On the way to work... (what would you do?)

J

JohnKSa

Administrator
I stopped to put gasoline in the car on the way to work this morning. As I was waiting for the tank to fill I heard screaming. Not very loud, but it definitely got my attention.

It got louder--I looked around and saw a car coming down the street. The screaming was coming from the car (windows were down) and I could see someone flailing around in the front passenger seat. As the car passed me the driver appeared to be trying to restrain the passenger.

The screaming was urgent--not like someone was mad and not a scream now and then but continuous and repeated screaming like someone was scared out of their mind or maybe insane.

Evidently it got too interesting in the car because the driver pulled off the road and into a car wash across the street diagonally from the gas station. He pulled the car into one of the car wash "stalls" and I couldn't see anything after that point. The screaming stopped.

Another vehicle pulled over and the driver appeared to be surveying the situation--he could see what was happening although my vision was blocked from where I was.

Here's my situation:

The tank is still filling but I paid by credit card so I can leave the station in a hurry if I want/need to.
I'm on my way to work--strict no firearms policy, not even locked in the car parked in the lot.
I had to run some errands so I was already late to work.
I had a cell phone.

What would you have done?
 
I think you already know what our answers are going to be.
I possibly or probably would have called 911. I wasn't in your shoes, so it's hard to know.
 
Definitely the kind of situation where your best bet was to alert the police and keep yourself free of any danger. You were late for work, so I imagine that was one of your biggest concerns so a quick call as you were driving would be about as much as anyone could have expected of you.
 
That's a tough one. It won't hurt to call 911, although I'd bet you a dollar to a doughnut that somebody's kid didn't want to go to school at that time of the morning....

I have BTDT with a child who had emotional problems and who had to be restrained in public, carried out of public places, all the while screaming like we were gutting him with a dull fishing knife. Husband and I would look at each other wearily when this would occur and say, "someday someone is going to call the cops, you know". Never happened, thank God, because we were already embarrassed enough.

Springmom
 
911 can you please hold. ...music plays then the recording everyone hates" thank you for calling you local 911 emergency number. your call is important to us so please hang on the line."



the recording should be ...911 can you please hold.....we are sorry but the police arent here to protect you or even help you incase of an emergency. in fact all we really are is a clean up and information gathering agency who gets lucky every know and then and actually stops a crime before it happens. i hope this revelation hasn't come too late and you are not about to die. we here at 911 hope that you have realised that only you can protect you and if in the future a life and death situation occurs that you are actually equipped to defend your self. remember chance favors the prepared mind.
 
Being self employed, late for work isn't a factor. It would be a tough call as the victim might not be a victim and just a disturbed person resisting potentially necessary restraint. Calling the police would be first, the rest would have to be decided on the fly. Overt acts of violence against another or toward oneself are easier to decide. In this case it has a large grey area and would be difficult at best. Following the car would be risky to say the least. As they say nothing ventured, nothing gained or in this case nothing ventured something may be lost, ie., life or limb. I wish things could all be cookie cutter solutions, we all know that they cannot be. Good question.
 
In this case, I would have gone over and looked at the situation. It is true that it may have been an upset child, or a predator raping a child. Or a drunk wife. Without looking at it you will never know. A body dumped in a dumpster somewhere could have been a survivor if someone took the trouble to inquire. Without being armed, options are limited, but cellphones are useful sometimes. At the least, someone may have been embarrassed. At the most, someone may have had their life saved. Who knows?
 
What would you have done?
Click to expand...

If you really think it's something serious get the cell phone. call 911 and tell them to send a policeman. carefully walk over there to check and if I am not sure ask if everything is okay (that way even if it isn't okay, the man in the car's attention is on you)
When the cop gets there you can either explain what happened and everything is peaceful or he will have a situation to handle
 
If unarmed? 911, observe, assess, decide what else to do after that. Probably be the same thing I'd do if armed.

Oh, and I realize this depends on where you live, but I have NEVER been put on hold by 911. San Antonio area 911 seems to work pretty well most of the time.
 
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John, given your circumstances, you didn't have much in the way of options. If she continued to scream while the car was traveling down the street, it's unlikely that her life was in immediate jeopardy, so immediate intervention probably wasn't necessary.

This happens more frequently than you might imagine, and it usually ends up being a domestic situation.

Your actions? Work your way into a position where you can see what's going on from a safe distance, and as others have suggested, call 911.

The 911 operator should keep you on the line until either police arrive or the parties involved leave the area. During that time, give the operator a blow by blow description of what's going on, and most importantly, get the vehicle license number

If the police arrive while those involved are still at it, wait until the matter's resolved to speak with officers, or, you can tell the operator that you'd rather that those involved didn't see you, and you'll give the police a statement later on.

If an arrest is made, you should be aware that, if you identify yourself to police or 911, you will most likely be subpoenaed to testify in court. A lot of folks don't want to do that for multiple reasons, but an eyewitness makes it a much stronger case for the prosecution.
 
I am sorry, I MUST jump in on this thread. Usually, I do not post replies however this thread bothers the #$%* out of me! I WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT stand by and allow this to happen to this older gentlemen. I don't care if there are a THOUSAND of them, that day would be day I meet my Maker. I have already made that decision. This has nothing to with a STUPID GUN. It's about moral decision making. I am ASHAMED and EMBARRASSED that you, my brothers and sisters, would standby on a phone while a veteren of our country gets beaten by this COWARD! That is all he is a COWARDDDDD! Hell, you have a phone in your hand, shove it down his freakin throat! Then use the heel of your foot to permanently mount the darn thing!

Sorry Mods!
 
My boss was dating a woman who has a young boy with 'emotional problems'. He throws tantrums and the only way to restrain him to stop hiim from hurting others or himself is to use force in such ways that passersby think the kid is being physically hurt by abusive parents. They have had police called and had to deal with that side of it.
I admire that people do take enough interest in what is going on between complete strangers taht they would call the police to see if everything is alright.

Had I been in JohnKsa's position, I would have called 911 to report it.
I think this scenario is just the same as if you come across a driver that is obviously intoxicated. Call 911, follow, get descriptions of vehicle and wait for them to arrive. Last time I did that, it wasnt until I was giving the dispatcher the description of vehicle that I realized the drunk was driving the exact same make/model as my own truck!
 
it wasn't until I was giving the dispatcher the description of vehicle that I realized the drunk was driving the exact same make/model as my own truck!
Click to expand...

LOL! Reminds me of when I was in the Army firing mortars and they continually reminded us to ask the FO's if we had the TARGETs coordinates and not his! :rolleyes:
 
At our street, I saw a young running up and down the street. There was a truck chasing him and yelling at him. Was it a molester?

We called the law - after a few cycles of this - the truck stopped and the kid got in. The kid had an argument with Dad and bolted from few blocks away. They made up.

The law showed up about 5 minutes after this was over.

Life might have been exciting if one had gotten the AR and entered the street to challenge the dad as the law arrived. Life is complex.
 
Close to the same scenario, I was gassing up my motorcycle, saw 3 adults on top of a teen boy. He looked like he was in pain. I ran over and pulled them off him told them to stand still (I am kinda big) helped up the kid told them cops are on the way as my bud went to a phone (no cells then I am old). Cops show up, turns out they are from a "disturbed youth" program and this kid was trying to get away, they were trying to "persuade" him to go back, I told them they were using a little too much force and to learn some better techniques.

Another event happened to a cousin, he was in line at the store when a teen grabbed a case of beer and run out, my cous ran after him and tackeled him. He was offered some frre stuff etc. He passed away 2 years ago, I kinda miss him, but this is how our family is, the way we were raised up. 2 cousins are LEOs.
 
Ok, here's what I did.

The tank filled about the time the guy pulled into the car wash. I wrapped up at the gas station and pulled around to the car wash--about 100 yards or so. Saw the car parked with both doors opened and a man sort of wandering around the lot--no sign of the passenger but there were a couple of shops (including a laundromat) behind the car wash. She apparently entered the laundromat.

I called 911 with the description and tags of the car and described the situation & location. Before I finished a squad car pulled up--there had already been a call to 911. A large policeman got out, produced a large Glock and pointed it at the man who stopped circulating and began obeying instructions.

As nearly as I could gather, the passenger was an adult woman who, when the car stopped, exited rather hastily with the keys to the vehicle. The 911 call made from the laundromat apparently included a warning that the man had a gun which accounted for the policeman's use of his firearm upon arrival on the scene.

Nutty stuff...
 
No brainer.
BGs bolt when it goes sideways in public.

Defininatly woundn't have stopped in a public place to 'silence' thier victim.

If actual obduction BG would have throat grabbed and pulled down or struck hard and pulled down.

BG would have a swivel head going and probably a heavy gas pedal.

Swoop past if I heard 'help', 'mom', or 'oh god' being screamed vs. a contiuous shrill.

Definatly a morning domestic and probably wiery driver with a histericle female.

Other people have the same ugly events happen in thier lives as you do.
They don't want the outside interferance any more than you do.

BGs cue hard and the ones that are savy enough not to......well, be DAMN sure your ready to face off w/ that one. It's 'good witness' time if your not.
 
i've been in 2 situations where i have intervened in disputes directly. one was a guy walkin across the street in x walk w/ light. car w/ 3 bgs drove thru x walk almost runnin over his feet, he gave the trunk a "what the #@$%" slap and continued on to sidewalk, thru gas station parking lot and into dept. store parking lot. car turned into g.s.p.lot ad 2 guys get out, 1 w/ a bat and other gets shovel out of trunk. they take off across lot to intercept ped. driver has to re enter street to get into d.s.lot. now i've been watchin this from intersection and make the d.s. lot first. ped has noticed bg's and breaks into a run for store w/ bg's closing. i was able to cut across aisles of lot and did a starsky and hutch slide in front of bg's. they pulled up short trying to figure out what was up. that gave ped a good head start. i looked in rearview and noticed driver pulling into lot heading for ped, i turned down aisle, cutting off his route to ped allowing ped to enter store. as driver went to pick up buddies i hi tailed it and never looked back. 2nd situation was similar w/ a man and woman in mall lot. domestic that turned ugly fast. i had been watching it unfold and as woman tried to leave man grabbed her by her hair trying to pull her back to car. i crept up slowly as neither was paying me any mind. when i got close i laid on the horn startling the man so woman was able to get loose. she ran towards mall and i sped up, threw open passanger door, she hopped in and i drove away fast. she gave me low down of what had happened. i asked her if she wanted police or what. she wanted to go home...where he was going..go figure. i had at this point comprimised my safety and told her i'd be damned if i was gonna take her back to him so i dropped her off a mile from her house . i have called in a dozen fires, at least 30 accidents, 5 domestics where i stayed in constant visual "just in case" till officers arrived, and at least 60 unsafe road conditions, dog on freeway, ladder on freeway etc. i always carry but have yet to even need to think about that, unless checking home noises at night. i think the phone is #1. rick
 
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