Hellobee Boards

Not me, but my dad was at an ATM machine back when I was in middle school. My mom never told me about it until years later. My dad never goes to the ATM anymore and will stand in line at the bank for as long as he needs to.

So scary. What did the police do?

No, I haven't. I recently posted about 3 guys who threatened to shoot DH because he told a mall cop that they stole a phone. Ugh. DS and DD were with us

Not me, but I witnessed my dad being held at gunpoint for his wallet while he was trying to "help someone with directions" (the ploy the guy used to get my dad to his car in front of our townhome complex when I was in second or third grade. They had literally followed him 30+ min home from Detroit, to our suburb which is NOT known for crime...

My dad (and mom) has been mugged several times in/out of detroit and my parents less than a year ago were held up at gun point at their store on the east side of detroit. (They were safe thankfully)

Long story short, the store is closed, and I'm so happy they're out of there....

@mrsjyw: oh my gosh. So, so scary

@mrbee: that makes me so angry for you. That's what police are for!!

I was robbed at knife point at work. I was also held up at gun point at work. He pointed the gun right between my eyes. I've never been more scared then I was in that moment. After that I quit that job. The robbery at gun point really messed with me. I still can't stand the thought of being in the same room as a gun.

Both times I was robbed the guys or away with less than $50.

Not me, but DH was mugged at gun point before we married. He tells the story in a very matter of fact way, but he admits he was scared. It happened in New Orleans.

Yes, back in 2004, a block and a half from my apartment. I was working a part-time retail job in addition to my regular job, and was going home one night when I was mugged. It really wasn't that late, but it was winter so it was already dark and for some reason there just weren't a lot of people out that night (I lived in a pretty well-trafficked area). Anyway, he tried to grab my bag and it was stuck on my arm -- it had a really short strap so I usually carried it in the crook of my elbow, and I had a big coat on. He punched me in the face and when I fell, he got my bag and ran off. Fortunately, my keys were in my pocket but I lost my wallet and phone. I filed a police report and then went to the ER to make sure nothing was broken; I was fine but had a really nasty black eye for a couple weeks afterward.

After that, I mostly stopped carrying a purse and started carrying only a tiny wallet that fit in my jacket pocket when I was out in the winter...it was harder in the summer because I didn't have as many pockets, but I did what I could to avoid having an obvious target on me. I also moved out of the city to the suburbs when that lease was up, and it was very hard for me to move back to the city when DH (then my fiancé) and I moved in together a couple years later. I wasn't really frightened of living in the city, but the experience tainted it for me and I often felt cooped up at home because I didn't want to wander around after dark.

@mrbee: what a lazy cop!

@mrbee: geez then you wonder why some people take the law in their own hands and find justice. Such a sad and pathetic system

@grizz: Nice, we're like... couple job twins. My husband is a police officer as well

@mrbee: Hmm... well, I'm sorry you didn't have a positive experience. Trying not to threadjack too much, but all I can really say is that police officers are human too. Completely capable of having bad days, forgetting that their routine day-to day calls are traumatic, burned into memory for life events to victims, or just being an A-hole in general.

@mrbee: I had a similar situation being attacked from behind almost 10 years ago. I was in a somewhat rough Paris suburb walking with THREE male friends and this young kid (maybe 14?) came running up behind me and tried to grab my bag. I screamed and held on for dear life and the kid let go and kind of jogged away. No one did anything and he just watched us from a distance. But that attack from behind really scarred me for a long time. I would get really anxious when I would hear people walking/running up from behind me. A few weeks later in broad daylight in the middle of Paris I freaked out and screamed when I heard someone running up from behind me. Turns out it was just the garbage man running to get the next trash can, but I was on the edge! I was generally uneasy when out and about for more than a year. It's too bad you had such a terrible time with the police. I think I would have tried to report their misconduct.

I haven't been but I'm sorry to say I do share Mr. Bee's general wariness of police officers. I've had a few bad experiences with them and certainly don't assume that just because someone is a cop they're going to be helpful and/or a good person.

@mrbee: I moved out of that apartment that very night! (And the police were actually helpful that night, despite the fact that there was some argument about jurisdiction.)

@mrbee: There are SOME. I had a client for a while that was an undercover cop and he was one of the nicest people I've ever met. I didn't know him "on the job" obviously but I certainly imagine he'd be the type to go out of his way to help someone. But unfortunately those just seem too far between!

I haven't - but I've lived in mostly small towns in the Midwest (a few years in Midwestern "cities"), not saying it won't happen here - the kind of attacks would be more break-in related.

I just found the part about the cops interesting. If something like that happened here - every cop would be investigating. You'd probably be annoyed about how much time they were spending on the incident.

No, but I came extremely close to being carjacked. I was stopped at a red light, early in the morning, in a not so nice area. A HUGE dude came at my drivers side door. He got right near the car and started to reach into his waistband and fight or flight kicked I gunned it through the light.

I still get paranoid at red lights late at night.

Other than being attacked by my ex-BF, no. DH and his dad were jumped in their front yard though about 10 years ago. DH won't tell me much about it other than it was the most helpless he's ever felt, watching his dad get attacked. My ILs live in a very rough part of a city and I think it that attack was a huge motivator for DH to finally get his butt out of there.

Yes, I was attacked in 2004 while studying in Spain. A man came up from behind me and grabbed me. I thought he had a weapon (never saw one) and I screamed, clawed, and fought anyway. He was surprised, jumped back on his moped and circled the block. I took that time to run to my host family's flat and get myself inside the locked door. I looked outside and he was still circling looking for me. I still jump a mile when people approach me from behind at a certain angle.