Local Viewpoint: Misunderstanding stops traffic on I-95.

As they say, bizarre happens. It was 2 p.m. on Interstate 95 between Miami and Daytona Beach. The event stopped traffic. Twelve police cars converged on my brother, his wife, his daughter, Jamey, and her husband, Dan, as they were coming back from a trip to Key West. My brother has a shiny brand-new, fourpassenger red pickup truck, and he was pulling a new retirement purchase, a 13-foot camper for traveling the country and enjoying nights under the stars.

The trouble started at a rest stop where my brother’s wife, Patricia, decided she wanted to ride in the truck bed so she could stretch out and take a nap. My cautious brother made sure his wife was tucked snugly underneath the black tarp so she wouldn’t be beaten up by the wind. He reminded her that when it got hot, all she had to do was stick her hand out of the tarp to get some air.

You have to picture it: a hand waving out from underneath the tarp to get air inside. Suspicious, to say the least.

Brother Tommy saw the lights of the police cars coming his way, so he obediently pulled over. Six cops pulled their guns on the unsuspecting passengers as they were told to get out, put their hands up and move backward slowly to be handcuffed.

They took my handcuffed, nearly 70-year-old brother to the patrol car and began the interrogation.

Patricia got out from underneath the tarp and sat on the back of the truck crying as handcuffed Jamey and Dan were questioned. Jamey is a little mouthy and was incensed at getting cuffed and treated with such disregard. She said, “My husband is a Navy helicopter pilot, and my dad is a dentist! What in the world is going on?”

An officer told her to stop talking.

Apparently, someone at the rest stop reported that three “large men” — Jamey is anything but large, plus she’s not a man! — had kidnapped a woman and put her in the bed of the pickup truck.

After much discussion, the police determined that they had made a grave mistake. They apologized and thanked Dan for serving in the Navy. My family members graciously thanked the police for doing their job and putting themselves in harm’s way. You just never know when that hand waving out from underneath a black tarp might be a victim of some sordid crime.

Personally, I like that people are watching, even if they wrongly determine foul play. We are living in strange times. Law enforcement is not an easy job. It is fraught with danger — just not this time, as four weary travelers now have their first and maybe most exciting roadtrip story to tell their children and grandchildren.