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Problem with Local Vigilante

RedLeader

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Messages
12,312
Okay, so my evening routine was interrupted by a bit of weirdness tonight, and I need to know where to go from here.

Most nights, I walk (don't have a car) from my place to a nearby plaza where I will (in order) 1) have a meal at a diner 2) have a pre-workout drink at the nutrition store also in the plaza 3) go workout at gym also in the plaza. Occasionally I will stop in the diner after lifting for a drink if I am dehydrated. I typically am at the diner 20 minutes or so, eating and checking email/FB.

Well, today I had my meal and drink and was walking to the gym when a guy stopped me. Big guy, shaved head, American flag shirt on, etc. He asks me if I had a good meal and if I ate there often. I answers briefly and headed toward the gym. He says:

"Wait. I don't think it is just about the tenders. Look, I notice you eat there a lot. My girlfriend notices too. She is a manager over there. Now listen, I am a guy and I know. Sometimes you are here late, well after dark. Now I have also seen you sitting on those steps all up on the phone. So man-to-man, if you are stalking a girl at the diner, go fuck yourself. Regardless, I never want to see you eat there again!"


I was just like......what???? I was expecting Candid Camera, but no.

I said "I am just a patron. My name is _____. I eat before I lift. I could barely pick those girls out of a lineup."

"_____, not gonna say it again."

"Man, call the cops on me. I will eat if I am hungry."

At this point he tells me that he is a retired cop, special forces military, blah blah (I am a long-haired, jewelry-wearing, band cutoff shirt hippie-type...hmmm). He put his hand on my shoulder and started to talk, nut I grabbed it and threw it off me, saying "don't you fucking touch me." This guy was jacked and towering over me, so it probably would have gone bad for me, but a few strangers passed by and I just started walking away. He said over my shoulder "after tonight, I better not see you anywhere near this plaza. Find a new gym." I turned around, raised my eyebrow a bit, and then went and lifted.

What the actual fuck? So this dude has a girlfriend who works at the diner, and he is overprotective of her and her female coworkers. I frequent the plaza late at night, and for some reason he does not like me. Decides to pick on me tonight. Has me on size and claims he used to be a cop and implies he knows cops. Told me not to come back.

Now I am sensitive and anxiety-prone, so this really bothered me. I hope I dot look like a creepy stalker :( But for real, what the hell? That is my gym and I will keep using it. This dude won't bully me. Right? Er...

What should I do?
 
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I wouldn't call the cops. When has calling the cops ever made anything better? Besides, this guy is basically claiming to be the police. Fuck the cops. What the hell are the cops going to do? Fill out a report? hang out at the diner to protect you from this guy? You have two choices: Find a new diner, or tell this guy that his actions present an immediate threat to your safety and that if he repeats such actions, you will respond with appropriate measures to ensure your safety. I would recommend acquiring a gun before attempting this method.
 
I'm sure there's some sort of complaint (e.g. assault)
An assault is carried out by a threat of bodily harm coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in either criminal or civil liability. Generally, the common law definition is the same in criminal and Tort Law. There is, however, an additional Criminal Law category of assault consisting of an attempted but unsuccessful Battery.

...
Generally, the essential elements of assault consist of an act intended to cause an apprehension of harmful or offensive contact that causes apprehension of such contact in the victim.

The act required for an assault must be overt. Although words alone are insufficient, they might create an assault when coupled with some action that indicates the ability to carry out the threat. A mere threat to harm is not an assault; however, a threat combined with a raised fist might be sufficient if it causes a reasonable apprehension of harm in the victim.

Intent is an essential element of assault. In tort law, it can be specific intent—if the assailant intends to cause the apprehension of harmful or offensive contact in the victim—or general intent—if he or she intends to do the act that causes such apprehension. In addition, the intent element is satisfied if it is substantially certain, to a reasonable person, that the act will cause the result. A defendant who holds a gun to a victim's head possesses the requisite intent, since it is substantially certain that this act will produce an apprehension in the victim. In all cases, intent to kill or harm is irrelevant.

In criminal law, the attempted battery type of assault requires a Specific Intent to commit battery. An intent to frighten will not suffice for this form of assault.

There can be no assault if the act does not produce a true apprehension of harm in the victim. There must be a reasonable fear of injury. The usual test applied is whether the act would induce such apprehension in the mind of a reasonable person. The status of the victim is taken into account. A threat made to a child might be sufficient to constitute an assault, while an identical threat made to an adult might not.

Virtually all jurisdictions agree that the victim must be aware of the danger. This element is not required, however, for the attempted battery type of assault. A defendant who throws a rock at a sleeping victim can only be guilty of the attempted battery assault, since the victim would not be aware of the possible harm. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Assault+(crime)
you could file that might help you, legally, in the future. I wouldn't kowtow to the fucker in any way.
+1 for acquiring weapons.
 
Cops come out and it's 'he said, he said' with a dude who definitely is military and very well could be tied to the force. I tell cops he is harassing me, he tells cops I am harassing a girl (who knows what his girl would say...I don't even know who this girl is or what kind of psychopathic influence he has on her). Cops run my name and I have a record. God knows how that would end.

Fjones: Finding a new diner I could live with, but I am not giving up the entire plaza like he said. It would be very inconvenient to switch gyms with no car. Plus I don't want to just let this dude push me around.
 
Holy crap, this guy has a problem! I would inquire with the diner's owner first thing to find out who this man is. If his girlfriend is the manager she may not be the right person to talk to. Then again, he may be lying about it and she might be unaware of his watching her. I'm sure the workers there will vouche for you that you are not stalking his girlfriend, just a frequent customer. Then report this man to the police if he approaches you again. So what if he is a cop? He's a loose cannon. You may have to get a protective order. In the meantime, do you have a friend who could go with you to the plaza? I wouldn't want you to be alone again around this person. You shouldn't have to change your habits because of this lunatic but having to look over your shoulder would be awful. Let us know what happens.
 
Cops come out and it's 'he said, he said' with a dude who definitely is military and very well could be tied to the force. I tell cops he is harassing me, he tells cops I am harassing a girl (who knows what his girl would say...I don't even know who this girl is or what kind of psychopathic influence he has on her). Cops run my name and I have a record. God knows how that would end.

Fjones: Finding a new diner I could live with, but I am not giving up the entire plaza like he said. It would be very inconvenient to switch gyms with no car. Plus I don't want to just let this dude push me around.

Don't let this guy dictate where you can go. I don't know about talking to anyone at the diner. If anything, talk to the people at the gym and tell them there is a person intimidating and harassing customers. Businesses usually do not like that sort of thing. This guy is probably just blowing smoke.
 
I agree with fjones actually. Call the diner's owner. Maybe this guy is just an asshole that likes fucking with people. Maybe he has caused problems for the diner in the past. A call couldn't hurt. Tell the owner you like the diner and its convenient but you don't want to worry about your safety.
 
What a fuckin douchebag. Man I don't know what to tell ya. Just tell em to fuck off an that yer not after his bitch. If he bops you than ya take one an he goes to jail. That's easy just ignore the asshole.

Actually if it was me id stalk him find out where he lives an if he does fuck with ya or fights ya than ya know where he lives an well just let yer imagination go from there with what you can do to him an his property.
 
I'm for calling the owner. You need to tell someone about this guy and the police might not be the best idea at the moment (although if more of this shit happens you really should call the police)
 
What jurisdiction are you in? Nowadays most places you can file a complaint online. Phew the number of times I didn't have to even talk to a cop...

Are you a convicted felon? I'd think about getting a small 357 magnum revolver, properly sized holster loading it with hollow points, and acquiring a concealed carry permit ASAP. Then when the fuckhead assaults you fucking blow his brains out. fuck him. Probably some big steroided out inbred piece of shit.
 
Wow.. That really is a fucked up situation to be in..
I hate it when people act like that.
What gives him the right to staunch a civilian?? Don't matter if you're an ex-cop or military dude, you just can't approach people in society and make that type of accusation!
Are there any other gyms around the area that you could possibly switch over to??
By the sounds of it, this guys crazy.. I hate confrontations so if i were you i'd most likely avoid.
 
HE sounds like he's got a creepy stalker thing going on w/ the diner girls. Guys who act like that around their gf's workplace have serious head problems. He prob intimidates his gf too. I doubt the diner owner would condone this jerk's behavior.

I've discovered over time that many guys who claim to be ex-military and/or ex-cops are NOT; they are washouts who couldn't get in often due to psych reasons that came out on pre-enlistment/pre-employment tests. A lot of ex-military will not even talk about their time in and something about how you describe this fool's behavior makes me suspicious he's full of shit.

RL, don't let this asshole intimidate you. It's a free country and you're not bothering anyone there or anywhere else, so dude needs to step off.
Just my $.02, i cannot stand asshole bullies.
-izzy
 
OK, things got really weird today. I went to lift earlier in the day, but not to avoid him. Anyway...

I am sitting in the diner enjoying my meal, playing on my phone, and so on. I hear "hey buddy, how's the food..." and as I look up dude sits down across from me in my booth. I am thinking...great, just great...

"Say, have you seen a purple car out the window at all?"

"Uh umm no."

"Listen...I think some <bleep!> is dealing drugs out of this lot. You know my girl works here, and that kinda thing scares her and pisses me off."

Again, I am thinking...what??? So I said something cheesy like "I will keep my eyes open for a purple car..."

"Well listen, I was thinkin you might know something about that, hanging around here like you do. I mean no car, working out, don't look like any kid of mine (loved that line)...not sayin' I am accusing you of anything, but I was trained on the force to be very perceptive."

At this point I did think about this thread and just said "dude, call the cops if you don't like something."

He's like "I wanna get my hands on that <bleep!> first."

I then told him that don't want any trouble. He said something along the lines of "the lord tells us not to give into temptation" and walked away.

Such a wierdo.

Anyway, I am a clean addict, so good work buddy if you were hinting at that. But I don't know anything about a purple car, nor have I seen one. But at least it would make more sense if he targeted me when patrolling for drug activity. But still, dude needs to back off.

Anyway, if a cop were to run my name, drugs would come up. So I am extra-apprehensive now about police getting involved, but at least he was a bit more civil this time. Seems like he is on a mission to rid the world of sin or something.
 
^ is your record felony or misdy? You should try and get it expunged if you can.. and get a damn gjn. Next time he fucks with you just look him dea d in the eye and calmly tell him, "look buddy, I'm not looking for any trouble but if you have a problem with me, then DO something you fucking psycho lunatic. " and then bust a cap IF he does but from the sounds of it he's a cowardly bully IMO and he won't. 100%% intimidation.
 
Cops run my name and I have a record. God knows how that would end.
what degree is the cpcs?
what year was it? who was in office at the time?
SR the fuckin' place. By carrier
I'm a fuckin' punk 4 fried foods
 
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I didn't understand that bit, beagleboy.

Seriously, this guy seems demented going on about the lord and temptation. Now he's searching for a drug dealer in a purple car? You said the right thing asking him to call the cops. Most likely he was never a cop at all. Like Izzy said, he's one of those wanna be tough guys who couldn't get into the force. Probably was rejected by the military as well. I bet he's a security guard somewhere.

Keep doing what you usually do and I'd get a can of mace if he tries to pull anything physical on you. Him sitting at your table was an attempt to intimidate you and it didn't work. He's overcompensating for his own insecurities. He may have a criminal record himself. The guy's a freak and I'm sure you're not the first person he's done this to. Your criminal history has no bearing on this situation.
 
Call the cops.

Even if he is EX-police and EX-military, if he's not close to retirement age, there is a probably a reason he is EX, and it's probably because he fucked up, repeatedly. They'll not be very sympathetic to someone who got booted or asked to retire from the military and the police for some whack reasons.
 
He's got no authority, fuck him. Make sure you tell him that you realize he has no authority. Remind him of his place. Ask him why he got kicked off the force if he really is a youngish guy.

This guy is a total dumbass obviously. If he's always confronting you in public places then, unless he's really roid-raging, he won't ever do anything violent to you.

Plus you can always call the cops.
 
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