Helping Stop Hit and Runs is good.
In this post we name-drop Fred Rogers and John Wayne.
Fred Rogers, the beloved television host, once advised in times of crisis:
“Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President and a notoriously quiet one, had this to say:
Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.
Recently, in Maricopa, Arizona at the intersection of John Wayne Parkway and Bowlin Road Leigh Osiensky was that helper and evoked that heroism.
It was there, where a white pickup truck plowed into a car carrying two adults and four children—aged 1, 6, 10, and 13—before speeding away, Osiensky saw something and refused to be a passive bystander. Nope. Instead, he sprang into action.
“I saw him fishtailing all over the road, I put two and two together—he was involved, and he was running.”
The force of the impact left rubber and debris scattered across the highway, but the debris and chaos didn’t deter Osiensky, a local resident and motorcyclist, he instead saw an opportunity to intervene.
The chase was on! On his Kawasaki motorcycle, he trailed the erratic fleeing driver as he barreled through red lights and waved recklessly, on tires stripped down to the rim, through traffic.
It was a combination of pursuit and detective work. At first:
“He was all over the road, trying to pass people, trying to escape, I was waving, trying to get people to stop…”
But soon the truck disappeared from view, and Osiensky had to rely on something other than his driving acumen. He turned to his sense of smell. Following the scent of burning rubber and the scattered remnants of shredded tires, he deduced the driver’s path. Then when he saw police officers speeding by in the wrong, opposite direction, Osiensky flagged one down. “He’s heading toward the 238,” he urged and the chase was back on, but now joined.
Persistence paid off. Maricopa police soon apprehended the suspect along State Route 238 near Green Road. The unidentified older man—described as having white hair and wearing a cowboy hat (how many of you saw that coming?) was arrested and booked on multiple charges, including DUI, reckless driving, endangerment, and failure to stop at an accident.
He now awaits legal proceedings.
In reflecting on the incident, Osiensky acknowledged the dangers faced by motorists—especially motorcyclists—on Maricopa’s roads. “Nobody is paying attention. Everybody’s speeding,” he observed.
Yet in the face of blatant law flouting like this, we have something to celebrate. a willingness to act. Osiensky’s intervention turned a hit-and-run into a case of justice served, a reminder that in moments of crisis, ordinary citizens can do something.