This may have been the closest I've come to needing my handgun ....

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PcolaDawg

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My wife and I were driving back from the beach last Sunday night (Johnson Beach in Perdido Key, Florida) and we were on a two lane, unlighted road that we had to ourselves.

Then, as I was motoring by, we both noticed a woman trying to get our attention by running on the side of the road waving her lighted cell phone and using it as a beacon. I went on by, but my wife asked me to stop because it looked like she might be in trouble. She was right, but something about it didn't seem right to me. Regardless, I stopped, turned around and went back to see if she was alright.

When I rolled down my window and she came up to the car I smelled alcohol and weed. Also, she was clutching a computer keyboard. :confused:

She thanked us profusely for stopping and then asked for a ride into town. Well, at this point I'm not going to leave her out there by herself, so I agreed to give her a ride. She immediately commented on how nice the car was (I drive a Mercedes) and she started calling her boyfriend and other assorted friends.

Well, at this point I'm wondering why she needed to hitch a ride when she's got all of these friends she can call, etc. Plus, I just started getting a bad feeling, and it didn't help that she was sitting right behind my wife. That made me nervous and, for some reason, I got the picture in my mind of her having a knife.

Anyway, at this point I eased my S&W Bodyguard .380 out of it's pocket holster, flipped the safety off, and kept it gripped as I drove with one hand. We then had an uneventful drive into town and she asked us to drop her off at a convenience store near the Pensacola Naval Base.

When she left the car, I turned to watch her leave and I noticed a very large, very sharp looking, pair of scissors in the back seat where she had been sitting. I told her that I thought she left something, and she turned back to get them, sounded a little sheepish, and said that she had that 'just in case'.

Now, I can understand a woman feeling the need to have some protection if she's getting into a car with total strangers (although I don't understand a woman willingly putting herself in that situation), but it still gives me the hives that this gal was sitting right behind my wife with a pair of scissors ready to use as a weapon.

This is the first hitchhiker I've ever picked up (and will likely be my last), and we probably weren't in any real danger, but I am VERY glad I was carrying a gun. I can tell you, that if she made any threats against my wife and had wielded the scissors as a weapon I would have emptied a clip of hollow point .380s into her as fast as I could pull the trigger. :fire:

VERY GLAD it never came to that, and VERY GLAD I have the right to arm myself to protect me and mine should I ever find myself in a desperate life or death situation. :cool:
 
If she had wanted to, she could have killed you from the backseat with her scissors before you'd ever got a shot off.
 
Sounds like maybe she didn't know where she was and therefore couldn't call people to pick her up.
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Well that was another weird thing. You may recall she was holding a computer keyboard. I asked where the heck she had gotten it, and she told me the friend she was visiting had just given it to her.

That gave me the impression she knew exactly where she was. Also, it gave me the impression that she had stolen the keyboard and needed to leave fast. That is pure speculation on my part, though.
 
If she had wanted to, she could have killed you from the backseat with her scissors before you'd ever got a shot off.
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Yeah, that thought did cross my mind. Which is why I had unholstered my gun and flipped the safety off.

Not a good position to have put my wife and I in.
 
Should have just called her a taxi, or then again she could have called a taxi since she has a cell-phone.:scrutiny: Either way I wouldn't have let some stranger hop in the car for a ride wether it was a man or woman.
 
Dear Dawg;

I am glad that you and your wife are still alive, and that nothing happened to you due to your amazing lack of judgement.

This time . . .

As a long time police officer, who has put thousands, seriously thousands of people in my car, never once did I pick up a hitchhiker while off duty and with my wife, nor did I ever put one in a cruiser without searching them.

Then you mention unholstering your firearm, and flipping off the safety, as if that could have protected you.

If you had to use your gun while trying to stop your car, or pull off the road when attacked, worry about yourself and your wife in the car with a robber or worse, you likely would have lost your gun, your car and your wife, while retaining the scissors, that could have been stuck in your neck, severing your carotid artery and killing you.

Call me an a)(&*(&* for saying it, but you should have titled your post "This may have been the closest I've come to getting us killed". . .

Don't put you and your wife at risk like that ever again, please.
 
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When one hitchhiker turns into many, it is time to drive away. I'm not a fear monger but damn, you were lucky. This could have ended differently and I think you can see it now that you have thought about it.

If it makes you feel better, I once gave a fair amount of cash to a guy with a story that claimed he was on his way home and ran out of gas at a rest stop because he left his wallet at home. I'd have probably given him more but my streetwise, now ex wife, showed up after using the restroom at the road side stop, understood the con that was in progress.

A bit of thinking about some inconsistencies in the guys story confirmed I was about to be a real sucker. I'll admit it, that day I was a fish, I swallowed the hook.

The truly criminal act to this is someday I'll meet someone that really needs a hand I'm willing to give but I'm now pre-disposed to consider their story a scam.

Clutch
 
Like others I never pick up hitchhikers, especially at night. Being the gallant coming to the rescue can easily get a person killed anymore.
 
I don't make a habit of picking up hitchhikers, but I have on occassion. I've also hitched on rare occassion. Again, not the brightest of ideas, but sometimes it seems necessary.

I was having this conversation with my brother and my position was that it's a good policy to never pick up hitchers due to the danger. His point was, "well what if you are the person that saves their life, because the next car could be a murderer...?"

Well, I know it's not my job to save others, but if I get a good vibe from someone and the weather sucks or whatnot, I will consider picking them up. I recently gave a homeless veteran and his young dog who were on the on-ramp to the highway on a rainy day a ride. I was armed and felt zero threat. I then bought them a meal at McDonalds and it was part of my way to give back...

Back to the OP - if I were in that situation, I would have offered to call her a taxi, help her with the location and even waited until a cab arrived. But a woman in that situation, where clearly something is wrong with her, and my wife was in the car - I would not have picked her up and put us in that situation. Maybe 5 years ago and more naive... but not now. You are lucky. So is your wife.
 
I think it more has more to do with where you are whether you pick up hitchikers, or not. I have hichhiked a lot of the last 60 years, and have been given rides in everything from old Ford pickups, to a Rolls Royce. However, where I hitchhike, there is no taxi, you either drive your own car/truck, walk the 20+ miles into town, or you hitchhike. If your car is disabled for some reason, well....

Up on this mountain there are people that don't even own a car (too many DUI's or whatever reason) They all walk to town, or hitch, or a combination of the two. Yes, I pick people up, always have, because I have been there with my thumb out in the snow because I needed something from town.

Would I pick someone up in downtown Seattle or downtown Spokane? No.
 
I"m glad things went Ok for you and your wife. How does she feel about the situation. It seems that men are more wary in that kind of situation and women are more emotional towards one of thier own gender. Had it been a man you'd not have turned around probably. Or do you think she would have reacted the same?
 
No hitchhikers. When I was in the Navy, some 55 years ago, times were different and I did a lot of hitchhiking. But, as I said, times were different. I was a LEO for 30 years and have to admit, the one time I didn't search a person I put i n the cruiser back seat (a juvenile going to detention) I could have paid dearly for it. When I off loaded him, I looked in the back seat and there was a very large hunting knife laying there. That was some 50 years ago and I still remember it clear as a bell.
 
Most likely you picked up a druggy,part time hooker,who either just ripped someone off or did a house break.I understand why you stopped because you mosy likely were brought up right to watch out for women in distress.The only problem is that things are not like they were years ago and most women in trouble are trouble themselves.I am glad you and your wife got off Scott Free.
 
No hitchhikers. I'll stop to help people on the side of the road on a case by case basis based on the feel of the situation (person in need, location, public-ness of the area, etc). You're at least in a position to run as a last resort there if need be. Completely vulnerable to a passenger while driving a car.

In your specific instance, rudeness is street acceptable. You slowed down, smelled weed/alcohol and saw the incredibly out of place keyboard. Drive away.
 
We would never even consider picking people up, and I would only consider stopping at a distance from someone, in the day time and only if by myself, with the foot ready to hit the gas pedal.

A) A clever pair near Fairhope, AL used a car as a prop years ago on a quiet road. You must know the tactic. The "lady" stands by a car with the hood up, and attracts all of your attention.
The friend comes from a blind spot with a gun.

B) Here in Memphis about 30-40 years ago, a guy who retired from the company stopped at a red light by the hospital district, on the quiet street north of Union, late at night.
As the 'Dude' from the front waved at him and approached Danny's car, Danny barely noticed -in his rear view mirror- the stranger's buddy scampering, but bent over, Behind the car from one side to the other.

Danny said that he made his handgun visible, and both dudes decided to walk or run away. If you don't have access to a gun (I don't have a handgun), how close do you let the only visible pedestrian get to your car?

How many drivers would look into a mirror, or Be Able to notice the hidden, second person in the daytime or night?

C) A buddy (who grew up on a farm in west TN) with another company was lost on a rural dirt road several years ago, down in Desoto
or Marshall County MS. These counties border west TN.
As he turned around at the dead end, the few guys he had just passed were now standing in a line Across the road, Blocking it.
They were maybe 100-200 feet away.

He figured that his only sure defense was a quick Blitzkrieg offense, and at the risk of hitting somebody, floored the pedal and made them scatter from the road. Some of us might not be mentally prepared to make a quick decision in such an abrupt, weird situation.
This was in the daytime......

D) Lots of cars stolen from Memphis are found in Marshall County, and when my wife's was stolen years ago, the local Deputy who had located it told us to not even try to look for it, but meet him at the BP station by Hwy 78. It was dark.
After going down the most remote gravel roads, when we stepped from his squad car by the stolen car, it appeared to the Deputy that the two or three tall 'Dudes' standing nearby might have known who the thieves were.

His warning to not look for it was not because we might get lost, but for other reasons.
 
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Gald you guys were not hurt in any way. I have a young daughter and would never stop to pick up a hitcher with she and my wife in the car. I wouldn't pick anyone up if I was solo too. I think in a similar situation either calling a cab or the police would be a prudent idea. The cops could have secured the situation in the most effective, safe fashion for everyone involved.
 
I smelled alcohol and weed. Also, she was clutching a computer keyboard
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What? I mean come on, who doesn't carry a keyboard down a 2 lane round after consuming alcohol and weed? Sounds like one hell of a Sunday night to me. But honestly, I increase my speed if I see someone trying to flag me down. I am not a taxi nor a police officer so I can offer NO HELP. Let her rob someone else.
 
Has anyone heard the one about the blonde walking down the road at night with a cell-phone, computer keyboard, and a pair of scissors?

Seriously - stop me if you've heard this one.....

:D:neener::D
 
i'll try to be tactful here,
I hope that in retrospect you nominate yourself for the Darwin Award.
I've been known to stop and offer bottled water or the use of my cell phone after i've dialed a towtruck service to a stranded motorist, or even help changing a tire for a little old lady.
But letting a stranger who reeks of booze and weed get into my car (while my wife's in it!) ????
Man, it's a good thing you didn't have to exercise your "emptying my .380 into the crazy broad in the backseat while maintaining control of my vehicle and noone getting stabbed" skills!
You dodged the bullet that time (or dodged the fiskars?) but i surely hope you don't ever take that risk again. Being armed is NOT an excuse to comprimise situational awareness.
 
Since she showed you hers, you should have told her she wasn't the only one prepared, and suggest next time she not leave her protection behind.

I probably wouldn't have stopped, and definitely wouldn't have given her a ride. She had the ability to call 911, and as you said, had lots of friends.
 
Thanks for helping someone who was down on their luck and not being afraid. You did the right thing.
 
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