Wife Being Followed

[adams020604]

Let's say, that your spouse goes to your local grocery store to pick up a few items. While she is driving she calls you to see if there is anything that you want from the store. While your speaking, two guys in a car driving next to her ask her to roll down her window and then they proceed to ask if she has a boyfriend while your still on the phone. As she finally arrives at the store the same two guys that drove next to her pull in next to her and while she is trying to get out of the car, they proceed to box her in. Do you...
a) tell spouse to call the police and get an accurate description?
b) Get your firearm and proceed to the same store to protect spouse?
c) Let her handle the situation.

Also, if any of your spouses have had this situation happen post and tell us what was the outcome.

 

[mikeb3185]

choice a

A

B is a bad idea, i our society it would be said "you went looking for trouble" plus yo may be too late

C i'm sure my wife could handle itbut i do not want to find out

 

[CNYCacher]

I choose D

"Honey, throw it in 4 low and punch it, just like we talked about."

So what if she is only getting 18 miles to a gallon, I like knowing she can drive her way out of any situation

 

[twoblink]

Assuming you had a second phone, (you are in the house or office, and talking to her on the cell or visa versa) I would have her stay online with you, while you call 911. Tell her to not turn off the engine, and proceed to the nearest police station. Don't open the car door, don't stop, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

My friend was at a red light, when someone knocked on the window. Stupidity set in, and he unrolled the window.. The guy asked if he wanted to "Buy a knife". My friend said "No". The guy pulled out a switch blade, put it to his throat, and "Insisted". My friend emptied his wallet, and drove off..

Horrible story, but that's what you get for rolling down the window.

Getting out of a car, is dangerous. If she drove up to the police station, chances are they won't follow.

One of the local cops told me, if something like this ever happened, I should drive up to the emergancy lane in a hospital, you can stop there, and honk, and someone will come out.. if you don't have a phone and didn't want to get out of the car..

 

[jrou111]

1. My wife ignores ANYONE doing that kind of thing, and NEVER rolls the windows down. The door locks automatically when the car starts, and she knows how to put it in 4low just in case.

2. If someone is still hassling her, she knows if she stops, she's dead. Instead she'll come to my work.

3. She's a shy girl, and doesn't go shopping without me, if it isn't online

 

[wheelgunslinger]

When I was a kid, my Mother was harassed by two guys like this scenario depicts. She was recently divorced and it was the seventies, so no cell phones. My brother and I (ages 3 and 4) were in the car with her when it happened.
Two guys pull alongside, gesture for her to pull over. She doesn't. They start swerving at the car, so she hits her signal and pulls off the freeway onto a ramp. The guys follow and she pulls into an area to get a good look at them. They pull in behind her and hit their brights. When they get out of their vehicle and approach the car, she sticks the AMC Gremlin in reverse and floors it and leaves them standing there.
Never seen my Ma so terrified. I remember vivid details of that too.
there are a lot of bad people in the world. more so than the average person realizes. and attractive women seem to bear the brunt of it.

What would I do if my Girlfriend had this problem? That's a tough call. She's of a mind that she's a lot tougher than she is and until one of them slapped or hit her, she'd try to sass her way out of any trouble.
If I were on the phone with her, I'd say "come back home. forget the store." And, I'd stay on the line with her getting as much info as I could about the followers.
Of course, I'd go out and start my motorcycle while I was waiting, just in case I needed to leave and find her. I can get anywhere I need to go on my BMW in a hurry and my firstgear Kilimanjaro jacket will hold four handguns of my choice.
If they followed her to the house, they'd have some splaining to do and they wouldn't leave until a police officer had interviewed them and gotten their info whether they liked it or not.
If they box her in at the store, I jump on the bike and go where they are.

 

[joab]

I'm gonna go with D ,all of the above.

a) tell spouse to call the police and get an accurate description?

Do that after she gives you a description and location

b) Get your firearm and proceed to the same store to protect spouse?

Screw society and their idiotic views of family, that's your wife in trouble.
Maybe you get there before the cops maybe just after when she needs calming down.
Either way you have done your job.

c) Let her handle the situation.

pretty much what we're talking baout in A & B

 

[Vic303]

There's a reason I exercise my right to carry whenever I go out--even if the kids stay home with Daddy! It's my duty to make it home for my kids and/or keep them safe when they are with me.

 

[Srigs]

A combination.

A. Have her call the police and head for there office.
B. Get in the car armed and go to your wife.

Note: She should not come home to let them know where you two live. Meet your wife if you have to in a public place and wait for police.

 

[k_semler]

I'm not married, but I would have 4 questions.

1. Where are you?
2. Where are you headed?
3. How fast are you going?
4. Direction of travel?

Then, I would load up. Nobody fscks with my wife. They'll end up dead. No if's, and's, or buts about it. The law be damned. My wife will NOT be placed in danger. I would sooner go to prison for life then have my wife be killed. They're dead. No questions asked.

 

[Jeff White]

Tell her to drive to the police station. Tell her you'll meet her there. Call the police, tell them what's happening and that your wife is heading for the station, and you're on your way to meet her there. They will most likely have someone escort her in.

Do not load up and head for the store. You're setting yourself up for a possible case of mistaken identity with any responding officers.

k_semmler,
If you have a CCW permit, you shouldn't. You don't even know that this is a deadly force situation, yet you are willing to do life in prison because they harrassed a wife you don't even have? Do you intend to just drive up and start shooting? Please rethink your post or rethink carrying a weapon to defend you and yours with.

Jeff

 

[BigO01]

All of the above except going to the police station , I suggest a local fire department .
My area is made up of several small communties with small police forces and from about 5pm untill 9 am there are usually only 2 or 3 officers on duty so the station is the last place you'll find a cop . To make matters worse the buliding usually serves as the city hall and the police entrances are usually in the back with only one driveway in and out so if you drive back there you could be blocked in easily .
The closest station to me doesn't even have a door bell at the police entrance , so you could beat on the door all night long even if someone were there and they happen to be downstairs near the cells keeping an eye on a prisoner .
O and I know the layout from having a friend on the force years ago who once needed a ride after work because his car was in the shop , not from anytime in the cell .
I also wouldn't pull up at the scene if she couldn't get away guns ablazing , or even in my hand I would keep my distance and ask them just why they were bothering my wife and inform them that the police were on the way to deal with them and perhaps warn them that I was armed . A gun would only come into play if they were attempting to break into the car or in the process of assulting her .

 

[Boom-stick]

'Most' cars are very easy to move with another vehicle, just push the buggers out the way. My wife bearly makes it through a month without hitting another car anyway

 

[1911 guy]

Gotta disagree with Jeff.

The two schlubs in the scenario have made their intentions clear. My response will be to call the cops and get to my wife ASAP. If the cops are there, let them handle it, if not, my wife isn't going to be stuck in a threatening situation while I can change that. I have sworn three vows in my life. One was to my wife. You keep your word because it's a principle. You keep a promise because it's the right thing to do. You keep a vow if it costs you your life.

 

[MadMercS55]

My wife had a similar incident while returning movies to the local Blockbuster video store, this was about 2yrs ago now. The movie store is less than 5 miles from our house and is in a nice area, so this was somewhat unexpected. This was about 9pm on a Friday night, and she decided to hit Giant Eagle afterwards, which is another 2 miles or so away, nothing big. Well she saw two guys in a Honda sitting in the Blockbuster lot, didn't think much of it as they were busy. Later she called me and explained that she saw the same two guys in the Giant Eagle lot as well, apparently watching her. The Honda was hard to miss, it was thoroughly "modified" to say the least (primer and an erector-set wing). Anyway, she leaves the lot and confirms they are following her after she took a roundabout way out of the shopping center. She takes a few turns, etc on the way home and confirms that they are on her. She's on the phone with me the whole time as well. I tell her to call 911 and head back to the Blockbuster plaza and I'll meet her there. My friend was over at our house so he and I hopped in my car and rolled out. We made it to the plaza right as my wife did, with the craptastic Honda right behind. I fell in behind them to get their plate for the responding officers. The Honda saw me and I guess got spooked and fled. Plate was stolen off a Chevrolet and the Police never found them. I hate to think what they might have done.

 

[scooterthegreat]

First - I would drive around some to see if they follow. If they do, then I would drive straight to the PD. Where I live, the PD isn't hard to get to. Just had to do it a couple of months ago. The guy was so stupid he nearly followed me right on in.

If I made an error about them following me and they box me in in the parking lot, I would hang up with the boyfriend, call 911, hit the panic button and start rocking from side to side. With the horn blowing and lights flashing people will look. When they see two guys "hanging around" and the vehicle rocking, someone might actually think something is wrong and call the police as well.

Also, if I have my work bag with, I have a camera that takes pictures and movies, a palm that also takes pictures and has a voice recorder on it. Granted the tape may not be admissable, but it certainly wouldn't hurt any.

 

[1 old 0311]

Go to the hardware store and get 3 lbs. of roofing nails. If you drop 10 roofing nails on the ground 1/2 will land point up. Have her drive away, roll the window down, and start throwing the nails out the window. Problem solved.

Kevin

 

[buzz_knox]

a) tell spouse to call the police and get an accurate description?
b) Get your firearm and proceed to the same store to protect spouse?
c) Let her handle the situation.

a) Assuming they answer the phonel (i.e. the dispatchers aren't busy with another call) and assuming they respond at all (which they have no legal obligation to do), then this will provide assistance in somewhere neighboring on the 20-25 minute range, depending on location and what else is going on that night. Not exactly comforting.

b) This is escalation but could be justified. There's nothing illegal about going to the store to be with your wife and oh, look? Morons assaulting her. At a minimum, the show of force (you're showing up, not brandishing) would be enough to back them off.

c) great idea if she knows how.

d) Drive to the police station. That's the best idea. It ensures she doesn't follow and she's less likely to get ignored if she is there in person, and makes the complaint.

[Edited because by boxed in, I initially thought this meant the vehicle was blocking her, not just guys on the doors].

 

[ShootingEnthusiatist]

As a child I remember my grandmother telling me about how these BGs were following her one day. She told me how she drove straight to the police station. Once the BGs realized what she was doing they immediately stopped their pursuit.

It's important for people to keep their wits about them. I'm pretty sure cell phones weren't around at the time, so my grandmother had to rely on common sense.

 

[hso]

If she's on the phone before she gets to the store I'd remind her be aware of them and to not let herself get boxed in (which she knows already as we've discussed it) and to make sure they don't follow her. She knows that box turning is proof of some one following and that it's a good way to loose them. She also knows to drive immediately somewhere that they don't want to be like the Highway Patrol station.

If they did box her in calling 911 isn't going to get help in time and jumping in the car to "come to the rescue" won't do any good since it will take to long to get there. Cars can be repaired, kidnapped, raped and murdered can't, so crashing their car is no problem. Also pulling her .380 or .40 (depends upon wardrobe) and shooting them isn't either (carry permit, point shooting course ) if it comes to that.

 

[the naked prophet]

I seem to remember a woman being followed drove to the police station, but when she got out of her car to run inside, the guy abducted her anyway...

 

[dfaugh]

Either have her drive to police station, or home, whichever is closer. She should NOT get into a position where she can be "boxed in"... If she's moving, they can't do a whole lot..

I wouldn't have a problem with them following her home(and knowing where we live), as an attempt at any mischief on near my property is suicide. (IF they can get by the 4 German Shepherds, they gotta deal with me!) But that may or may not be the case for everyone.

 

[Vic303]

Driving to the PD station is not the best idea for me in my AO, as it is clear across town, on the old side of town. I like the idea of the fire station--I know where there are a couple of those in my AO, and I am sort of 'known' at the nearest, as I take them cookies annually on 9/11, with my kidlets in tow. They all love seeing the kids.

But in general I would not get out of the car, nor lower the window, and despite a 1911 or a .357 onmy, the best physical 'weapon' I would have in that situation is my car, and I would not hesitate to use it.

 

[Sindawe]

I seem to remember a woman being followed drove to the police station, but when she got out of her car to run inside, the guy abducted her anyway...

If we are thinking of the same incident, it happened here in Denver in the mid/late 90s. Highspeed chase that ended up on the front lawn of the police station, driver assisting the abducte was shot and paralized for her troubles, target was abducted and later found dead in a drainage ditch. The [Art's Grandma Rule] draws breath to this day if I am not mistaken.

Does not negate the wisdom of driving to an occupied police station though. I'm currently between spouses, but I'd select options A & B were my SO or close friend the situation described.

 

[ball3006]

My wife drives home from work at 11pm.....

and she is very aware of cars following her. If a car even thinks about following her, she drives around the block, not our block, several times to see if she is really being followed. One time a car followed her during the above exercise so she drove to the fire dept which is close by. When she pulled into the well lit lot, she found out it was a cop car. They all got a chuckle out of that and complemented her on her awareness. She also has a CHL, and knows how to use it. She has even done the around the block exercise in daylight too......If by chance they do avoid being detected by her, she can pull into the driveway and park between the house and fence so no one can get to her and exit the car and take cover. Once she makes it into the house, it is shotgun time........chris3