Good Samaritan: Real Life Adventure.

[Rigel Stardin]

Yesterday, I called my brother in law (Call him John), being a good Christian man picked up two women of the road who told him that they were down on their luck. He took them to Welfare, and a women shelter. The women’s shelter was full and couldn’t take them and welfare office gave them an emergency check. With no place to go, John offered to put them up for a time, and then had second thoughts.

I called John yesterday to tell him about his computer which I was looking at and tell him what I thought it needed. When I was done explaining to him the situation with his computer, he asked to speak to his sister (My wife).

John related to her, that he had seen these two women walking down the highway for the past two days. We have been under a heat advisory for the last two days and he had felt sorry for them. So he stopped and picked them up. Of course these two woman had a story to tell about how their vehicle had broken down and when they went back to retrieve it, the vehicle had been stolen off the side of the road. Out of the kindness of his heart after learning they had no place to stay, he offered to help them.

My wife is a Mental Health Nurse was like, “What da …. are you doing John? You don’t know these people?”

Twenty minutes after she got off the phone we got in the car and off we sped to our brother in law’s house 40 miles away. Into the heart of a raging thunderstorm we went, hail, heavy rain and of course thunder and lightning. (You just can’t write this stuff) The entire drive up to John’s house my wife his saying, “Hasn’t he watched those horror movies where two women take advantage of a guy and take his money?”

We arrive at his house, go in and my wife begins taking to them. (We’ll call them Frick and Frack) Frick starts off by telling us how their truck broke down and when they went to retrieve it, it was gone off the side of the road. I asked, “Do you have a police report?”

“No.” Frick replied. “The officer didn’t make one…”

(Blink, Blink???) Lie number one.

To many hours watching cop shows and my brother was a 911 dispatcher, told me she was lying at that point. It just went downhill from there. Numerous lies followed which my wife and I saw right off the bat. But Frick insisted she was being honest with us. It just kept getting worse for the pair because the lies just kept piling up and Frick started giving us different versions of the events on how they got here (They were both from out of state).

My wife asked to speak with a family member who could verify her story. So Frick began calling her supposed family on my brother’s house phone. John has a nice feature on his phone service, an online service which shows him the numbers that he called during the month. (You got to love the internet) All those cop shows kicked in when he showed me this. I typed in the name of the city and state they were calling adding police department. Got the number and then both their names. Down to the basement I went to make an out of state call to that police department.

I talked to the dispatcher explaining that I knew she wasn’t allowed to give information out about people to civilians like me. But we were concerned about the welfare and safety of my Brother and law and if she could give me any information I’d real appreciate it. After about a minute, she asked for their names. I gave them to her. And she stated “Sorry we have no record of either of them.”

I thanked her and the phone called ended.

It was worth a try, I walked back upstairs and less than five minutes later, and she called back. (Like I said, you can’t write this stuff!!!) She explained she had typed in the name wrong and she wanted to put me in contact with her sergeant. (My heart started to pump) The sergeant explains Frick assaulted a police officer and was wanted on several misdemeanors charges…

(Running up on the 1000 word limit) Tell wife dial 911, police officers show up find a crack spoon, she carrying a large knife and brass knuckles. One police officer shows the brass knuckles to John and states “You know they might have killed you?”

John realized his mistake at the moment.

They leave and danger is averted…

Just need to tell someone since this matter is a hush hush among friends and family for fear that one of my brothers in laws might go ballistic because of John’s kindness.

We Need more John’s in this world and fewer Frick and Fracks.

This morning, we went back on the internet and found the news story concerning Frick’s assault on the police officer and her criminal record.

My wife and I proud of our teamwork and our commitment to family and friends in situations like this…

This would also make a very good basis for a short adventure for someone’s campaign.

 

[HiverLord]

Wow! An amazing story of luck, perseverence, concern and quick thinking.
Seems like "John" will have a lot of second thoughts now about helping odd strangers too quickly. Just hoping he doesn't let the incident change him too much for the worse.

And you're definately correct: you Can't make this stuff up!
(And it could be considered 'proof' that watching a lot of cop shows can be a good thing, right? )

 

[Rigel Stardin]

That what I told my wife afterwards. There is a use for Cops after all....

Seriously, the events of yesterday were so sureal. So mainly little things just kept adding to the urgency and (can't find the words) to make it seem like we were in a suspense movie. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it...

 

[BytePro]

Your brother in law is fortunate to have the two of you show such wisdom. Good Job!

Hope 'John' knows to call the police from now on in such circumstances (911) and to avoid getting out of his car/letting strangers in.

I've done my share of similar deeds - and have been fortunate to only have a knife pulled on me once that I recall (bad move for that guy, but his story was 'interesting' and I figured better me than someone else after I let him in the car (dumb)... too bad for him I knew how to handle myself and the local police hangouts in the area he directed me to real well).

I've easily assisted dozens of folks over the years - and will do so again. Two women I have stopped for on separate occasions turned out to be pregnant (and both well along). One man, I was leery of picking up given his size and appearance, claimed to need gas. I always keep spare containers for just such. After getting the gas, he led me to a Van in the middle of nowhere, several miles from where I picked him up, and I thought this one was gonna be real bad. Turned out his family of six was in the van (on a 100F day) and all was good.

In the U.S., in many areas, it is not an uncommon tactic for gangs and drug pushers to drop folks in rural areas for criminal reasons. Such as to look for a mark to get money/cars for drugs.

Typical stories include out of gas, stolen vehicles, need to get to ATM for gas, need to borrow money from a relative (in the projects, of course), need to get medicine for pregnant wife, etc., etc. ... and these folks can get real creative and be real good. No matter how good you think you are at not being taken, you can be fooled (I've seen police officers fall for stories that I had to point out the flaws in).

I'll add - hotel scams are also common (someone knocks on the door immediately after you arrive). I've had this on more than one occasion. I've never let the folks in (and have even armed myself with a fire extinguisher once).

Calling the authorities is the best rule of thumb (cell or nearest phone).

Use judgement - obviously certain situations may call for intervention (but generally there is time or a need to call 911). It won't hurt to keep an eye on them either, especially if they look vulnerable - they may be in trouble of getting picked up by someone intending harm or someone else they may do harm to.

 

[Rigel Stardin]

Once we got there John was never alone with Frick and Frack, 911 was on speed dail on my wife's cell phone. I will add we went in with a plan as well. We had 45 minute drive to map our actions out. Before I left the house I grabbed the camera and digital record which I wore on my belt.

As I said, My brother was a 911 Dispatcher and after his passing I got two shirts with the logo for 911 and one that states the department he was with. I wore one of those shirts just to impress upon them that I knew my stuff (Even thou it was a lie, I'm not a lawyer or law enforcement). Nor did I ever tell them that I was a police officer. I just gave them the impression I was.

An if anyone tells you that Role Playing, doesn't help you in life, than you can point to this threat and say otherwise...

 

[Ran Targas]

He's very lucky that they didn't finish casing the joint before you showed up.

Had something similar happen when I was a kid; strangers came to the door of my parents rural home one late night and asked to come in and use the phone. It was a snowy night, they said their car went off the road about a mile away, and they had walked to the first house with a light on. But their story didn't pan out; there are several farms within a mile of my parents home on either side with flood lights in their yards; this couldn't have been the only house with a light on. My father was armed and my mother had the telephone in her hand, ready to dial. My dad offered to call the police for them but they declined. Fortunately, the two figured there were greener pastures elsewhere and left.