High Drama in Temecula

 

 

 

The traffic was light at 5:30 this morning as I headed north on Highway 15 toward my destination, Temecula. The Pechanga tribe has built an enormous casino complex in Temecula, along with a five-star golf course that is very challenging. I played there last week but wanted to go back and improve my game. 

 

The starter grouped four of us singles together, and we teed off around 7. I parred the first hole and felt comfortable and relaxed. We were on the tee on the second hole when a Ford SUV raced through an access road and sped down the cart path. Suddenly, the driver slammed on the brakes. Two women got out the back door along with various water bottles that spilled on the ground. One man tried to start the car again. The engine wouldn’t turn over. He took a portable generator from the back of the auto and kept trying to get the car going. He was frantic while his companion ran and leaped over a fence. If things had been different, he might have been an excellent high school hurdler. At one point, the man said, “What are you looking at?” I felt like saying, “You have a point, sorry. Cars speed onto the golf course all the time. My bad.”

 

The four of us watched from about thirty yards away. I felt like I was in a crime show on reality TV. After a little while, I heard sirens approaching us. The man finally got out of the car and ran across a fence into a field. The two women started walking along the course.

 

 

At first, I thought the four Hispanic people were undocumented workers fleeing the border patrol. Then I wondered if they had stolen a car. It was hard to tell. My thoughts were interrupted by two security cruisers from the tribal police and two more Temecula police cars with sirens and flashing lights.

                                                        

A message flashed on our golf cart's screen, telling all golfers to leave the course because of a police incident. Since we had seen the whole event and watched the wanted individuals drive away from the golf course, we knew there was no danger and kept playing.

 

The rest of the morning went smoothly as the four of us enjoyed the course, aptly named The Journey. I checked the local newspaper for a couple of weeks and found out that the men were eventually caught and sent to jail for car theft.