In this article it explains how criminals driving along streets will wait until a car passes then they will proceed to follow the car and hit them in the back. After they hit them and the car pulls over to check for damages and get the other persons information the criminals will get out and kidnap the driver of the car they hit. When they do kidnap the people they do not do it nicely. They will tie their hands and their feet together, duct tape their mouths, and stick them in the trunk of their cars. After they do this they will take the victim to ATMs and take their money then leave then in the middle of a parking lot beaten.
Another example of this happening was with a lady in a Range Rover but she was smarter than the first guy. When she saw a car waiting for her to pass and then after she passed he started to follow her, quickly caught up to her, and rammed her car in the back, she immediately grabbed her phone and called the police. As soon as the criminal saw that she grabbed her phone they stopped did a quick U-turn and didn’t return. When the Range Rover lady called 9-1-1 they told her to pull over and get the other person’s information. The Range Rover lady knew she was in harm’s way and did not pull over.
The 9-1-1 responder knew that the Range Rover lady felt uncomfortable so they should have sent squad cars on their way ASAP so that they could resolve this and make her feel comfortable. This situation is so crazy to me that they can’t find who the criminals are. The first situation they went to multiple ATMs and every ATM has a camera so why don’t they look at that? Or find their car? This type of thing is scary because it can happen to anyone and some people don’t feel comfortable keeping driving because of many different reasons.
Situations like this have to stop and citizens have to be protected. What are ways do you think that this could have been avoided? Or the criminals could have been caught? And do you think the 9-1-1 responder could have done something else to make the situation better?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/police-looking-for-robbery-suspects-who-ram-motorists/2012/04/16/gIQAn7PVMT_story.html
This reminds me of a similar situation that occurred several years ago: Around Chicago criminals would drive at night and keep their lights off; the first person to flash lights at them to turn their lights on would be the victim. The criminals would follow that car and once they stopped they would attack them. It's scary that people think of this stuff.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of either of these situations. That is very scary to think that people would actually do this kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that the 911 dispatcher told her to pull over. If the guy was ramming her, it would seem that pulling over would be the last thing you would advise someone to do. This is pretty scary stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe "Range Rover Lady" as you put it was very smart to call 9-1-1 the first chance that she could. I would also have to agree with Ethan in wondering why the dispatcher would tell her to pull over when the car was ramming her? I have heard about these stories before in more questionable places such as Mexico and yes it can be very scary because the victim is all shaken up about being hit from behind and then all of a sudden they are kidnapped. I also do have to wonder how no one saw the attacker take the victim into the back of the car, to the ATM, and how no cameras caught this or were able to gather a bit of evidence of who did it? Maybe it's shotty police work, but this seems like it would be a lot easier to solve than the article states.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article. I have heard of this sort of thing where a car will stop very quickly so that the person begin them rear ends them and then the person behind them rear ends them. This sort of chain reaction crash is a planned event between the front and rear cars and the victim has no idea what is really happening. Instead of a robbery and kidnapping, this sort of incident is an insurance fraud case. The two criminal cars many times already have an unethical attorney ready to accept the case. The many times find the middle car at fault and he or she pays hefty sums of their insurance rates skyrocket.
ReplyDeleteYa, I have never heard of this happening before it was a interesting post nonetheless. She defiantly did the right by calling 9-1-1 this should always be the case if you don't feel right similar to if you feel like the officer pulling you over might be a fake cop.
ReplyDeleteAt first, this sounds like one of those horror stories they tell teenagers just for a scare effect. No doubt, this is a freak accident but it is obviously something some drivers still need to be worried about. Just goes to show that calling 911 is never a bad idea. Some may consider it overkill, but better safe than sorry in many cases.
ReplyDeleteI have thought about this before in regards to 911 calls during a burglary where the dispatcher told the homeowner to put his gun away even though the burglars were armed with guns and were trying to get to the homeowner. I think that 911 dispatchers need to be better trained in how to give advice to people who are in these kinds of situations. The advice of don't do anything until the police arrive will just not cut it.
ReplyDeleteI feel like you should always listen to yourself and if something in the back of your head is telling you that you are in danger you should call 911, likewise some people call 911 constantly but its better safe then sorry.
ReplyDeleteThat is crazy, This is the first i have heard of crimes like this. One thing that seems to be a constant problem is that we have a lack of training in many issues. Not just by dispatch but also by police officers. It would be nice if departments had the funds to train everyone but sadly that is not the case.
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty scary story I feel like the 911 respondent should have known better then to tell her to pull over, I don't know if they weren't informed of these crimes taking place, or maybe they forgot but I think they should have known better given the information that the lady in the range rover gave them. It is really scary to think that this is actually happening. I recently read another article lately, and it said how some criminals will leave a baby car seat with a blanket over it on the side of the road, so when you stop to see if there is a child in it they grab you beat you then steal your car. Or they will throw eggs at your car from a distance and if they hit your windshield with eggs everyones first reaction would probably be to just turn on your windshield wipers, but you should never do that. Turning on you windshield wipers only smears the eggs making it impossible to see out of the window. When this happens you are forced to pull over which is when criminals come and steal your car. It is pretty scary that criminals are coming up with all of these things, it almost seems like we can't even drive anywhere anymore without having to constantly think about all of these things.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have heard of this but unfortunately I can not say I'm surprised. I like how when you wrote your article you said they did not "Kidnap very nicely" I believe all kidnappings are done in a non-nice manner. I don't believe these could be avoided since accidents need to reported and the last thing on someone's mind is kidnapping. The best way to protect yourself is to arm yourself. I recommend women always carry pepper spray.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very interesting and informative blog. I think this is especially important for people from small towns to keep in mind. I am from a town of about 1800 people, so I sometimes forget that there are people that do these sorts of things and am not as vigilant as I should be. My first instinct would be to get out of my car to assess damage and exchange information, and this is obviously what these people count on. It's kinda sad that people pull these sorts of tricks on other people, like pretending to be stranded on the side of the road and kidnapping the first person who stops to help. Unfortunately, most people would not stop to help someone anymore because they would be afraid of being victimized. It's not fair that criminals take advantage of good samaritans.
ReplyDeleteIts such a random occurrence that it wont be on a departments top to dos. Don't get me wrong, it truly is a deviant act that deserves attention. People should be constantly on their guards around strangers. It is sort of genius for these criminals to execute this plan this way. Its such a formulated procedure now a days that when you get in an accident you get out of your car and exchange information with the other person. It's easy to see how getting out of your car and getting kidnapped could happen at every fender bender.
ReplyDeleteThis almost seems as if it is out of a movie. It is scary to think that people are not even safe trying to be a sensible driver if they get in an accident. This just increases the amount of paranoia on the road and that no one is safe anywhere anymore. It is sickening to think that criminals are taking advantage of people's kind nature in trying to check and see if everyone is okay in a car accident.
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