Almost Mugged Last Night

[JeffM]

Lots of good advice and info here. Good situational awareness, etc. I don't want to take up too much space on that.

The "got a smoke" that's so common is simply an "interview". You look like a good mark, but the bad guy is checking your level of awareness, etc.

For all those folks carrying knives, I'd recomend looking up Emerson's Wave design. Any folder with a "wave" is going to be faster to deploy than an automatic knife, and is 100% legal.

+1 on the blood-born issue awareness too.

[Turbinator]

Maybe they didn't, but who's ultimately to decide who the 'right guy' is?

That's why I am hesitant to get too hard on the homeowner in this story because as an outside observer, it is often too difficult (and at night even) to tell what is going on and who the perps are. Yeah, from our perspective the guy was a doof who didn't call the cops or come out to help, but who really wants that liability on their hands in today's society?

Turby

[Stormfeather]

Question for you - how did the cops know they had the right guy, as opposed to you just calling in a random innocent person and accusing the person of having tried to mug you in the past?

Turby

I made a police report moments after it happened. I happen to remember the details of the guys neck tattoo, which was very elaborate and gang related as well. I wrote a thesis on gang tattooing a few years ago, so its a great subject for me. The first thing I look at is tattoos and can recognize the majority of people just from their tattoos. The clincher was the officers that responded to the second call was the same set from the first call. Pure luck and happenstance was the guys downfall.

[Turbinator]

Pure luck and happenstance was the guys downfall.

Awesome. Thanks for the details. Glad to hear it worked out very well for you, and good going.

Turby

[ryang]

For now, I'm going to write a nice, firm letter to the owners of the car I banged into. I'll apologize, but remind them that this is their neighborhood, too. And if they want to be safe in it, they need to take some responsibility and be somewhat pro-active when they hear screaming in their driveway.

I hate to say it, but writing that letter could expose you to civil liability. You admit hitting their car and they could claim it caused paint scratches or dents and sue you to fix them. Such is the society we live in.

Tactically it sounded like you did everything right, except possibly retreating further into the driveway so they can't approach you from all sides.

When you call 911, mentally rehearse what you're going to say while it's dialing. Be prepared to give the most important info first: location (street and intersection), nature of the call, then relevant descriptions. That way if you get interrupted they know where to find you. Most people tend to say stuff "backwards" like, "There are four guys following me. I'm walking by myself on the street and I think they might rob me." Better to say, "I'm walking east on Marina just past Alvarado. Four black male adults are following me and I think they're going to rob me."

And yes, definite second on the recommendation to have local PD numbers on your speed dial. 911 on a cell phone is a joke.

[jdberger]

I hate to say it, but writing that letter could expose you to civil liability. You admit hitting their car and they could claim it caused paint scratches or dents and sue you to fix them. Such is the society we live in.

Who cares?

I think that it's that kind of attitude (no offense intended) that keeps people in their houses crouched behind drawn curtains.

If you see something wrong, you can call someone on it. Especially if it has to do with the safety of your neighborhood.

[jkasandiego]

Mugged???????? Advice is know your sorroundings,be very aware specially at night,at the parking lot park your vehicle where people could see you if you shout for help(near a light source).
Then again better be judged by 12 than carried by six..

[dixieD]

I thought about it too until I looked at it this way....

Nowhere does my mind say, "Call 911" or "Go out there with blazing guns!" I'd rather sit back and assess the situation, than to over-react and call the cops or go out armed.

8 seconds is definitely not much time.

I am certainly not hot headed, and the point that I want to make is that it is the neighbors responsibility, all of them, for improving conditions. This means having awareness about what is normal in your neighborhood at any time, and then if something does not fit be prepared to act. This is basically what the police neighborhood watch programs are about.

In this case the bad guys ran off once the alarm went off. It would've been more neighborly if they guy in the house at least asked if everything was all right.

[djslik408]

Its a crazy world we live in. Regardless of how you defend yourself, there are still consequences for your action. I was rob about 4 years ago but when i defended myself, I broke the suspect's arm. Then he had the guts to sue me for his medical bills and time off work. What a world!!

[jdberger]

Lots of good advice and info here. Good situational awareness, etc. I don't want to take up too much space on that.

The "got a smoke" that's so common is simply an "interview". You look like a good mark, but the bad guy is checking your level of awareness, etc.

For all those folks carrying knives, I'd recomend looking up Emerson's Wave design. Any folder with a "wave" is going to be faster to deploy than an automatic knife, and is 100% legal.

+1 on the blood-born issue awareness too.

The Wave design definately would have allowed me to deploy my knife since it's not dependent on thumb pressure to open the blade.

And now I'm shopping again....

Regarding blood borne illnesses, if I had to, I would have bit one of those guys. Now that the whole thing has sunk in a bit, I wouldn't hesitate a bit. Whatever it takes to win the fight.

This wasn't a bar fight or some macho duel over a chick or minor slight. They wouldn't have thought twice about employing a rock or brick to hit me with, and the guy truly swung with all his might, probably hoping to knock me out. A little brain damage occuring to me probably wouldn't have fazed him. So, and eye gouge or a bite to a face, hand or calf would be reasonable.

Turby has a valid criticism regarding the neighbor with the car. But please keep in mind that:

• The driveway was pretty deep, about 20 feet from the back of the car to the sidewalk.
• I was screaming my head off. Mostly obscenities and loud enough (since I was almost butted up against the house) to have been heard inside the house.
• I was standing next to the car in that deep driveway when the guy looked out the window and turned off the alarm.

I know that YMMV, but if I had a "Fast and Furious" car, and some guy was standing next to it WAY in my driveway and was just screaming obscenities like a lunatic, I would have called the cops.

[ryang]

Who cares?

I think that it's that kind of attitude (no offense intended) that keeps people in their houses crouched behind drawn curtains.

If you see something wrong, you can call someone on it. Especially if it has to do with the safety of your neighborhood.

Call it a difference of opinion then, because I'm definitely not a person who crouches behind drawn curtains.

Write a letter that says (and I'm exaggerating here for effect) "I'm the guy that bumped into your car to trigger it's alarm and you're a wimp for not doing anything to help me" could tick the guy off and give him all the ammo he needs to win a small claims suit against you. That is not a good letter to write and does nothing to help foster the neighborhood "community spirit" you want.

Write a letter that says "the other night I was mugged by four guys in front of your house. We need to support each other if we want to prevent crime in our streets" and you have a much better chance of getting the response you want. And it doesn't expose you to unnecessary litigation.

[jdberger]

Call it a difference of opinion then, because I'm definitely not a person who crouches behind drawn curtains.

Write a letter that says (and I'm exaggerating here for effect) "I'm the guy that bumped into your car to trigger it's alarm and you're a wimp for not doing anything to help me" could tick the guy off and give him all the ammo he needs to win a small claims suit against you. That is not a good letter to write and does nothing to help foster the neighborhood "community spirit" you want.

Write a letter that says "the other night I was mugged by four guys in front of your house. We need to support each other if we want to prevent crime in our streets" and you have a much better chance of getting the response you want. And it doesn't expose you to unnecessary litigation.

Being relatively non-confrontational by nature....I wasn't going to write the kind of letter you first mentioned. I'd write the second one.

Thanks for your sentiments.

[duraglock]

jd glad you made it out okay. reread your first statement and you will see that your state of mind about the walk had you in condition white.some things i would like to mention would be first and foremost have a plann of action before you leave the door.be it a walk,shopping or out to dinner with the family, a good plan might have allowed you to regain the advantage. a cell phone to call before it went down even if you hadnt dialed the number just pull it out and start talking loudly as if the dispatcher has answered while you wait for it to connect.once its over get the descriptions out as they were on foot and still in the area. also at this time draw your knife with your strong hand in a fashion so that the perps following can see that you are going to cut someone should they get close. these 2 things might have been enough to deter the attack since you no longer are going to be an easy mark. also loose the gloves as your hands can be more effective without gloves on be it an eye gough or just bare knuckles. also for all the people trumping up oc it might take 8 seconds for it to disable the attcker the same amount of time the fight took. also not to mention if you got any on your own person and have not been exposed you might be out of the fight. if your going to carry it use it on yourself and get a canister just to practice the spray pattern distance and how fast you can deploy it. with the oc you might have gotten one or 2 but three and the fourth one you didnt see i dont know. i carry a surefire e2d and its a good impact device but practice strikes and draws.bevel down as hammer type blows deliver more force. also it acts like a rolls of dimes. i found that if im in a country that doesnt allow knives and such that having it loose strong side jacket pocket vs clipped is faster and easy to deploy at the first sense of something wrong. always scan your area. hell 4 on 1 and you dont feel up to it blind them with your dust and get out of there. some follow up things are print some fliers and post them to let others know about the attack so they might avoid the same thing.did you notify the school since they attacked you im sure they would prey on kids or other parents. post a description of these guys here as many live in the area and might come across them in the area . if you want pm me offline if you want anything else.

[fred40]

Glad your ok. Maybe you should have pulled your knife out when you noticed they were following you. That way it would be in your hand and ready in case something went down like it did. Of course you don't want them noticing it in your hand. And hopefully you don't have to use it. But 4 on 1, I think it's a fair trade. I use a 5 D-Cell Maglite if I'm in need of some light in certain places that aren't so great, as well as my knife that I carry clipped onto my pocket.

if he wouldve used his knife, can he get arrested?

[Turbinator]

Turby has a valid criticism regarding the neighbor with the car. But please keep in mind that:

• The driveway was pretty deep, about 20 feet from the back of the car to the sidewalk.
• I was screaming my head off. Mostly obscenities and loud enough (since I was almost butted up against the house) to have been heard inside the house.
• I was standing next to the car in that deep driveway when the guy looked out the window and turned off the alarm.

I know that YMMV, but if I had a "Fast and Furious" car, and some guy was standing next to it WAY in my driveway and was just screaming obscenities like a lunatic, I would have called the cops.

Thanks for the additional information. If I had the house arrangement you've described, as the car owner and homeowner, I indeed would also had enough of a suspicion to want to see what the heck was going on with my car and why there are people on my driveway banging into my car. Fair enough and given the facts as stated, I can agree it was odd that the guy didn't at least come out to see if there was any damage to his car at all.

Turby