By the time Hite returns, the men are walking south on 27th. Five minutes later, heading north on 27th, Hite spots the two men again, now in the company of two others. Officer Towles seems to be panting into his radio. He's returned yet again to the house where he's not supposed to be, according to a judge's order, and Towles is out of his car and after him. Officer Johnson hurls his patrol car east on Chestnut from 26th Street.
Cars parked on Chestnut seem become blurs in place.
Within moments, around 19th Street, Johnson brakes hard by the spot by the sidewalk where Towles and another officer are kneeling atop a man on his stomach, who has lost his blue hat. Profanities are filling the air. Towles is breathing like a man who just sprinted three blocks. The man who lost his blue hat is hustled into the back seat of Johnson's cruiser, where the air begins to reek of alcohol. By the time Hite gets to the scene, all the officers have left.