Pickup broken into.

[Skummdogg]

This happened to me a few years back, but I figured I'd share.

When I was in the Marine Corps and stationed in Norfolk, Va, one of our favorite things to do was go to the beach. We would park on the 5th floor of the parking deck, which was the top. Hardly anyone parked there so we had semi privacy to change into wetsuits to go surfing. We were surfing for a few hours, and right before dusk we walked back to my truck.

When we got to the top floor and the elevator door opened I saw the light on inside my pickup and someone moving inside. He had a bicycle laying on the ground next to it. At this point none of us have our cell phones, or wallets. They were hidden inside my truck. My keys were clipped to a wire on top of the frame. We briskly walked towards my truck. There were three of us against one and he had no where to go. The only way down was past us.

He notices us walking towards him, got out of my truck and grabbed his bike. By this time we started running towards him and asking him what he was doing, but with a few choice expletives added.

We get over to him and realizing he is cornered he gets off of his bike and begins to explain that that is his friends truck and he was getting something for him. One of my buddies got my keys from underneath and his cell phone and called the police. The guy changes his story and says his friend told him it was his truck and to wait for him. He said his friend was coming up in a minute. One of my friends watches the elevator/stairs and the ramp, which are in the same area.

I inform the guy that the police are on the way and if he is telling the truth (which he obviously wasn't ), the police would sort it out. Im starting to watch him closely now because he starts getting jittery and saying he can't go back to jail. I'm also certain that he is on something, and appears homeless.

Right as I'm thinking this to myself, he drops his bike and tries to run for it. I tackle him to the ground, he falls face first and im on his back. I punched him three times to stop him from struggling, he stops. My friend has him in an ankle lock as well. We put him on his knees, hands behind his back, with his forehead leaning against a concrete wall, and I have my foot in the small of his back. This position is very unstable for him, and doesn't allow him to jump up quickly. My friend gave him a quick pat down to check for weapons and found none.

Approximately 3 minutes later the police car pulls up the ramp. We explain everything that happened to them, and they search his backpack. Inside they find my friends wallet, cell phone and keys. We all hid our belongings in different places. They also find some change. One of the coins is a pound from when I went to Scotland to train with the British Royal Marines about 2 months earlier.

At this point the police haven't arrested him yet and are conversing between us and him to make sure the story is legit. They tell us that he is a known crackhead and is arrested on a regular basis. While the cops are talking to us, he decides to make a run for it.

Both of the officers take off after him, as well as my friend who's one hell of a runner. He makes it down to the street and my other friend and I are watching from the parking deck. They are chasing him down the sidewalk and they run passed a passing police car that was unaware of the situation. I talked to those officers later and they were laughing about it. All they saw was a crackhead go by, my buddy in a wet suit, and then two officers. They made a u turn and gave chase. My friend tackles the crackhead to the ground, then the cops are on him. Everyone comes back to the parking deck.

This time he was in cuffs and they kept him in the cruiser. We talk for a while about what just transpired and they depart. He got into my pickup, im assuming, through the sliding back window. The locking latch was broken and I hadn't replaced it yet. There was no other damage to my pickup except he ripped the ashtray out, which is where the change was. I just put it back in and it was fine. All of our belongings were recovered.

We missed the scheduled court date because our platoon went to Spain. All three of us received a letter while in Spain about the court date. He was convicted. Sorry I don't remember the charges or the sentence.

That's about it. Just thought I'd share the story, hope you enjoyed it.

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[Mikon]

Nicely done, the only thing I would be hesitant about is the search (needles and the like...herpaghonasyphallaids is no joke) since i'm not a cop anymore....FORRRRRGEEEETTTTTTTT that!

(love the visual about the wetsuit chase...bet the cops he outran loved that one )

[BadIntel]

Good stuff As far as the search, I think if it was a "quick pat down" like he said, he shouldn't be in danger of needles, as he would most likely be on the outside of any pockets just checking for abnormal shapes that could be weapons. If they *did* feel something suspicious, and they were concerned about him getting access to it, they could cautiously check it out, as long as someone or something could adequately secure the guy's hands while they did it.

In my work as loss prevention and security, it generally goes:
-Catch the bad guy/gal
-Secure their hands (usually cuffs)
-Ask if they have any weapons
-Don't believe them
-Do a pat down or metal detector search
-Feel anything or detector buzzes, ask what it is
-Don't believe them
-Make sure they're secure and ask if you're going to get poked or stabbed (if you're really concerned, explain the bad day they'll have if you do)
-Again, don't believe them
-Carefully open the offending pocket and visually inspect
-If you see anything that could make your day suck any more, carefully reach in and pull it out
-Secure any weapons where the BG can't get to it (if it turns out to be a gun, I'd clear it, just to make it that much harder to kill you if said crackhead breaks free and tries to get to it)

This is just what I and most people I've worked with would do, as professional (non-cop) bad guy catchers, and is not to be taken as advice by anyone who runs into a BG in their private lives

[Skummdogg]

Yup he did an outside the clothing search. I guess if he had an un capped needle it wouldn't matter, but its a necessary evil to ensure our safety during the situation. He only had a lighter in his pocket, his backpack was full of his belongings. It was in his hand and he dropped it when he tried running the first time.

Glad y'all enjoyed the story!

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*edit for spelling