Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / May 19, 1994, edition 1 / Page 9
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g iMCinc tiik ce/tiok 1 lKlHPK fKp C!1 1K1 (l ?TVschedu/es, 4-5 141 H IV J LI IvI/ Otlll CC Honor Roll, 7 A LIVING MIRACLE Uaiias Fru BY DOUG R UTTER Ever been to The Steamboat Restaurant in Winston-Salem? It's a family place where the patrons don't or der alcohol because it's not on the menu. The type of place Mom likes to take the kids for seafood when she's too tired to cook. It's also the place where Dallas Pruitt's life was dramatically changed on the night of May 29, 1990. Pmitt, then a 17-year veteran of the Winston Salem Police Department was moonlighting ?? a security guard at the restaurant as he had done for the previous four years. Nothing exciting ever happened at The Steamboat. Nothing until May 29, 1990. It was shortly after 9 o'clock and Pruitt. in uni form, was seated behind the front counter talking with the manager and waiting for the final cui tnmfK In filter nut Suddenly, Pmitt heard the front doors shut. Four street gang members had entered the restau rant. Pru:tt saw only one. Six fat aw?y siuuu a man dressed in a black "Ninja" outfit holding a large revolver. In a matter of seconds, Pruitt's life would change forever. He stood and reached for his weapon. Too late. The attacker fired two rounds from his .357 magnum. The first entered Pruitt's chest, just above the badge, and the second penetrated his right shoulder. Somehow, the officer managed to pull his weapon and shoot his attacker in the head, killing him. But the drama wasn't over. A second gang member crawled out from behind the counter and went for Pruitt's gun. The officer fired two rounds, wounding his assailant, who died two weeks later. Pruitt watched as his own blood splashed on the floor two feet in front of him. He collapsed, certain he had been shot in the heart and w*? about to draw his last breath. The restaurant manager dialed 911 but was too hysterical to speak. Pruitt took the phone and told the dispatcher what he needed. What he needed, and got, was a miracle. A doctor and- mwbulwim wuni ? the vicinity and ar rived at the restaurant two minutes iaici. One more minute and Pruitt would have been dead. As it was, he underwent four surgeries in a pe riod of i2 hours. His weight dropped from 250 pounds to 140 pounds in two weeks. But he sur vived and is healthier now than doctors at Forsyth Hospital ever dreamed. iff Survived Gang Shooting Fear yc<ua '?tcr, Pruitt still duvw1! knew uuw be nuui aged to take two bullets, kill both of his attackers and live to tell about it. "I shot back somehow. 1 don't know how. I guess my training took over," he said in a recent interview at his Booncs Neck home. "Somehow I pulled my weapon and tiled back." Pruitt, who retired on full disability in June 1992, knows he's lucky to be alive and have a relatively strong left arm, which doctors initially said would have to be am putstsd. Pruitt smiles and swings his arm. "As you can see it still works. It doesn't work like a norma! arm and hand, but it still works." The injury forced Pruitt to give up golf and a few other things, but he still enjoys gardening, hunting and fishing, and spending time with his family. Wife Melodee said the ordeal "was one of the toughest experiences we ever went through as a family. I couldn't nave goaen through it without my rntrn m tjod Cf tts !'jp port of the community. There was just an out-pouring from all over North Carolina." Pruitt icvcived mute than 2,u0u "Get weii" cards and SO flower baskets at the hospitai. Although he underwent physical therapy for two years, iwf more ?r oouo kittb DALLAS PKlll t l was one of the highert decorated officers in North Carolina when he retired from the Winston-Salem Police Department in 1992. riuiu icuupcu io wuk jusi three months alter the shoot ing.. The two other gang members at the restaurant that night escaped with about S300 in cash. They were later caught and sent to jail. A Mount Airy native, Pruin hmime a full-time officer with the Winston-Salem Police Department on Feb. 8, 1973. If you ever plan to ask about his law enforcement background, it's a good idea to find a comfy chair first. "1 worked as a beat cop. ! worked in a special unit caiied team policing. I went to planning and research tor a short period. I worked as a detective in the crime against persons bureau. I worked in narcotics, I was pronxxsd to sergeant in 1987 and went back to the street I got shot in 1990 and that put me at a desk. After I came back to work I went to work at internal affairs. I was administrative as sistant to one of the assistant chiefs. I ended my career in the support services bureau. Other than that I haven't done very much." All <w? cwr>>r?w man u/Ka H? ptiKlialwj in Jmu force ment magazines and newspapers as a guest editorial ist, Pruin says things changed for the worse in the 20 years he worked as an officer. "When I started out in 1973 the police had authority. We could do our job," he said. "Bv the time I left in the police in 1992 , their hands had become so tied." One of the men who attacked Pruitt at the restaurant was under "house arrest" a; the time and had reportedly told his probation officer he was working nights for a janitorial service. "As far as I'm concerned the justice system is a farce. People like you and me have to watch over our shoulder all the time. The criminals should be the ones doing that," Pruitt said. The society has gotten away from 'What can we do for the private citizen?' to 'What can wc do for the criminal?' Si just seems reversed." What's the solution? "Take law enforcement out of the hands of politicians and put it in the hands of law enforce ment people," Pruitt suggests. Pruitt doesn't agree with North Carolina's new "three strikes and you're out" policy in which people convicted of three violent crimes are imprisoned for life. "Why should we give a man the chance to murder three people before he goes to prison for the rest of his life?" he asks. "1 think what we see now with people talking about what they're going to do about crime is a smoke screen. It's just politicians trying to get you to pull their lever. 1 don't see any action. It's just words. "I'd like to see this country get back to morals, family values and people working for a living and trying to get along. That's the people this country ought to be supporting, not the ones committing the crimes." Pruitt says drugs are available on every street in Winston-Salem and that has caused a rapid in crease in crime. "With the invention of crack cocaine it was like a umiib wcui off. From there ii*s continuous ly gotten worse and worse." he said. "Instead of being a thing to do drugs became a business. Unless things have changed, I think it's the num ber one business in this state and many others too." At the time of his retirement, Pniii. was the highest-decorated officer in Winston-Salem and one of the highest in the state. He also received honorable mention for United States police offi cer of the year is 1991. Not bad fot mmdcoiic who got into policc work by accident. "One day I was working as a salesman at a plumbing and heating supply store and the next day I was a police officer," Pruitt explained. "I never planned to do it, but I'm glad I did. I don't have any regrets about my career. I don't have any regrets about what happened to me or what I did." in fact, the incident made Pruitt a hero in Winston - Salem. Local television stations aired stories about the shooting and follow-up reports on his health, return to work and retirement. Pruitt v?id fwn television programs. Rescue 911 and Top Cops, wanted to feature his story but it didn't pan out. That's just as, well as far as Pniitt is concerned. "Police shows are not realistic," he said. "There's noth ing glamorous about getting shot or shooting somebody." Since mutt was shot, tour fellow police officers have been murdered in Winston-Salem, a city recently rated as the 30th -rncs: violent is Arserics. The violence is one of the things that drove Pruitt, along with wife Melodee and sons Todd and Justin, to move to the Holden Beach area two months after his retire ment. The 44-year-old now serves as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Brunswick Islands Baptist Church. Both PimH K/jye^ aJ jj H!?h SCiiCvj work with youth in the church. Pniitt also visits other churches as a lay minister. "After i got shot there were so many miracies that hap pened, so many churches wanted me to come and speak," he said. We'// Carry On We kiss our families goodbye and roost of us go out into a world that few of von will ever see or know anything about Statistic! show tnat over half of us will one day come home to an empty bouse and a note saying, "GuwSiyc, ! uu'i lake juiii jw anymore." But wc carry on. We know we have a job with one of the highest divorce, suicide and mental illness rates in the world. But we carry oa. You curse us when we stop you for speed ing. You weren't there two hours ago when wc covered the body of a three-year-old child, killed by a speeding car. But wm carry on. We'll intervene in fights and take the beat ing meant for you, knowing that you wouldn't do the same for us and probably won't even thank us. StSS Srff * uw. We investigate the murders, tapes and rob beries and have to watch the victims' families weep in court wben a judge has to release the T on a smal! technicality. We see families wiped out in accidents. Then we listen as the person who did it is fined $100 for drank driving and given a lim ited driving privilege so be can get back and forth to work and church on Sundays. SmS f ww CwTjr im. We know that if you hit us, unprovoked, you'll probably get a fine, in court for assault We know that if we hit yon, unprovoked, we coma lose our jobs and everytliing we own for police brutality. The uniform is not armor. It won't lets, knives, bricks or sticks. We have gooe burning buildings, burning cars and icy to try to save lives. Some of u the process. We are part mediator, problem solver: driver, weapon* expert, unaeior. we are pan and doctor; and soc boxer and wrestler. Does your job require this much and even somrrinw move? i doubt it We know all this. We're not expected to be the one w _ all are ? human beings. Sometimes, though, we forget and act like them. We get angry, we say or do something we shouldn't Please for give us. But if you don't ? Wr'U carry oa. Editor's mote: "Wt'U Carry On" was written by retired Wmston-Salem Police Sgt-DaUm Fruiu, appruximaieiy five years before ae was shot and nearty killed white working security at a restaurant To Dig The barth BY BILL FAVER This time of yew I am remind^! of the Korean proverb which when translated means "To dig the earth is the cleanest and proudest life." This tradi tional line comes from a preindustrial time when agriculture was the way of life and no doubt makes references to the pride in the simple and good life of aimiiiei time. I would like to think this proverb might aiso speak of a satisfaction derived from a close re lationship with the Earth. For there was a time in our country when the daily routines of life meant we were aware of our depen dence upon the earth in a much more realistic way. Our very survival depend ed upon our knowledge of the earth and its forct.. Walton Johnson, a camp director in Western North ,^1 fkti % \ l W afe- > FAVU Caro'ina for many years, once said there were two things that made our country great-our relationship with God and our relationship with the Earth. In re cent years, many people seem to have rediscovered the satisfactions of "digging the earth." Probably for many the environmental awareness of the 1970s contributed to the emphasis on gardening and house plants and the renewed awareness of the natural world. Many want to get outdoors and enjoy their surroundings. Some are feeling, as did their ances ims, thai "To dig the eaiih is ihe cleanest and piuiiu est life." And no doubt they are right! Maybe more of us should seek the satisfaction of growing our own vegetables, or of watching plants develop from seed, or patiently waiting for roots to sprout from a hard wood cutting, or harvesting our own berries or grapes. We could develop new interests or rediscov er interests we once had. We could recognize once iuuic uuw dependent we arc upon a good carih and growing things. And where better to do that than in Brunswick County? We can grow vegetables, or harvest our own berries and grapes. mono av ?u PAvtt
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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May 19, 1994, edition 1
9
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