Used my Stinger to thwart some thugs

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webley445

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St. Pete, Fl.
Hospital I work at is surrounded by residential neighborhood, just on south edge of downtown, basically between that and the hood.
Area is rife with drugs, prostitution, and regular daily car thefts/break ins.
Its about 1a.m and I'm working the control room, monitor cameras, phone, radio, etc. the indoor roaming officer comes in to see if I need a break and take one off his feet himself. Sure, why not.

I step out back though the receiving area door and have a smoke at curbside. Its located right next to a small city park area that is elevated. Standing at the curb you can look down hill onto the next street, good 35-45 feet difference in elevation.
Ironically the area is a historic district with alot of old 3 story houses dating back to 1920-30's. There is one house we call "the party house". Colledge kids, a party practically every Friday night. Their cars are parked in front of the residence, but are well out of view from the residence due to set up and architecture of the old homes.

I look downhill and see two young black males, dark baggy shorts, dark hoodies. They are sorta ambling down the road past the 6-7 cars lined up in front. They're walking kinda slow and one keeps looking back over his shoulder at the cars.
My radar goes off as A) this road is not one of the usual thoroughfares that the locals use, very rare to see foottraffic especially at this hour and B) my gut tells me something is amiss.

They go two houses down and stop, looking back at the cars. I turn down the volume on my radio and inform my supervisor (on vehicle patrol of campus) of the sighting. Its considered off campus and not really in our "jurisdiction" but we try to keep an eye out for the locals if we can.
The subjects then start back towards the cars. I call it in and ask control room to pull up the remote camera at receiving area that just happens to pan around and see downhill. I stand next to a palm tree to break my sillouette.
They stop at last car in the row. One moves and stands at the front of the vehicle to keep watch of the other's back. #2 leans over looking into the vehicle, then tries the door handle. I key up and report their actions.

Now I'm thinking, yeah we're calling PD regardless, but do I let them commit the act or intervene. they are a good 75 yards away, and there is the park and a deep drainage ditch between us. I decide probably better to keep them from busting up/stealing someone's car.
I step out and light them up with my Stinger. It was a bit of a reach but it still did the job well. #2 didn't even notice. #1 looks at me and does that little sideways lean when someone sees something they cannot identify.
He mutters to #2 who then looks at me. I move aout 10 yards downhill keeping the light on them and turn up volume on my radio so they can hear the radio traffic. I key up and report their direction of travell as they start to "casually" walk away, as if nothing was wrong. They both are looking back quite frequently over their shoulder as they leave.

PD showed up 3-4 minutes later, circulated, but of course found no one. They either dipped out somewhere or got into a vehicle to leave the scene. It is well known that security is pretty tight on campus, incidents and attempts are not frequent but do occur. Now hopefully they will realize anywhere in sight of the hospital is a risk.
Would like to have them caught, but this happens all the time, they are probably juveniles and would be out shortly with a slap on the wrist. And at least I was able to save someone the grief of losing their property if not their car.
All in all I was satisfied with the performance of the Stinger.
 

lightbulbon

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Oct 5, 2006
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Was this a stinger or ultrastinger? Imagine if you'd had a Mag-85? I'm giving a buddy in law enforcement a modified Mag-Charger for a wedding present. Lights are wonderful things!
 

webley445

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St. Pete, Fl.
Standard Stinger, got a Mag85 but its a bit heavy for carry at work. Have used it before to shine out the window while driving patrol and people have thought it was PD spotlight rolling up on them.
 

Monocrom

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NYC
Nice Job!

Good to see that in other parts of the country, Security is taken seriously. Not even my boss takes it seriously over here.
 

cyberhobo

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Highlands
"...and see two young black males, dark baggy shorts, dark hoodies." Profiling?:whistle: :naughty: :goodjob:
 

IsaacHayes

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Missouri
Good job. I would like them to be locked up, but if it were my vehicle, I'd rather them be scared off and not have my vehicle torn up!
 

LedSled

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Nov 18, 2005
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Location
Central Missouri, USA
I like your judgement, webley445. Thank you for saving another citizen some grief.

Incidentally, I've used both the Stinger and Ultrastinger for a couple of years. Whatever the Stinger does, the Ultra will do times 3. It's a bit more awkward to carry, but can also deliver a decent thump as a baton in a pinch. The bulbs seem to last longer, too.

Thanks again.
 

light_emitting_dude

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Oct 23, 2006
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Location
Ohio
Nice job. Ahh yes the classic stinger. I wonder if the new LED stinger has as much throw? Plan to get one. I have used my stinger on the housing units in our jail and it works very well. Why shout across a housing unit when you can let the stinger do the talking for you!!
 

TonkinWarrior

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May 15, 2005
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Location
Contra-SheepleVille
Mercy goodness, Webley! How dare you step up and intervene like some common vigilante!

Don't you know that flashlights are made strictly for Legitimate Sporting Purposes like White Wall Hunting and Runtime Testing?

Next time you bump into this kind of street-crime-in-progress, I certainly hope you'll simply do what all Progressives and their obedient serfs have been urging (conditioning) us to do: avoid confrontation and run the other way as fast as you can (even if you have a broken leg and 2 blown knees)!

I mean, the Most Important Thing is that nobody ever gets hurt, especially those poor misunderstood youths who were just enjoying the night air. Right?

I have a "good friend" who's been in your shoes a few times. I heard he avoided being gutted by the, umm, Automobile Liberation Tools of similar members of the, umm, Active Lifestyle Generation -- and solved the problem via judicious use of Other Means to supplement his EDC flashlight. He was even nice enough to call 911 later (after he'd reloaded, searched for stragglers, and lit up a cigar) so he could help the cops fill out their reports and draw the chalk outlines. All at no cost to the taxpayers!

Now I'm certainly not advocating such un-P.C. measures for these situations. YMMV.
 

Empath

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Nov 11, 2001
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Location
Oregon
Regardless, with it being almost two years since the thread was active, it's a little late to respond to such a concern. The thread's finished.
 
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