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My wife had a bit of an experience yesterday. She was in Grapevine at the westbound at the intersection of W. Dallas Rd. and William D. Tate, waiting to make a left hand turn south onto William D. Tate, driving her 2000 Toyota Camry. She was about the 6th car in line in the turn lane, just waiting for the signal to change. Suddenly, and without any warning, the male driver in front of her, in a 1995 Isuzu Trooper, threw his car into reverse and accelerated hard backwards into the front of my wife's car. She barely had time to try and honk her horn before the impact. It buckled her hood and crumpled the front and bumper panels pretty good, but the car was still drivable.

The other driver, who had a male passenger with him, slowly pulled forward and out of the turn lane, waving for my wife to follow them, which she did. He crossed over to the right lane and made the right hand turn on Ball Rd, and then turned immediately into a parking lot where there is a new bank and a German bakery. She followed him into the parking lot, and he kept waving out his window for her to follow, but he would not stop. He drove the entire length of the long, narrow lot to the other end, waving for her to follow them. When they got to the far end, where there is another driveway, he turned onto a deserted side street (N. Ira E. Woods), still waving for her to follow him.

She followed their truck out onto the street, but at that point, she started getting scared because things weren't playing out the way they should, and so she backed off a bit and started to call 911. While she was phoning, the other driver suddenly sped off. All of this happened in the same block as the Grapevine PD station, so she drove over then and filed a report.

The Annoyed Woman has her CHL, although she is fairly new to it. I reminded her later that she had a gun if things got too far out of hand, but I think she did the right thing by backing off. She was rightfully scared, and who knows what their intentions were, when they wouldn't stop in the first parking lot where there was plenty of room to pull over and exchange insurance information?

Anyway, she was able to give the police and our insurance company a good description of both the vehicle and its license plate number, and enough of the driver and his passenger. The plate is registered to a 1995 Isuzu, and the color of the vehicle is right, and it is registered to a guy with a hispanic surname and we now know his address in Dallas. We're letting our insurance company handle it from here on out, but for a minute there, my wife was scared that she was going to have to put Roscoe to use.

Extremely sorry about the car and very thankful for your wife's safety and smart thinking. She used her best weapon instead of the most definitive one.

Sorry to hear about her scare.

Glad she's OK.

Hope the insurance works out. The whole thing sounds like they have tried this scam successfully before. They knew the area well enough to be able to get her moving towards a back street.

I would suggest that calling 911 immediately after the initial impact would have been a worthwhile thing, but second guessing her actions well after the fact is easy. Overall it sounds like she did good.

C-dub wrote:Extremely sorry about the car and very thankful for your wife's safety and smart thinking. She used her best weapon instead of the most definitive one.

Very well said. That said, it could have been much worse for all parties involved. Being that she had Roscoe with her, it would have been worse for the other two. I pray that the perps will be caught and procecuted and Mrs. TAM will be able to recover from this horrible experience. This story typifies why we have our CHLs.
My hat is off to your better half.

Thanks guys. She's pretty mad now. She spent all day today whenever we were out together, scanning the streets to see if she could see that car again. The Annoyed Woman is a lass of of scotch/irish extraction. I've been married to her for over 20 years, and I know darn well not to get on her bad side! Those guys would be lucky to get arrested before she sees them again.


But I am sure glad that things worked out OK.

The Annoyed Man wrote:Thanks guys. She's pretty mad now. She spent all day today whenever we were out together, scanning the streets ...

GOOD FOR HER. Much better being spunky than curling up in a fetal ball of fear. She needs to be wary, but not let a couple clowns dictate her life.

elb

TAM - glad to hear that Mrs. TAM is OK. She definitely did the right thing in a scary situation. I don't know if I would have handled it that well!
But, she did great, getting a good description and keeping her wits about her.

She "did good" TAM.

They were definitely setting her up, but she recognized it for what it was.

Thumbs up for Mrs. TAM. She did just fine.

Sometimes it's tough to think about what you should have done after the fact, but I think she did exactly the right thing. CHL or not, avoiding the conflict is first priority. She was THINKING when she realized thing were not as they should be and took appropriate action. Many would not have thought to get the tag number or would have simply continued to follow.

Give her a thumbs up for the team!

Agree with the others. She did an excellent job handling this.

Crossfire wrote:TAM - glad to hear that Mrs. TAM is OK. She definitely did the right thing in a scary situation. I don't know if I would have handled it that well!
But, she did great, getting a good description and keeping her wits about her.

You taught her well! She was particularly glad to hear your reaction. It meant a lot to her.

flintknapper wrote:She "did good" TAM.

They were definitely setting her up, but she recognized it for what it was.

Usually, I would expect an insurance scam in a situation like that. But that's usually pulled off with bad guys both fore and aft, with the BG in front standing on his brakes at an unexpected time; BG in rear is escape prevention and "witness."

This sounds like a far more dangerous robbery and/or carjacking attempt. Unless the guys in the Isuzu were simply and truly idiots...which--Occam's Razor--I wouldn't rule out: they may have been trying to find an opportunity to escape without getting caught with no license and no insurance.

But it isn't incumbent on us, or prudent, to assume stupidity over villainy when people pull a stunt like that. Good for The Annoyed Woman! (And I hope she's more encouraged than ever to keep Roscoe with her whenever possible.)

Skiprr wrote:This sounds like a far more dangerous robbery and/or carjacking attempt...It isn't incumbent on us, or prudent, to assume stupidity over villainy when people pull a stunt like that. Good for The Annoyed Woman!

and this is exactly what I first thought when I read this. I have heard of this technique before, wherein a perp intentionally bumps another car, gets them out to "exchange info," but then the target's car is stolen. The nature of the collision, the presence of a second male in the other car, plus their intention to "exchange info" in a secluded area makes this a very strong possibility. Good for her for not falling for it!

what does the surname have anything to do with anything???

TAM, so glad to hear you wife is ok. From the little time I have been around you two I found her to be a really neat lady (even though you do come from kali) . She did a great job with the situation! Big thumbs up

I need to give ya a call one day and drag ya out to the range or something. Maybe your wife can convince mine that shooting a gun isnt as hard as she makes it out to be LOL. Be sure to tell your wife I said hello and both of you stay safe and healthy.