[SquirrelNuts]

I have a story and a lesson for everyone. My best friend (also a THR member) is going through the police academy right now. We live in Marietta, GA-which is JUST north of Atlanta. This week he is in Macon, GA (southern part of the state) at EVOC (Emergency Vehicle Operations Course). This is where he drives a Crown Victoria at high speeds through cones, water, backwards, and all sorts of fun stuff.

His wife calls me and we decide to go to Wally-World to buy a movie and then to Denny's for dinner. I meet her at Wally-World, and then we are off to Denny's. We eat at Denny's and are ready to part. She is getting into her car and I am standing beside her car when a white Ford E-250 cargo van pulls up, blocking in her car. The man calls me over and asks me for help. I reach into my pocket and slide the safety off my gun and wlak towards the van. The van is marked with lettering for an addiction recovery center/methadone clinic. The man tells me that he is from Macon and he brought a bunch of people up to a recovery center (but I notice there are no seats in the van besides the driver and passenger seats-very suspicious), and that he was robbed. I asked him if he called the police. He said yes, and they told him it was his problem.

He then asks me for money-even just change. I told him all I had was a debit card. He then pleaded again for money, this time in a more demanding mannor. I gave him the same answer. He told me he had been driving around for nine hours trying to get money to get back to Atlanta (north Georgia). He told me earlier he was from Macon (south Georgia). So I am thinking that he has been driving for nine hours, yet he cannot make a trip that is only five miles to Atlanta. This was his second suspicious point-first was the no seats.

I tell him that I cannot help him and he drives off. I look at the tag on the vehicle and it is from Fulton County-which is where Atlanta is-not from Macon where he claims. The man pulls back around again and blocks us in again. He asks me if there are any bars where people would have money. I gave him directions to a bar called SideLines. He asked me for the directions again, telling me that he has been driving around and has not seen it. I tell him again and he pulls off onto US-41 towards the bar. The second time he asked for directions, it sounded like he wanted to go there for a drink. His entire conversation was not 100% coherent.

I call 911 and tell them about the incident and tell them where he is heading. I am going to follow this man to make sure he does not hurt anyone. I see a Smyrna STEP unit in the parking lot near the Denny's and I tell him about the van. He could have cared less. I leave the parking lot and head towards the bar. When I arrived there were already two Cobb County units there and they had stopped him. I got out of my truck and told one of the officers my story. They pulled the man out of the van and he had about $50 in 1's and 5's under the seat. They asked him who the van belonged to, and he had no idea. It came back stolen. He was going around in a stolen addiction recovery center van telling people his story about being robbed and trying to get back begging for money. The man stumbled over to the police car and they put him in the back. I imagine he was trying to buy drugs. Who knows what he would have done if people continued to turn him down. Both myself and my friend's wife were armed, but luckily he did not try anything. I am glad that we were prepared in case something had happened. I had a similar experience to this with another begger, but this guy was very messed up in the head. This was my lesson to always be armed.

I hope this helps someone when deciding if they should carry one night or not.

-SquirrelNuts

[jmbg29]

I love a happy ending! :cool:

[Yohan]

Glad no one got hurt. Props to you for having enough self-control to restrain yourself from smacking him silly. :cool:

[SquirrelNuts]

I am glad that he took my advice and went to that bar. I am sure the addiction recovery center will be very happy to get their van back. I would never touch someone unless they touched me first. I took eight years of highly disciplined Tae Kwon Do, eventually becoming an instructor. I have very, very good self-control.

My belief is that everything happens for a reason, and cooler heads will always prevail. The less you panic, the better the outcome. This possibly saved my life in Russia from the FSB (new KGB) once.

-SquirrelNuts

[Beorn]

Kudos to you SquirrelNuts!

How is Atlanta? I miss the Underground. And MARTA is STILL one of the best transit systems in the US.

[SquirrelNuts]

Beorn,

Besides a few crazy incidents, I love this place.

I used to hate it when I was a little kid, but after realizing how great a state Georgia is, I love it more and more every day. I like to visit Chicago, but only for a few days. This place is where my heart is-its my home.

-SquirrelNuts

[Blackhawk]

Carry. Saves wondering. :D

Well done! :D

[10-Ring]

Good you kept your calm & were able to ID this guy to the police. I too like happy endings :D

[Ala Dan]

Excellent! Squirrel Nut's- Glad everything turned out O.K.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

[Tamara]

I see a Smyrna STEP unit in the parking lot near the Denny's and I tell him about the van. He could have cared less.

Of course!

Those Smyrna STEP guys have more important things to do than catch criminals. (You did obey the speed limit pulling out of the parking lot after talking to the Smyrna heat, right?) ;)

[WonderNine]

I'm glad it came out well. Your gut instinct served you well, although I don't appreciate the 'police state' mentality in your original post "Who knows what he would have done if people continued to turn him down." Well he could just very well have been a guy that was lost, angry and wanted some help?

I wasn't there, but judging from the story, I wouldn't have called 911. That would have been a mistake on my part reading the outcome, but one I would be willing to live with. You cannot predict people's actions.

Stay armed!

[WonderNine]

I guess sometimes I'm too polite, but probably would have done basically what you did or I would have immediately told him that we're leaving and that he's blocking the car. I guess I'm just a Pandora's Box waiting to be opened ;)

[cool45auto]

Glad it turned out for the better. Good work!

[Ol' Badger]

MARTA stands for Moving Americans Rapidly Through Atlanta :D

[blackhawk2000]

Glad everything turned out OK. You can usually tell when people are up to know good if you are just observant.

Did you tell the cops you were armed so they might relay the message to the BG how close he could have been to getting shot? Nothing like a little psychological deterant for the next time he decides to do something like this.

[12.7x99mm]

Like I always say…You will never expect the situation when you need a firearm to protect yourself.

It will be so random…its weird.

Always carry your weapon. More than likely and hopefully you’ll never need it.

But that one time you might need it and you don’t have it.

Its not a good thing

[Shoeless]

I used to hate it when I was a little kid, but after realizing how great a state Georgia is, I love it more and more every day.

I have lived here seven years and I too, love it. Having lived in Pennsylvania my whole life, having pleasant weather nine months out of the year is pretty easy to get used to! :)

Shoeless

[Bart Noir]

SquirrelNuts, you released the safety and then left the pistol in your pocket???? If that was a single-action (1911 or Browning HP style trigger) you dun screwed up your weapons handling. If it was a double action (S&W, Beretta, etc) why use the safety at all?

Bart Noir
I prefer armed combat to unarmed combat. It's easier on the knuckles.

[treeprof]

Good job, tho I'm going to Monday-morning-quarterback you on one point: Why did you slide the safety off with the gun still holstered in your pocket?

SOP, whether in self defense, competition or plinking is for the safety to remain on until the decision to fire has been made and the gun is on, or approaching, target. Snicking off the safety is practiced as part of the drawstroke, timed so that the muzzle is already pointed downrange. When the gun goes on target, safety goes off, but not before. When the gun goes off target, safety is immediately reengaged. From retention or ready positions, safety remains on. Prevents ND's, etc. to train that way.

[FPrice]

Some people may criticize you on one small point or another but the bottomline is that you done good and you done right. Thanks to your action another criminal is off the streets.

[Edward429451]

Glad it turned out ok for you. The force was with you! I'da just drove away.

<Snicking off the safety is practiced as part of the drawstroke, timed so that the muzzle is already pointed downrange. When the gun goes on target, safety goes off, but not before. When the gun goes off target, safety is immediately reengaged. From retention or ready positions, safety remains on. Prevents ND's, etc. to train that way.>

Concur with that.

[treeprof]

Thanks to your action another criminal is off the streets.

Yeah, and we owe you one for that.

[tetchaje1]

People criticizing the "safety" issue don't know all the details.

Perhaps Squirrelnuts carries condition 2 1/2 with an HK USP (decocked with safety on). Swiping off the safety in this case would still leave a heavy, long, DA pull before firing. Nobody would complain if he said "I put my hand in my pocket on my SIG." (though a holster is definitely recommended with a SIG, Kahr, or whatever else with pocket carry).

My point is that we shouldn't be so quick to criticize not having all of the details.

Now if it was a 1911...shame on you... ;)

Glad everything worked out for you Squirrelnuts. :)

[SquirrelNuts]

Ok, lemme clarify the firearms portion of the story...

I had my friend's Glock 26 in my jacket pocket. I had a Raven in my pants pocket. The Raven was in a holster blocking the trigger. The reason I did not remove the Raven was the fact that I had a Glock too. I just wanted to get it ready. Yes, the safety should not come off until the gun is on target. And yes, I realize that it is possible for a gun to fire when being moved from Safe to Fire, so I had it pointed away from my leg when removing the safety. I had a rifle that would fire when you removed the safety before I had it fixed.

You are not supposed to let the muzzle cover anything that you are not willing to destroy. I am willing to destroy a pair of old jeans if it will help save my life. It is kind of like Jeff Cooper's decision to dry fire at a television set. He is willing to destroy a TV if it will help his marksmanship.

I did tell the officers I was 69 (armed) and I would imagine that they told him he was harassing a cop's best friend and a cop's wife and that they were armed to scare him.

I agree that the STEP program is cow manure, but it sure brings in a lot of money for the city! That's what counts in the end...BG's on the street, but the cash cow is MOOING. I suppose that somehow makes sense to someone? Not I.

WonderNine,

I completely understand where you are coming from. I used to think the exact same way until I have seen it happen. It is how the human mind works. I am not suggesting that someone will do something wrong because they have the capacity to do so. I am suggesting that someone will more likely do something wrong because they are already doing something wrong. In this case, he was harassing people for money AFTER stealing a van. One follows the other. There is a BIG difference in my mind. For example, someone has a gun in a holster. No problem...they are not doing anything wrong, yet they have the capacity to do something wrong...just as they would with a knife, car, baseball bat, or even a pencil. Now if someone has a gun and they are pointing it at someone, even if unloaded, we have a problem.

The same situation applies to a car. You are driving down the road...no problem. You are driving down the road swerving at people playing chicken...big problem. You have then made the leap from what a reasonable person would do with a car. Once you have crossed a threshold, it gets easier every time. The first time you did something wrong as a kid that your mother told you not to do it was difficult, the second time was easy because you had done it before. It works in so many different forms. It is simply human nature. I hope that clarifies what I mean, does that make sense?

-SquirrelNuts

[Big Al]

Good job. :)

[Standing Wolf]

Well done—and I sincerely hope the creep gets what he's got coming, too.

[notbubba]

What is "Smyrna STEP"?

[SquirrelNuts]

Smyrna is a city that borders Marietta and Atlanta. STEP is a police force that only does traffic detail. They do not respond to calls. STEP stands for Selective Traffic Enforcement Patrol. All they concern themselves with is Title 40 (traffic code). They are the ones that are always running radar and road blocks.

They hold themselves up to being "Traffic Nazis." They coined this term themselves.

-SquirrelNuts

[Orthonym]

I am reminded of another, more recent thread about pulling down on one's TV set while watching an exciting/inspiring movie. (I sang along with the Welshmen in " Zulu!") When _I_ snapped my piece at the tube, I had already made sure that: 1. There were two thick masonry walls between the back of the set and the rest of the world; 2. ALL the ammo was in a different part of the house; 3. I could afford to buy another TV; and... 4. It wasn't a movie, it was the Juanita Broadrick interview.