Getting robbed at a truck stop

rest area in tx made stop to piss was walking to restroom 2 black males standing by a car turned and went inside i decided i no longer had to piss

 

Nothing like digging up a thread over 2 years old.

 

Guy tried to rob me when parked on back row; so I quickly stuck a finger in one of his eyes. What a mess that was. His screaming was like a high pitched womans voice. You don't need any special training to defend yourself with that move, just a strong stomach.

 

I get robbed at truck stops all the time! $3.50 for Coffee and a KitKat bar?!?

I can't imagine the response time at a highway rest area being very good, if my life is threatened I'm going to take my chances fighting back.
If I can reasonably distance myself from the perp long enough to call 911, I'll let the cops handle it.

 

Of course I wouldn't do this, but, carry a couple of single-cup packs of instant coffee in your pocket. When cashier ask for money to pay for your coffee, show her the packs of instant coffee, and say, "I use instant, just got some hot water."

 

Oh I've done worse than that. I've poured "Liberal" amounts of milk (real milk, not creamer) into a coffee cup and closed the lid. $1.50 for a pint of milk, $1.19 for a cup of "coffee". I seem to recall making "Ice coffee" too, when they had the audacity to charge over $2 for iced coffee but $1.25 for coffee in a cup.

It's getting petty out there, I was in a CVS last night that charged a "per bag surcharge." New "Green" law in DC.

 

I have one for you. They have a stack of cases of pop, 8 packs, in the Calgary AB flying J. Big says 3.19 on top. That is less than .50 per can, not bad. I go to pay she says 6.19. I tell her about the sign and she says she will mark it down. She then tells me 4.19. Some quick math will say that with Alberta's 5% tax, it should add about 15 cents onto 3.19. She tells me 4.19. I ask her if this is PFJ's latest scheme and leave it there. I have no use for PFJ anymore. One could burn up 70 hours a week waiting in line to pay or shower there. Nevermind their poor quality fuel.

 

I live and drive in TX i have a 357 mag and will fire it any time that it is needed


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

 

Try to fight back with whatever you have/can. Do not ever depend on the criminal for mercy. Plenty of people have been killed after they complied with the criminal's demands. Look up stuff like the "Hi Fi" murders in Ogden, UT and the Onion Field murders in CA for some good examples of why not to surrender. LE agencies teach their officers to NEVER surrender to a criminal. Follow that advice.

Try to carry an effective tool to deal with criminals. Gun is the most preferred but not always possible. After a gun I prefer an impact weapon of some type (tire thumper, baseball bat, 2x4, pool cue, whatever), then knives and finally pepper spray and the like.

 

Lots of interesting perspectives in this thread. Some good examples of both what and what not to do. As for a "Federal CC Permit" no such thing exists. The only thing close to it is HR 218. Granted, the reciprocity bill passed in the House is still dormant and yet to be introduced into the Democratically controlled senate where it would be certain to die a quick death. It may still be a game changer in the future. Until then, we'll all just have to wait and see.

If you're a company driver, regardless of the laws, you still have to comply with their rules. If you're of the mindset "Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six," and cancels out any relevance to your employment, so be it.

All that having been said, I've seen tough guys meet their demise for being just that. I've also seen the non intimidating scrawny dude put some serious hurt to a guy trying to car jack him. He was a diamond courier who pulled into a parking lot and got his drivers side window broken out almost as soon as he did, got a gun shoved into the side of his face that went "Click" when the trigger was pulled. He was smart enough during the split second of astonishment on the thugs part which was just long enough to secure his weapon and emptied all 7 rounds of .32, 2 directly to his face. He even had the presence of mind to reload in case anyone else was around.

By the time we got to him, he was a basket case, sobbing and apologizing saying over and over "The guy didn't leave me any choice."

Bottom line is this - Have a plan. And be prepared to use it. Stay situationally aware of your surroundings. Take a look at where you are, where you want to go and what you want to do, before you do it. Bad guys take advantage of human nature and all too often, most of us are creatures of habit. They know this and lots of times, that's exactly what they're waiting for. That one moment when or where you are at your most vulnerable.

If you've just pulled into a truck stop and have lots of distance from say where you parked and the showers, it's 2 am, it's dark, the lot is not well lit, no other foot traffic from other drivers is ongoing and no other trucks are moving around, is this a good time to be making your way to the travel center or wait until day break? Does the area you're parked at have a history? You could have all the odds in the world in your favor and something bad happens regardless, but reducing the risk before or ahead of time is the better way to go.

Use the buddy system even if you don't know who the other drivers are. If there's lots of foot traffic between the trucks and the travel center, walk when others are walking. Take a look around, not only when you are pulling in, but after you park and before you get out. As soon as you swing the door open, that's one of the moments when you are most likely to encounter something if you haven't looked ahead of time.

Don't trust the restrooms? Wait until some others go in. Same thing applies going back to your rig. Give it a good observational going over, eye balling it from a distance before you get right up on it. And continue to keep an eye out for leg or foot movement around or close to it.

Is there a 4 wheeler driving around for no apparent reason? Could be a truckers wife trying to locate and pick up her other half, could be a lot lizard or could be someone up to no good, scouting out the area under the premise of selling DVD's or something else.

I carry a mag charger. Why? For starters, it's heavy. It also gives me the ability to illuminate and white light areas of darkness beyond what a regular D cell will do. Bad guys don't like any type of light at night. If I need to use it, I have several areas of known points to the body that will give me enough stand off time and give me enough distance to figure out what I'm going to do next. I don't have to worry about legalities in the event I have to use it as a defensive weapon. I can still keep my J O B and not worry about some defense attorney calling into account my use of deadly force. All I have to do is be able to articulate what any "Reasonable person would do because I was in fear of my life." Having a had a pistol on my person introduced into the equation only complicates matters further. If that's your choice, and you know this ahead of time, you have no argument from me if it keeps you alive, having had no other choice.

And yes, there will be times when discretion is the wiser choice. Drop your wallet, have the bills fly loose from your hands. They'll be too focused on what they wanted in the first place that 99% of the time, this is exactly what they will fixate on, giving you a moment of opportunity to break contact or let slip the dogs of war. You have to now decide if speed, surprise and violence of action is now what you are prepared to go with or just slip away. The bottom line is at least now, you have an option. One option is better than none, some is better than one.

Lastly, for those of you who do carry, (And yes, I have seen it happen all too often) if you are going to pull it, you better be darn sure you're prepared to use it and not get buck fever at the moment of truth. Too many times, it winds up being used against the owner. Know what weapons retention means. It also means knowing when not to display it, what your back drop is and staying out of situations with hot heads. Name calling and arguments have been enough to have a shots fired scenario occur over something that started out as something pretty petty to begin with.

A little bit of common sense, prior planning and thinking goes a long way in the prevention of a bad situation from happening in the first place.

Just my .02 and change FWIW. Your mileage may vary.

Stay safe out there, whomever you are and wherever you may go.