What would you do? Witness a POTENTIAL kidnapping!

This brings up an incident that occurred outside my house this past weekend. Here's what happened, and I don't think I would have done anything different even looking back now.

I was getting my son, wife was getting the newborn ready to leave to go shopping for the day. I can hear my wife calling me, i ignore her the first time, then she calls again. I ask whats going on and start heading her way. We run into each other, my wife is frantic, she says there is a guy yelling at a girl outside trying to pull her into the car. She thinks she heard hitting (windows were open), I look out the window and see a heavy set male chasing a noticeably younger lady in my neighbors yard. There was a truck parked outside with doors open... This doesn't seem right!

Because I could not see the plate I race down stairs, call 911 and open my garage. I'm on my driveway with 911 dispatchers explaining the situation, adrenaline was so high i couldn't read the license plate off clearly. He does not notice me, the lady is on knelled down crying outside still while the guy is in the driver seat. Suddenly she gets in the back seat of his F250 and they sit in the car for 1-2 mins, at that time all the neighbors see me outside with the phone and start coming out.

THEN suddenly I realize I don't have a fucking shirt on and my glock 23 is holstered on my right hip... I tell the 911 operator my description and that I am armed with a handgun on my hip. They drive slowly off just a few house down, stop for a brief second and then proceed further down when they are met with APD. 911 operator and I disconnect and they ask if its ok to get a followup call, i respond saying yes.

Chat with the neighbors and they apparently live down the street, have been arguing and yelling quite some time now. My neighbor was in the back doing yard work and she hears what appears to be slapping or punching, and the girl yelling "i just want my memory card".

Long story short... it was a father and daughter dispute! But I am still glad i call 911 and got involved, now i guess my neighbors know I carry a firearm. :)



Which brings up the following video... would you get yourself involved when KIDS are potentially in danger???


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyixU8zfU20

You probably did what I would have done. I don't screw around anymore. I just call the cops and let them handle it. Whether its a suspicious person or a drunk idiot walking down the side of the street.

you responded without placing yourself directly into the situation. [Alrigh]


You were prepared do defend yourself and others if required. [Alrigh]


I would say you did what Most of us would do

Call and observe. Unless you are in fear for your life or the lives of others, that is about all you can do.

Had you thought about what you would do if he started hitting her while you were observing?

Just a tip; in general, the po-po often assumes that the person on the scene, wearing the least amount of clothing, is the person most guilty. It's not always true, but it is an amazing indicator when you roll into an unknown situation. Next time, ask your wife to bring you a t-shirt while you wait.

Be safe.

Yeah, next time wear a shirt!

good job responding safely and smartly.

There's a psychological thing called bystander effect too. No one is willing to help a victim until others do.

Good reactions.
A GOOD WITNESS is always better then using "deadly force" with out knowing the full story.

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Originally Posted by Byte Stryke

you responded without placing yourself directly into the situation. [Alrigh]


You were prepared do defend yourself and others if required. [Alrigh]


I would say you did what Most of us would do

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+1 great job

Job well done IMO. It's always enlightening to see your true reaction to adrenaline, isn't it?

Last year right after that little girl Emily went missing in Westminster(so everyones senses were heightened) I was out messing around with things in my garage and I notice a blue BMW 3 series pull up outside with two Spanish men inside and I hear Spanish speaking. I look up and see then calling to or talking to a small girl, maybe 10 years old if I had to guess. I see them motioning to her to come over to the car. There was absolutely no time to think and definitely not time to call the police and wait for them to arrive, honestly I didnt even think about calling the cops that never even crossed my mind. No one else was around as my neighborhood is very quiet. Anyway I see them talking to her and motioning her to the car, I dont speak Spanish so I have no idea what they are saying(the little girl was Spanish also), she(what seemed to me reluctantly) heads over to the drivers side of the vehicle, which was opposite of where I was, and they motion to her to go to the other side(passenger side)as she walks over to the passenger side I race down my drive way and put myself between the little girl and the vehicle and the two men. I ask the little girl if she knows the two men in the car? You can tell she is visually mixed up and/or confused. I ask her again, "do you know these two men"? The guy in the font seat says "yes" I look to him and point and say "shut up" my adrenaline is running and I am not about to allow a "possible" abduction. I ask the little girl again and finally she replies and says "yes" I asked her 5 or 6 more times "are you sure"? "are you positive"? "you definitely for sure know them"? She says "yes they are my uncles" I still have my hand on the passenger door preventing it from opening and I ask the two men up front what they are doing, and he says "we are just on our way home and she is on her way home from school so we are picking her up so she doesnt have to walk" I ask the little girl one more time, "you absolutely for sure know these men, right"? She nods her head and says "yes".

This entire incident from when I first spotted the BMW to final acknowledgment from the little girl was about 20 seconds, so clearly there was no time to call anyone. I look at the guy in the front seat and just say, "hey you never know these days, and especially right now after the little girl in Westminster went missing" You could see the sincerity in his eyes and he said "thank you" probably 10 times. He just kept shaking his head and saying thank you, thank you, thank you. You could see how appreciative he was of what I just did to try and protect his little niece.

Looking back I wouldnt do anything different. I would react the exact same way and do the exact same thing. Is what I did possibly dangerous and stupid, some might think so, but I ask those people that would think what I did was stupid how they would live with themselves if they saw a report that night on the news like the one for Emily in Westminster. And, I also ask those people to grow some balls. I was not carrying at the time and still did not hesitate or think twice about what I was doing.

Would have done the same thing, but if you were getting ready to leave where was your shirt??? LOL.

Hey i like to show off my girlish figure with my moobs... But the video i posted disgusts me as a new parent how many people just walk past, they acknowledge the situation but don't do anything about it.

I'd have shot him.[Coffee]

I crack myself up.

You were half way to the right answer. You had your shirt off, drop trousers too. Nothing stops a fight like a naked man showing up to play...

i saw a for real kidnapping when i was 12 or so(before the days of cell phones) i remember like every second of it

2 black guys pulled up in a red saab 900 this spanish lady was walking down the sidewalk they pulled up a little in front of her the guy in the passenger seat jumps out throws her in a bear hug and pushes her in the backseat and kinda lays in there with her.....the whole time she is SCREAMING help help help as the saab roasts tires out of there she managed to get the drivers side rear door open and is still screaming they hit the corner and thats the last i saw/heard about her

whole thing took MAYBE 10 seconds not one of the adults on the street did a damn thing :(

I think you handled it very well - the temptation when armed is to over-involve. Sounds like you did a good job of not escalating a situation you didn't fully understand, while still intervening appropriately.

Good job..Both of you!

Good job. You thought a potential crime was taking place. You called and gave as much description as possible without placing yourself in harms way. You were prepared to defend yourself. How were you to know it was a father-daughter thing? If it was truly a kidnapping and I did nothing to have it checked and found out later I know that I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

EDIT: Given my body type there is no way I would have forgotten a shirt.

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Originally Posted by kwando

But the video i posted disgusts me as a new parent how many people just walk past, they acknowledge the situation but don't do anything about it.

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This is why this shit keeps happening. It's a form of enabling, and emboldens the shitstains to do these things since they know that likely no one is paying attention or won't do/say anything about it.

What else can you do but go with you gut feeling in a situation like that. Good job. I wonder if there would be a different reaction if they tried that video in a suburban environment.

A girl about 10 years old, one of my kung fu students, was outside playing with her little brother and a neighbor boy. Someone walked up and told them they were their friend, asked if they wanted candy and grabbed her. She fought him off by stomping his toes, kicking his shins and screaming loudly. Then they ran inside. They sicko booked it down the street, got into his car and left. This happened last summer and we talked about it in class, I had HER tell the story to the rest of the kids in class. I regularly do anti-kidnapping drills with all the kids I teach. It's amazing how embarrassed some kids are to be loud, even in a familiar setting with someone they trust. They automatically think that even if they don't practice correctly in class, they'll do it correctly if the situation ever happens. One of the notoriously quiet/submissive ones was my sister-in-law, 9 years old. This is not the case. If they can't do it in a safe place, what makes them think that they'll be able to yell and fight properly when they're overwhelmed with an adult PLUS the adrenaline dump? They won't. The challenge is changing their idea.

Well done!

As mentioned, follow your gut.

Your neighbors may know you pack heat now, but they also know you have an eye on the neighborhood and are willing to keep people safe and get involved.

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Originally Posted by Tinelement

Well done!

As mentioned, follow your gut.

Your neighbors may know you pack heat now, but they also know you have an eye on the neighborhood and are willing to keep people safe and get involved.

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Exactly what I was thinking. Good job.

Very good job(s).

I left out some details...

My wife hear "no i will not get in the car with you" that was key! The responding officer called me and updated me on the situation.

Good job!!! Always better safe than sorry.

If I see a man being aggressive with a woman or a child that doesn't feel right to me, I will step in to see what is going on and stop possible abuse. I've done it before and will do it again.

Dude, you handled it perfectly...good job!

OP, I don't see how you could have handled it better. Aside from putting on a shirt, of course.