Incident in OC

[johnadams]

I'm doing my job in a large Orange County city.

As I drive out of a parking lot, I realize that I'm being followed pretty agressively. Each lane I change, the suspect changes. After I turn into a residential area, suspect still follows. Then he starts to play chicken and attempts to crash into my car. I'm a pretty skilled driver and I'm able to stay away from the guy. My evasion attempts included driving an entire block in reverse to avoid getting blocked in or hit by the suspect. Eventually, we made it out to the major street again. The only thing that stopped him is when I drove on the wrong side of a major 6-lane street. I did nothing to provoke this guy, and I once law enforcement arrives, I find out why he was trying to run me down. (Throughout the incident, I had local police on the line, their response time was over 5 minutes and not Code 3)

Turns out, he was the property manager of the parking lot and was trying to keep me in his sights until the police arrive to investigate my suspicious activity. I was never asked to leave the parking lot, and if I had, I would have left immediately. I didn't even notice anyone else in this empty lot. I didn't leave any litter behind and my vehicle is a well-kept newer vehicle built in the last few years, not some beat up piece of junk.

When asked about his reckless and life-threatening chase, police ignored the issue and let him go. They were otherwise nice, but had me remain in my vehicle during the entire contact. I don't think this guy learned his lesson, but if he was following someone actually involved in criminal activity, that criminal probably would have shot him.

So what would you have done in this situation? I was able to keep my cool and stay away from this guy. I felt my life was threatened, but I was still driving a pretty big deadly weapon, my vehicle.

[RickD6023]

Drive to the nearest PD / Sherriff's office. Park in their lot and go inside. That generally ends any issues without confrontation or potential reckless endangerment.

[TaxMan]

Originally Posted by RickD6023

Drive to the nearest PD / Sherriff's office. Park in their lot and go inside. That generally ends any issues without confrontation or potential reckless endangerment.

+1
BTW, I certainly wouldn't have driven down the "wrong side of the street".

[johnadams]

Originally Posted by TaxMan

BTW, I certainly wouldn't have driven down the "wrong side of the street".

It wasn't against any moving traffic. Nothing like what you see in the movies. However, I was for a short time driving on the wrong side of a divided street. Unfortunately, it was the best option under the circumstances. There was stopped traffic ahead of me in the normal direction, and I wasn't going to get boxed in a place where I wouldn't have an escape route. At the time, I didn't know who was in that car or why they were trying to crash into me.

Bottom line, I tried everything I could to get away from this situation. This wasn't road rage. It turned into assault with a deadly weapon when he tried to hit my car with his.

[JandJDude]

Originally Posted by johnadams

It wasn't against any moving traffic. Nothing like what you see in the movies. However, I was for a short time driving on the wrong side of a divided street. Unfortunately, it was the best option under the circumstances. There was stopped traffic ahead of me in the normal direction, and I wasn't going to get boxed in a place where I wouldn't have an escape route. At the time, I didn't know who was in that car or why they were trying to crash into me.

Bottom line, I tried everything I could to get away from this situation. This wasn't road rage. It turned into assault with a deadly weapon when he tried to hit my car with his.

Conversely, by driving on the wrong side of the road you were probably guilty of felony reckless driving at a minimum and would be just as guilty as him for endagering the public.

Like said above, it's safer to drive to the nearest ssheriff's station/ firehouse/ courthouse/ etc and go inside.

[emc002]

My grandpa, former Turlock PD, always told my mom & aunts to drive to a PD/SO station in that situation.

I had a guy follow me aggressively, trying PIT maneuver type stuff in a old Chevy Van, for no reason I could discern. Fortunately I was in my Infiniti and stayed away from him pretty well.
He followed me all the way from Waterloo (Highway 99 and Highway 88) all the way to Jackson (50 +/- miles). There are basically no SO/PD along the way. I had to go all the way to Jackson where I pulled into the Jackson PD station and he didn't. Never got his license and wasn't about to chase after him. Plus since it was about 10 PM, nobody was immediately available at Jackson PD, but thankfully he didn't know that.
Also, I had my 3 yo son in the car too so I couldn't go 100 to get away from him plus there was tons of traffic.
This was all pre-CCW, but I don't think that I would change anything with a CCW anyway. The only thing I'd do different would be to call ahead to Jackson PD and let them know I was coming.

[johnadams]

Originally Posted by JandJDude

Conversely, by driving on the wrong side of the road you were probably guilty of felony reckless driving at a minimum and would be just as guilty as him for endagering the public.

Like said above, it's safer to drive to the nearest ssheriff's station/ firehouse/ courthouse/ etc and go inside.

You are wrong.

Felony reckless requires great bodily injury, not the possibility of great bodily injury.

I did violate Vehicle Code 23103, not a felony, but I was under duress and therefore, not guilty. To meet the duress defense, four requirements must be met:

1. Threat must be of serious bodily harm or death.
2. Harm threatened must be greater than the harm caused by the crime.
3. Threat must be immediate and inescapable.
4. The defendant must have become involved in the situation through no fault of his or her own.

23103. (a) A person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful
or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty
of reckless driving.
(b) A person who drives a vehicle in an offstreet parking
facility, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 12500, in willful
or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty
of reckless driving.
(c) Persons convicted of the offense of reckless driving shall be
punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than five days
nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than one hundred
forty-five dollars ($145) nor more than one thousand dollars
($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, except as provided
in Section 23104 or 23105.

[johnadams]

Originally Posted by emc002

Plus since it was about 10 PM, nobody was immediately available at Jackson PD, but thankfully he didn't know that.

There are times when I worked for the police department in which crimes occurred in the back parking lot or our rear loading dock. These ranged from sexual assault to simple hit and run.

As you said, there was no one even immediately available at the station. It's a good idea to drive there, but that's no guarantee that the confrontation will end there. The suspect may not know it's a police station, they may not care, but hopefully, they will drive away.

[Panhead Bill]

johnadams:

Nobody got hurt and you stayed alive, not knowing who was attempting what. Good job, its easy to second guess and say you should have done this or that, and sure, although there may be better options, at that moment, you don't have time to sit down and plot and plan - kudos.

Just out of curiosity, what is your job?

Panhead Bill

[PHM]

Doesn't your car have a smokescreen or oil slick button like my car does?

[hbliam]

Originally Posted by johnadams

I did violate Vehicle Code 23103, not a felony, but I was under duress and therefore, not guilty. To meet the duress defense, four requirements must be met:

1. Threat must be of serious bodily harm or death.
2. Harm threatened must be greater than the harm caused by the crime.
3. Threat must be immediate and inescapable.
4. The defendant must have become involved in the situation through no fault of his or her own.

23103. (a) A person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful
or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty
of reckless driving.

#1 You would have to prove the intent of the other guy to harm or kill you. "He treid to paly chicken" probably won't fly as it's his word against yours. Also, your perceived threat turned out to be baseless.
#2 You would have to prove that driving on the wrong side of the road (which had the potential to kill someone) was greater then the threat of you being followed. The "playing chicken' part sounds odd, as per the "suspect" he was trying to keep you in his sites not contact you.
#3 See #1
#4 Did he force you to drive on the wrong side of the road? Or did you choose to?

You were both guilty of 23103(a)CVC.

Back to your first post.

What do you do? What were you doing in his lot? What type of business's are in that lot? What time is it? What kind of a car do you drive? Are the windows blacked out? What kind of car did he drive? Have you been in that lot before this happened?

The whole story should come out before people start throwing attaboys out there.

[Hoser]

Originally Posted by PHM

Doesn't your car have a smokescreen or oil slick button like my car does?

LOL

[CalCCW03]

Staff is watching this thread closely. I am choosing not to lock it at this point because I can see that we can all learn what to and not to do in a similar situation. Please keep it civil or I will not hesitate to close it down. Thanks.

[hbliam]

Originally Posted by CalCCW03

Staff is watching this thread closely. I am choosing not to lock it at this point because I can see that we can all learn what to and not to do in a similar situation. Please keep it civil or I will not hesitate to close it down. Thanks.

I think my post is civil ('cept for the spelling). I'd like to hear more of the story before it gets defined as a "learning experiance" for everyone.

[CalCCW03]

Originally Posted by hbliam

I think my post is civil ('cept for the spelling). I'd like to hear more of the story before it gets defined as a "learning experiance" for everyone.

It was civil. I can see the potential of it spiralling, if it wasn't civil I would have locked 'er down already. Carry on.