Driving home, late night, flagged down by guy in street

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Originally Posted by Paymeister

Pepper spray in the car seems impractical, too...

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I consider any spray highly impractical. It can incapacitate BOTH ways depending on a light breeze or vehicle/environment. Now the spray GEL... that is another matter. What is the first instinctive thing to do when sprayed in the face with something?... Rub it in. Oh yeah..... just what I want the other person to do......

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Originally Posted by 1boredguy

Very late night, simple 2 way street in front of a park, few cars pass through this area at night. Like 1 car every 15 mins.
Guy about mid 20s, medium build, 6' 2" waving histarically in middle of road.
cz p06 in the glove compartment, LCP in pocket ATM.
I slow down as I pass to evaluate, "maybe he was hurt or in trouble?", he seemed distressed so I stop and roll down the windows.
his composure was a bit wired/distressed. I asked if he's OK. He replies "yes! Yes!" in a very animated gesture and starts walking up to me.
But he kept walking closer to arms reach distance, so I rolled up the window partially and let off the brakes. "woah! Keep away from the car!" he said "dude, I just need gas. Can you take me to the gas station?" I tell him the gas station is just down the street really close. "c'mon man, you can take her with you there." he refers to someone at his car in the dark park entry street. "sorry, the gas station is just around the corner."
my bs meter didn't go off, I was betting he did just need gas, but there was something really off about his composure. Plus the nearest gas wasn't more than a 15 min walk.
He starts to get attitude then curses at me with foul language as I move on.
He was so upset that he didn't stop flipping the bird, to flag down the next car behind me.
Called the police. Operated confirmed police arrived on site.

I'm glad that I didn't assist the nut. Better safe than sorry. But if I had, my concealed carry wasn't optimized if there was a scurry in the car. Drawing the LCP with seatbelt on wouldve sucked. The "car gun" was locked in the glove compartment. Pepper spray is easily accessible though. Storing of a car gun, other than in the glove isn't an option for my car.

perhaps I'll just holster the car gun during transport, on these pocket carry days.
Most days aren't limited to pocket carry btw.

What do you think of that kind of situation?

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You're safe, not sorry. Good call. I like ankle carry for my .38 as my BUG for driving the car.

Gotta agree with those who said keep on driving and call 911. Back in the late 50s/early 60s I might have stopped, but not today! Back then I did a bit of hitchhiking myself and have picked up a few servicemen in uniform hitching, but I wouldn't dream of doing it today. Yah, there were serial killers back then too, but generally, people were a lot more friendly to "neighbors" and helpful to strangers in need. It just isn't worth taking a chance today. However, if I see a motorcyclist along the side of the road, I generally will stop to see if they need help. Biker brotherhood and all that.:image035:

Had a guy trying to flag me down on a very rural highway. He was in the middle of the road, and looked like he was trying to force me to stop, which was a red flag to me. Because of that, I drove around him to see what he would do. He almost hit my car as I passed him. If he wouldn't have been so aggressive, I would have stopped. It was nice warm weather (not winter) so I wasn't worried about his survival, etc. As it turns out, he had a good reason for trying to stop me. As I went over the next hill, there was a house being moved, that took up the entire road. I had time to slow down, but nowhere to pull over, so I drove in the ditch to pass the house.

The thing that made me mad about this situation was that this guy had NO orange vest on, no identification, his vehicle didn't say "wide load ahead" NOTHING like that. I wanted to contact the company that was moving the house and complain about how unprofessional and dangerous it was for everyone. The person on the road could have been run over, and a car could have hit the house, because they had no signs to warn anyone, just a crazy looking person waving his arms.

Its unfortunate that we have come "so far" in society and the original "Good Samaritan" story that we are distrustful of nearly everyone. I can, perhaps, find the reasoning in my own life from my days in Blue - where everyone stopped was a potential danger. Even the old lady could have her husband in the trunk. :rolleyes: But that is the way it is. Too many stories of things turning out badly. And I would be just as reticent to flag someone down for help these days as well.

We have to remember what kind of person we are. We can not only think about what kind of person they MIGHT be. If you have a cell phone call the police and let them know someone is broke down and could be in trouble. It doesn't cost us anything to do this little kindness. To get out of the car and help someone could be a hit or miss thing. They could really be in trouble or they could be trouble. I think you did the right thing.

We have to be careful not to turn into one of those who only care about their self.

I know some of you mentioned calling to cops on the cell phone and it brings up an interesting point. How many 20 year olds do you know that don't have a cell phone on them always. People of that age, myself included, grew up with cell phones and most of us are used to having it on us at all times. Him trying to flag people down instead of calling for assistance is suspect. In this day and age neither him or his companion not having a phone is real strange. If I broke down, I would call someone for assistance instead of flag anyone down.

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Originally Posted by Miketrance

I know some of you mentioned calling to cops on the cell phone and it brings up an interesting point. How many 20 year olds do you know that don't have a cell phone on them always. People of that age, myself included, grew up with cell phones and most of us are used to having it on us at all times. Him trying to flag people down instead of calling for assistance is suspect. In this day and age neither him or his companion not having a phone is real strange. If I broke down, I would call someone for assistance instead of flag anyone down.

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If your cell battery isn't dead. They don't hold a charge forever and it is possible to forget to charge it. I did that just on Friday. Made me mad because I couldn't check the bus schedule to know when it would be coming. But it does happen.

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Originally Posted by accessbob

If your cell battery isn't dead. They don't hold a charge forever and it is possible to forget to charge it. I did that just on Friday. Made me mad because I couldn't check the bus schedule to know when it would be coming. But it does happen.

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True but most likely both people had a cell. Having them both be dead is a pretty remote possibility.

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Originally Posted by Miketrance

True but most likely both people had a cell. Having them both be dead is a pretty remote possibility.

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If you knew the people I know who can't seem to remember to charge their phone you'd understand. LOL - They are also the kind who would run out of gas and have no battery power for their cell phone.

i would drive by and yell out, "call 911 for help.. or i can", but wouldn't stop..

Keep on driving. There can be more than a handful of young people in this country who don't have a cell phone to summon help. If they don't Obama will give them one for free. Big dude, dark night.....sad to say I would drive on by.

Sounds like an episode from Criminal Minds......

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Originally Posted by marinevet1994

Back in 96, I was driving back to base from the Marine Corps birthday ball with my wife and two year old son. Going through the dessert, we had to pass through a very small town (population 9) which had a small bridge to get into town from the direction we were coming. Partially blocking the bridge was a car with a guy in his mid twenties trying to wave me down. As I started to slow down, I noticed someone peek over the front seat, then drop back down. Needless to say this set off my danger sense and I started to speed up. The guy waving tried to step in front of the car and damn near got run over. Since then I am very wary about stopping to help anyone.
You handled it perfectly.

Bonus points to anyone who can name the "town" I'm talking about!

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I'm assuming you we're headed back to stumps from Vegas... I'm gonna say Baker, CA

I have two stories: The first was my wife and I ran out of gas. This was in the early 70's and we were in our 20s. A young lady stopped to help. She drove me to the gas station, used her gas can, and drove me back to the car. Turns out she was a college student. She didn't seem the least bit afraid. To this day I wonder if she did this again at a later date with not so good results.
Second story. We lived in a mobile home park (late 70s) and someone started knocking on the door. Didn't open the door. Didn't seem right (spider sense?). He asked to use the phone. I told him to give me the number and I would call for him. He started getting a little less friendly. Don't know why he picked us. We were in the middle of the park. Finally, I just called the sheriff's office and they sent a deputy out and took him away. I think he was drunk or high. I did have my J-frame in my hand the whole time.
And now for a little humor. My wife was driving back from a business meeting and had a friend in the car. They came upon this dirty looking guy hitchhiking on the side of the road. Her passenger nearly freaked out. "You're not going to stop, are you?" She did stop. Actually, it was a family friend who was walking home from his construction job.
Just goes to show, you never know.