Judge, angel stop bullet
Published: April 18, 2007
The Waukegan police dispatcher sent out a call: a fight at Leno’s sandwich shop. Two thugs from California were beating a cleanup worker they mistakenly thought had access to a safe. It was about 11 p.m. on a Sunday in March 1977.
Patrolman George Bridges, alone in a squad car, was first on the scene. “I saw the lights on, and got out to check the door,” recalled Bridges, now a Lake County Circuit Court judge. “As I walked up, two guys walked out and I saw one had a gun in his waistband.
“There was no cover. I shouted ‘police’ and ordered them to stop. They said no. Little more than an arm’s length apart, all three started firing. It was the shootout at the OK Corral.”
Bridges shot both, but he also took two bullets, One sliced the bottom of his chin, severing a tendon, which peeled apart his neck skin; the other nearly knocked off a finger and became lodged inside a pinky. He was eventually patched up, but still has a scar under his chin, and a .357-caliber bullet is still in the finger.
Later, a bullet hole was found in his jacket, right in the middle of his back. Miraculously, that bullet did not strike him. As a practical matter, he says that bullet may have sliced through as he was falling. As a matter of faith, he is convinced that his guardian angel saved his life that night, and other times as well.
The shooters are still in prison. The driver served a 10-year sentence.
Bridges, 55 and a member of Wesley Methodist Church in Waukegan, is a man of strong faith, “I accepted Christ at 16. He’s always involved in my life, clearly at shooting situations. When I get to heaven, I’m sure my angel will tell me about all the times I was saved.
“My faith is very important, it guides my nature,” Bridges said, “I am an evangelist; I’ll tell anyone about Jesus who will listen.”
The great-great-great grandson of a slave, Bridges’ late father Junious had moved to Chicago from the family farm near Crawford, Miss. Junious and his brothers helped their dad work the farm, using only mules and people-power, until the mortgage was paid off.
Bridges credits the strong religious faith of his dad and late mother, Rebecca, along with their strong discipline, with keeping him out of gangs. “You were either a gang member or a victim,” Bridges recalled. To avoid confrontations, he would take detours or run. “I kept one set of books at school and another at home.” To carry books on the street would anger gang members. Bridges would fold up homework and hide it in a pocket.
He went on to earn college diplomas the hard way, going to school part-time while working full-time and raising a family. Initially, his dream was to become a physician, then “work temporarily on a police department until I got the perfect job in math and science.” That changed when he learned the city would pay half of education costs, if studies were police related.
After the shooting, and encouraged by some lawyers and a judge, Bridges decided to pursue a law degree. Serving as a judge, he says, is a highest privilege.
Considering the changes in his life-path, Bridges said, “This is not my plan. The Lord is putting me in places where he could use me.”
He and Sharanne, still Waukegan residents, have raised their children (now ages 22 to 36) with strong faith and discipline, “which must be consistent, swift and with consequences,” he said. “Parents have to give young people structure — for example when to eat, study and go to bed; and boundaries, like where they can go and when. Children need to learn that the choices they make have consequences, either positive or negative.”
Bridges’ advice for young people who are growing up in a tough neighborhood: “You don’t have to become part of that. Know how to cope and survive your community, avoid gangs and drugs, so you don’t have to end up in the legal system. I am living proof that you can survive it.”
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