WWTBAM Bored

In broad daylight, in a coffeeshop full of people. I was the only non-employee who noticed what was going on. Being a dumbass, I tried to pursue the guy on foot, but at a distance where I thought he couldn't see me. In the middle of the parking lot, he turned to me and said, "Don't even try." He turned the corner by a Ben and Jerry's, I followed... and then he was gone. No idea where he went. Po-po came by and I gave them what info I knew, but I'm assuming he had a car ready to go.

Weird, weird, weird.

Let's be careful out there!

I'm often surprised by which posts get a big response and which ones don't. This is one that I would have expected more responses to. I know if I had witnessed a robbery and then chased after and confronted the robber, it would have been a very intense and stressful experience. I hope you and the other victims of this incident are doing OK. Thanks for your efforts to apprehend the bad guy. Was there any indication of a weapon? If so, you might be fortunate that he got away.

This is scary. I'm glad you didn't get hurt.
Love,

Yikes, I'm glad you didn't get hurt. Did you call 9-1-1 on your cellphone before you took chase? I do appreciate people like you and hope they catch the jerk. You took a big chance and I'm glad you're OK.

TheConfessor wrote:I'm often surprised by which posts get a big response and which ones don't. This is one that I would have expected more responses to. I know if I had witnessed a robbery and then chased after and confronted the robber, it would have been a very intense and stressful experience. I hope you and the other victims of this incident are doing OK. Thanks for your efforts to apprehend the bad guy. Was there any indication of a weapon? If so, you might be fortunate that he got away.

He had a knife - at the time, I didn't even know that. The people in the back of the store took it the hardest - he pulled the knife on them and got whatever cash was in the back.

So what did he get, for committing a robbery in broad daylight in a public place? Looks like about $500.

kayrharris wrote:Yikes, I'm glad you didn't get hurt. Did you call 9-1-1 on your cellphone before you took chase? I do appreciate people like you and hope they catch the jerk. You took a big chance and I'm glad you're OK.

Nope, but just about 30 seconds after I lost the guy, the police showed up, since someone in the back of the store did make the call. Of course, the cops descended on the store, so any head start he got only got bigger.

Yikes! I admire your instincts, and am also very glad you weren't hurt in any way.

Hope they catch the jerk. I get POd at people who are too lazy (or whatever) to earn their own way, and threaten and frighten others who are doing the right thing.

Wow, that's creepy. It's great you had the courage to chase after the robber, but you really took your life into your hands. I applaud your bravery and sense of justice.

I'm glad nothing happened to you. It's easy to get caught up in the emotion of a situation like that and then try to do something incredibly risky.

Money can always be replaced; a life can't.

Just for the record; I'm glad you chased him, I'm also glad you didn't get hurt. Maybe if you'd caught him, since he was armed, you would have gotten hurt, so I guess we should be glad you didn't catch up with him.

But nobody likes to be robbed. And if the robber(s) is (are) caught, everybody feels good (except the robbers, of course).

I keep thinking here about those auxilliary police in NYC who were killed recently; they weren't armed, they basically were meant to be people who relieved the real police by doing stuff like voluntary crowd control & directing traffic, but they got involved in trying to stop armed criminals because the instinct to help the victims was there (so was a uniform that gave them a feeling of more strength, also more training, than they really had).

A little update: sounds like the guy has struck in a couple of other central Virginia counties. They've got someone in custody and potentially I get to drop by the station later today for a photo ID. Which is good, since I don't care to see him in person.

This reminds me of my crim law class, where the professor simulated a robbery, and after it "happened" ask the class for a description. Apparently their collective memory was a mess. I say "their" since I found law school classes were more enjoyable when I skipped them.

Now you can compare your powers of recall against those of your former classmates. Hurray for you for following your "good citizen" instincts, even if it might not have been the "reasoned, considered" safest thing to do.

Weyoun wrote:A little update: sounds like the guy has struck in a couple of other central Virginia counties. They've got someone in custody and potentially I get to drop by the station later today for a photo ID. Which is good, since I don't care to see him in person.

This reminds me of my crim law class, where the professor simulated a robbery, and after it "happened" ask the class for a description. Apparently their collective memory was a mess. I say "their" since I found law school classes were more enjoyable when I skipped them.

Do you live in Virginia? I was under the impression you lived in the Houston area, but maybe I was wrong or you moved.

I suspect that far more people have been falsely convicted based on mistaken eyewitness testimony than for any other reason. There's no way I'd trust my own ability to recognize some random stranger that I only saw for a few seconds. And yet, this type of testimony is given high credibility in courtrooms.

I used to do some acting -- local plays, student films, etc. A couple times I did crime re-enactments for "Crimestoppers," a weekly feature on one of the local TV stations, where they would offer a reward to anyone who called in with tips that led to an arrest. I played a guy who pulled armed robberies at a dry cleaner and at the customer service window of the gas utility company. Some of the viewers were a little unclear on the concept. One time they arrested a guy that someone had ratted out, apparently because he looked too much like me. He spent several weeks in jail before convincing anyone that he had nothing to do with the robberies. I never met the guy, but I felt his pain. Looking like me is something I have to live with every day.

Used to live in Houston. Actually, moving to Pittsburgh soon. Hoping there is a trivia scene there.

Weyoun wrote:Used to live in Houston. Actually, moving to Pittsburgh soon. Hoping there is a trivia scene there.

Kt plays live trivia a couple of times a week there. And of course, there must be a couple of NTN bars.

Wow......Echoing what the others have said: I applaud your instincts to do right, and I am especially glad that you were not hurt...things could have well turned out differently!

Weyoun wrote:This reminds me of my crim law class, where the professor simulated a robbery, and after it "happened" ask the class for a description. Apparently their collective memory was a mess.

Back when I was working in a management capacity for a well-known Scottish restaurant chain, we had a similar exercise. During one of our training classes, an office employee burst into the room and ignited a brief, and very intense, verbal confrontation with our instructor. After the office employee stormed back out of the room, our instructor immediately began asking us for minute details of the incident. The whole purpose, of course, was to simulate the element of surprise and the fast pace we would likely encounter in the event of a robbery.

And yes, our collective memory was also a mess.

Weyoun wrote:A little update: sounds like the guy has struck in a couple of other central Virginia counties. They've got someone in custody and potentially I get to drop by the station later today for a photo ID. Which is good, since I don't care to see him in person.

This reminds me of my crim law class, where the professor simulated a robbery, and after it "happened" ask the class for a description. Apparently their collective memory was a mess. I say "their" since I found law school classes were more enjoyable when I skipped them.

I was in a "Citizens on Patrol" type of class, and we did the same type simulation. Height estimates ranged from 5-8 to 6-3; weight from 160 to 250. The guy's actually about 6-0, 230. He was thrilled to learn that somebody guessed him at 160.

If I witnessed a robbery I wonder if I would have followed him, I think I would but it's different when it's actually happening. I would want to call 911 as I followed him so I could take down his license plate or tell them where he is headed

By the way, is your user name from Star Trek Deep Space Nine?