mc5aw
Member
I live in a small town on a quiet street, but there is an undesirable element that chooses to venture over the town line looking for drugs and trouble on a regular basis. My house faces a bridge that crosses a river, on the far side of which is a local tavern where a good amount of folks imbibe several nights a week. As such, there are plenty of DUIs around here, as well as sundry individuals staggering back across the bridge homeward. We the people are vigilant about watching our neighborhood, and are always wary of strangers, etc. Last Sunday we had some trouble that could have ended badly ...
At 9pm, a group of seven adult males congregated across the street, carrying on loudly and causing a disturbance. Several cars were double-parked on the street, and it was obvious that these individuals were not neighbors or locals. Though I initially paid them no mind, their collective behavior was disruptive, and I watched from my window to see if contacting LE was required at some point. After a while, several of the individuals drove off, but two remained and carried on in even louder fashion. I assumed they were refugees from the tavern across the bridge, and they showed no signs of leaving the vicinity, thus I finally walked across the street and inquired as to them possibly being a bit quieter since children were sleeping, and residents were mostly in for the evening. Both of these clowns were holding cell phones ... the larger of the two told me they weren't being loud, while the other immediately became confrontational. I remained polite, and asked again if they could simply be quieter, or leave the vicinity. It should be noted that I did have my J on my hip, concealed under my jacket, as I did not know their intentions. The loudmouth, who resembled what most of us would consider a meth head, started in about "it's public property", etc. etc. etc. Then he told me to go blank myself, which I found to be rather uncalled for. I replied by clearly stating that I would be calling the police, though it would be easier to deal with me than local law enforcement. After a few more verbal outbursts from Meth Man, I walked back across the street to my house and dialed 911. As I was on the phone, the two individuals got in their cars, did a U-turn, then drove slowly up to my front door (15' from the curb), casing the house. I informed PD of this, and expressed my concern that these two were going to try something criminal. The two cars continued down the street, then stopped 200 yards away in front of the Public Library. I gave this information to PD, and was told a LEO was in route.
To make a long story less lengthy, PD arrived in minutes, and confronted the two troublemakers. Amazingly, these twin cretins were not obnoxious drunks, nor were they criminal types ... they were part of a group that was geo-caching. They drove over from NYS and were treasure hunting on their phones, looking for coordinates of specific items in my neighborhood. The loudmouth did not tone himself down for the officer on the scene, thus he received a stern warning about coming across the border in the future and causing a disturbance. That said, when LE came and spoke with me afterward, I was told that the two treasure hunters (and a woman in one of the cars) were eager to write it off as a misunderstanding. I conveyed my concern that they might come back for retribution, but was assured that PD had all the requisite contact information, and was of the opinion that the two idiots had no interest in coming back into our town.
The moral of the story is simply this ... a bunch of clueless fools on someone else's turf could have met a tragic end based on their conduct, attitude, and actions, especially in a Castle Doctrine state. Various factors could have easily escalated the encounter, and made the front pages of the morning paper. These types of "misunderstandings" happen far too often, and while I do not relish being told to go blank myself by some generic lowlife, I was satisfied that my cooler head prevailed and the encounter did not become more than it was. There is a fine line between restraint and action, and it is growing increasingly finer as we collectively remain on alert for predators in our everyday lives.
I urge everyone to be safe, yet be prepared. My rather innocuous encounter could have become something quite different if the loudmouth had tried to back up his bravado with physicality. Words are words, but unfortunately too many people today are more hotheaded than rational, and that's when things go south very quickly.
At 9pm, a group of seven adult males congregated across the street, carrying on loudly and causing a disturbance. Several cars were double-parked on the street, and it was obvious that these individuals were not neighbors or locals. Though I initially paid them no mind, their collective behavior was disruptive, and I watched from my window to see if contacting LE was required at some point. After a while, several of the individuals drove off, but two remained and carried on in even louder fashion. I assumed they were refugees from the tavern across the bridge, and they showed no signs of leaving the vicinity, thus I finally walked across the street and inquired as to them possibly being a bit quieter since children were sleeping, and residents were mostly in for the evening. Both of these clowns were holding cell phones ... the larger of the two told me they weren't being loud, while the other immediately became confrontational. I remained polite, and asked again if they could simply be quieter, or leave the vicinity. It should be noted that I did have my J on my hip, concealed under my jacket, as I did not know their intentions. The loudmouth, who resembled what most of us would consider a meth head, started in about "it's public property", etc. etc. etc. Then he told me to go blank myself, which I found to be rather uncalled for. I replied by clearly stating that I would be calling the police, though it would be easier to deal with me than local law enforcement. After a few more verbal outbursts from Meth Man, I walked back across the street to my house and dialed 911. As I was on the phone, the two individuals got in their cars, did a U-turn, then drove slowly up to my front door (15' from the curb), casing the house. I informed PD of this, and expressed my concern that these two were going to try something criminal. The two cars continued down the street, then stopped 200 yards away in front of the Public Library. I gave this information to PD, and was told a LEO was in route.
To make a long story less lengthy, PD arrived in minutes, and confronted the two troublemakers. Amazingly, these twin cretins were not obnoxious drunks, nor were they criminal types ... they were part of a group that was geo-caching. They drove over from NYS and were treasure hunting on their phones, looking for coordinates of specific items in my neighborhood. The loudmouth did not tone himself down for the officer on the scene, thus he received a stern warning about coming across the border in the future and causing a disturbance. That said, when LE came and spoke with me afterward, I was told that the two treasure hunters (and a woman in one of the cars) were eager to write it off as a misunderstanding. I conveyed my concern that they might come back for retribution, but was assured that PD had all the requisite contact information, and was of the opinion that the two idiots had no interest in coming back into our town.
The moral of the story is simply this ... a bunch of clueless fools on someone else's turf could have met a tragic end based on their conduct, attitude, and actions, especially in a Castle Doctrine state. Various factors could have easily escalated the encounter, and made the front pages of the morning paper. These types of "misunderstandings" happen far too often, and while I do not relish being told to go blank myself by some generic lowlife, I was satisfied that my cooler head prevailed and the encounter did not become more than it was. There is a fine line between restraint and action, and it is growing increasingly finer as we collectively remain on alert for predators in our everyday lives.
I urge everyone to be safe, yet be prepared. My rather innocuous encounter could have become something quite different if the loudmouth had tried to back up his bravado with physicality. Words are words, but unfortunately too many people today are more hotheaded than rational, and that's when things go south very quickly.
