dtmt
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2006
- Messages
- 2,272
- Reaction score
- 42
It's 3am and I just got home.
I went out this evening to have some dinner and drinks with friends and see some live music. At the end of the evening, a friend was giving me a ride home so we headed back to his car. Just as we arrived where we were parked, I noticed that a man who had been walking behind us was getting in the way of my friend getting into the car. Then I saw the gun. He demanded our wallets, cell phones, and the car keys, which we relinquished immediately. As soon as he sped off, I sprinted down the street and stopped the first people we found and asked to use their cell phone to call 911.
Within a few minutes, a police car showed up to the street corner where we had made the call from, and the officer asked us to explain the situation and make recorded statements about what had happened. Not sooner had we done that the cop told us that they had recovered the vehicle and had perpetrator in custody. We headed over to the location where the car was found, but had to wait in the back of the police car as detectives combed the scene for evidence.
While we were waiting for the all clear, the cops let us watch the chase video. Seriously, it was like the coolest thing ever. It started with the patrol car spotting the vehicle and started to tail it, but from a distance (no lights or sirens on). The perp seemed to notice this as he gradually took more and more desperate measures in an attempt to escape. Finally his reckless nearly caused an accident; at that point the police car flipped on the lights and the chase was on. They sped through a subdivision until reaching a dead end with a fence. The perp bolted out of the car and hopped the fence. Now this is where the story gets really good--what the perp didn't know is that there was about a 10 foot drop in ground level on the other side of this particular fence. In his injured state, he had no hope of getting away and was taken into custody soon afterward. From carjacking to capture took less than 20 minutes.
Fortunately, we got our wallets back with all cash and cards still intact, the car hadn't been damaged, and nothing in the trunk had been touched. However, the cell phones seem to have been dumped somewhere, and the police were not able to locate them.
So now my phone seems to be totally gone. It was an iPhone, but neither Apple or AT&T offer any service for locating or deactivating stolen iPhones, and there is no insurance offered for them either. So anyone can just take my stolen phone, register it for service and there's not a damn thing I can do about it except pay full retail for a new phone. Seriously, if Microsoft tried to pull this bullshit you'd never hear the end of it. Why does Apple get a free pass for being such an evil *************? **** Apple and **** AT&T. I never thought I'd say this, but Windows Mobile FTMFW. My friend had a smartphone and he only need call his provider, and they will send a command to his phone wipes all his personal data and permanently disable it, and then send him on his way with a new phone.
So apparently I will be subpoenaed to go to court to testify. The cop told us that the perpetrator will be going away for a long time, likely 15+ years. While that may seem harsh just for just taking a car and a little money, I now realize that if something happened that startled him during the exchange, I could just as well be lying on a coroner's table right now.
I went out this evening to have some dinner and drinks with friends and see some live music. At the end of the evening, a friend was giving me a ride home so we headed back to his car. Just as we arrived where we were parked, I noticed that a man who had been walking behind us was getting in the way of my friend getting into the car. Then I saw the gun. He demanded our wallets, cell phones, and the car keys, which we relinquished immediately. As soon as he sped off, I sprinted down the street and stopped the first people we found and asked to use their cell phone to call 911.
Within a few minutes, a police car showed up to the street corner where we had made the call from, and the officer asked us to explain the situation and make recorded statements about what had happened. Not sooner had we done that the cop told us that they had recovered the vehicle and had perpetrator in custody. We headed over to the location where the car was found, but had to wait in the back of the police car as detectives combed the scene for evidence.
While we were waiting for the all clear, the cops let us watch the chase video. Seriously, it was like the coolest thing ever. It started with the patrol car spotting the vehicle and started to tail it, but from a distance (no lights or sirens on). The perp seemed to notice this as he gradually took more and more desperate measures in an attempt to escape. Finally his reckless nearly caused an accident; at that point the police car flipped on the lights and the chase was on. They sped through a subdivision until reaching a dead end with a fence. The perp bolted out of the car and hopped the fence. Now this is where the story gets really good--what the perp didn't know is that there was about a 10 foot drop in ground level on the other side of this particular fence. In his injured state, he had no hope of getting away and was taken into custody soon afterward. From carjacking to capture took less than 20 minutes.
Fortunately, we got our wallets back with all cash and cards still intact, the car hadn't been damaged, and nothing in the trunk had been touched. However, the cell phones seem to have been dumped somewhere, and the police were not able to locate them.
So now my phone seems to be totally gone. It was an iPhone, but neither Apple or AT&T offer any service for locating or deactivating stolen iPhones, and there is no insurance offered for them either. So anyone can just take my stolen phone, register it for service and there's not a damn thing I can do about it except pay full retail for a new phone. Seriously, if Microsoft tried to pull this bullshit you'd never hear the end of it. Why does Apple get a free pass for being such an evil *************? **** Apple and **** AT&T. I never thought I'd say this, but Windows Mobile FTMFW. My friend had a smartphone and he only need call his provider, and they will send a command to his phone wipes all his personal data and permanently disable it, and then send him on his way with a new phone.
So apparently I will be subpoenaed to go to court to testify. The cop told us that the perpetrator will be going away for a long time, likely 15+ years. While that may seem harsh just for just taking a car and a little money, I now realize that if something happened that startled him during the exchange, I could just as well be lying on a coroner's table right now.
