up again. At that moment I made the decision to unfasten my seat belt. I know some people may frown upon the choice I made but feeling powerless over the situation I very quickly rationalized, if my daughter's safety was to be in jeopardy then so would mine.
i did not want her to see and be able to remember all the frightful events, so I held my daughter as tightly as I could to my body and with my left hand covered her eyes. Even still, Alexis repeatedly screamed, "Why won't he stop Mommy?""Why is he doing this, I'm scared."
All I could do was to tell her everything was going to be okay and it would all be over soon. Feeling inside that things weren't going to be okay, I began yelling at Rudy to stop, but he didn't! He drove through residential areas with little or no regard for our or the people of Cathedral City safety. We raced around Cathedral City (which has a radius of 6 miles) for 40 minutes! There were 7 to 10 police units involved, all with sirens blaring and lights flashing.
Finally, after 40 minutes of traveling at high speeds and careless driving(endangering the lives of many people), Rudy made a right hand turn into the parking lot of a Cathedral City church at 78 mph and crashed into a tree!
A we made the turn, I could feel Rudy losing control of the truck. I was staring straight forward and saw that he was nearing the tree. At that moment of impact, everything went into slow motion. Still holding on to her and covering her eyes, Alexis and i violently flung forward. Her head banged into the dash of the truck while I slammed into the windshield.
The next thing I remember is looking down at my daughter as she fainted falling back into the seat uttering the word, "Mom." I freaked out! I tried to lift her up, I tries opening the door, I even tried climbing over her, but couldn't. Within seconds, the officers with guns drawn pried open my door. As they pulled me out of the cab of the ruck, I kept screaming "My daughter, my daughter. Please help my daughter!"
At the same time on the opposite side of the cab EMT officers where removing Alexis from the truck. Alexis was placed on the grassy area of the church to be examined, while I was subsequently dragged over to the rear of the police unit and detained.
From the back or the unit I could hear Alexis screaming over and over in the most frightful voice of a six year old"Mom, mom. Where's my mommy?" Again the feeling of helplessness came over me. I wanted so much to get to her but couldn't. The police wouldn't allow it until they were able to verify who I was. After what seemed like an eternity a police officer, Officer Cleary, walked over to me stated that they were successful in verify my identity and then began to question my connection to Rudy Morales.
Officer Cleary then proceeded to tell me that my daughter had not been seriously injured but would still be transferred by ambulance to Desert Regional Hospital for observation. While doing so, Officer cleary handed me a towel so that I could clean myself up before walking over to see Alexis. Without realizing it, I had broken my nose in the accident and was covered in blood. The adrenaline and concern for my daughter's well being, caused me to go numb to the injuries I had sustained. I had a broken nose, broken wrist, cracked ribs, bruised knees and a mild concussion. Alexis and I together rode to Desert Regional Hospital, where we were admitted for observation.
Immediately after the impact, Rudy had exited the vehicle still trying to get away. A short distance away he was captured and arrested for DWI, child cruelty and police evasion.
In the end, I was extremely grateful for the miracle that happened that night. After all the sirens, the lights and the blood, came the calm that my daughter was safe and I was not seriously hurt. The real point here is that e very person is responsible for knowing who they are riding with. Riding with this drunk person could have cost my daughter and me our lives.
Rudy Morales was convicted of all charges and sentenced to two years in prison.