A Good (but slightly scared) Samaritan

I was heading out for a run yesterday, and I saw a truck hit a car and do damage. My instinct was to pull out my iphone and take a picture of the truck, and its license plate. I later checked to see if the offending driver left a note on the damaged car, and nothing. After a brief poll on Twitter and Facebook, I decided to leave a note on the damaged car telling the owner what happened, and I included the offender's license plate number and my contact info. I set off on my run, and for some reason, my spidey sense was going off. I decided to run back to the damaged car, and as I approached the car, I noticed a guy kind of lingering around. I looked at the damaged car to find that my note was still on the windshield. I set off on my run again, but once again, my spidey sense was going off because of the lingering guy I had observed by the car. I turned around once again, and ran back to the damaged car, and this time, the note I left had been taken. Crap! The guy lingering must have been the offender, and he took my note with my contact info. I was now having some regret of not minding my own business, fearing that this guy would retaliate since he has my contact info. As I stood there deciding what to do, I noticed the truck was parked nearby. I decided to run back to my car to grab my phone and call the police. Armed with my phone, I ran back to the damaged car, and I saw a note on the windshield. My first thought was that the guy decided to do the right thing, taking my note, and leaving his own note. I examined the note on the windshield to learn that it was my note, but with the offender's license plate number, his make of car, and my contact info torn off! What a douche! I immediately called the police, filed a report, and the dispatcher sent an officer to meet me. The officer dismissed me to do my run, saying that he would track down the offender using his plate number and take care of it. The officer also assured me that there is not much the offender could do to me even though he has my contact info. A day later, I have yet to receive any threatening phone calls.

Though I was a bit freaked out, I'm glad that I got involved, and I would do it again. I would be a hypocrite had I not gotten involved, because I often complain that people don't look out after each other. All too often, I hear about some tragedy, and think had a bystander cared enough to question the suspicious activity, and do something, the tragedy could have possibly been prevented. So in that moment yesterday, though I had some hesitation, I did what I hope someone else would do for me.