Wife Confronted at Gas Pump

[Double Naught Spy]

Usually, mall ninjas don't hang out at gas stations.

EOTechRulesAll, man all that testosterone-laced bravado was so overwhelming you put my dog in heat...and she's been fixed!

Personally, as a licensed adult,...

Is that like being a licensed driver? Since when do you need a license to be an adult?

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Intentionally Obtuse

Okay, guys, that's enough fun.

He said what he said.

Believe it or don't believe it.

Making fun of the guy is a good way to get slapped.

The "licensed adult" thing is not hard to figure out, even for someone as dense as I am.

If you believe the bluff and bravado story is overstated, or if you disagree with the point he's making, then kindly do your disagreeing without the personal ridicule.

Try real hard to get back into the original topic line.

 

[doc2rn]

Man I wish someone was brazen enough to try that with me. First just switch the pump off. He wants to use it fine, let him pay. He wants to rob me it is gonna cost him dearly.

 

[Hazwaste]

If you believe the bluff and bravado story is overstated, or if you disagree with the point he's making, then kindly do your disagreeing without the personal ridicule.

Fair enough.

I think that pulling a gun on a non-violent perp and delivering a pithy punch line is a wonderful way to see the inside of a jail.

I think that tough-guy posturing has limited real value in fighting crime, the colorful example notwithstanding.

I believe that spraying a non-violent perp with gasoline threatening to ignite him or her is not a very nice thing to do.

I believe that posting bluff and bravado on a gun-rights web forum serves to harm the cause, by painting gun-rights supporters with a broad brush in the eyes of those who visit the board and do not yet subscribe to the gun-rights viewpoint, making all of us look trigger-happy and unstable.

 

[EOTechRulesAll]

I've been involved in a number of confrontational situations that were forced upon me by other parties. I was able to avoid serious trouble or injury by letting it be known that I was willing and able to offer more than adequate resistance.

I didn't roll over and beg for mercy because I knew that would get me nowhere, neither did I chase after them in some Bruce Lee kung-fu fashion in some pathetic attempt to play Rambo.

I'm not going to give a list of every single instance where either the presentation of a firearm, the bluff of drawing a firearm, the drawing of a knife, or the use of pepper spray or other items, or the threat of such use, has saved me from being seriously harmed. I don't owe that to anybody... I will say that it is a decent number...

As far as it goes, it's not my fault if you've become such a pansy that you don't even want to consider that there might be times when you need to pull out your gun and throw out a nasty and intimidating phrase, something that will really hit the perp hard...

Or, we can try it this way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkQ69cvuA34


You do it that way...

I'll handle things my way... I'm still alive, I've never been shot, I've never had to shoot anybody, I've never been arrested... Nobody has ever gotten anything more than their fragile thug ego hurt from the way I handle things... I'm going to keep going my way...

 

[EOTechRulesAll]

For the record, I believe that somebody who walks up to me, yanks a gasoline pump out of my hand or out of my car, and then boldly tells me "I need gas!" is a violent offender. What would happen if I politely told them, "I'm sorry, I'm not paying for your gas" would they accept it and leave?

There is the ever present threat that they will seriously harm you if you do not comply... It is a violent offense, robbery...

When a man sticks a gun in your face and says, "give me your wallet" does he have to add "or I will shoot you" for it to be a violent crime? The implication is that he is willing to shoot you if you do not comply. Hell, he might even hurt you if you comply!

Do you have to be shot or stabbed during a robbery for it to be a violent offense? I assert that the psychological and emotional damage suffered by the victim of a robbery, is such that it makes the crime a violent one, regardless of the specific circumstances.

 

[Grizfire]

EOtech...I think you should start a thread on bluffing, it would be interesting, and we can all bicker and add input to its effectiveness.

but here your message is becoming redundant and cluttering the discussion!

 

[LeonCarr]

I promise not to MMQB any previous posts, I just want to share an experience I had at a gas station a few years back.

I was on my way from Beaumont, Texas to Houston, Texas to spend the weekend with my girlfriend at the time. I stopped in Baytown, Texas, roughly halfway in between, to fill up with gas because it was the cheapest place. As I paid at the pump and started to pump gas, a thuglife gangsta looking individual gets out of a beat up 1980s Lincoln Continental and offers to sell me a 35mm camera. The 35mm camera was your basic no name POS made in china type camera, so I said no thank you sir. He continued his sales pitch, and said, "You are gonna buy this camera". I then took the gas nozzle out of the fill neck and said, "You are gonna back away right now, or I am going to cover you with gasoline and set you on fire". I then used my left hand to take my Zippo lighter out of my left pocket. He ran off, jumped into the POS Lincoln, and drove off. I have a buddy with Baytown PD, and I gave him the LP from the Lincoln and a description of the camera salesman. Maybe it wasn't the textbook way to deal with the situation, but it worked. As Clint Smith from Thunder Ranch said, "If you look like food, you will be eaten."

To keep my post gun related, my right front pocket contained a Glock 26 loaded with 127 grain Winchester Ranger +P+, and I had a Remington 870P loaded with 000 buckshot behind the seat. I never travel light going to Houston .

 

[BobbyQuickdraw]

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?

Take your hand off the pump first, two-handed shooting is safer!

Or, carry a baseball bat in your car. I did all through high school, got me and my friends out of a jam once or twice.

*Yes I know, baseball bat is nothing if the guy had a gun

 

[Shadowangel]

I sure wouldn't want my wife putting herself physically into that situation, but i'd probably admonish her for not taking down the guy's plate # and calling it in. The guy deserves to be arrested, and she was a witness to his crime.

Thread made me think a bit, though. I'm usually carrying, but i'd be pretty hesitant to use it against someone that was unarmed. I know an unarmed man can kill you very easily, but even if he hits you, does that really provide legal protection for you if you draw on him?

 

[bones42]

Update

Thanks for the comments/thoughts.

My brother in law is a State Trooper and the word has been passed to all local LEOs on the incident.

I'm just really happy she did not get out of the car when this happened. I am sure some of us would have done better but she was scared to death.

I'll post if the individual is located.

 

[ilbob]

I think she did about as well as can be expected. She probably should have drove off, but you don't often think of the perfect response until after the fact.

I see nothing to be gained by getting involved in the situation. And even then the only appropriate thing to do would be to dial 911 and report a potential robbery.

 

[Rokyudai]

Bones,

She stayed safe and came home to you shook up but otherwise alright. Under the circumstances that would be good enough for me if it were my loved one. I'm sure it is maddening for you to think about the "what ifs" , "shoulda's and coulda's". Thanks for sharing this experience with the forum.

 

[MPGatorVet]

Bones, thanks for sharing and I'm glad your wife came home unharmed. Your story gave my wife and I (and others, I am sure) a good topic for discussion. Hopefully, we can all learn from her experience and do better if/ when it happens again.
I prefer to fill her van for her, but she is to be sure she is carrying with her gun accessible as she exits the car.

 

[SSN Vet]

"you'll wind up topped off with lead."

 

[Davionmaximus]

Did the wife get a plate number?? vehicle description?? could help catching the perp...

 

[Travis Bickle]

Well, this story is the best argument I've ever read for carrying pepper spray instead of a gun. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to shoot an unarmed man over stealing gas, but I'm also pretty sure it's legal to pepper spray him, and I'm sure the responding officers wouldn't mind if you kicked him in the nuts one or two times afterward before they showed up to make sure the lesson sunk in.

 

[JImbothefiveth]

In this case, "the right thing" was exactly what she did(except for not getting on a cell phone and reporting the incident immediately.)

Just don't let the guy see you!

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."

I think that would be illegal

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...

The tire iron part might still be illegal.

Well, this story is the best argument I've ever read for carrying pepper spray instead of a gun.

Spraying him might have been pretty risky. Also, I'm not sure if instead of or in addition to is better. If you have a gun, getting in to a situation whereyou use the spray might be dangerous, because someone could get it.

 

[CoRoMo]

What's with the dead threads in S&T waking up today?

 

[mcdonl]

Wow... reading the post of some in this thread has sadly lowered my view of THR just a little.

Only on page 2 of 3 though, maybe it will get better...

Sad.

Leroy

 

[metallic]

A lot of states have laws that require you to meet force with equal force. Some of what has been advocated in this thread will get you in some serious legal trouble. But this has gotten me thinking about carrying some pepper spray for situations like this. Once the gun leaves the holster, unless the guy turns tail and runs there's really nowhere else to go on the force escalation scale.

 

[Norinco982lover]

+1 to spraying them with fuel. If someone approaches me then I would pull the nozzle out and put my fingers on the trigger. Nobody wants gasoline in their eyes, and hey, gas is still cheaper than pepper spray.

~Norinco

 

[rscalzo]

has already made it clear he is going to rob me

It's theft, not a robbery.

 

[rondog]

What's with the dead threads in S&T waking up today?

A month old is a dead thread in your mind? Wow.

 

[lanternlad1]

If you present yourself as a doormat, don't be shocked when you get walked on.

Very true. You don't have to be a jerk about it, but if you carry yourself with an air of confidence and show them you are ready for them, they will usually back down. Its simple human nature. Humans are pack animals, just like dogs. And like dogs, we are always ready to follow the Alpha. You may be the Alpha at home, your boss may be the Alpha at work, etc. In my mind, I am the Alpha wherever I go, and people know it (whether its true or not ). I act like I own the place, and people believe that I do. Weak minds don't know what to do when confronted with quiet confidence. The trick is to never lose your cool in front of them. I have been mistaken many times for a LEO (I'm not) by others simply by the way I carry myself.