I spent 4 days last week on Jury Duty. I was selected for a criminal trial for aggravated robbery. The defendant in this case robbed at least 21 restaurants and convenience stores at knifepoint in less than three months. Most of the time he made his getaway in a taxi or on a city bus. The perp used the same MO in almost all of the robberies. He would go in close to closing time and stall until all the other customers were gone, then pull his large kitchen knife out. However, despite the close proximity of all of the robberies, the police never warned any of the other restaurants or stores in the area. The police had video from at least a couple of places. One time the guy stole one of the employee’s cars and a police cruiser was behind him when it came over the radio. The chase was on for a few minutes until the perp wrecked the stolen car and ran off on foot. The officer did not give chase on foot. (I’m sure he was following regulations.) Other officers arrived in less than a minute and they started looking for the perp. They searched for five hours while he watched them from underneath a SUV and then a storage shed. The only way they finally caught him was he robbed a place he used to work and someone remembered him. The restaurant had all of his info in their payroll files. I am not cop bashing here, but I was embarrassed that our city police department could not catch this guy. He never wore a mask and they had a good description of him. I feel they could have at least warned the restaurants and stores in the area to be on the lookout for this guy. If they had, someone may have been able to call police while he was stalling. Since he never hurt anyone in any of the robberies, I guess it wasn’t a priority. Not that he couldn’t be violent, I just think he tried to stay under the radar as much as possible. Once he was caught, he badly beat a detention officer in the county jail. He was trying to escape, and wanted the officer’s uniform. This officer was watching 74 inmates by himself and was tricked by the perp. He told the DO that someone was sick and the officer left his station and went to the head with the perp (I’m sure against regs) to see what the problem was. Once there, the perp attacked him with a cast that was on his arm. It was the other inmates that pulled him off of the officer. I’m sure the DO will never do that again.
While nothing I learned from this experience really shocked me, it reinforced some points, and I wanted to share them with you.
1. The police cannot protect you. They are either overworked or not willing to scare the masses by warning them of danger. Probably both.
2. Never take your eye off of the ball like the Detention Officer did.
3. I have a CHL and carry all the time. My always gun is a Kel-Tec P32. It’s hot most of the time here in South Texas and it’s the only gun I can carry comfortably. Well, I realize that, comfortable or not, I need to carry more gun all the time.
4. Although I am considerably more aware than most people, my condition yellow has become a pale yellow. In the five years since I first got my CHL, I have relaxed too much. I need to ramp up my awareness.
In case you were wondering, we found the guy guilty (in less than five minutes) and sentenced him to 59 years for just one of the robberies (deciding on punishment took us 9 hours).
David
While nothing I learned from this experience really shocked me, it reinforced some points, and I wanted to share them with you.
1. The police cannot protect you. They are either overworked or not willing to scare the masses by warning them of danger. Probably both.
2. Never take your eye off of the ball like the Detention Officer did.
3. I have a CHL and carry all the time. My always gun is a Kel-Tec P32. It’s hot most of the time here in South Texas and it’s the only gun I can carry comfortably. Well, I realize that, comfortable or not, I need to carry more gun all the time.
4. Although I am considerably more aware than most people, my condition yellow has become a pale yellow. In the five years since I first got my CHL, I have relaxed too much. I need to ramp up my awareness.
In case you were wondering, we found the guy guilty (in less than five minutes) and sentenced him to 59 years for just one of the robberies (deciding on punishment took us 9 hours).
David
