Saturday Morning Encounter

[petroleumag07]

Had a situation Saturday morning. Got up at 3:45 to go fishing. Stopped to get gas and as I was pulling through the intersection to get to the gas station, saw two obviously chemically altered, caribbean looking types walking away from the station. Pulled to the farthest, most lit pump and made eye contact with the attendent in the store, started filling my car facing the direction of the two guys I just saw. At about 2.5 gallons in I saw guy # 1 walking aimlessly straight towards me, but no guy #2. I made a very visible go away sign with my hand and shook my head, which caused him to start scratching his head and walking in small loops getting closer to me, still cant see guy #2. When this guy was about 15 yards to my left at about 10 o'clock, I made a very blatant but still concealed move to place my hand on my Kahr .40, ready to go. At this point I moved to my right about 3 feet and found the other dude crouching behind the corner of the store, as soon as guy #1 saw me place my hand on something in my belt (gun was still concealed by a shirt and my body) he turned his back to me and waved his right hand at the other guy, telling him to back off. He walked away and the guy #2 acted like he was filling up a water bottle from a hose (idiot didn't even try to turn on the faucet).

Good thing is I never had to draw my gun.

Any suggestions besides, dont stop at a gas station with thugs?

[KC5AV]

Good job on the situational awareness. I think you handled the situation very well.

[HerbM]

Obviously chemically altered and apparently stalking you.

Did you call 911 and ask them to send an officer to check these suspects out?

[petroleumag07]

No, I thought about it. But there is so much going on there that it's almost a "boy cried wolf" situation.

Should have though.

[HerbM]

No, I thought about it. But there is so much going on there that it's almost a "boy cried wolf" situation.

Should have though.

Remember, you don't have to cry an emergency to just tell them precisely what you saw.

If they are busy stopping an armed robber or arresting murders they can check later. If they have a couple of cars doing nothing in the area they can swing by and see what's up.

Let the dispatcher decide if it matters.

If 911 really seems excessive, try 311 in most areas -- although that is just irritating and you will probably end up talking to the 911 operator anyway <grin>. At least you have the moral high ground that you didn't call the emergency number.

[Rokyudai]

I agree with Herb. I'm of the mind that although you handled yourself appropriately and may very well have thwarted a mugging or worse, it would be good to at least try to report the encounter to police. I'd hate to see these persons try to do the same thing to somebody else.

[dukesean]

Let the dispatcher decide if it matters.

Overall sounds like you did a fine job. A call to 911 wouldn't have hurt, esp if nearby LE were not doing anything. Besides, who is to say this chemically altered didn't go somewhere else to try harrassing someone, or simply waiting till you were gone to bother the next person who came to fill up?

[longhorn_92]

Let the dispatcher decide if it matters.

Overall sounds like you did a fine job. A call to 911 wouldn't have hurt, esp if nearby LE were not doing anything. Besides, who is to say this chemically altered didn't go somewhere else to try harrassing someone, or simply waiting till you were gone to bother the next person who came to fill up?

Good job of being aware of your surroundings...Good job of stopping a potential mugging...(sounds like they were up to no good!).

They only thing I would have done differently was to fuel up the day before the trip.

[bryang]

Let the dispatcher decide if it matters.

Overall sounds like you did a fine job. A call to 911 wouldn't have hurt, esp if nearby LE were not doing anything. Besides, who is to say this chemically altered didn't go somewhere else to try harrassing someone, or simply waiting till you were gone to bother the next person who came to fill up?

Good job of being aware of your surroundings...Good job of stopping a potential mugging...(sounds like they were up to no good!).

They only thing I would have done differently was to fuel up the day before the trip.

Good thinking! I think that would have been better, also. However, I think you did a good job!

[BigDan]

Think you did perfectly. Three steps is enough to maintain good cover behind your vehicle should you have needed it.

Be aware also that in the future, you can also hit the button to contact the cashier. If they knew you were "calling in backup" (lol), they may have also run off if they were carrying themselves.

However, I think you did wonderfully. Well done!! (*applauds*)

[Venus Pax]

I think you did well, and I think your hand being near your belt probably prevented further excitement.

I think you should have contacted the police to file a report, either formally or informally. Did you let the clerk know about this? He/she might appreciate such knowledge.

I keep both the emergency and non-emergency numbers to my local police dept in my cell phone. I would have called the non-emergency number in this instance.

I have never had to call either since moving to my current home, but will not hesitate to do so if I saw something strange. The more information LEOs have, the more they can do.

[bpet]

Sounds like you did just fine. I have a couple of questions though.

Did the attendant see what was going on? You mentioned that you make eye contact with him so he was watching something.

If he didn't see what was going on, did you relate the incident to him before you left so that he could keep an eye out for the two weirdos? He could then be prepared to call 911 if they returned.

[lws380]

You did well pilgrim!

Should call the law. The next person may not be so aware or lucky and maybe your call could have helped them.

[petroleumag07]

Yeah, cops should have been called.

The attendent has those types of people all the time. The reason I made contact with him was to let him know that I was there and that I was the only one there, at 4am he has no other business so he could keep an extra eye out while I was doing my business. I don't think he even notices those types of people anymore, it's downtown houston.

[nedmoore]

You know things are bad when a man can't even get up early to go fishing without running into thugs. When I leave early to go fishing or duck hunting usually on a Sat. or Sunday morning I always see a couple of drunk drivers.