Wife Confronted at Gas Pump

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bones42

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I have been swinging back and forth between fuming and terrified since she came home last night and told me what happened. We live in a sleepy rural town. She was on her way home from visiting her sister and stopped to fill up with fuel. It was around 10:00 p.m. right in town at a small mini-mart. There was car on one side of the pump (there is only one pump) and she pulled up to the other side. As she is fishing in her purse for her credit card, a beat up car pulls into the parking lot, spins around fast, and backs up to the front of her car so close she thought they would hit her. I am so proud of her, she locked the car doors and sat stilll. She still isn't sure why she did it, but her insincts were right on. The male in the car looks at her in the rear-view for a minute or two and then bursts from the car. He walks right up to the teenage boy pumping gas on the opposite side of the pump and announces that he is out of gas and needs some. He walked right up to the kid's car, took the nozzle out and walked it over to his car and pumped gas.

My wife said the poor kid just stood there shaking, he was scared to death. The gas pumper appeared to either fill his car up or take quite a bit of fuel on the young man's dime then handed him the nozzle and drove off. Wife never got out of the car, just came home. She opened the window and offered to call the police for the young man but he seemed embarassed and just wanted out of there.

We have talked almost non-stop about situational awareness since this incident. I am very proud of her although I wish she would have made a report. Both of us have gone from "sleepy little town" mode to "maximum awareness" mode in short order.
 
WOW!!! Good for her! My wife and I had a little talk about being aware earlier. Thank you for taking the time to post this. I will have her read it. The old saying goes " Ah, it will never happen to me"......... How many people have said that and wished they had not lived it! Life is short... protect it!
 
Good for her, im still trying to convince my girlfriend that her getting a concealed carry licence is a good idea but she gives me that ''you act like someones out to get you'' crap.
 
Gas stations are extremely dangerous places, especially for women. You are out of the vehicle. out in the open, with cash and or credit cards available. A couple of friends of mine were jumped in a gas station by two men who tried to force their way into the vehicle. Fortunately they both had their carry permits and the BGs changed their minds.
 
I'm glad to hear that your wife is ok!

I think I'd have called the cop with the guy's license # . .who knows when this moron will try it with my daughter or somebody else's daughter.

Have a good one,
Dave
 
I'm glad shes ok.

IN the future.

dont stop for gas at night
she should have called cops at the time
should have pulled out
not monday mornin quarterbacking, just my 2 cents.
 
Goes to show, there is no such thing as "sleepy little towns" anymore.

I'm thinking the BG thought she was done and was waiting for her to move. While she was just sitting there, he became irritated and grabbed the pump from the kid instead.
 
Glad she is okay.

My wife, dog and I just completed a 4000 mile road trip. The ONLY time I felt unsafe was on our last stretch stopping at a gas station at about 8pm. I pulled in and not 15 seconds after I pulled in another car with 4 guys pulled in right behind me. So we were the only 2 people at the gas station.

My car was still idling (turbo so I let it idle for about 30 seconds before I turn it off) and as soon as I saw that we were essentially alone, I put the car in drive and went to a more well attended gas station (about 8 cars in the lot everyone pumping gas).

I probably over-reacted, but I would rather over-react than get robbed. You have to trust your gut.
 
I'd have pulled out a gun and told the guy, "We're all out of unleaded, so unless you sit down on the ground and put your hands on your head, and refrain from moving until the nice deputies get here, you'll wind up topped off with lead."


Even if I didn't have a gun, I'd have pepper sprayed him in the face and then hit him with a tire iron. I'm not getting robbed by some arrogant sap who thinks he can just pull into a gas station and make somebody else pay for his gas...
 
Okay, now that we are all glad she is okay:

- Did she get a plate number off of the car?

- Did she write down a description of the thug?

- And why didnt she call the police and file a report anyway?
 
The gas station security cameras should have everything they need, yes?

Was it a small-time one family operation or a national chain station?

Did the boy end up actually paying for that guy's gasoline?
 
Probably the kids older and obnoxious big brother. MYOB.
Click to expand...

???? What about the OP leads you to believe that? Or are you like a lot of folks, just looking for an excuse not to "get involved" and "do the right thing"?

In this case, "the right thing" was exactly what she did(except for not getting on a cell phone and reporting the incident immediately.) Even if she had been armed, the best thing for her to do would have been exactly what she did. Good on her for her situational awareness. Good thing the BG didn't have car jacking and robbery in mind.
 
Not exactly related to this situation, but I took a defensive pistol class a couple of years ago and we went over the scenario of being accosted at a gas station. The instructor felt that standing directly behind the trunk and occasionally checking your six was the best position to be in. If you are locked in a car, you have no place to move to in retreat, unless your car is still running and you can drive off.
 
Good thing the BG didn't have car jacking and robbery in mind.
Click to expand...

Maybe he did. Wouldn't it be a shame if it comes out later that this same thug tooled on down the road in his freshly fueled up car and committed a home invasion, rape, murder or other felony?

If that was my wife, I would have insisted she call the police without further delay.
 
Not MMQB

Not trying to MMQB but if you rehase this again I'd say locking the doors was a great first step. But starting the car would have been nice. It could provide distance if she backed up to get away or a weapon if she had to run down the thug if he pulled a gun.

Distance is safety. From that safe distance she could call the cops. No point in pulling out a cell phone at close range. You don't know who or what you're dealing with.

Also since I live in PA we have a duty to retreat at least trying to do so shows a lack of combativeness.
 
I am very proud of her
Click to expand...

Proud of what ?

Other than locking her car doors she sat there in shock and disbelief and watched the whole thing happen .

Good thing the guy was just a first class jerk and gasoline thief instead of being dangerous to the kid or her .

If she had a cell she should have been dialing as soon as she saw what this scumbag was doing .

If the kid had been a female and announced he needed sex would she have just sat there while he raped someone ? What if he announced it to her ?Would she then have tried to get her car started ?

Sitting and talking about what to do is nice and all but she doesn't seem mentally prepared to quickly deal with life's uglier side at all .
 
I'd say she did better than 90% of the people out there . .most people would've just stood outside their car and watched. She at least had options. (starting the car, etc etc.)

Just my .02

Regards,
Dave
 
Poor kid probably crapped is pants.

I would have like to spray the guy with gasoline, then get out my box of matches while telling the guy to "make like a horse turd and hit the trail"

Although, I'd probably just crap my pants instead.
 
Congratulate her for the situational awareness and in getting home safely! Good job; this whole thing could have been handled a lot worse. Thanks for the lesson.




BTW, I'm curious. Why would anybody take the time to pull a gun at a gas pump when their hand is already on a high-volume dispenser of extremely hazardous chemicals?
 
I was at a gas station just outside of Logan in Boston, late at night, filling a car.

Up from my left walks one fellow while towards me on the opposite side of the car walks another.

The one walking to me from the left was coming at a brisk pace and the one opposite started talking to me.

When the one on my left was close enough I squirted him with gas and started yelling at him. I was fishing for a lighter because I was gonna torch him. He turned and ran before I could find my lighter. The other one turned and ran when he saw his buddy get wet.

Scared the heck out of me. Knocking knees and everything. By the time my friend in the car got out it was all over.

I don't always have a gun in my pocket and never on a business trip but at home at least there is almost always one in the car. If I am in a dangerous place, the gun is in my pocket.

Glad to hear your wife is ok.
 
My wife never fuels her car.
I fuel it with cannisters which I fill when I fuel my truck and I go to the cheapest place to fuel them up.
This way she never has to stop anywhere and situations like this will never happen + we save some money.

We also have two children in the age of 4 and 6 and my wife has a Beretta 92FS in the car loaded with a 17 round mag of +P+!
Do you know what the most dangerus place is??
The space between a mother and her children!
 
I am not sure how you mean this?!
I have seen a person shot in front of me when I was like 10 years old and that was not in Lebanon, that was in Corsica France!
You never know when you or worse your family gets into trouble.
You can only minimize the chances of this.
Fueling your wifes car reduces the chances of your family getting into trouble by a large protion!
 
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