Yesterday, while walking down a big hill towards the beach, two women stopped me.
"Did you see what that woman is doing?" One of them asked as she pointed at another woman, farther up the hill, fiddling around a mini van.
"No. What is she doing?" I asked.
"She's taking all the license plates off the parked cars."
I scanned the cars lining the road. About 10 of them were missing front license plates.
I had passed her on my way up the hill, smiled and said, "Good morning." And I'd passed her on my way down too. But I didn't actually look at what she'd been doing. I assumed she was unpacking her car for a beach day. Milling around, taking her time.
Not committing a crime.
The three of us watched as she walked toward her minivan. The lights flashed as she unlocked the door and leaned in.
"Well, that must be her car. Let's get her license plate number." I marched back up the hill towards the thief.
After about 30 seconds, I thought, "She could be crazy. She could have a weapon."
I turned to the two women trailing behind me.
"Do either of you have a cell phone?" I asked.
"Yes," they said.
"Okay, let's pretend we're buddies and I'll babble as we walk by. We'll get the license plate number and we'll call the police when we get to the top, okay?"
So that's what we did. Then my two cohorts got in their car and I was left alone to pass the crazy lady again.
I made it almost to the bottom of the hill when the police arrived. I walked back up, told the officers what I'd seen, gave them my phone number and went home.
Needless to say, it was all very weird.
Have you ever witnessed a crime in progress?
xoxo,
Suzanne
About Me
- Suzanne Casamento
- Author of Fingerprints, Choosing Tally, and All the Moments in Between. Tweet me @suzannecasamento
Wow, that's weird! I would be so scared! I have never witnessed a crime like that before!!
ReplyDeletedude, are you kidding....what happened next? did she get hauled off?
ReplyDeleteI was once very close...too close to a drive by shooting, heard the shots, looked over, heard screaming and panic & saw a dude laying on the pavement in the parking lot....I promptly went home too
Did they haul her away?! That is nutty. Nope, I've never witnessed anything like that.
ReplyDeleteThey were questioning her when I left. I actually ran home. (I'm not a runner.) I was afraid that if she was let go, she'd see me walking home, take note and then come back and rob me.
ReplyDeleteWow. I think you did a great job! The only thing I've done even close was call the police with license plate of a guy who was dangerously driving on our street - and even then I worried about it getting back to us and our house.
ReplyDeleteThat was weird!
ReplyDeleteThe only crime I've witnessed is people attempting to shoplift in stores where I worked.
Nice work!!
ReplyDeleteA chick once stole my sister-in-law's purse from a restaurant, and we tracked her down, apprehended her, and the cops carted the her away.
I also witnessed a dude that was stealing plants from me and my neighbours (over several weeks he was pulling plants right out of planters and gardens). I decided to followed him for quite a long way and finally worked up the courage to talk to him.
I said, "Hey, that's a really nice plant! Do you like gardening?"
He confirmed he did (I gauged he was a bit unstable/spacey, his eyes were not focussed and he had weird mannerisms).
I said "I do too. But you know, it's so sad, somebody has been stealing plants from my garden, and that really hurts my feelings." It was at that point that I noticed the knife strapped to his leg, under his trenchcoat. I promptly decided to bid adieu and went into a nearby pet food store. When I came out a minute later, he was nowhere to be seen. I walked back home and filed a report with the police. I wrote a note to my neighbours explaining that I had finally witnessed the guy, and gave them the case number should they had any other plant thefts to report. No more plants were stolen from then on.
I've only witnessed the crime of shoplifting.
ReplyDeleteThat's totally weird what you saw, and kudos for doing something about it!
Yikes. I'm really glad you called the cops. What a weird crime that is.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! And no, I've never seen a crime being committed, though I've had a few perpetrated on me.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a few of them. The first time, I hesitated to call the police, worrying about retaliatory stuff. Now, though, I just call right away.
ReplyDeleteI foiled a robbery attempt once. It was about 11:00pm and when I pulled into the driveway next to my brother's car, I saw legs sticking out of the driver's side door. I thought it was my brother working on his car (he was a mechanic at the time) so I stopped to chat. The thief kicked the door open and ran down the street. I just stood there in shock.
ReplyDeleteWoah! I've never foiled anyone in the act--good of you to call it in.
ReplyDeleteGood job! I've seen some stuff, but not nearly as much as my husband who was a cop for 20+ years. I've seen drug deals take place in Vegas. Another time we were camping in an RV park near the Grand Canyon when I spotted a guy watching a lady take a shower in the RV next to us. Rick and some other guys went after him and held him down until the cops showed up. People are idiots.
ReplyDelete