View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2005 > April > 28 > Entry
Seeing red? Cool off before you become road-rage casualty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A man called and said that at about 2:30 p.m. he was driving in his car on State Bridge Road and the suspect was driving in “a manner that prevented vehicles from all other directions to pass.”
The victim said he honked his horn. The offender allegedly responded, “You (bad word) honking at me !!???” The victim said he exited his vehicle and the bad guy punched him in the head and face several times and choked him.
The victim’s wife said that when she got out of the car to help her husband she was verbally assaulted by the suspect and his wife who, at the time, was holding an infant. The victim provided the tag number to the officer.
After the assault, the suspect left in his car. He is described as a white male, 5’6” to 5’7” with black hair, black leather jacket, black pants and black shoes. (Sounds like a scene out of “Grease.”)
A good piece of advice: Don’t underestimate how dangerous someone can be in a road-rage incident. Seemingly normal and docile folks can go right off the deep end real quick. At that point, when people get out of cars, nothing good comes from it. Keep your cool and just drive in the other direction for a minute or two. You’ll be surprised how quickly your temper fades.
He needs a spanking for this caper
A guy walked into the Roswell Road home-supply store and allegedly took an impact wrench, a quarter-inch socket set, one yellow liner level, and a pack of utility blades. Then he got another pack of utility blades and two pencils and went to the cash register to pay for the blades and pencils, not thinking that his pockets were puffed out like a pair of blowfishes.
He was surprised when the store security person and the rest of the planet noticed that he was stealing stuff. Where do you guys come from?
This reminds me of the time my daughter, about 8-years-old at the time, got in trouble. I sent her to her room to await what she thought would be a spanking. She went into the bathroom and pulled a whole role of tissue paper out and stuffed it into her shorts. By the time I got to the room she looked like a cartoon. She was about 4 feet tall and her rear end was about four feet wide.
In her case it worked. This guy didn’t fool anyone. He was charged on a copy pending a May 11 court date.
Things go bad quickly if you’re careless
The most effective way to drastically lower your chance of being victimized is to secure items and reduce the opportunity for someone to come along and take something. A lot of thefts are impulse reactions. Many recent thefts could have been easily prevented if the victim would have removed the valuables from sight.
A recent incident is a good example. The victim was pumping gas at a station on New Northside Drive. She said that there was a problem with the pump and she went inside the store, leaving her car unlocked. When she returned her purse was gone. She listed $1,800 in stolen items.
On clubhouses and curfews
Many of our subdivisions have pool and clubhouse areas. After hours, they are a gathering place for kids during the warm-weather months. Some of you have reported related problems. Please notify your residents of closing times for your common areas and look into updating your lights and/or cameras on site. Motion lights are a good idea only if you can mount them high enough. Camera systems are good if you have a plan to maintain the tape or monitor the computer hard drive.
Set up a communication link so that residents coming in and out, especially late at night, swing by the common area just to take a look-see. Cars parked in the lot after closing should be reported to me for follow-up letters to the registered owners. Most of the time the car’s owner didn’t know that the kids were there and is very cooperative.
Curfews are effective in dealing with groups of kids roaming around the subdivision after either sneaking out or the traditional “Johnny is spending the night with Bob and Bob is spending the night with Johnny” routine. Remember: Nothing good happens after midnight when it comes to kids. They don’t need to be out there with all the weird people, the crazy people and the police people.
Comments
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By Doug
April 28, 2005 9:56 AM | Link to this
I can totally agree with you on the road rage issue. I’ve given a speech or two on it and used it in several papers I had to turn in at school. Too many people become aggressive behind the wheel, and no one realizes how silly the reasoning is. Blocking intersections and cutting off other drivers wont get you to your destination any faster. I had a good laugh yesterday when a driver beside me ran a red light trying to rush through traffic. I (following the traffic rules) passed him two blocks later (he was stuck in traffic). There’s just no point to aggressive driving. It’s silly, immature, and dangerous. I’d expect it from 16 yr olds, but not from adults.
By Staci
April 28, 2005 4:51 PM | Link to this
I agree wholeheartedly with the road rage comment. When I slow down for a yellow light and see someone from half a block behind me speed up to make it thru, I’m glad that they are putting distance between me & them.
Something else in the article makes me wonder about something… If you take the tag # and report vehicles not following child safety seat laws, does anything come of it?