A Late-Night Joyride Takes a Strange Turn
On the night of March 9, 1974, a 44-year-old man named Don Yearwood was walking along a sidewalk with two friends in Florida. They had been drinking for hours and were still passing around a bottle of wine.
Don wanted to end the night with something exciting.
Then he spotted a car parked outside a closed mechanic shop.
The car caught his attention. When he looked closer, he noticed something even more tempting: the keys were still in the ignition.
Don decided to take it for a joyride.
He had no idea that the car belonged to the very deputy who would soon stop him.
Don Yearwood Finds an Easy Target
The three men climbed into the car and drove away.
Within minutes, Don was speeding down a quiet back road. The radio was playing loudly while his two friends laughed and drank in the back seat.
The situation already involved several crimes.
Don was driving a car that did not belong to him. He was also drunk.
But instead of turning around, he kept driving.
Then he saw flashing lights behind him.
A sheriff’s patrol car had noticed his driving.
The Stolen Car Turns Into a Police Chase
Don immediately became nervous.
He knew he could face serious trouble if the deputy stopped him. He was driving under the influence, and the car was not his.
So he made a bad decision.
He pressed the accelerator.
Don tried to outrun the patrol car. He sped up, made sharp turns and weaved across the road.
But the deputy did not fall behind.
The patrol car had enough power to stay right behind him.
Don’s attempts to escape were going nowhere.
Then the deputy found an opportunity.
The patrol car passed Don’s vehicle and stopped ahead of him. It effectively blocked his path.
Don had no choice.
He pulled over.
Don Tries to Explain the Stolen Car
Don told his friends to stay quiet.
When the deputy approached the driver’s window, Don tried to remain calm. He apologized for speeding and gave the deputy an explanation.
He claimed that he and his friends were fishermen from the area who were simply spending a night out.
The deputy did not seem impressed.
Instead, he asked Don a simple question:
“Is this your car?”
Don said no.
He claimed that they had borrowed it from a friend.
The deputy then asked whether the friend was named Al Lankan.
Don had never heard the name before.
But he said yes anyway.
He told the deputy that Al was a friend and had allowed him to use the car for the weekend.
That lie was about to collapse.
The Deputy Was the Car’s Owner
The deputy looked at Don and then at the car.
Then he asked Don to look at something.
He pointed toward his name tag.
Don looked at it.
And suddenly, he realized what had happened.
The deputy’s name was Al Lankan.
The man Don had just claimed was his friend was standing right in front of him.
More importantly, the car belonged to Deputy Al Lankan.
Don had stolen the car belonging to the very police officer who had pulled him over.
His attempt to escape had brought him directly back to the owner of the vehicle.
Don Yearwood Was Arrested
The deputy arrested Don and his two friends for possession of a stolen vehicle.
Don also faced charges for driving while intoxicated and driving without a license.
What started as a drunken attempt to find some excitement ended with all three men in police custody.
The most unusual part of the story was not the stolen car itself.
It was how quickly Don’s lie fell apart.
He had been given a chance to explain where the car came from. Instead, he invented a friend who happened to be the police officer standing at his window.
The Lesson From the Strange Traffic Stop
Don’s decision-making became worse with every step.
First, he drank heavily.
Then he took a car that did not belong to him.
When police tried to stop him, he made the situation worse by speeding away.
And when he finally stopped, he lied about the car’s owner.
That final lie made the situation almost absurd.
A simple traffic stop turned into an arrest because the stolen vehicle belonged to the deputy conducting the stop.
Conclusion
The 1974 incident shows how one bad decision can quickly lead to another.
Don Yearwood wanted an exciting end to a night of drinking. Taking a car for a joyride seemed like an easy way to get it.
Instead, he ended up being stopped by the car’s owner.
His attempt to explain the situation only made things worse.
Sometimes, the person you are trying to fool is the one person who already knows the truth.