CONSTRUCTION WORKER’S REQUEST TO A STRANGER TO MOVE HIS CAR LEADS TO SOME UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES

 

Colin Blevin, a 45-year-old guy assumed that day of July to be an ordinary one. The man worked in a construction firm. The man was associated with the firm for many years now. Every day he would go to the firm, finish his work and get back home. He thought that day to be the same but little did he know that morning was far from ordinary. On reaching the firm, he saw a Honda Accord blocking the entrance. Blevin asked the owner to move it. While talking to the driver he casually looked inside the car and spotted something jaw-dropping. He realized that the man he was talking to was NOT NORMAL.

An Unusual Sight

Colin Blevin is a construction worker in California. The incident occurred on one Monday morning in San José. It all happened around 7:00 a.m. The morning was not a usual one. That day, Colin saw something extraordinary. There was a vehicle blocking the entry gate of his construction firm. 

Not Well

He woke up with a pain in his hips. The man was not feeling well and thought of taking an off from work. But as the workload was high, there was no way he could take the leave. With these thoughts in mind, he got up from the bed and went straight to the bathroom to get ready. 

The Day

Colin Blevin works at a construction firm. The man in his forties loves to do his job. Every day he would come to his construction firm but never did he have to face what he was going to witness today. Trust me, it was anything but ordinary.   

Strange Man

There was a car obstructing the entrance. He looked around and saw a man standing in a corner. That strange man was standing next to another car. He looked shabby and frail. His appearance did make Blevin suspicious but Blevin chose to ignore his doubts. He later said that the man “appeared to be under the influence of drugs.” 

Move It Away

It was difficult to believe that the man owned that car. Blevin was getting late so he did not give it much thought. He asked him to move the car away as it was blocking the entrance, little did he know then what was he dealing with.  

The White Honda Accord

No doubt, Blevin felt a bit uncomfortable having him around. So, he asked the man to move his car away. It was a Honda Accord in 1992. Blevin did not know he was in for a surprise until he talked to him.

An Open Window

The car looked clean but soon he noticed an open window. The man got his attention captured by an unexpected thing inside the car. He could see something was kept on the backseat. He could not hold his astonishment when he figured out what was that.

The Incident

The man had a conversation with People Magazine where he talked about the incident. He explained, “The back door [of the car] was cracked open and I saw a baby… Right away I thought, ‘that makes no sense.’”

The Baby

The baby was wearing clean clothes and looked if he belonged to well off family. The man, on the other hand, looked unclean, thin and poor. They were not relatable in any way. Was there something wrong,? he wondered.

Calm And Clean

He reminisced, “I looked into the car and there is this beautiful chunky baby looking at me,” Colin explained. “The baby [was] calm, clean, with a bottle on his chest,” he added. The man was all astonished.

Unlike Him

Blevin stated, “The baby was well taken care of, and this guy was dirty, skinny and jittery, I thought, ‘There is no way the baby belongs to this man.’” Blevin did not take long to realize that something was wrong.  

Abducted

Blevin who himself was a parent of 19 months old girl child was having a hunch that this was not the way it appeared. Something was amiss but how was he going to find that out. Perhaps, the baby was in danger.  

Destined

As mentioned earlier, Blevin did not want to come to the office but he did come that fateful day. Maybe this was all planned by destiny. He said, “My hip was hurting real bad.” He further added, “I needed to get work done.” 

Amber Alert

The authorities in Monterey County had already issued an amber alert via California Highway Patrol. The alert was made to tell the authorities about the abduction of a baby. Officers were on a search for Honda Accord having a California license plate since the abduction. The car Blevin had come across at his workspace was exactly the same. 

 Matching Plates

A person got his car stolen south of San José in Soledad. This all happened when the man got away from his car for a few minutes. The engine of the car was running at that time. That day he learned a big lesson. 

For Two Seconds

The man had gone inside his house to fetch his lunch. During that, the man had also left his eight-month-old son in the backseat of his car. He did not bother to take the baby inside with him as he was going to be back in a matter of seconds.  

Stolen Car Stolen Baby

The man felt as if his life had come crashing down when he saw that his car was not there where he had parked it along with his son. He spotted his car speeding away. No matter how much he tried, he could not see the face of the driver.

Calling 911

He shouted at the top of his voice. He even ran after the car but that was of no avail.  It was not about his car but his baby who was sitting in the backseat. He had to get to the driver. The man called the police without a delay. He also noticed that the driver was taking it to San José.

 Mamas Ramirez’s Story

Coming back to now, Blevin remembers how a local homeless woman, Mamas Ramirez came to him. The woman put up in an RV that was standing in the back of Blevin’s workplace. Ramirez told him that the same man had come to her door this morning. “The lady tells me quietly, ‘Help me save this baby.’” 

Strange Request

The woman made some astonishing revelation to him. She had seen this strange man before who had approached her with a weird request. She knew that the baby’s life was in danger and so she thought of taking Blevin’s help in rescuing the kid.

Save Him

“She said, ‘You have to save this baby. The guy tried to give it to me.’ It was not unexpected for Blevin as he had already suspected that. However, the man had never faced such a situation before in his life and so, was a little surprised. I thought, ‘What is going on here?’”

 Whose Baby Is It?

In Ramirez’s words, the strange man said to her, “Take this baby. I grabbed this car and there’s a baby in it. I don’t know what to do with babies.” The woman had sensed that the child was in danger and so when she got the time the woman reached out to Blevin for help.

He Said No

Blevin, after listening to Mamas made his way to the strange man.“I asked him, ‘Is this your baby?’” Blevin recalls. “He said, ‘No, the person who gave me this car left the baby in there.’ He wasn’t concerned in the slightest. He was spun out or something.”

No Idea

Blevin knew that he was lying through his teeth. The baby was not his friend’s and maybe he did not know who the baby was. Suspiciously, he looked scared than concerned about the baby. There was something he was hiding for sure. But what could it be? 

 Taking The Baby Back

Blevin had to think on his feet. It was time to take action. “I [took] the baby and put him on my trailer,” he explained to Californian newspaper, The Mercury News. “I said, ‘I’m calling 911.’ The guy didn’t really seem to care. I think he realized he messed up. He was in for a stolen car, and he stole a baby. He stole a child.”

 Escaping

Blevin confronted him as he already had suspected that something was not right. The man, on the other hand, tried to run away with the stolen car. Now there was no doubt that the man was actually a thief.

Sped Away

The strange man turned the key and started the car. Before Blevin could do anything, the man was steering away from him. Blevin kept on looking at him in bewilderment. The kid was still with him.

Not Yet

Just when the driver thought that he has gotten away something unexpected happened. The man had hardly gone a mile when he got another problem thrown at him. The man must pay for all their misdeeds.

Got Caught

However, all his efforts went in the drain when he got his car pulled over by police patrol somewhere in the city of the Salinas. Thereafter, Raymond Randy “Turtle” Gutierrez, the 43-year-old homeless man got arrested for stealing the car.

Under Arrest

It was later revealed that this was not the first time the man had breached a law. The police found out that he had committed may more crimes prior to this one. Soledad’s Deputy Police Chief, Damon Wasson said, “The homeless people knew who he was.” 

Bad Man

He added, “They knew him and didn’t like him and didn’t want him around. When they saw him with a baby, it got their radar up and their only concern was getting the baby away from him.” The man had quite a bad reputation. 

 Checking The Baby

Fortunately, the baby was in good shape. After having him medically checked, the police returned the baby to his father who had his heart in his mouth. Blevin said, “everyone is saying what could have happened, and that is what scared me.”

Baby Back To Dad

No need to say, the father was over the moon after getting his baby back. He had tears running down his cheek when he took the boy in his arms. He made a promise to himself that he would not leave him alone ever not even for a second. Kids are the world to their parents.

Emotional

Blevin said, “I have been very emotional since it happened. When the cop said, ‘This is the amber-alert baby,’ I thought, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I was able to help a little kid and his family and that is a life highlight right there.”

 Once In A Lifetime

Blevin had never witnessed such an incident in his entire life. Unfortunately, the number of crimes is ever increasing. One happened in 2016, a two-year-old boy was abandoned in a vehicle that too all alone. In this case, too, parents had left the car engine running. The parents came outside only to see their car and baby gone.       

Amber Alerts

If we listen to law enforcement, these Amber alerts are quite common and can be avoided. Many of them happen due to negligence on the parents’ part. Here too, the dad of the kid should have gone inside the house after turning the engine off. The thief got the idea of stealing the car after he found that the engine was running.     

Painfully Common

Deputy chief, Wasson revealed, “Twice this happens in one city,” “That’s twice too many. The few seconds you save by leaving your car running is not worth going through something like this. Your car is stolen, your baby being kidnapped – this does not have to happen.”

What Could Have Been

Had Blevin not gone to the work that day, the baby would have fallen prey to all the mishappenings. The man saved a life that was tiny but very precious. In this all, we should not lose sight of the fact that the baby would not have landed into trouble had his father taken cautions.  

Recognition

All’s well if the end’s well. Blevin rescued the baby and his heroic deed not only got appreciated by the kid’s father but the entire city too. A few months later, the man received the Missing Children’s Citizen Award for his act of heroism.

Concerned Citizen

Jesse Panuccio, Acting Associate Attorney General appreciated Blevin by saying he “is a concerned citizen whose courage compassion and vigilance helped bring home an abducted baby.” “Through both public service and private acts, these extraordinary people displayed ingenuity, resourcefulness, and an especially high order of civic responsibility,” the man added.

Unfortunate But True

It is unfortunate that even after having so many cases piling up on a daily basis, we are still struggling to find an effective way of dealing with it. As stated earlier, these crimes can be avoided. All that needed is a little care from kids’ parents. 

A Citizen’s Duty

Who knew a casual request of moving the car would lead to such unexpected consequences. Every citizen should be watchful of their surroundings for safety is not all about securing yourself but also saving others from coming tragedies.