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Wow, do I have a doozy;
Coming home from a diner tonight, me and my significant other were chased and harassed by a hispanic male driving a dark blue or black sports car (the only name/model I could make out was 'lx', the manufacturer's boilerplate was either missing or removed) with California plates. As we passed Wurzbach Pkwy heading (north?) on Nacogdoches rd, he pulls up beside our car and starts making guestures (that I interpreted as 'gang signs') and sped ahead of us, weaving, blocking us from passing him, and dropping back behind us only to catch up again.

Then, at Thousand Oaks, he pulls ahead of us, and stops perpendicular to the road, blocking us. S.O. said 'Oh my God' and slowed the car, and he started to get out, so we went around him, at which point he begins chasing us again, weaving, trying to hit us on the sides, etc. I called 911 and reported the situation, the dispatcher was friendly and professional, and kept with us throughout this ordeal. he followed us to O'Connor rd and turned with us, and then just got more aggressive, swerving towards the car, and trying to block our way more and more, until we hit a little patch of traffic on O'Connor, where he made a U-turn, waved his hand out the window - I thought he was waving a gun at us!, immediately, I went into overdrive, and my hand dropped to my sidearm, until I could see that he was giving us 'the bird' THANK GAWD. we turned on Stahl rd and lost him, thank goodness. the dispatcher made sure that we made it home before she disconnected (love that woman) and dispatched a patrol unit to our house. Officer was concerned, and relayed that he had just come from another call regarding the same individual, he thought. Told me that he would make several drive-bys during the night to ensure that we were ok.

Would anoyone else have done anything different? Please, feel free to critique how I reacted, learning is paramount.

Still shaking, but, above all else - alive.
-S.

You did fine, and you did the right things. It is always a mistake to fall to the temptation to confront a guy like that unless you have no avenue of escape. As long as you were in your car and were able to keep moving, you had lots of options open to you - not the least of which would have been to drive straight to the nearest police station.

If there was a lone occupant in the car, it is not likely that it was a gang event. More likely, you did something to piss him off (unknowingly). One of my vehicles is a one ton cutaway van (sometimes called a box truck - but technically that would be wrong) which provides a couple of blind spots, so I always change lanes verrrry slowly and listen for a horn. Occasionally, I will go to change lanes and "crowd" someone and really piss them off. When they pull up beside me to scream at me or flip me off, I just hold up my "My bad" sign (with 4" black letters on a white background) and they usually laugh, wave and go on.

ninemm wrote:I just hold up my "My bad" sign

That really sounds like it would de-escalate a situation. I love it.

I think that is a great idea (the sign). I sometimes wish I had a little electric sign that I could tap messages into and have them appear in lights across my back window. Naturally it would not be used for evil purposes.

Sounds like you did everything right.

Glad to hear everyone is safe.

Good job SAPD!

What do you carry? Do you carry extra ammo? Or do you now start carrying extra ammo? Who was driving you or your SO?

Furyataurus wrote:What do you carry? Do you carry extra ammo? Or do you now start carrying extra ammo? Who was driving you or your SO?

My SO was driving, I carry a 1911 8+1 and 4 spare magazines .45 jhp 1 spare magazine .45 fmj. She carries .357mag jhp mostly with a couple of extra spdldrs.
-S.

I'm curious - what led up to this guy's aggressive behavior?

I don't know. he wasn't at the diner, and he began acting this way immediately after he pulled in behind us (he ran a red to get behind us). I wish I knew what we had done (or hadn't done).
-S.

Sounds like it might have been a mistaken identity situation. Good to hear you are all right.

I've had a couple of incidents where I inadvertently annoyed another driver and they went into road rage mode. Both times I had cut them off due to them being in the microscopic blind spot (I drive a Dodge Magnum RT)...totally "My Bad" because I know there's a blind spot and should have done a double-check and longer signal.

Both times my attempted gestures indicating "sorry, My Bad" were ignored and they tried to chase me down (love the sign idea!).

Both times I simply floored the accelerator and the HEMI made them disappear. A 348 cubic inch V8 HEMI and open lanes is a great confrontation avoidance/escape package.

Had I been trapped in traffic or had they been able to keep up with me and started making threatening movements like you experienced (ramming attempts, etc), they might have seen my OSO (other significant other), Kimber. Ramming with a vehicle is attempted use of deadly force, as far as I'm concerned.

I think your responses were perfect for the situation you encountered.

Seburiel wrote:I don't know. he wasn't at the diner, and he began acting this way immediately after he pulled in behind us (he ran a red to get behind us). I wish I knew what we had done (or hadn't done).
-S.

Your "keep the change" bumper sticker?

Russell wrote:Honestly, we (Allison and I) have had problems with our anti-Obama bumper stickers. We both have "Nobama" stickers on our cars and it's pathetic the way the liberals act when they see it. Yelling, flipping us off, calling us racist... and Allison has had two black guys follow her around the parking lot of Walmart screaming at her until she told them "don't come any closer, I am armed and I will defend myself." Now... I am just stating the facts here, the only people we have had problems with are black people. Not a single white liberal has yelled at us.

I had the same problem with a Darwin symbol I had on my car. Whites, Blacks, Hispanics and little old ladies would shoot me the bird.