Strange Police Actions

I had a very strange interaction with some Arlington County police officers today. I was coming out of Ballston Mall on the Wilson Boulevard exit near Stuart street. I saw on the sidewalk a woman's wallet. I looked around and didn't see any woman whom it might belong to, but I did see a police officer sitting in his car a few feet from me.

I picked up the wallet and walked to the police officer's car. I waved to him and he rolled down his window. I showed him the wallet and said I had just found it lying on the sidewalk. He pointed to the other police car in front of him and said: "That officer there will help you." Okay, I figured he must be busy with something.

I walked to the next car and repeated my interaction. The second officer got out of his car with a scowl on his face, took the wallet from me and threw it at the other police officer! I asked, "Is there a problem, officer?" He looked at me and said: "You don't have a problem. That other officer has a problem."

By this point, the other officer had gotten out of his car, and the two police officers started exchanging angry but indistinct words with each other. I walked across Wilson Boulevard as fast as I could reasonably do without drawing attention to myself, and went down Stuart street hoping to leave the angry men with guns behind me.

I hope they worked it all out quickly.