"Stop that white Toyota truck!" Vigeant shouted urgently to the soldiers nearest his Humvee as a vehicle matching the description of a suspect's truck passed the checkpoint. The soldiers appeared not to hear. Vigeant jumped from his Humvee and dashed down the street after the truck, which stopped before reaching the second set of cones.
The truck was clean, as was its driver.
The next vehicle of interest seemed more promising. It was a white sedan, and again Vigeant hollered for it to pull over.
His temper was wearing thin as the men under his command moved slowly toward the car. A man sat inside, with a woman holding a child in the passenger seat.
It too was clean.
"Is everyone deaf today?" Vigeant shouted as he headed back to his Humvee. He grabbed his phone and sternly lectured the soldier in the other Humvee. "Me having to tell people to do specific things, like, 'Hey come here and search this trunk' -- that's not my job."
The lecture worked, and traffic of interest began gliding to the side of the road under the watch of the U.S. troops. Vans carrying young men were of interest, as were white Opels -- like the car belonging to the suspected extremist.
Elderly drivers were waved on. "Let this one go -- he's too old," Vigeant said as a white sedan with a white-haired man behind the wheel was pulled over.
A call came in that a white Opel was coming down the road. Vigeant was ecstatic. A big catch seemed possible after all.
"I want that more than I've wanted anything else today," he said gleefully, demanding that the vehicle be sent his way.
As it approached, his mood changed.
"That wasn't an Opel!" he bellowed into the handset, and he waved the driver away.
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tina.susman@latimes.com
