CostcoAAcells
Newly Enlightened
I've been feeling a little burned out from work and having worked the last 2 weekends in a row. I decided to sit in the park after work with a cigar and some Starbucks. It's been over a year since I last had a good cigar.
It was dark, 8pm, but the park was still open. There were at least a dozen teenagers (14-16yo) gathered in the park, loitering under one pavilion. Some of the kids where just standing and talking, while others were skateboarding. I kept my distance and picked a bench far enough away from them. Well, at the time I thought it was far enough away.
After a few minutes of sitting and smoking, I notice 2 of them casually walking closer to my location. Feeling uncomfortable and outnumbered, I slowly draw my pepper gel from its belt holster and quietly move it to my jacket pocket. The 2 kids stop 150 ft. away from me and light a couple of bottle rockets that fly over a nearby baseball field that was unoccupied. Then they run back to their pavilion, laughing all the way.
Another few minutes pass. One kid casually walks in my direction stops 75 feet away from me. He plants one bottle rocket in the grass, lights it, and trots away laughing. It flew for only 3 feet never really clearing the grass. Watching the direction of its brief flight, I saw it was clearly intended for me.
I drew my Streamlight TL-3 and lit him up. He breaks into a run. At this point I was wishing I had fresher CR-123s loaded. I sweep the light across the whole group under the pavilion. I hear one female juvenile voice from the group, "WAS THAT A COP?" All the kids scatter, running in all directions.
All but one person remains in the pavilion. He continues to watch me from afar for a few more minutes while I make a cell phone call to the PD dispatch. He casually walks away by the time I finish the call.
I finish smoking my cigar while I wait for the police to arrive. After 15 minutes, still no police, I decided it was time to leave. As a precaution, I walk a different route back to my car and drive a different route back home.
Now it's time to really decompress before it starts all over again at work tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading.
It was dark, 8pm, but the park was still open. There were at least a dozen teenagers (14-16yo) gathered in the park, loitering under one pavilion. Some of the kids where just standing and talking, while others were skateboarding. I kept my distance and picked a bench far enough away from them. Well, at the time I thought it was far enough away.
After a few minutes of sitting and smoking, I notice 2 of them casually walking closer to my location. Feeling uncomfortable and outnumbered, I slowly draw my pepper gel from its belt holster and quietly move it to my jacket pocket. The 2 kids stop 150 ft. away from me and light a couple of bottle rockets that fly over a nearby baseball field that was unoccupied. Then they run back to their pavilion, laughing all the way.
Another few minutes pass. One kid casually walks in my direction stops 75 feet away from me. He plants one bottle rocket in the grass, lights it, and trots away laughing. It flew for only 3 feet never really clearing the grass. Watching the direction of its brief flight, I saw it was clearly intended for me.
I drew my Streamlight TL-3 and lit him up. He breaks into a run. At this point I was wishing I had fresher CR-123s loaded. I sweep the light across the whole group under the pavilion. I hear one female juvenile voice from the group, "WAS THAT A COP?" All the kids scatter, running in all directions.
All but one person remains in the pavilion. He continues to watch me from afar for a few more minutes while I make a cell phone call to the PD dispatch. He casually walks away by the time I finish the call.
I finish smoking my cigar while I wait for the police to arrive. After 15 minutes, still no police, I decided it was time to leave. As a precaution, I walk a different route back to my car and drive a different route back home.
Now it's time to really decompress before it starts all over again at work tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading.
