Almost Blundered Into A Police Barricade Situation

[moa]

Early last Saturday morning I was awaken by what seemed to me to be a rather distant loud speaker. For hours until around dawn I heard the speaker. At first thought it was the utility company truck/s with loud radios.

Then I heard something like, "come out with your hands up!" Huh?

Then I heard what sounded like gun fire, especially shotguns and .22s, or maybe handguns.

Then I notice as dawn arrived an unattended police car blocking my street.

I get on the front porch and see a SWAT team tactical vehicle sitting in a driveway with all the doors hanging open. This is about a street and two doors up.

Hmmm, this interesting. Thinking the action was a block or two away I start up the street to inspect. Then I get called back by the police to get behind the "line" just as I see the SWAT guys walk down the street. What line?

Anyway the upshot to this little story is that the action was not a block or two away as I thought, but one street and two doors up.

The shooting turned out to be CS gas dispensers from shotguns and some other type of large calibre device. The owner of the house was arrested. Apparently he had got drunk, and threatened his girl friend with a gun. So, the story goes. The police removed at least a 12 guage and .22 rifle.

Lucky for me I did not waltz into a fire fight.

 

[oldfart]

Some years ago I came upon a police cruiser parked along the freeway shoulder. The officer was hunkered down behind a bridge rail with his gun out. I couldn't believe the number of people who were stopping to see what was happening. Having heard somewhere that bullets don't really care who or what stops them, I put my foot in the carburetor and did my best to get out of range.

 

[Rimmer]

Yep! I'm as interested as the next fellow but when the guys in blue are there I tend to vacate the area in haste. I figure I'll read about it in the paper if it was anything important.

 

[Beetle Bailey]

These situations can definately be scary.

Less than a year ago I was driving in the fast lane on a freeway (four lanes in each direction) when all the traffic started to slow. There was one CHP motorcycle cop stopped in between the fast lane and the #2 lane and I thought "Hmmm. . . why is he holding up traffic?" As I got closer, I saw over the traffic that between 2-5 patrol cars (I'm a terrible witness, but hey I'm not there to count the number of patrol cars) had pulled over a pickup truck and all the LEO's had pistols drawn and pointed at said pickup truck .

I'm thinking "Holy ! What should I do? I don't want to be here because the situation could get really ugly at any time. But if I continue to move forward, I'll be getting closer to the situation. And then when I pass the pickup truck, I'll sorta be in the line of fire of the LEO's!"

Well, since the motorcycle LEO hadn't yet stopped all traffic, but just slowed it down (dunno if he did that later), I just took my chances and drove on past him and then figured that there probably wouldn't be any LEO's for the next few miles . So once clear, I hit triple digits on the speedometer to get the heck out of there as fast as possible.

Anyways, glad to hear nobody got hurt in your area, moa.

 

[buy guns]

one time my friends and i walked right into the middle of a police sting. the cops were staking out the center plaza/park area of an apartment complex because there had been alot of break-in's and vandals recently. as i was pulling out of the apartment complex four guys come running out in dark clothes yelling at me to stop my car. i take off thinking they are gonna try to carjack me or something then as i get onto the sidestreet next to the apartments an undercover car blocks me off then the four guys run up to my car putting their badges against the window. so after a very brief car search and 30 minutes of questioning i went home with an interesting story to tell the rest of my friends.


and then there was the time i was with friends in downtown chicago the same weekend some UN people were having a meeting about something. cops lined the streets in full Robocop riot gear half a mile in every direction from the conference building and a couple thousand hippes were walking the streets protesting who knows what. that was fun too.

 

[cracked butt]

A few years ago, I had to open our production facility on a Sunday night. For some reason there was a glitch in the alarm system and it wouldn't accept my code, so the alarm went off and the police were on their way. The police station was about 4 blocks away, being that we are in the narcotic business, they showed up post haste.

It was in early spring, I was wearing black jeans and a black leather jacket, I walked out to the curb to greet the police as they came to let them know everything was ok, while my coworker called the alarm company. 4 squads showed up, one stopped about 50 yards from me, the guy got out and stood behind his door with a shotgun pointed at me, told me to "stop and take your hands out of your pockets!" I don't think I ever moved my hands more slowly or carefully as I did then Another squad puled up behind me and got out so I could identify myself. It all ended well, and the cops went back to whatever they were doing before.

Nothing puts things in perspective faster than having a shotgun trained at your chest.

 

[Kim]

The part about the loud speaker made me think of something funny. I'm from Arkansas but back in 1987 I had to go and live in NJ for about a year. I was driving down the Garden State Parkway where there are a bunch of lanes and everyone is going 80 mph bumper to bumper. I got out a little ways where the traffic thinned out, had the radio on in a old car with AR plates. I look back and see the blue lights behind me. I decided it was me he wanted to stop. I was in the inside lane and I pull over to the center. He stops and comes to my window and demands that I pull over to the outside shoulder. I thought how in the heck am I going to get over there without killing myself as the traffic I thought, was still awful. Anyways, I made it. He comes back to my window and gets about a half inch from my face and is screaming at me red-faced.(and spitting on me) I was scared to death considering I live in a small town with no police and not one stop-light. He said" Did you not hear me over the loud speaker?" I say no----where I'm from policemen do not holler at people in cars over loud speakers. He says "Do you not know the speed limit is 60mph?" I said -----NO I had not been in NJ a week yet and if I tried to drive 60mph I would be dead and in AR the speed limit is 70 mph. He did not give me a ticket. I think he could tell I was scared to death and was obviousely a dumb hick with my accent. I also wonder what the firearms laws were in NJ at that time because if they were anything like they are today something I had given to me at age 18 by my dad that was under the seat might have been a problem. I had no idea that there was such a thing as firearm laws.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Went home for lunch and to get there I have to turn a tight corner. Right around the corner was a cruiser. I wave and drive past them. Then as I drive up the street to my home, there's a marked unit sitting across the street.

Never did find out what was going on.

 

[Crownvicman]

My only "bad" encounter with police happened when I was driving home about 1 am. I was heading down a long hill when some guy in dark clothes jumps out of the bushes and shines a flashlight in my eyes. I didn't stop for this guy, of course. I didn't know if I would be carjacked if I stopped. A couple miles down the road I have three police cars surounding me. It turns out the guy in the bushes was a cop and wanted me to pull over. I was going 5mph over the speed limit. The cops jump out and stick guns in my face and have me get out of the car. It didn't take long to straighten the situation out, but still didn't build any respect for the police. One wanted to charge me with carrying a weapon for the small folding knife on my dashboard. I was able to talk him out of that.

 

[Rickstir]

Many years ago I was in a bank on a Saturday morning. Only customer in the bank. Out of the corner of my eye I see a detectives car pull up in front of the bank. Don't pay it any mind. Next thing I know an undercover chap is walking towards me with a shotgun in his hands. The manager quickly stated there was no problem. Their silent alarm was going off. They checked the entire bank and then left. Didn't know I could hold my breath that long!

 

[STW]

For awhile in 1980-1 I attended school on the old Pepperdine University campus. This was south of USC and just north of Watts in LA. I drove home east on Firestone Blvd (past Weatherby when it was in South Gate) since it was a pretty straight shot to where we lived in Whittier. I attended nights and no women were ever in our classes since the neighborhood was very questionnable. As I drove home one night I noticed a lot of police activity headed in the same direction I was going. A short time later I glanced to my right and noticed a LA county sheriff deputy, crouched behind a retaining wall, holding a shotgun. That was enough for me and I found a longer route home using mostly freeways.
I noticed that I use to drive through much of the areas burned in the LA riots a few years ago. My wife got tired of me pointing out the stores I'd been in what were then burning.

 

[gopeder99]

Those stories are nothing...

anyway. me and my friend were walkin out of wawa. ( a convieient store )
and we saw a black van drive threw a guys fence and a bunch of SWAT and ATF guys jump out of the van, and about a street away 2 atf guys were runnin across the lawn,with the pistols drawn, and they went up to the front door and standed to the side, and the swat team came up with the metal thing that knocks down doors, and the first hit, there was a HUGE explosion the whole front of the house was on fire, the 2 ATF guys were laying out on the grass, 2 of the swat guys didnt seem to be moving, then 4 guys run out of the house shooting and took out the other 4 SWAT members, they took the swat guys van and drove off one of the hurt ATF guys got up limped back to the street where he came over from radioed in, ambulance and fire engines came, well they made everyone leave, so 2 days later i found out there was a Meth lab inside and thats what caused the explosion, and they also had enough ammo and weapons and supplies to last for a year, they supposidly had LAW's, ak74SU's, grenades,claymore,grenades, m4s, h&ks.. and all sorts of other crazy stuff... anyway thats what kind stuff happens here in jersey

 

[MLC]

Wow!
Missed that one in the paper.

 

[Unisaw]

moa: nothing personal but you walked toward the sound of gunfire? Are you a reserve LEO or something? If not, this reminds me of John Farnam's rules: don't be in stupid places.

 

[HankB]

Some years back, my mother was going to the bank. She'd just pulled into the parking lot - fortunately, not the one closest to the bank - when about 20 squad cars with lights and sirens surrounded the bank, cops are running around with sidearms drawn or carrying shotguns . . .

Mom left the area and figured she'd conclude her business the next day. Though not a shooter herself ( ) she knew enough about bullets and stuff to try to put some buildings between herself and whatever was happening.

Well, next day comes around, back to the bank, where everything's calm. She goes in, and as she's waiting for the teller to do whatever, she asks "Say, what was all the excitement yesterday? There were about 20 cops here!"

The OTHER tellers hear, and start laughing. It turns out the teller she (my mother) was at had just transferred in from another branch, where the "panic button" was in a different place. And had pushed it unintentionally . . . without even knowing she'd done it.

 

[moa]

Unisaw asks:

" moa: nothing personal but you walked toward the sound of gunfire? Are you a reserve LEO or something? If not, this reminds me of John Farnam's rules: don't be in stupid places. "

Well, the point of my little story is that all the action sounded quite distant when it was actually quite close. Also seeing two SWAT guys strolling down the middle of the road did no raise any alarm. And the unattended police cruiser blocking my street raised no alarm. Turns out the crusier operator had taken cover a half block up another street behind a row of houses and a large fire truck.

The operator came down the street an ordered me to get "behind the line". There was no "line". Although I did notice he quickly took cover behind a large tree.

So, I figured I was fairly safe.

Hey, and I occasionally do stupid things, and still manage to muddle through.

Interesting story about the Meth lab. That should have been national news, and I never heard of it.

 

[Phil Ca]

Back in the 70's I was working for a federal agency. I was off on Friday and Saturday and decided one Fruday to take my camera and attend a rally at Union Square across from the Fairmont Hotel. Inside the hotel the govornors of Kali (Reagan) and New York (Rockefeller) were meeting. The local PBS (Left Leaning) TV station was broadcasting from a truck in Union Square.

I thought this would be a good photo-shoot to cover our First Amendment in action for a college class. As I walked around the square I observed that the ordinary people protesting the meeting were very polite and obeying the rules by keeping moving and staying on the sidewalk. There were several priets and nuns and other religious clerics there as well. There were horse-mounted police and they were all smiles and everyone was enjoying the sun and everything seemed to be perfect. That should have been a warning signal right there.

One protester went off the sidewalk and confronted the mounted police man nearby. The mounted cop just urged his mount forward and the protester realized he was no match for a horse and retreated to the sidewalk. Another protestor walked up to a cop and started mouthing off to him and the cop never missed a beat. He had a side-handle baton under his folded arms with the side-handle pointed forward. When the hippy protestor would step forward the cop would meet him with the handle of the baton and a small. This guy soon gave up and retreated to the curb.

As I was walking up the sloping sidewalk towards the center of the park (coming from the Powell Street side) I watched as a young man stepped down from a raised area over a curbing. He was carrying a paper shopping bag in each of his hands. As he stepped over the curbing the bag in the left hand hit the concrete and you could hear bottles breaking. The young man lookesd rather sheepish and tried to smile. I realized that he had picked up a stash of bottles to use in fighting with the police.

I immediately turned and walked towards a mounted policeman several yards away when a disturbance broke out on Post Street. A city electric bus had crossed the intersection and stopped at the Union Square stop. A grroup of protestors went out and pulled the trolly cable from the overhead and started rocking the bus. The passengers were upset and tried to exit the bus. A motorcycle officer sped across the intersection and his machine was turned over when it hit the cobblestones in the street. The officer stepped off the machine and was OK. A protestor ran from the crowd and threw a lighted matchbook into the puddle of gas leaking from the overturned motorcycle. It caught fire and flames were shooting up 20 feet or so. My mission to report the bottles intended as missiles was no longer necessary so I took a few photos and got out of the way.

The Tactical Squad was in position across the intersection from Union Square was being prepared to engage the protestors. By now the "peaceful" protestors were being pushed by the radical protestors towards the street and the police. You could see fear in the eyes of some of the people who thought they were there for a peaceful protest. In another location of the Square a horse was injured by a protestor and had to be destroyed later that evening.

The Tac Squad was still formed up and a Lietenant d'Amico was warning people over a loud-haier that the assembly was now declared illegal and people were to disperse or in five minutes they would be subject to arrest. After the one minute warning the Tac Squad was marched across the street where they were moved on line towards the protestors and very quickly engaged the radical protestors who were spoiling for a fight.

Knowing that a police baton would not differentiate between the radicals and the good guys I chose to head towards a construction project across tPost Street. I showed my ID at the gate and the foreman opened the gate and allowed me to enter. He assumed I was working undercover and I decided not to confuse him with details.

I watched the Tac Squad work their way across Union Square and on down towards Post Street. An out is always supposed to be allowed so that people may disperse and leave the area. The radicals with their own agenda did not care that innocent people were being trampled by other protestors, pushing from behind, and later clubbed by the police.

When the Tac Squad had passed and the Square was clearing I exited and went to the intersection to watch the TV Newshounds interviewing a young Yuppie female and her friends. They said they were just going to lunch when the police came up and maced them. They claimed they heard no warning. I was there and unless a person was deaf, dunb and blind they should have heard or seen something that would have changed their mind about going to a riot. I did not feel sorry for them in the least.
Some of the religious folk got caught up in the sweep and were unable to escape the police and were maced and struck as well.

Later I went to the Abercrombie and Fitch store and went to the sporting goods section where I knew the sales people. They told me that when the protestors started down the street they had offered to stand at the front door with shotguns. The store manager sadi no and a window was broken. There were leaders in front of the fleeing protestors and they would point to stores like Shreves, an upscale jewelry place and others and different groups would peel off the main body and trash the storefront, stealing things and fleeing down the street.

Anybody that believes these demonstrations are not controlled by the communist contingency is out to lunch. The whole protest was well orchestrated and the poor slobs that got caught up in it were just fodder for the radicals use.

Later I used my photos in a Poly Sci class in night school. The radical female professor (ex-wife of Sheriff Hongisto of SF County) gave me some flack and a grade of "B" for my effort. She did not like my views on the radical, commie led protestors. when she argued the right to protest no matter what, I relpied that, "Her right to protest ended where my nose begins". Several LEOS in the class applauded and she turned red faced.

PS That evening on the TV the PBS station ran a split screen version of the days events. One side of the screen was the speechifying inside the hotel and the other side was the simulcast of the protest cum riot.

 

[Typhoon]

Me being a dumba$$:

Shortly after the first World Trade Center bombing, I'm downstairs at my Los Angeles office building high rise smoking a cig with two other co-workers. Suddenly, this LAPD unit screams into the carriage court/driveway and two LEO's jump out with shotguns at the ready.

My two co-workers run to the other side of the building immediately, while I'm sitting there thinking, "Hmm, isn't this interesting." Only when the co-workers started yelling at me did it occur that I probably should get out of range.

Too calm, I guess.

False bomb threat from a disgruntled employee (we had lots of those...)

 

[moa]

Yep, back in the 1960s and 1970s there where some pretty violent demonstrations and riots. I lived in Washington DC or nearby and used to see quite bit of that stuff.

Some of the rioters were a nasty crowd. During the 1968 rights after Martin Luther King got shot, we were up on the apartment roof with rifles waiting for the black rioters to burn down Northwest (read white) Washington, as they threatened to do. They never showed up. The cops did though.

I remember walking home caring a rifle and dodging the National Guard patrolling in jeeps.

Or, we used to go to demonstrations on the Mall, and watch the commies and Yuppies fight with the "hard-hats" and police. The commies and yuppies always got the butts kicked.

Another time we were in Georgetown, and about 100 uniformed American Nazis marched through and got in a fight with a crowd of hippies, Yuppies etc. The Nazis damn near came close to killing some the hippies, etc., from what I could see.

Another time in Georgetown, I accidentally got tear gassed during a small demonstration/riot. Stuck in traffic.

At another demonstration, a guy was throwing firecrackers into the crowd. I grabbed his arm, and a firecracker went off in his hand. That was funny! Then I got into a bit a fight with another guy. I clocked him.

Or, sometimes good parts of DC would be shut down by the commies, etc. and there would be armed troops all over the place.

Yep, some interesting times
.

 

[rock jock]

watch the commies and Yuppies fight

I think you mean "Yippies" as in Youth International Party. Yuppies are Young Urban Professionals and the only they would protest is the local Starbucks out of latte.

 

[moa]

You are right Rock Jock. Yippies it is. Jerry Rubin and the rest of that crowd of scum. Brain fart. Realized my mistake while I was five miles away from my computer.

 

[WhiteKnight]

so after a very brief car search and 30 minutes of questioning i went home

Is that legal?

 

[MLC]

Is that legal?

The Patriot Act made that and more legal.

 

[Lord Grey Boots]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is that legal?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Patriot Act made that and more legal.

Really? Where in the Patriot Act does it do so?

 

[KLR]

I was working a search operation with DEA last year. It was in a condo development with four townhouses per building. The entrance was in the front and the connected garage was in the back of the building. DEA did the entry into the row house and my partner and I covered the rear/garage entrance. We took the only cover nearby (the rear of our police car) with weapons drawn. The next door neighbor opened his garage, looked at us, and pulled out passing behind us. The odd part was that by passing us, he went the long way to the entrance of the development. Hello?! Great idea dude!