SeaTac Police / King County Sheriff’s Office Deputies recently overcame a challenge involving a slowly-sliding backhoe:

This particular call presented quite the challenge because….well…we’re cops, we don’t normally operate backhoes.

Monday evening, May 4, 2020 at around 7 p.m., SeaTac Police were called to the 4800 block of S. 175 Street (map below). The caller reported a backhoe at a construction site had been slowly sliding, ending up about 12 feet from where it had been parked and hung up on a curb.

We will let the deputies who arrived on scene tell the rest of the story, in their own words, from their report:

“Upon arrival deputies found that the backhoe had indeed come out of gear and had been slowly, but surely, rolling down the hill,” said the deputy who was among the first to arrive. He continued, “I carefully walked around the piece of machinery and immediately noted a plethora of levers, pedals etc. bristling from inside the cab of the machine. Not knowing what any of these pedals, levers etc, actually did, I was a bit apprehensive about getting into the cab.”

Hmm. What now? “As myself and another deputy were pondering the situation, Deputy Good arrived on-scene. As a former heavy equipment operator/construction foreman, Deputy Good approached the large machine with extreme confidence. He hopped into the cab, fired up the machine and quickly deployed the outriggers and bucket, securing the machine in place.”

By now several neighbors had gathered to watch the drama unfold and, let’s face it, likely amused by the puzzled deputies. When Deputy Good managed to secure the backhoe, they broke out in applause.

Badge-wearing, backhoe driving, applause gettin’ Deputy Good, you’re one of us!