my friend got ROBBED!
 

:eek: my g/f traveled from Connecticut and is driving to Florida. She stopped at a rest stop in North Carolina and slept for about 4 hours. About 7am a young woman knocked on her window and asked her to help. She told a tale of how her car was broken down on the side of the interstate just up the road, and she walked to the rest stop to call triple A who said they would meet her at her car in a half hour, please be there. She claimed to be cold, and tired, and asked if my friend could please give her a ride. My friend is a very kind 58 y/o woman, who would give you the shirt off her back. As she pulled out of the rest stop she had one thought of "why am I doing this?" and they rode in silence for about 2 miles. There was a black SUV pulled off to the side of the road, and the woman pointed and said "thats my car, thank you!" as they stopped the car, the woman said "im so sorry to tell you this, but I am robbing you. I have a gun in my pocket and you need to hand me your pocket book." My friend said "sweetie Im sorry, but I have almost no money, and no credit cards, but if you will just stay calm, I will give you what money I have." The robber reached over and elbowed my friend in the shoulder and started to climb over her to get the bag. My friend said she was like a woman possessed and she reached up and grabbed this young girl by the back of the head and yanked as hard as she could and screamed at the top of her lungs GET OUT!

After a minute of tussle, the young girl spat all sorts of foul names at my friend while climbing out with the handbag. My friend said "please! dont leave me on the side of the road, at least let me have my keys!" The young girl grabbed the keys, and tossed them into the grass. Slammed the door and got into the passenger side of the SUV. They spun out. My friend has a spare key, and used it quickly to follow them. (bad move!) she was beeping her horn, and flashing her lights. She saw her handbag sticking out of the side window and they flung it into the grass. My friend pulled off and got her bag. They got her $50 and nothing else!

I told my friend how crazy she was! #1 DONT give rides to strangers! #2 if someone says they have a gun...BELIEVE THEM! #3 NONE of your stuff is worth your life! Give it to her! #4 dont get into a hair pulling contest with a gun toting bandit! OMG she is sooo lucky that some big guy didnt get out of the SUV to come stab/shoot/rob/kill her! PLEASE dont sleep at Rest stops! they are huge crime riddled areas! I wont even use them for pit stops! I make sure to go to busy places, like McDs or Target...There is NO security at 99% of the rest stops in this country, and if you get cornered in a potty, you are done!

Please say a prayer for my friends safe return to Florida. She is in South Carolina now, and will rest for the night. I put her hotel room on my credit card, so she wouldnt be tempted to sleep in another parking lot. She didnt want to pay $50 for a place to sleep. I was shaking after talking to her. How scary!

My husband and I just had the conversation the other day, that if someone knocks at the door at night, find out who it is WITHOUT opening the door, preferably with a phone visible and held to your ear. If it's at all fishy-looking, call 911.

Dej, I'm so glad your friend is okay, and like you, I'm shaking just thinking about that!!!

How scary! :eek: You just cannot be too cautious these days. Sometimes I feel like I am overly cautious to the point of being ridiculous but then my son (in law enforcement) will tell me something that just creeps me out.....so I feel like it's better to be safe than sorry.

I had a lady pull up behind my car while I was loading groceries one day, put down her passenger side window and tell me some story about needing gas money to get to a town 50 miles north of here. She looked wigged out on something and she had me boxed in with her car. Luckily I had locked my purse in the car before loading the groceries in the trunk. I told her I had no money (which was true) but she could have easily pulled a weapon on me.

I hope your friend stays safe for the rest of her trip. It's a shame people can't even be safe in their own cars anymore. Thanks for helping her out. :hug:

Safety Tip: Be sure all the doors in your car are locked.....not just your driver's door. With newer cars it's easy to lock all at the same time but with older cars with manual locks you can be riding around with your back passenger door unlocked and someone could jump in. It happens!

I would never get in the car or let someone I didn't know get in mine. With that said, I have to admire your friend (glad she's OK) on her brave stunt. Following them, not so sure, but it is possible she was hoping for the cops to see her? I am sure she knows how dangerous it was and regrets it. Kind of reminds me of the granny here in Chicago that shot the 12 year old punk who tried to break into her house. I know, I know, 12? Hey, they aren't the 12 year olds we remember these days! She didn't kill him, just got him in the shoulder. Go granny! She has offered to mentor him if you can believe that!

We had someone banging on our door and ringing the bell at 1:30 AM a couple of weeks ago. We didn't really know what to do, so we just waited it out. I had the phone ready to dial 911 and looked out my bedroom window to check out the car. We don't know anyone from Ohio with a red car.

I just couldn't see a reason for it. They weren't broken down because the car was idling in my driveway and it was brand new. In this day, most people have cell phones, so why are you banging on someone's door in the middle of the night?

DH was hanging out in the living room near the door in case they tried to get in, but no way were we opening that door! They finally left - thank God!

Deb - I can't imagine the chances your friend took, but I sure am glad she is OK and has a good friend like you to make sure she had a hotel room. Yikes!

I'm only reading about it and I'm kind of shaking at hearing how scary it sounds.

It kind of reinforces my fear of traveling alone.

We've had our house robbed once, when I was the only one at home that week. Came home to find doors that I left closed opened, and things were moved. Scared the heebie jeebies out of me, and I was in my early 20s and capable of defending myself then.

Now I get worried that my parents are going to get mugged going from the car into the grocery store (or on the back out to the car) There are just too many scary people out there now. I'm only 41, but I dont remember the world being as full of thieves when I was younger as it is now.

That's what I miss about my big dog, TinyMonsters, he was 100+ pounds of stinky, furry dog, and I never felt scared when he was here with me. Always felt safe at home alone when my big Wookiee was around.

If I didnt have the MS and a bunch of fatigue, I'd probably go get another dog like him (I dont have the energy to do the training again, and I wont do another big dog like that without obedience training it)

Tiny looked the part of scary dog...big, loud, and scary looking when he was mad. But he was a big baby. He'd lick you to death before eating a person, but at least he was convincing at the act that he was going to eat the bad guys if they tried anything.

Kitt - You could find the local German Shepherd rescue group and probably end up getting more of a teenager dog than a puppy. Every breed has it's own rescue groups, so you could be sure of getting the dog you wanted without having to deal with puppy stuff like if you went through a breeder.

I got my Boston Terriers through a rescue and they came to me house broken, crate trained, spayed and all shots taken care of and 1 year old at the time. It was the perfect scenario for me to get the breed I wanted at a fraction of the cost ($75 per dog) with all the hard work done! My dogs were sisters and had belonged to an old lady who either died or went into a home, so they were thrilled to be adopted by a young family. The sister that is still alive is 13 and she has grown up with my oldest son.

heard from my friend today. She managed to get some sleep, even tho she jumped at every bump in the night. she felt much safer in the hotel vs the car. She is bruised and has a few scratches. She said she hopes that woman has a bald spot. She will finish her ride today and make it home, but wont soon forget that no good deed goes unpunished.

When in a strange land, dont pick up strangers! You cant save the whole world, and many who claim to need help just want what you have!

TY for your support about my friend. I was just terrified for her. Had this woman actually had a gun, she would have shot my friend. Things could have turned out so differently.

I pray she has a safe trip home.

Times sure are different nowadays. I can remember as a child we didn't even lock our doors. We'd go to the store or out somewhere and never thought twice about it.

Of course, identity theft and other now-common ways to steal weren't heard of back then. I miss those days so much. I have become so untrusting of strangers. But in order to survive I guess that's the way it is now. :(

How do i feel about gun control? Break into my house one night and find out. I also pack when I'm in my car..have a permit to do so. We were at church on a Wednesday night about 2 months ago, got home and we had following items stolen: a BRAND new riding mower (used once) old riding mower, pressure washer, leaf blower,weed eater. They left us the push mower (lol). About a week b4 this happened, a young man pulled into the driveway, knocked on the door..said he ran out of gas. I could tell that he was doped up on something..he just acted nervous and fidgety..(my hubby was gone at the time) I told this man to hold on a second.I politely closed and locked the door, grabbed my .38 off my nightstand, went to the door..told him to get the he** off my property. he took off running to his truck and left!! He wasn't out of gas! IMHO,he was "casing" our place. whoever stole our things should thank God we didn't drive up and catch them in the act,I woulda shot and asked God to forgive me. Can you tell I don't like a thief?? It's really a shame that you can't help people any more without being scared of them hurting or killing you.

Conventional wisdom back in the day was to let word get around that you had a gun. They even suggested setting up a target in your back yard and firing a few shots at it as a "warning" to would-be burglars. Now they break in specifically LOOKING for guns, so how can you win?

We're mostly concerned that someone might try to break in thinking we weren't home, but we would be. I think if (God forbid) I ever lived alone, I'd sleep all day and stay up all night "keeping guard", or at least listening! (Overstated, but you get the idea)

The ironic thing is, I don't think we have a single item in the whole place worth over a hundred bucks, except the car...my old computer is on its last legs, we don't have a Wii or electronic gizmos or smart phones, and we don't keep cash lying around.

A burglar here wouldn't score anything worth the effort, and I'd probably never be able to sleep again in my life.

BRAVO!!!! Good for you. Arizona passed a law that took effect July 28th that made it legal for anyone to carry, open or concealed. It has always been legal to carry open, before carrying concealed was ok with a permit. out of about 8 houses on my block, 5 of my neighbors carry guns all the time. I used to, but 1) my hands are not as reliable and 2) DW HATES guns. but most of my friends (coincidently) carry. Wish I could. it's a very important part of our constitution.

P.S. when the law was passed, the anti-gun people were all saying it would cause many gun crimes. Guess what, NOT ONE SINGLE problem. we are the 3rd state to allow this. Now honest citizens are equal to the criminals. "I would rather have a gun and not need it, than need it and not have it". - my gun carrying pastor.

I didnt intend to turn this into a gun control thread. I am against gun control. Criminals who use guns dont care about paperwork, permits or following the rules. Only those who are law abiding and do follow the rules are the ones filling out all the papers and registering their guns. btw, I do carry. I have a Baretta storm, and a walther PPKS. both fit my small girlie hand well, and I have a permit to carry concealed. I am well trained after 20 years in the prison system and my husband is an ex marine who fought for our rights to be able to carry and bear arms. If you dont want to have a gun in your home, I say HURRAY! You know your limits, and you know what is and is not good for your own home, and dont want someone impossing on you that you must carry one, anymore than I want someone impossing on me that I cant. As law enforcement I would be naked without it. My son an ex Marine was also in harms way for a long time fighting for our right to have freedoms and protections. We are all well trained, and well practiced. As a matter of fact I have special ammo in my home gun, that wont travel thru wall after wall. its meant for up close combat.

My friend made it home late last night. She is bruised, and scratched and the closer to home she got the more she allowed the incident to sink in. She is due back here in November (flying) and has asked me to take her to the range to learn to shoot and get her permit. As she got closer and closer to safety she allowed it to sink in just how much danger she was in. She did choose to rest at a stop along the way, but in Florida I guess they have armed guards at rest stops. She parked up front, and told the guard what happened to her in NC. She asked if she closed her eyes, would he watch over her. He told her he couldnt promise to be a private guard for her, but if she stayed parked up front, he could keep an eye out for her.

Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes. One of her first requests was prayers for the lost young woman who robbed her. Her second request was for herself.

I read here a lot and enjoy you ladies. I had to post a reply. I had my house broken into a couple of months ago. Please tell your friend that she may feel reporcutions from this for a while. I was having panic attacks and other issues and ended up having to get meds and am seeing a therapist. Its not unusual and it is helping. Your friend may find that she also has issues too. I hope not but if she does please let her know that its normal and its also normal if she needs to seek help to overcome this tramatic incident.

Thank you! I mentioned that to her that once at home where she is safe, she may start to feel some anxiety about situations and to expect to learn how to retrust parking lots, and enclosed spaces with strangers. She keeps saying she is fine, but you can hear the undertone of panic. She has no medical insurance, and is a full time caregiver for her mom, but thankfully in Florida there are several good free clinics that can help her. I offered to pay for an ER trip or where ever else she wanted to go. She so far has refused.

My friend cleaned out her car today, and found 2 gel finger nails that were well painted in great detail. you know those must have cost some money. She also found a large wad of hair that she snatched off the girls head. She said it was large enough to leave a bald spot. So, she ruined the girls manicure, and her weave. You know it cost her more money to fix the damage than she received from that robbery.

My friend still refuses to report it because it would scare her elderly mother. I told her she NEEDS to report it to stop this girl from doing it to someone else, but she refuses. She said she will write and annonymous note to the state troopers of NC.

Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes. :hug: