I helped catch a mugger last night.
Discussion
One of the things about a night cabby is you are never short of happenings,last night i joined the back of the station rank and started chatting with another cabby about the cricket,in the back ground i hear a comotion but ignore it,a little time later i can hear"Help ime being mugged",so i run up the slope to where a group of cabbies are looking down the other side of the hill at a fracas and can see a 'student type young guy' being pursued across the road and shoved to the ground by a Skinhead.
Standing and watching from the hill i can hear the poor guy pleading for help,so i say to the guys 'come on lets help him' and i make it down the hill and road towards incident closely followed by ONE other driver :(,as ime getting nearer i can see the skinhead has got no weapon,and about 50 yards away from them the Skinhead jumps up and backs off to the other side of the road to where a darker friend of his is standing,my mate and i help the student guy to his feet and he shows us his wallet tightly clasped in his hand,and upset tells us 'the skinhead was trying to nick his wallet'.
We get the student guy to ring 999,dave my mate helps to reasure him while i turn my attention to skinhead gesturing to me from the other side of the road informing me of all the 'F*****g unpleasant things he's gonna do to me,as hes making slowly out of sight,thinking about keeping him around for plod i cross the road towards him,hopefully entertaining him till plod can arrive,i get to the middle of the road and a Honda roars up with the driver asking whats happening ,as i speak to the driver the skinhead makes a run for it so me and the honda driver give chase,anyway to cut this long story short we caught up with him,plod were there in 10 minutes(great response) and now the guy is being detained at her maj's pleasure.
Two things struck me,1/considering the amount of people around there was only a small percentage around that wanted to help,WHY?,and 2/the victim did the right thing,all the time he kept his pleas very clear and although he was being over-powered kept pleading over and over,(which is very important as at one point it could of looked like two friends sodding about),a good thing to remember if you ever find yourselfs in a similar position with so many people slow to help.
Standing and watching from the hill i can hear the poor guy pleading for help,so i say to the guys 'come on lets help him' and i make it down the hill and road towards incident closely followed by ONE other driver :(,as ime getting nearer i can see the skinhead has got no weapon,and about 50 yards away from them the Skinhead jumps up and backs off to the other side of the road to where a darker friend of his is standing,my mate and i help the student guy to his feet and he shows us his wallet tightly clasped in his hand,and upset tells us 'the skinhead was trying to nick his wallet'.
We get the student guy to ring 999,dave my mate helps to reasure him while i turn my attention to skinhead gesturing to me from the other side of the road informing me of all the 'F*****g unpleasant things he's gonna do to me,as hes making slowly out of sight,thinking about keeping him around for plod i cross the road towards him,hopefully entertaining him till plod can arrive,i get to the middle of the road and a Honda roars up with the driver asking whats happening ,as i speak to the driver the skinhead makes a run for it so me and the honda driver give chase,anyway to cut this long story short we caught up with him,plod were there in 10 minutes(great response) and now the guy is being detained at her maj's pleasure.
Two things struck me,1/considering the amount of people around there was only a small percentage around that wanted to help,WHY?,and 2/the victim did the right thing,all the time he kept his pleas very clear and although he was being over-powered kept pleading over and over,(which is very important as at one point it could of looked like two friends sodding about),a good thing to remember if you ever find yourselfs in a similar position with so many people slow to help.
ZR1cliff said:Excellent work!
1/considering the amount of people around there was only a small percentage around that wanted to help,WHY?
Will you have to make a statement or have a court appearance? Sorry to point this out but the skinhead bloke had no way of knowing who you where for the purposes of revenge did he? I guess some people are just cowards? I mean I say that but I’ve never been in a similar situation so I’m not sure how I would react.
Good Job dude...
I got mugged once when I was 15... they asked for my watch, I gave it to them! (they were 20,21, and 19 I later found out in court)
Went back into the gym I'd just come out of and told the guys they were on the station platform.
Seeing one of the muggers dangling over the railway line off a 17 stone powerlifter was one of the funniest things i've ever seen
especially when he squeaked 'its behind the tree'
It was a school trip for PE so we left my chemistry teacher watching them and keeping them on the station until plod arrived.
What did he do? Let them get on a train
cops caught them at the next station. But without the help of those guys I wouldn't have got my watch back, its a credit to you that you stepped in.
Not sure how i'd react if the mugger was armed though
I got mugged once when I was 15... they asked for my watch, I gave it to them! (they were 20,21, and 19 I later found out in court)
Went back into the gym I'd just come out of and told the guys they were on the station platform.
Seeing one of the muggers dangling over the railway line off a 17 stone powerlifter was one of the funniest things i've ever seen
especially when he squeaked 'its behind the tree'
It was a school trip for PE so we left my chemistry teacher watching them and keeping them on the station until plod arrived.
What did he do? Let them get on a train
cops caught them at the next station. But without the help of those guys I wouldn't have got my watch back, its a credit to you that you stepped in.
Not sure how i'd react if the mugger was armed though
KingRichard said:
Not sure how i'd react if the mugger was armed though
In retrospect, I probably wouldn't have tackled the thieving b@stard with his arm throught the window of my g/f's car had I known he had an 8" blade on him.
I knocked him down but didn't take the opportunity to kick seven shades of sh!t out of him, which I'd always promised myself I would.
I just can't seem to lose my temper
wedg1e said:
Not sure how i'd react if the mugger was armed though
In retrospect, I probably wouldn't have tackled the thieving b@stard with his arm throught the window of my g/f's car had I known he had an 8" blade on him.
I knocked him down but didn't take the opportunity to kick seven shades of sh!t out of him, which I'd always promised myself I would.
I just can't seem to lose my temper
I get that... when I go boxing I always think to myself 'this will come in handy one day'
The few situations I've been in where i've felt the need to dish a few slaps, I've always held back.
In fact for a period in my teens I really couldn't bring myself to punch someone... I used to wrestle a bit in playground scraps but couldn't ever slap someone
maybe I'm a lentilist after all 
About 5 years ago in Dublin, another good soul was doing his bit for society, much like the other stories here. He was doing a delivery in his Transit when he noticed two people run out of a bank wearing balaclavas and jumping on a moterbike. Not knowing what to do, he thought the only way to stop the thieves was to reverse over them.
So he did.
Except it was a tv reconstruction being filmed. The robbery was the week before.
As far as I remember, he got a warning for being a bit too dangerous, although he was trying to do the right thing. "If they had died.....etc etc".
So he did.
Except it was a tv reconstruction being filmed. The robbery was the week before.
As far as I remember, he got a warning for being a bit too dangerous, although he was trying to do the right thing. "If they had died.....etc etc".
speedy_thrills said:
1/considering the amount of people around there was only a small percentage around that wanted to help,WHY?
Excellent work!
I guess some people are just cowards? I mean I say that but I’ve never been in a similar situation so I’m not sure how I would react.
The police were taking details of of everyone and i expect they will be in touch soon,it amazed me once the police turned up how many people would then come forward,it just goes to show that there presence does have an effect and all credit to them for turning up so quick also the Honda driver for getting on his toes,ive since learnt that the skinhead is a bit of a druggie and suspect he was looking for donations.
As for the revenge bit ime a cab driver so it happens now and again and i can guarentee he will try to get in my cab one night,good job weve got screens,the moneys good though
Up the Dubs,i pi**ed myself at that story
)Well done fella!
Problem with people is that they are far too scared to ever do anything.
So many of these Muppets are armed with knives, etc, as well so that does pray on your mind – one victim or two?
Having said the above in the situation you described I honestly think I would have got stuck in as well.
I look at these things as what would you like to happen if it was you in trouble?
Some kid tried to mug me in London once years ago but given the size difference between us, and the fact that after a second or two he wasn’t the one holding his pen knife, I convinced him it really wasn’t going to work and he legged it.
Problem with people is that they are far too scared to ever do anything.
So many of these Muppets are armed with knives, etc, as well so that does pray on your mind – one victim or two?
Having said the above in the situation you described I honestly think I would have got stuck in as well.
I look at these things as what would you like to happen if it was you in trouble?
Some kid tried to mug me in London once years ago but given the size difference between us, and the fact that after a second or two he wasn’t the one holding his pen knife, I convinced him it really wasn’t going to work and he legged it.
blindswelledrat said:
If im ever in that situation I must think 'what would anyone else have done?'
I think its so easy for some and i hate to say it but maybe 'most' people not to get involved,another one of my cab stories,,
Turning into a rank one saturday night i spotted 4-5 guys wading into a guy who was on the floor so myself and some other cabbies along with a few bouncers who came across from a nearby pub to help challenged the attackers who backed off,lifting up the big guy who was taking a 'Kick in'i was surprised to see a girl cowering underneath him
,,not far away was a taxi cue with around 50 people in? I think in this day and age,you have got to be careful and assess wether the attacker is armed first(gone are the days when you can race into situations),contact the police is a priority ,people including myself are genuinly afraid to get involved but i feel you cant just stand by and even if you stay at a distance and shout 'Leave him/her alone' and show a lead you can perhaps muster other help aswell as helping to divert the attackers attention away from his victim and at the same time letting the victim know he/she is not alone.
One thing to remember these days no matter where you are there is always a camera watching nearby so its possible that help is already on its way,all youve got to do is play for time.
Rude-boy said:
Some kid tried to mug me in London once years ago but given the size difference between us, and the fact that after a second or two he wasn’t the one holding his pen knife, I convinced him it really wasn’t going to work and he legged it.
Reminds me of 'Crocodile Dundee',,"You call that a knife,this is a knife"
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