Nearly Robbed Today

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

mortablunt

Member
Joined
May 1, 2011
Messages
2,590
Location
Deutschland
Today, I employed some of the situational awareness tactics that you at THR have talked about. They allowed me to escape a dangerous situation.

What happened was that I was practicing tactical awareness of my surroundings. I left a building I had been in for a class and began going back to the car. The car was at the far end of a wide open lot blocked from street view by a combination of hedgerows and trees. As I was crossing, I noticed a man following me from the building exit wearing large, baggy clothes- too big and hot for wearing in the summer at midday. His pocket seemed to hang rather distinctly, as if there was something heavy in there like a gun or a knife. To top it all off, he was going at a fairly moderate pace and wearing shades. I turned on my phone and got ready to hit the 9-1-1 speed dial.

He kept his eyes fixed on me the whole time and made a beeline at me. Since I didn't want to fight (and I wasn't carrying anything, and even if I was, it would have been my last resort), I ran into a garage because he hadn't started following me until I was going down the stairs to leave And therefore, I figured I could lose him. The moment I escaped his line of sight, I sprinted to behind the cars and kept low. Eventually, I made it to a staircase and got up ASAP. I was lucky that I managed to get to my car when I did, because I saw him running towards me from the top of an elevator shaft about a good 40 meters away. I slammed the doors, locked everything, and drove off.

----------

The point is, that were it not for all the strategies that this section and THR have taught me, I would almost certainly have been robbed or mugged. Thanks for all the advice. I hope I handled this properly.
 
Sounds like you did a good job to me. The only thing I would add would be dialing 911 and reporting the guy. If you thought he was hinky, then he probably was.
 
That was me! I was just trying to catch up to you and give you your book that you'd left on your desk. :scrutiny:

Seriously though, good job.
 
Good eyes. I know everyone cannot carry at their work place but I am not limited that way(thank you Lord). Last year I was going to my car and noticed a gent staring at me about 100' away. He started walking briskly my way and it peaked my attention. I eased my shooter out and hammered back as I turned sideways to him. He got about fifteen feet from me and I recognized my old college buddy. Had not seen him in @ 30 yrs. There I stood with gun in hand down by my side. Had to apologize, lower the hammer, then give him a big old hug. He got a big laugh out of it and showed me his carry also. Glad it was my bud instead of a BG.
 
^ I did later. I also notified the building manager. The reason why I didn't say that I called in the OP was that I was more concerned with escapign than slowing down to make a phone call at the time.
 
this encounter seems odd to me......now i fully believe your story....but the actions of the suspected mugger seem off.

why would he actively chase you through a parking garage after he had obviously been "made"?

wouldnt it be easier to simply forget about you and go after an easier and unsuspecting target?


was there anything about you that you know of that would make him target you specifically?...any recent ATM trips, flashy jewlery, ect.?
 
I think M-Cameron is onto something. Given the other guy's actions, it seems possible there wasn't just a simple mugging the works. I'm not sure what it would have been, but if I were looking for any easy mark as a mugger, somebody with a phone in hand, actively trying to get a way from me is not somebody I'm going to pursue.
 
When prey runs, the natural tendency of a predator is to pursue. I’m not saying this is necessarily true of a human predator, but maybe something to think about. Also, we don’t know what kinds of drugs this guy could have been on. If we’re trying to make sense of this guy’s actions, IMO, we need to consider that his actions may not be rational (drug impaired, mental defect, ….).
 
^ Good point. I have no idea what was going on. Normally, a predator will grab you when nobody's looking. I was in an urban area so it could have been a crackhead. The only expensive thing on me was a Swiss watch, but I have a rather fat by design wallet. I think that he was hoping to snatch me when no one was looking, but wasn't counting on being figured out.
 
Last edited:
Nobody can second guess a crook so don't nobody try. The guy was chased and ready to dial 911. Hopefully he will next time be prepared to dial 1-911. I'm too fat and out of shape to run but I have six friends (sometimes 5) that are always prepared to. Glad you are OK. Remember, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. Hopefully you are studying law and planning on becoming a prosecuter. We need more prosecuters that were almost victims.
 
Great job. And as for the crazed drug user part I've seen them do some very stupid things growing up in the piney woods of east tx. Including but not limited to trying to strong arm openly armed men. (everything from bats and hunting rifles) to randomly attacking groups of people because they didnt give then "gas money" or in one case because the guy gave them a can of gas instead of cash. Man I miss working at that gas station
 
Eh, you're assuming intent when you say nearly "robbed". For all you know he may have been a rapist.

Your decision worked. Personally I wouldn't want to lose line of sight with him. Assuming I have adequate room to move and cover inside the garage, then I'll make my stand there. Who's to say the next time the badguy's partner isn't waiting for you up ahead?

I would've stood my ground and challenged, "What's up?". My situation is different though. I've got a couple lethal weapons, I know the relevant statutes, and I'm accustomed to confrontations and hostility.

By running, I'm sending the message I'm unwilling to fight. It will embolden the other party. Confront, de-escalate if possible. Running triggers a "blood in the water" response. It goes both ways. I've chased and arrested people that I'd be very reluctant to go toe-2-toe with. Once they run, I'm in chase mode. Once they look back over their shoulder, I know their heart isn't in it anymore. Running triggers a primitive instinct.
 
I believe the OP did things just about as well as he could have.

Being that not everyone must abide by the same rules I believe the best "blanket" course of action to be: 1 - avoid conflict at all costs INCLUDING DAMAGE TO YOUR EGO, 2-disengage from any perceived threats and leave the area, and then fight when you can not do either of the first two.

Those in different jurisdictions have different rules to follow but I believe that if you follows those steps in that order someone would be hard-pressed to questions whether or not you did everything you could to avoid confrontation.
 
Last edited:
:D oh man this reminds me of a situation that happened to a friend of mine not too long ago . He was walking down a relatively busy city street when two young 'men' suddenly held a knife at his back and demanded his cellphone , he had no choice but to hand it over , right there in the middle of a busy street. They took the cellphone and ran away , then another group of young men approached him and told him that they saw him getting mugged and they would help him chase down his muggers , he followed this group as they chased down the other two into a side alley , once he entered the alley they all surrounded him , pulled out their knives and proceeded to rob him off the remainder of his possesions including his shoes. now safely obscured from bystander's eyes in the side alley. :banghead: just something I thought I'd mention.
 
@ DaisyCutter

I had a knife back in the car and my state lacks a castle doctrine, or affirmative defense thing. Besides, getting into a fight would have been very very stupid.
 
Don't lead them to the 10,000 dollar prize next time.

Stay outside the parking garage and pretend to be on the phone, and ask the suspect for a pen to take a note.

Throws them off.

Someone looks suspicious at night and I bum a light from them (while in the old country, throws them off the prey and reach for the lighter and bum a cigarrete, and I oblige ... hehehe ... win )
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top