Blindsided

[wheelgun1958]

I forgot to gas up at preferred station and had make emergency pit stop in seedy area of Dallas (Zang blvd). A panhandler caught me completely off guard. I shooed him off but was not prepared. I don't even think he saw the pistol on my hip. Gotta be more alert.

[Lynyrd]

Gas stations are where my radar is the most sensitive, especially in areas I'm unfamiliar with. I look at the reflections on car windows all the time.

[strogg]

Gas stations are always fun... The last questionable gas station I had to drop by was in Waco as I was passing through between Austin and DFW. The exit I took seemed innocent enough, but sure enough, the closest gas station looked like it was a great thug hangout spot based on the clientele. I was in and out quickly, to say the least. Fortunately it was quite uneventful.

I'd like to think I'm good at avoiding bad situations and bad spots in general. Well, I still do. I just need work with finding good gas stations along trip routes.

[chasfm11]

We've had multiple run-ins at gas stations while traveling. They are often in your face as the car door is barely opened. In several cases, it was just a sob story. In one case, I'm certain it was a robbery waiting to happen because there were two of them and they spread out around my vehicle (an RV). One of the Facebook guys that I follow calls gas stations "transitional spaces" which means that they are randomly accessible from multiple directions. I try to check all of the mirrors carefully before getting out but some of them are good at staying out of the direct path of the mirrors, waiting behind gas pumps where they might otherwise look like a customer.

[RoyGBiv]

Had to stop in a sketchy station in Greensboro, NC a few years ago. 3 locals decided to mess with me. Two of them kept back a short distance as one of them approached me and passed between the pump and the trash can as I opened my door to create a barrier and put my hand on my gun. I suspect they were just trying to put a scare in me, for their own amusement and were not really interested in committing a crime against me. They went inside the stop-n-rob, came out a few minutes later drinking from paper bags and walking the other way as I loaded up and drove off.

[Pariah3j]

Some of those panhandlers are like ninjas - I'd like to believe you can have great SA and they can still somehow pop up from behind things unannounced. They may have ninja'ed up on me a couple times asking for cash - I don't carry cash so they leave empty handed, but still always irks me when I don't see them coming.

[Jusme]

They didn't approach me directly,(maybe because I was OC) but at the QT in Alvarado, a few weeks ago, there was a group of young guys, with a vehicle at the pump, who were approaching different people, including women, who were at the other pumps, or near the entrances. I moved away from my truck, while gas was pumping, and watched them. I then called the store and told them about the group. A minute or so later, the (I assume) manager, came out, and asked them to leave. I'm not sure if they were panhandling, or what their objective was, but, I made sure to keep distance between myself and them. That was the only incident, I have seen at that particular store, but I always try to maintain a high level of SA, anytime I stop there.

[thatguyoverthere]

Ditto the "appearing out of nowhere" sentiment. It's even worse when you're on a motorcycle. You would think you would have the advantage of having better visibility, but you definitely have a disadvantage of nowhere to go when those guys do pop up out of nowhere.

Wife and I were on the bike stopped for gas at a pretty nice looking station on an Indian reservation in Arizona a few years ago. Since we were going to be passing through on the reservation for several hours, like a good little citizen I had disarmed and stuffed my weapon into the trunk on my Harley.

Sure enough, as I've gotten off the bike to gas up and watched my wife walk inside for a couple of bottles of water, this guy shows up out of nowhere, suddenly standing right next to me. He has a big pair of vice grips in his hand (thankfully in a big plastic blister pack wrapping hanger thing) asking me if I want to buy them from him for 5 bucks. Scared the snot out of me because I had no clue he was there until he was right on me!

I managed to say "no thanks, we're on the bike and we're already fully loaded." He mumbled something and walked away.

Thankfully nothing happened, but man, I have not forgotten that incident!

[JakeTheSnake]

One thing I do is circle around the pumps and get a eye for who may be loitering around, vehicles parked away from the store.
Don't just pull into the first available pump, especially in a unfamiliar area. If it looks shady, try a different station.

[Jose_in_Dallas]

I forgot to gas up at preferred station and had make emergency pit stop in seedy area of Dallas (Zang blvd). A panhandler caught me completely off guard. I shooed him off but was not prepared. I don't even think he saw the pistol on my hip. Gotta be more alert.

If you call that seedy then consider yourself lucky. I live near that area of town and have friends that do and it's not terrible, I've been to much worse in South Oak Cliff/Dallas.

One thing I do is circle around the pumps and get a eye for who may be loitering around, vehicles parked away from the store.
Don't just pull into the first available pump, especially in a unfamiliar area. If it looks shady, try a different station.

Sound advice and exactly what I do or at least stop ahead of the pumps and asses the situation before parking. I've been to some gas stations that are small and not easily maneuverable around, especially when I'm driving my truck.

[Bitter Clinger]

I forgot to gas up at preferred station and had make emergency pit stop in seedy area of Dallas (Zang blvd). A panhandler caught me completely off guard. I shooed him off but was not prepared. I don't even think he saw the pistol on my hip. Gotta be more alert.

If you call that seedy then consider yourself lucky. I live near that area of town and have friends that do and it's not terrible, I've been to much worse in South Oak Cliff/Dallas.

One thing I do is circle around the pumps and get a eye for who may be loitering around, vehicles parked away from the store.
Don't just pull into the first available pump, especially in a unfamiliar area. If it looks shady, try a different station.

Sound advice and exactly what I do or at least stop ahead of the pumps and asses the situation before parking. I've been to some gas stations that are small and not easily maneuverable around, especially when I'm driving my truck.

It can happen anywhere. We are having a rash of panhandlers and drug addicts south of Medical City (off the 75) after the city apparently kicked the homeless out of their downtown enclaves. Nothing good will come of Mike Rawlings, Clay Jenkins, Dwayne Caraway or any of those career left wing politicians.

[C-dub]

Tell me about it. Now that I'm back on a bike I'm a little more exposed and when gassing it up don't even have a door to lock or window to raise to protect myself. I've only filled up three times now, but could tell that my alert level went a little higher than when I'm driving the truck.

[Pawpaw]

This is probably a good place to post this.

The Blueprint of a Criminal Attack

I really liked the description and explanation of "The Attack Cycle".

[oljames3]

This is probably a good place to post this.

The Blueprint of a Criminal Attack

I really liked the description and explanation of "The Attack Cycle".

Steve Tarani has written a book, Prefence, that expands on the concepts in this article.

[JTWPlano]

One thing I do is circle around the pumps and get a eye for who may be loitering around, vehicles parked away from the store.
Don't just pull into the first available pump, especially in a unfamiliar area. If it looks shady, try a different station.

I do this as well. I usually buy gas only at familiar and relatively safe locations, but it's really useful when you are traveling through an unfamiliar area. I pulled out of (the only) Chevron in Texarkana last month, after circling and seeing multiple obvious panhandler types and other shady characters loitering there, while passing through on a road trip. I probably could have just sent them away verbally, but the best conflict is the one you avoid. We went for lunch at a predetermined spot and then hit a different gas station on our way out of town. I didn't get to use my Tom Thumb 20 cent/gallon gas discount that day...