Wife had a good scare yesterday...

[joe817]

I know exactly the route you described. She kept her cool in a very tense and potentially dangerous situation, using good judgment all the way.
Cudos to her for using that good judgment, and cudos to you too for being married to a strong willed woman. I'm glad it worked out ok.

[The Annoyed Man]

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

Potentially, nothing at all. Equally potentially, everything. It is simply one of the facts of the case that we've learned, so I mentioned it, and, if this guy is caught, it will help to identify him, so it is potentially very pertinent. Read my previous posts on this forum relevant to issues of race and ethnicity. You'll see that I'm not a racist bugaboo, so let's not even go there.

Here are some other facts. My wife said that the suspect vehicle was kind of trashy looking, that the rear bumper area bore evidence of previous minor collisions or abuse, and that the bottom portion of the spare tire mounted on the rear exterior (just above the bumper) was actually shredded - before he hit her. The vehicle was last registered to an address in Dallas. The most recent registration expired in January. The fact that my wife, who was alone in her car, is very fair skinned, and the other two paragons of morality and virtue were very dark skinned might mean nothing at all, or it might mean everything. Hate crime can cut both ways. My best guess is that they are laborers of some kind who were working on a job in Grapevine, and were headed home, since turning left onto William D. Tate would have taken them down to either the 114 freeway, or the 121 freeway. Since the vehicle registration is expired, we have no way of knowing if he was headed in the direction of Dallas, or Fort Worth - or somewhere else, for that matter. It is also my best guess that these two fine upstanding men who behaved so absolutely perfectly and honorably in this situation are probably in the country illegally, and have no insurance. But all of that is just an educated guess.

Well, a police report has been filed, and unless he is caught, it is in our insurance company's hands. I'm just glad that my wife handled it well and that she is safe. I bear a more than passing interest, through my church, in social justice issues. But justice is impartial. Wrong doers need to be caught, and they deserve punishment - whether they are racially motivated predators, or simply illegals who behave irresponsibly and are trying to fly below the radar of the law.

[Excaliber]

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.)

I agree with both Flint and Skiprr - this incident was quickly headed to a very bad place. TAM's wife's situational awareness (which was enhanced by the many discussions of defensive situations they've had before) rang the alarm bells before the circumstances progressed to an actual attack, which I have absolutely no doubt was waiting at the end of the trail the Isuzu's occupants were leading her down.

Congratulations to Mrs. TAM on her highly successful management of a very dangerous situation. Given the circumstances, she achieved a perfect outcome.