And no, this isn't fake, this literally happened to me today. And the only reason I'm even making this post is to hopefully make sure that no one else makes my mistake. I mean guys, I’m 20 years old soon to be 21, about 5 '4 and barely pushing 111 pounds. I’ve never been in a situation like this and I’ve never seen a situation like this. I wouldn't even be bringing this up if I didn't think it was important. So if you're like me and have never been taught what to do in situations like this this post is for you. And I mean yeah, this is common sense but I apparently lacked all common sense unfortunately.
Disclaimer: I have made this post with every intention of helping people with warning them, writing advice, and I have so much respect for everyone involved it was not easy.
Trigger warnings: I will be talking about blood, police, and I’ll be mentioning guns, knives, pepper spray but be made aware there were no weapons used okay? So, please if those things bother you, scroll away. For the rest of you let me give you the basics.
So, me and my family just moved into a small town a few months back and we run a small family business involving huge machines. The building we bought was right on the main highway and there’s two alleys beside it. My Dad and I are out in the back of the building working in the car port and moving our CnC which is basically a big automated machine that is operated by computers. I only bring this up to tell you how loud it was. I had my headphones on and I heard a scream that I thought was, “Help!” I paused and took my headphones off and listened because I thought I was hearing things at first. And I heard it again the scream for help but my reaction was, wait-is that actually a cry for help? Is this real? And there it came again and yeah it was definitely a cry for help. I took off running and when I rounded the corner I froze again because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
An elderly woman was being robbed by a younger woman and it looked like they were trying to steal her purse.
Now, I was one of the first people on the scene, if not the very first. I think the only other person there was a guy and his dog. I would say he was behind the women but I actually don’t know. He didn't help until after which is when I became aware of him. So I don’t actually know if he was there when it started and to be honest I don’t think he was. I didn’t look around or take in any other details, I only saw the two ladies fighting. If I had taken the time to look I would have seen a huge medium sized man there as well.
I rushed in between the two and I started to try and fight the younger woman back and it's at that point that I realized that the fight wasn’t over a purse, it was over the elderly woman's car keys. Another set of arms gets into the middle of all this but I don’t actually register it but I know it's a man. The younger woman gets away from me and rushes into the driver's seat, slams the door and tries to start the car. I rush after her and reach into the open driver's window and I try to take the keys back or at least stop her from starting the car. The other pair of arms from before comes back and an arm comes in on the side, gets in the window and shoves me back. I instead run around the car and I notice a red car pull up. I open the passenger side door. I almost get in but instead I fling the door out hoping that it’ll hit the car in front to slow them down. While I’m doing this the red car tries to block them from turning around towards town. But it didn’t work and the man, A.K.A. the other pair of arms, threw open the back door behind the driver’s seat and jumped in and they barrel out of there. The red car barely dodged them and then raced out after them. But since the car isn’t there anymore I turn around to the elderly women who’d collapsed onto the cement. Blood dripped from her mouth and it was almost everywhere. This is when the man and the dog come over saying something Idk.
Despite the fact that I have always been told to call 911 in the event of an emergency, I still stood there and asked myself, what do I do? Do I call 911? And I turned around to look for my Dad because I didn't have my phone on me and I didn’t know what to do. Behind me my Dad comes over and says to call 911. I tell him about my lack of phone and he goes to call them with his phone and heads back to our building. I talk with the woman and I try to comfort her while I and the man with the dog listen to her ramble about things I couldn’t understand. From there a lot of other people come over and start to help. And the red car pulls back up and a woman comes out from the driver's seat and moves to help the elderly woman on the floor. As she tells us that she got the license plate and had followed them out until the prison before she turned around. I glanced in her car and in the front passenger seat was her Dad and her two young boys, 12-13 years old, in the backseat. My neighbor, another elderly woman, and her son came out because this all happened in front of her fence. And they start to help out and the police come and blah blah.
I was so stupid. Instead of being shoved to the side by that guy he could have chosen to either grab me and attack me or put me in the car, or if he had a knife on him he could have stabbed me, and if he had a gun he could have shot me. I didn’t realize these things until after everything went down and I saw my sister freaking out about 30 minutes later.
The lesson here is to never ever do what I did unless you are a trained professional with proper training or you have a weapon and you know for sure that they do not have a gun on them. But even then I wouldn’t ever recommend getting involved like that. And if you are the victim in this situation and are being robbed, don't fight them. Whether it be your car or your purse, let it go. Whatever they are taking from you is not worth your life. (The only exception that I can think of is if someone was trying to take your kid from you.) That elderly woman was so lucky she didn’t have a heart attack or break anything when she fell. Guys, she was on oxygen. Freaking Oxygen. And yeah she was brave for fighting back but she could have gotten incredibly hurt. Thankfully she only got a cut on the lip and had managed to bite the woman’s hand so she fought hard. But I still wouldn’t recommend it. And to the people who steal and pick on the elderly, pregnant women, childern or the disabled and whoever is at a extreme disadvantage you are a fucking coward and I hope you get what you deserve.
And I mean I was so stupid it could have gone from car thief to kidnapping or I could be in the hospital or dead and this post wouldn’t be here. Please do not ever do what I did. And yeah, this might be a little dramatic but whatever I genuinely don’t care.
The one thing that bugs me though is that I had pepper spray in the house with my phone and everytime I think about it, if I had that on me I could have resolved the fight much faster. I could have taken out the woman but I’d then have to deal with the man after so idk how much that “what if'' would have helped me. I'm just glad they didn’t choose violence while choosing violence if that makes sense.
To my fellow writers. Let me give you the details.
If you have a character who either encounters a situation like this or is put into a situation like this I hope this helps. 👍
You don't really think.
The first few details you lay eyes on are going to determine your reaction and you only see very few details. (I’m a civilian and I have no idea if that's the same for trained professionals. They probably see a lot more.) So when you write I recommend that you don’t really describe the surroundings much if at all. Only the first key details that the character first laid eyes on. For me, the details were lady, purse, elderly lady, fighting. I didn’t think I just reacted especially in the beginning but there is a point where you do think. Like when I reached into the car window I could hear a thought racing into my head that I didn’t need to get the keys, I just needed to stall her. And when I threw open the passenger door and almost jumped in but thought better of it because “what if I get trapped and they drive off?”
You shake.
After everything I was shaky, not extremely shaky but enough for me to notice and go “Oh, that's weird-anyway.” My breathing even seemed shaky for a little bit and my hands shook too. It was very weird. Like the shaking wasn’t even that noticeable and wasn’t even that big a deal but it was there. About an hour after (by this point it was resolved) I still felt shaky but I wasn’t shaky if that makes sense? Like I had this feeling in my chest that I was shaky. And after the cops showed up I just told the officer where to find me if they needed me and both me and my Dad just went back to work like nothing happened. And for the victim she was shaking quite a bit too. And she was asking me for an inhaler and as an asthmatic I had one but I hadn't used it in months and had no idea where it was. So I instead decided it would be a better idea to stay and keep her calm instead of looking for something for a long period of time and not know if I'll actually find it. Also, I should have my inhaler on my person anyway but I didn't so yeah.
Time
When everything was said and done I could have sworn it was late afternoon almost evening but when I looked at the time it was in the early afternoon like 3:15 p.m. I was so shocked. So time has no meaning with these things.
Energy
I was also extremely calm after and I felt like I had energy like nothing happened. And I was fine. I mean I felt a little sore in the arm where I got shoved but I only noticed that about an hour later when the police were wandering around and everything. I’m assuming I was in such a shock and adrenaline high that when I stopped working with the police and finished my work outside I sat down and I suddenly felt so exhausted. Like I had never felt so exhausted before it was like a mix between upset tired and tired because it was a long day tired. And I had sleepy tears in my eyes but they didn’t really do anything like there was no crying, they just sat there in my eyes like “you good?”
People come together. Like they're attracted to this stuff especially after the fighting. And I mean humans kind of are anyway. Like when we keep trying to take a look at a car wreck but can’t actually see it because we're in the middle of driving and other cars block it.
I noticed that when the woman with the red car came back and everyone started to come together to tell each other what happened from their perspective. They were interrupting each other and telling each other what they did to contribute multiple times. I didn’t really get involved with the conversation. Mostly because I felt like a kid and when I did try to tell them my side of the story they very quickly interrupted me and talked over me. Which was fine, I didn't really want to talk anyways but I did want to make sure they knew a few key details. So that the people who were also calling 911 would have a better picture to give the person on the phone. Mostly because I didn't know if my Dad had managed to find his phone and call 911. Like at first they didn’t know that there was a guy in the car with the woman I had to tell them. So don’t be afraid to have characters circle back to and repeat things again and again. People actually do that. They want to tell their part. I think it's to help them process what happened and I also think it's to relive it but still.
Side characters and patterns.
I actually had encountered the man and woman before today. I had encountered them when I had walked up the side of my building, two days ago, and she was sitting in my old beat up saturn. In the driver’s seat while the man was in the middle of the street. I, at first, didn’t do anything because I was like “Huh? What? Is that actually my car? Is there actually a woman sitting in my car?” And I raised my voice and said “Excuse me, what the hell are you doing?” She got out of the car and closed the door, clutched her purse and went “Oh, sorry. I mean I was sitting in your car but I’m sorry.” Said sorry one more time before I cocked my head and looked at them. And with attitude but also politely because that had never happened to me before and I was alone, I said “You're sorry?” And she was like “yeah.” With a little girl voice and then the dude was like come on let's go and they walked away and down the street but not before the woman looked into the driver side window of my Dad’s truck. Right in front of me. I shouted at them again about staying away from our vehicles and I had my building's door open at that time but I again didn’t have my phone on me. I usually have my phone on me and it's weird that the two times I decided to leave it because I’d be “right back” is so weird. Like everytime I needed my phone I didn’t have it on me. We had called the police then too and gave them a report and moved our vehicles. And by the way when dealing with side characters in these situations you’d be surprised how quickly everyone teams up. Strangers work together in perfect teams (sometimes). They all have their own parts to play in helping the victims which is usually their main priority. Cause most people who gather around like this tend to have good intentions (sometimes). And btw I would have lost that car if they had managed to turn it on.
Setting
The scene of the crime was literally so perfect and it wasn’t even planned (I think). When we were all sharing details and POVs I learned that the man and woman had asked the elderly woman if she’d drive them into town. She had said no and mentioned only to us later on that she didn’t even do a lot of driving anyway and that the car was under her daughter’s name. After the first no the woman asked “Not even if I give you gas money?” And after the second no the woman started to steal the keys and everything. I have no idea how the elderly woman got her mouth cut and I mean she did bite the lady but still. I have no idea. Anyway, I looked around and noticed that what the elderly woman had pulled over for was the garage sale that had a “everythings free” sign. And she said she was going to ask my neighbor if everything really was for free when she was attacked. But literally if you're standing back from everything looking in from the street you have a huge tree that sits at the corner of the alley. It's untrimmed and blocks most of the corner sidewalk and it also blocks my building. So you wouldn't have seen anything if you’d walked by and never walked down the sidewalk. You also have more plant life on this high fence that the garage sale was leaning against and the only thing from my neighbors property that could have allowed for a witness was one small empty window. And on the other side of the street a dude lives in a place with boarded up windows and isn’t even there 99% of the time and is the only building on that side of the street. At the far end of the sidewalk was another untrimmed plant and another alley and a building that had its windows covered. If the elderly woman hadn’t screamed for help no one would have known. I mean I wouldn’t have. I never look down that sidewalk ever. But now that I think about it probably was planned. And since we had moved in pretty recently in terms of months my family didn’t have security cameras up yet. Which sucked cause it would have been nice to have footage and everything but oh well.
The fight
The elderly woman had been up against one of those white plastic tables at like fairs or something and was in a corner when it happened. And to be honest some of what happened during the fight or whatever I can’t even remember. Like I couldn’t tell you which side of the car I ran around. Was it the back or the front? Idk and in some of my memories I have no idea how I even got there or what I did but I know what I did if that makes sense? So, while I know a lot of what happened was pushing and grabbing no one actually threw hands at each other although I probably should have. So think about that when you write your scene not everyone thinks to punch each other in situations like this. And I think that's very interesting to think about. And apparently my dad had come up to see me rush to the side of the driver’s window to try and get the keys and get shoved and then watch me go for the passenger door. He says that he shouted at me to let go because he thought that I was gonna hold on to it but I didn’t hear him let alone know he was there until I went looking for him. I didn’t hear anything. Just the lady screaming to stop them and even I only heard that once despite the fact she said it repeatedly. I know this because again everyone likes to share their part. One thing I know is that what happened was very noisy but I didn’t hear any of it. When I think about what happened in my perspective, there is no sound. No car doors slamming, no shouting, nothing. Also, I don’t know if I mentioned this before but I didn't fight back against the shove because I saw it was a man and I assumed he was trying to help. Because I saw it was the same pair of muscular arms from before and thought “yeah, you do it your stronger anyway.” Idk why but I thought that as important to note. Because I didn’t even realize until later that the dude was in on it.
Your character
Your character doesn’t have to be the hero. They could be the victim or the woman in the red car or a passenger in that red car. Imagine being in the backseat of your friend's car who then gets involved in stopping a crime and almost gets you T-boned when the culprit escapes. Imagine how that mom must have felt knowing her kids and her own Dad were in the car with her. Like whoever your character is, they don’t have to know everything while coming to help. Example. Your character could be my neighbor or my neighbor's son. Her son had called the police and asked the woman if she wanted a chair to sit on instead of the floor and my neighbor asked if she wanted a glass of water. Things I didn’t think about I mean I got her a towel for the bleeding but that's nothing. I mean there were chairs in the garage sale right behind me and I didn’t once think about getting her off the floor. And they still told their side of the story a few times as well and my neighbor's son had done most if not all the talking of collecting information from everyone and talking to the police. He came in and decided to take charge and lead everyone. And the dude with the dog went to find the woman’s address and went to tell her husband what happened. A ton of people came to see what was happening but so little did anything. Flight, fight, freeze. Most came and freezed others who came just left and I was the only one who acted during the act not just after. I helped during, after and with the police and others helped after if that makes sense? So when writing, think about what if things did go south? Did your character get stuffed in the car? Did your character get stabbed or shot? Or did your character get into the vehicle while it was leaving like I almost did and did they get shoved out the door of a moving vehicle or something else entirely? Or maybe they just watched and didn’t get involved? Idk that's up to you.
Blood
It dripped from her mouth and she tried to stop it by putting her hands over it. And it dripped a little trail onto concrete and blood dripped onto her shoes and everything. In her hands, down her arms and off her elbows. She had been standing before she fell too. Bloody mouth as well. And the tone of voice with which the elderly woman screamed is also important to note. My Dad said that he’s almost 70 years old and had never heard someone scream like she did so think about that as well. Oh, and everyone came after the third scream for help Idk why but I think that's important to note.
I hope this helps people. Hopefully when you write you have this to kinda base your story’s events on. Like some kind of outline. And I hope people take this as a lesson on what not to do as well. I should put another disclaimer here but I am not a professional anything. And I actually don't know what advice is or isn't good. I'm just telling you what I think would have been the better thing to do for my situation.
“Penitentiary terms Given Two Youths,” Barrie Examiner. March 20, 1941. Page 01.
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Escape from Reformatory, and Later Burglarize Elmvale Garage
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PLEADED GUIL
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Two young men originally hailing from Toronto, Lloyd Bastien, 20, married [BOTTOM], and Leonard Waites, 17, single, [TOP] appeared before Magistrate Jeffs on Saturday morning to answer two charges from Toronto and one from Guelph.
The charges were first, theft of a car from a Paslinch owner on March 2, second, theft of license plates, the property of His Majesty; and third, breaking and entering and theft of clothing, jewellery, etc. at the home of Ernest Wass, Toronto, on March 4.
Both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to one year each on the first count, six months each on the second, Bastien received two years at Portsmouth and Waite one year imprisonment, on the third charge.
The story told to the Crown by the young men was that they were both serving time at Guelph Reformatory and both would have been out in a short time but on March 2, they had wandered out of the grounds without intention, discovered that the guards were on their trail and had stolen the car to get away.
Breaking into the Toronto residence, they had secured clothing and had gone from there to the house of an Elmvale farmer with whom Bastien had worked previously. They had stayed there several days and were ultimately apprehended by the Chief of Police at Penetanguishene, after they had broken into a booth owned by Mrs. Beauchamp and also into Archer’s garage at Elmvale, where they took batteries and valuable tools.
Tried at Penetanguishene on March 13, on these additional counts they were each sentenced there to three years in penitentiary. All sentences here will run concurrently with the Penetang term.
[AL: Both men attempted to appeal but this was denied on April 18, 1941, and they were carted off to Kingston Penitentiary. Having never been in prison before and being quite young, Waites was identified by the Classification Board as being suitable for some kind of vocational trade, and he worked in the Printing Department at Kingston, was a well-behaved prisoner, and was paroled in December 1942. Bastien or Bastine, who had a previous reformatory sentence, was not so fortunate, was reported several times for disobedience, and worked in the blacksmith shop. He was released in August 1943.]
“Armed Bandits Rob Driver of Truck and $500,” The Globe and Mail. December 22, 1937. Page 04.
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LEAVE VICTIM ON SIDE ROAD NEAR HAMILTON
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Flee in Stolen Machine – Delivery Man Runs Mile to Phone
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POLICE RECOVER CAR
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Hamilton, Dec. 21 (Staff). - Pressing a revolver against his back after they jumped into his truck in the east end of the city tonight, two bandits forced James Caplin, McNeil Street, aged 22 years, driver for E. H. O’Brien News Co., to speed to a sideroad near Van Wagner’s Beach, where they relieved him of $500 in collections and the machine.
Heading in the direction of Hamilton, they raced away while Caplin ran almost a mile to Edgewater Hotel, to notify police.
Making his final collection at the store of E. M. Hall, 231 Barton Street East, Caplin returned to his machine, which was standing almost opposite the front of the shop and while marking his book heard the command: ‘Move over and give up the wheel.’ The thug with the pistol was within a foot or two of the driver and a second man, unarmed, was standing at the opposite side to prevent escape.
Forced From Wheel.
Caplin was threatened as he was ordered to leave the wheel. When he shifted, the unman jumped into the truck and his accomplice sprang into the rear of the panel-body machine. The gun was handed to the man in the rear and he held it against Caplin’s back as they drove to a lonely spot on Corey’s Sideroad, some distance from Van Wagner’s Beach.
Here the machine was turned around, Caplin was pushed out and after leaving him sprawled in the slush and mud, the pair fled. Caplin was dazed for a moment but uninjured and raced to the nearest telephone. By the time the alarm was sounded the thugs had had ample opportunity to escape.
Pockets Emptied
En route, the employee was searched and his pockets emptied. There were some cheques included in the loot.
Police found the stolen truck tonight at 9.45 o’clock on Edinburgh Avenue. It caarried a heavy load and because it would be conspicuous, police were of the opinion that it would soon be abandoned.
Caplin described both men as being tall and thin. They did not wear masks and he could easily identify them again he said. Provincial Constable David Green toured the countryside with the hold-up victim hoping to catch sight of his assailants.
While officers made a search, Provincial Constable Hocken finished news of the holdup to all centres in the district and traffic officers were also advised to be on the look out for the stolen machine.
Daily Comic Journal: June 9, 2023: "Car Thieves Have No Stick-To-Itiveness."
I don’t mean to imply that car’s with manual transmissions never get stolen, what I’m saying in this comic is, that most car thieves (I’m guessing cause I’ve never been a car thief) want to grab the car and GO! They don’t want to waste any time and many probably haven’t had much experience with driving a stick so they wouldn’t be able to leave quickly. I’d hazard a guess, if you place two cars,…
"Reformatory Terms For Automobile Theft," Ottawa Journal. July 4, 1934. Page 21.
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Deputy Magistrate M. J. O'Connor, K.C., today sentenced Lionel Lacasse, 21, of Rockcliffe Park, and Philorum Parent, 21, of Ste. Cecile de Masham, to one year definite and one year indeterminate in reformatory for theft of an automobile.
Parent testified against Lacasse, swearing they had both stolen the car of William McAllister from Dufferin road and driven it to Masham. Although Lacasse denied any part in the theft, Detective Ubald Sauve gave corroborative evidence which satisfied the court that both were guilty.
The same term, to run concurrently, was given Lacasse on two charges of stealing bicycles. It was while investigating the bicycle thefts at Masham that Detective Sauve discovered the abandoned car and subsequently arrested two men.
"TWO AUTO THIEVES SENTENCED TO JAIL," Montreal Star. July 11, 1934. Page 3.
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One year in jail was the sentence given two men known as Jack Kauffman of no given address, and John Debransky, 7075 Cote St. Michel, when they appeared before Judge Lacroix after pleading guilty to a charge of being in possession of stolen automobiles.
Kauffman was arrested while driving an automobile stolen from P. W. Wood, 20 Duke street, while Debransky was found in possession of an automobile stolen from George Finlay, 2247 Maplewood avenue.
