I have only had my CHL for a year, so I was definately unarmed. I was 21 years old and had been at work for 17 hours. I left at 2am and headed home.
As I exited the freeway my 1974 BMW lost a connecting rod bearing. It sounded like a machine gun under the hood so I promptly pulled into a gas station and the engine died. I called my autoclub for a tow to the BMW mechanic and was told it would be about 2 hours for a tow. I looked under my hood to see if it was anything loose and quickly realized that there wasn't anything I could do. I retrieved my laptop bag to enter the store when a car pulled up and a normal looking guy asked if I needed any help.
I would likely have offered other people help so I didn't think anything of it. I explained that I had already called a tow truck so thanks but no thanks. He then said "I have chains, I can give you a tow." He was in a normal sedan so this didn't sould like a normal offer. My regular mechanic's shop was about 15 miles away so I said this and declined the offer for the tow. About this time another car pulled up along the side with 3 people in it and I realized that this situation was about to go very bad.
He insisted that 15 miles wasn't too far and repeated the offer. When I declined he then said they were going to a party and invited me. I again declined. Up until this point I had not wanted to leave my vehicle unattended, but now I felt I just had to give up and get out of there. I was exhausted from work and didn't think I could get away. I then realized that I have a mag light in the car so I reached in and grabbed it and something else (I guess it is possible it was my laptop and I was mistaken when I said I already removed it). I then walked towards the store hoping they wouldn't follow.
I didn't raise my threat level fast enough. I know I could have handled it better.
I am 5'8" and I was about 150lbs at the time. I probably wouldn't have been very effective with the defense even with the flashlight.
What would you have done in that situation?
As I exited the freeway my 1974 BMW lost a connecting rod bearing. It sounded like a machine gun under the hood so I promptly pulled into a gas station and the engine died. I called my autoclub for a tow to the BMW mechanic and was told it would be about 2 hours for a tow. I looked under my hood to see if it was anything loose and quickly realized that there wasn't anything I could do. I retrieved my laptop bag to enter the store when a car pulled up and a normal looking guy asked if I needed any help.
I would likely have offered other people help so I didn't think anything of it. I explained that I had already called a tow truck so thanks but no thanks. He then said "I have chains, I can give you a tow." He was in a normal sedan so this didn't sould like a normal offer. My regular mechanic's shop was about 15 miles away so I said this and declined the offer for the tow. About this time another car pulled up along the side with 3 people in it and I realized that this situation was about to go very bad.
He insisted that 15 miles wasn't too far and repeated the offer. When I declined he then said they were going to a party and invited me. I again declined. Up until this point I had not wanted to leave my vehicle unattended, but now I felt I just had to give up and get out of there. I was exhausted from work and didn't think I could get away. I then realized that I have a mag light in the car so I reached in and grabbed it and something else (I guess it is possible it was my laptop and I was mistaken when I said I already removed it). I then walked towards the store hoping they wouldn't follow.
I didn't raise my threat level fast enough. I know I could have handled it better.
I am 5'8" and I was about 150lbs at the time. I probably wouldn't have been very effective with the defense even with the flashlight.
What would you have done in that situation?