Crime day!

Gee, that's awful, Dama and so glad that person didn't hurt you. We had that on my block many years ago. One time a person called our neighbor and they told her that her daughter was in the hospital, knowing her name, etc. and her mother was hysterical. It turned out to be a hoax. And one time, they called our neighbor across the street saying I was in trouble. We weren't home, but our neighbor knocked open our side door, to make sure I wasn't being attacked. That was scary. He never did fix our door.

Wow! that kidnap thing would scare the shit out of me too. Did the police get involved and is any one worried that this might just be the start of something?

DamaNegra said:

Mmmm I don't know if the police got involved, but I don't think they did. These things are very, very common here in Mexico. Random people will call you at your house and tell you they've kidnapped a loved one and ask for a ransom without having actually kidnapped anyone. Much, much easier.

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I had a random call today from someone who claimed they kidnapped me.

Glad you're okay Dama, and that with your friend is just unbelievable. Sad to think there are people sick enough to do stuff like that but I'm glad she's all right as well (as in not kidnapped).

Not really crime but nearest I can get - Christmas Day 2007. I was over at my parents' house adn we were getting Christmas dinner ready, expecting mum's friend in an hour or so and then we'd all sit down to eat. Mum, dad and I are all pottering around and dad decides to take out the rubbish. Mum's flat is basically the whole upper storey of the building, third floor, with one set of stairs inside and then the last two flights outside the building, with the rubbish bins / trashcans stacked against the stairs. Dad comes back up and says 'we might have a bit of trouble, there's a drunk lying at the foot of the stairs, not moving, don't know if he's dead or alive'. So mum slapped him on the head and told him to call the ambulance and police.

I grabbed some blankets out of our linen cupboard and went out to see if there was anything I could do - I have some basic first aid training from when I worked in theatre and had to do compulsory certificates - to find that the 'man' dad had found was actually a woman, but I was pretty sure there was nothing could be done. It'd been -5 degrees C that night and she looked like she'd been drinking, got tired and curled up to sleep at the foot of the steps, then just passed from the cold. Still, you can't tell at that temperature and so I still did what I could to try and warm her up and stayed with her while dad went to watch for the authorities. (the stairs are at the back of the building - you have to come down one of two narrow alleys on either side of it to reach them from the main road).

Anyway, the police arrived, four vans worth and about maybe a dozen officers, including one CID detective. Turns out the woman had been reported missing that night, and was on a lot of medication for things like depression, which hadn't helped once she'd gone drinking. Her family turned up at the house and had to be held off while the police were sealing everything up. They were from the same village, just a few streets away. Looked like the woman was trying to cut across our garden to get home, in fact.

Dad and I were taken off to the panda car to give statements, and dad meanwhile is panicking and fidgeting as he's terrified of authority and official stuff. We were in there for about half an hour to an hour, maybe. Finally they said we could go back inside, but would have to actually step over the body to get back indoors. Meanwhile both alleys were sealed off for a while until the undertakers got there. The police went around all the flats in the building, interviewed mum as well, but they had kind of figured already that there was nothing suspicious.

(sorry, this is a really long story)

Thing is, couple of weeks later, mum was in the local supermarket and was talking to someone who works there, whom she knows through her own job, and was telling her this story, whereupon the girl working at the next counter burst into tears. Turns out this was the woman's cousin. So mum ended up offering to talk to her about it, since the police obvious are very cagey with details and turned out we knew a lot about it that the family didn't. She told me she thinks she helped the girl a bit, but in that conversation she found out the woman had left a six year old son.

So, not really crime but police-related.

I got fucking shot on the leg, really. A bullet transpassed my leg.

I was on a queu for a pharmacy and on the cybercafe on the other side of the road some guy was robbing the place... whose owner happened to be a loose cannon sargeant who started to shot the guy down the street, guess who got the first goddamn bullet

Hillary said:

See, I always wondered what I'd do if I was going to be mugged. Turns out, I'd lie. Poorly.

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I would have peed on myself.

kellytijer said:

I would have peed on myself.

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Me, too.

One time I was walking down Venice Boulevard in LA, on my way to the late night pharmacy to pick up some medicine for my man. It was a pretty scary area at night, but my man was sick, so there I was. Suddenly, this crazy looking dude jumped out of a shop doorway and grabbed me by the arm. Before he had a chance to say anything I screamed at him "Have you been taking your medication?" He stared at me for a second, then he ran away. Impersonating Nurse Ratched. Worked for me!

DamaNegra said:

These things are very, very common here in Mexico. Random people will call you at your house and tell you they've kidnapped a loved one and ask for a ransom without having actually kidnapped anyone.

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So what ye sayin' is it's a turnkey business with little or no start-up costs and high profits. Sounds like an infommercial. Count me in.