My flashlight got me stopped.....

Spent the evening trailing a known TDM (thieving druggy misfit, polite term for crackhead) thru the neighbourhood, my continuous presence prevented him from breaking into any cars. (i started a Community Patrol a while back)

when i had first spotted him, he had been checking out door handles and windows of 9 cars parked in the dark along a local park. When the perp produced a screwdriver and started poking a doorlock, i lit him up with my DX cree thrower. That stopped him instantly.......he pocketed the screwdriver and shuffled off quickly, pausing to look back for me. Every time he did I reminded him of my presence by lighting him up. I managed to herd him out of the immediate community. I attempted several calls to the Police, but having a cell phone that crapped out did'nt help matters. TDM had shuffled off about two blocks down by now, and thru the lane.

At this time, a unmarked cruiser glided by, headlights off. They stopped me, apparently because a resident had phone 911, reporting a "suspicious guy with a flashlight, shining it about and at cars and a guy"

yup, guess who.....ME! :green: I produced ID for the Officer, explaining my (perfectly legal) actions. They asked a few more questions about the perp, apparently my description matched another complainants description of the TDM. Got my ID handed back, got asked about my ka-bar TDI blade clipped to my belt and then they drove off quickly, to catch up with the perp i told them about.

never ceases to amaze me how a guy can loiter in a community all night, with tools in his backpack, and break into cars no problem, but a guy doing good with a flashlight gets reported to 911, stopped and questioned :thinking:

I'm looking forward to the new Community Patrol uniform, perhaps the local residents i'm protecting will see the 18" x 5" reflective PATROL patch and use their common sense.......apparently the complainant did'nt see my security patch from their window. :shakehead Our budget is $0, everything is coming out my empty pockets.

Good work there Bushman, the world needs more folk like you. Unfortunately, flashlights do arouse suspicion at the best of times.

Bushman5 said:

They stopped me, apparently because a resident had phone 911, reporting a "suspicious guy with a flashlight, shining it about and at cars and a guy"

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Let no good deed go unpunished.

Good story and good job!

Bushman5 said:

never ceases to amaze me how a guy can loiter in a community all night, with tools in his backpack, and break into cars no problem, but a guy doing good with a flashlight gets reported to 911, stopped and questioned :thinking:

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They don't see the bad guy from lit up indoors so easily, if it's dim or even dark outside. Even if they do, if people walk by all the time, it takes something "extra" for them to pay attention to this one. But everyone notices a bright light being shone around and then you get their attention.

The other side of that coin is that even though your calls to 911 did not go through, theirs did and got police on the scene.

You can figure it out later, you got your primary mission (neighbourhood security) accomplished.

thanks for the good work, BUT,,(there's always one) if you would'da used a HID, he would have to quit for the night after his eyeballs stopped smokin' !!!

if i ever win the lotto i'm buying a MaxaBeam (spelling?) to tote around on my nightly walks. . :naughty:

I take it the guy never got lifted...:ironic:


Never mind - at least you prevented some of your neighbours from the misery, hassle and expense of having their cars broken into.

Good show,


Tim.

^ no idea if he was caught. After the ghost car left to intercept him I headed up to the house to swap batts and have dinner. Would'nt have mattered anyways, thanks to the bleeding heart, mollycoddle the criminal Liberal types that govern this country, most of these guys arrested are out in less than 2 hours.

Bushman5 said:

^ no idea if he was caught. After the ghost car left to intercept him I headed up to the house to swap batts and have dinner. Would'nt have mattered anyways, thanks to the bleeding heart, mollycoddle the criminal Liberal types that govern this country, most of these guys arrested are out in less than 2 hours.

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Dude, easy with the stereotype brush... you're getting red paint everywhere.

MikeSalt said:

Good work there Bushman, the world needs more folk like you. Unfortunately, flashlights do arouse suspicion at the best of times.

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I've heard of police arriving because a neighbour reports flashlights being used in a house, which MUST mean someone's robbing the place. Because of course robbers wouldn't, oh, I dunno, TURN ON THE LIGHTS. *sigh*

On the other hand, any Random Guy shining his light at cars can easily be mistaken for a perp looking for shiny stuff to remove from their interiors...

Great job, thanks for looking out for us!:wave:

May I suggest that if you are going to put yourself in possible danger that you skip your next flashlight (the horror!:devil and instead buy a couple more batteries for your cell phone and carry them...might save your butt next time.
"2 is 1, 1 is none."
BTW, in my town, the TDI knife would have gotten me instantly arrested, but thats Kalifornia for you.

Stay safe!

Sometimes being a real hero is a thankless job.
Keep up the good work

Go ahead Bushman speak your mind, that is what is wrong with this country. Everything has to be politically correct. If someone is breaking into your car, do what they do in Florida!

Old Farmer said:

If someone is breaking into your car, do what they do in Florida!

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Toss 'em to the alligators?

Old Farmer said:

If someone is breaking into your car, do what they do in Florida!

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DM51 said:

Toss 'em to the alligators?

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No, they shoot them.

So Bushman, they have ghost police in unmarked cars in your country?

I'm glad we don't have much crime here.

Course everyone here has guns and there aren't too many foreigners around, so that kinda goes hand in hand.

Bushman5 said:

Would'nt have mattered anyways, thanks to the bleeding heart, mollycoddle the criminal Liberal types that govern this country, most of these guys arrested are out in less than 2 hours.

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Yes. If only the Republican's had won the last election...

You do know that the US has the largest prison population in the world? (Both in ratio and absolute terms, I believe.) And that it has QUADRUPLED since 1980...?

Anyway, as for your neighbours phoning for the police re. you but not the criminal, to point out the obvious: ***criminals try NOT to be seen.***

uh1c said:

Great job, thanks for looking out for us!:wave:

May I suggest that if you are going to put yourself in possible danger that you skip your next flashlight (the horror!:devil and instead buy a couple more batteries for your cell phone and carry them...might save your butt next time.
"2 is 1, 1 is none."
BTW, in my town, the TDI knife would have gotten me instantly arrested, but thats Kalifornia for you.

Stay safe!

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Talking of knives, it sounds like Bushman might not be issued with an anti-stab vest. Even if a criminal doesn't have a knife, then a stabbing with a tool like a screwdriver (a very likely killer used in an icepick grip) is very likely, especially if drug use is impairing judgment.

Biting is likely as well, with the risk of Hep and HIV. I would really consider how much you're willing to do for a community that isn't willing to support you with a reasonable minimum level of equipment, Bushman. It sounds like you have enough gear to identify you as a threat to a criminal but not to protect you.

Good story - hopefully the cops got him!

Where I am we don't have many crims, but I was on a hill over looking the local school one night and I could see these two people trying to sneak around in the school, so I lit them up and they ran! I could hear them yelling at me - was quite funny!

Good work! You guys don't get the credit you deserve! The Community guard in my complex has been seen looking into cars, which is causing an uproar in the community. I like the extra security at night, I just wish we had a guy like you in my complex :thumbsup:.

keep up the good work!


Mayo