Monday, October 20, 2008

A Bit of a Scare

Oh, my gosh!!
Last Saturday, a strange woman tried to get in my car! I had just come out of Der Wienerschnitzel (they have the closest ATM to my house), got back in my car, and could see her approaching. In slow motion, it seemed--just like a bad dream. She was not hesitant; I could tell she was going to try the car door. I pushed the button to lock the doors, but in my panic, I foolishly UNlocked the doors instead.
She opened the passenger-side door and I yelled at her to get out. She said, "Do you want my coat?" and took off said coat. I kept yelling, "GET OUT OF MY CAR! GET OUT!" She offered me her coat again and tossed it on the passenger seat. I told her, "I'M CALLING THE POLICE!" She was completely unfazed. I yelled some more and she finally started to leave. I yelled at her to take her coat, too, which she did.
By then I'd dialed 911, and had this delightful exchange:
911: 911; what is your emergency?
Me: Some woman just tried to get in my car!
911: Tell me what happened, ma'am.
(I give her an account of the events to that point.)
Me: Now she's getting in the car next to me! There's a whole family in there, but they don't seem to be doing anything.
Other Driver: Is she with you?
Me: NO! I'M ON THE PHONE WITH THE POLICE!
Me (to dispatcher): Oh, they're going into the restaurant, and the man is holding the door for her. Maybe they're going to buy her lunch??
Well (my panic subsiding), she doesn't appear to be dangerous. Clearly, she's mentally ill, though.
911: What makes you say that, ma'am? (Catches herself) Other than her trying to get in your car, I mean?
The nice dispatcher lady then told me the officers were on their way. The other driver man came out; I rolled down the window (just a bit) and told him the police were coming. He said, "Well, I don't want to get involved. I'm leaving right now." But just then the police arrived. One of the officers talked to the car-invader woman, and the other talked to me and a gal from the other family.
Me: I'm the one who called.
PO: Can I see your license, ma'am? (I gave it to him.)
Gal: I don't want to get involved; I'm just going to go...
PO: That's fine, ma'am; can I just get your name?
Gal: Ok--(gives her name)
PO: What's your birthdate, ma'am?
Gal: (gives birthdate)
PO: Great. You got a phone, ma'am?
Gal: Yeah. (gives phone number)
Gotta love those hard-line interrogation techniques.
Kind of anti-climactic from that point. I told the officer what had happened, and he said they'd probably be taking the woman to the hospital, which is really what she needed. Whew! A little scary for a moment, but all ended well.


4 comments:

  1. Umm, wow, not even sure what to say to that

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  2. Now really consider the cost of services rendered. Chances are you only really use 911 or the police once every five years. Chances are you pay $500 a year in taxes that go to them. So to have the 911 people and police be dismissive you paid $2,500. Doesn't it feel nice to pay taxes?

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  3. I think I would have been too freaked out to even think of calling 911. What a crazy story!

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  4. That is a little scary. when we lived in Altadena, we came out to our car to find a woman sitting in it. Turned out to be a lady from the neighborhood who was kinda lost. She had some kind of mental problem, and the sheriff was familiar with her. It was a weird feeling, though, having a stranger in the car. Needless to say, we locked our car for sure from then on.

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