Not all of the cars hit were seized.
I’ll never know how close I’ve come car robbery victim. I was at home for ten minutes before I realized what had happened. I was staged for a car robbery, and the events leading up to the possibility of a car theft were both absurd and surreal. Living in a low-crime area, I don’t consider my hometown to be a place where such crime is likely to happen—I realize that sounds naive. That said, the early stages of the crime will be non-violent – a hoax indeed – but I really don’t know what the end game is, and that’s unsettling. Here is the story:
Settings for Carjacking
Leaving the health club around 9:15 p.m., I decided at the last minute to charge my electric test car for a few minutes on the drive home. This gives drivers extra work range when they pick up their car the next morning.
Luckily for me, there is a level 3 “fast” charger located at the pharmacy less than a block from my house. The main entrance to the store is in a corner of the building, with the charger on one side. As I was messing around with the faulty charger, I noticed a woman walking briskly towards me from the store entrance. She was holding a phone and appeared to be texting furiously when she approached. About three meters away from the car, she suddenly stopped, turned, and quickly returned to the entrance to the store.
I don’t think much of that woman. She’s older, and her quick nervous movements suggest to me that she’s not curious about EVs—I often answer questions about electric cars while on public chargers— most likely a beggar of some kind. I was really relieved by her withdrawal.
I charged the car for exactly 10 minutes—at a cost of $3.03—and was ready to go home when the woman showed up again. She rushed towards me from the front of the store and shouted “sorry” several times.
The women stopped just a few feet away from where I was standing, and began to tell me a puzzling story that she started somewhere in the middle of a logical story. This is, roughly, what she told me:
- Her husband took her to the store, but didn’t come back to pick her up.
- She made a purchase, but forgot her wallet and couldn’t pay for it.
- She needs a ride home to get her purse.
- She lives just two blocks away.
- And, she will pay me for my trouble.
During her talk, she never made eye contact and never stopped looking at her phone. Also worth noting: she’s wearing a purse over her shoulder.
I’ve decided not to give her a lift, but since her story doesn’t make any sense, I need more clarification. I asked her where she lived. She vaguely pointed to the southeast. I asked her what street she lived on, and after a long silence, she replied, “Carter Street.”
I stared at her silently for a while, and she never took her eyes off the phone. After a while, I said, “This seems like a bad idea. I’m sorry I can’t help you. Then I got in the car and drove home.
At home, I look up at Carter Street. Turns out there’s a Carter in my town, but it’s nowhere near where the woman pointed. I told my wife the story, and we both realized that I needed to call the police.
think:
- My future car thief may have failed the first time she tried to contact me because she realized that I was driving an electric vehicle and it might need a little charge before it could drive. long distance.
- I didn’t expect an electric car to be the target of a car robbery, which means I’m driving a $65,000 Lexus, a tempting target, I imagine. .
- Her angry messages could be contact with an accomplice. I picture something like, “He’s big, but he looks old and tired. I don’t think he’ll be in much trouble.”
- I don’t know why a more violent method of car stealing isn’t used. I’m glad it isn’t, but this shuttle home scam is unlikely to attract too many scammers.
Regret:
- I wish I had called the police sooner. It wasn’t until 20 minutes after I got home that I realized I needed to report the incident. The officer with whom I spoke asked very good questions about the encounter, and seemed confident that I was indeed being ensnared.
- The police went to the store to investigate. If I didn’t delay in calling, the chances of them meeting women would be higher. (Note: Maybe the police do find woman. I have not contacted the police since I called in my story.)
Final thoughts:
Now I wonder how things would have turned out if I had given her a ride. Where will I be directed? Did she carry a gun? Did she have an accomplice? What was clear was that she could walk home and back to the store in the ten minutes I paid, if indeed she lived just two blocks away.
I would feel terrible if I found out this woman really needed help, but nothing she said made any sense. A person whose husband is unreliable to rely on for transportation might know all about Uber—an obvious solution to her joblessness problem.
I wish I could tell you that I never thought of helping this woman. And I still feel a little guilty for assuming the worst here, but it’s very hard to assume the opposite. Perhaps my biggest failure was assuming for too long that living in a nice suburb would confer immunity to things like carjacking.
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Settings for Carjacking
Settings for Carjacking
Settings for Carjacking
