Carjackings – How to avoid Injury?

This is a topic, which is debatable.   Some people realize that their vehicle is only a material item and replaceable, and others think that no one, under no circumstances, is going to get their car.  It is the latter category which often blends into other categories such as Robberies, Assaults, Rapes, ADW  (assault with deadly weapon), Kidnappings, or even Homicides.

Most car jackings can be avoided with a few simple tips.  Even with those that are random and unavoidable, you can avoid injury or danger to yourself if you remain calm and give up your car.  In most carjacking cases, it is only the car the thief wants, not you.  Some of the carjackings in my city are drug related, which means someone goes into a high crime/drug sales area to buy drugs and they get their car taken from them, or they trade their car for drugs and try to report a carjacking when the drugs are gone.

I am not even going to comment on these types of car thefts. If someone trades their car away for dope, and then wants to report it stolen when their high wears off, I am not going to waste my time to help them when they were ignorant enough to give their car away in the first place.

Luckily, in my area, there are not a lot of car jackings, but it happens! From the lowest crime ridden desolate area to a highly congested parking lot in an affluent neighborhood.  There are some things to look for to avoid a carjacking, as well as steps to take if a car jacking is unavoidable.

• First thing to remember. No matter HOW MUCH your car is worth, or HOW NICE your car is, is it really worth your life? I can’t think of a car made that is worth more than a human life.  But you read about it everyday. Man killed during car jacking, Woman hurt during car jacking attempt, Woman’s children taken along with car during robbery……….
• Most of the time, a carjacker just wants a quick escape to get away from a crime he’s already committed. Your car will turn up a day or two later, probably undamaged.  Most of the time, a carjacker does not want the extra liability of having you, or child involved.  Most know that by taking you or your children in the commission of a carjacking, now makes the crime a kidnapping. A crime with much more harsh and severe consequences in Court. In fact most carjacking suspects would rather just take your car and have nothing to do with you.
• Most will not hurt you unless they encounter a struggle or resistance from you. In some cases, people do get hurt for no reason but those are rare if the victim just gives up their car willingly.
• Is it worth the risk of injury, or even death, to protect a material item? If someone steals your car to strip or sell it, they are not going to steal it with you in it. You are a witness. They will steal it when no one is around. That is not a car jacking. That is vehicle theft.

Carjacker’s often use your car to flee, or to commit a robbery or other crime. They then abandon it somewhere.

A car jacking is defined as taking a vehicle from a person by force or fear.

• ALWAYS leave space between your car and the car in front of you at a stop sign, stop light, etc.  This leaves you room enough for an escape to turn and accelerate out of a dangerous situation if possible.
• Always watch for suspicious persons or activity around you. People loitering near stop signs, intersections, etc. People getting out of cars next to you or behind you.
• Keep your doors locked. While a locked door wont keep everyone out; it could give you the split-second advantage you may need to escape. 
• If you suspect suspicious activity, drive through a stop sign or stop light (if safe to do so) to get away.  Police would rather have you explain why you drove through the red light rather than have you be the victim of a robbery or car jacking
• Don’t stop for people (especially undesirable looking people) who try to “flag you down”.  If you don’t know them, you’re taking a risky chance by stopping.

Tips to AVOID INJURY:

• Remember that most carjackers want only your car, not you. A car can be replaced, you can not. Your chances of being hurt or taken hostage greatly increase with your resistance.
• If you are confronted by a carjacker, especially with a weapon, comply with his demands. Most will order you out of the car. When they leave, call the police as soon as possible, and give a detailed description of your car, the carjacker, and if a weapon was involved. The most important thing is for you to remain safe. A car is not worth getting hurt over.
• If you have a child in the car, or in a car seat in the back, chances are a carjacker does not even know that a child is there. Inform the thief that you have a child in the car, and you are going to take the child out and give him the car. Most do not want the extra person in the car with them, but all situations are different.

Do not make any move that can be mistaken by the suspect as aggressive or resistant. If you plan on making any moves (getting out, getting a child, etc.) let the suspect know beforehand to avoid any surprises.

• Most injuries or shootings involve some type of resistance the carjacker encounters. They will shoot you rather than fight you. That is why it is important to comply with demands, especially from an armed suspect.  Remember most of the time the car is abandoned shortly after. The thief’s know that police everywhere will be looking for the car as soon as you get to a phone.  (Besides most of us have insurance, right?)
• If you do become the victim of a carjacking, someone points a gun at you at a stop sign, etc, and orders you out of the car, use common sense. Some low-life dirtbag may shoot at you or your car if you try to speed away. Some innocent victims have been injured or even killed by trying to get away. Every situation is different and the risk of injury greatly increases with resistance, especially if weapons are involved.

REMEMBER to keep alert. Don’t put yourself in a high-risk situation for a carjacking. While some are random and unavoidable, most can be avoided simply be being observant and most injuries can be avoided by being SMART.

While NetCops can’t guarantee that you wont be a victim of a crime one-day, it’s our jobs and purpose here to give you the advantage of avoiding the odds of becoming a victim. With a little common sense, and remembering tips from NetCops P.S.I., you can greatly reduce your odds of becoming a victim.

ML

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I’m going to ad something to Mark’s text here. Most people think of carjacking’s as being violent crimes on the street. Let me share with you one of the most bizarre cases I’ve ever handled. Keep in mind, this wasn’t in a high crime area where Mark works. This was in my affluent residential community where you’d NEVER expect this to happen.

Facts:

A resident is selling a motor home. They have an ad placed in the classified section of the newspaper. A guy calls about the motor home, and asks intelligent questions leading the resident to believe this guy was a serious potential buyer. Guy sounded really interested. Guy sets up a time to see the motor home and shows up at the resident’s house at dusk.

Guy shows up carrying a black “doctor’s” bag but the resident doesn’t know what’s in it. The resident notices that the guy’s mustache almost looks fake, but doesn’t give it a second thought. The guy pokes around the motor home, asks some more questions, and wants to go for a test drive.

Resident gets all excited because he thinks that maybe he will be selling his RV and putting $15,000.00 in the bank. Resident grabs his cell phone, throws it in his pocket, and off they go.

I’m on duty, it’s about 9pm, and I hear dispatch say “Attention all units, Victim reports his motor home was just carjacked and that the suspect had shot him with a stun gun. Victim reports the suspect was wearing a fake mustache and that the motor home was last seen traveling towards the freeway.

My buddies and me were sitting in a shopping center parking lot having coffee when we heard that call come out. I laughed and said, “Yeah right, someone car jacked a motor home. How bout maybe the victim forgot to tell us he was behind in his payments and it had just been repossessed.” This kind of thing just doesn’t happen in our city.

My partner adds, “Fake mustache? Yeah right, and the suspect was dressed as Big Bird,”

We get into our cars and start to head over to the call thinking this was going to be another can of worms that was completely blown out of proportion.

One of our Reserve officers spoiled that theory when he advised dispatch that he was following a motor home traveling in the vicinity of where the call had originated. The motor home matched the description given, and when the reserve ran the plate, dispatch confirmed that this was indeed the victim’s motor home.

I expected to hear any minute that the motor home would pull over and that the repossessor would get out and explain to the cop what was going on. Instead the reserve’s voice went up about 3 octaves as he told dispatch that he was now in pursuit at 85 miles an hour traveling southbound on the freeway. Huh? What was going on here?

When a cop gets into pursuit, other cops bust their rears to get there because you never know why the bad guy is running. We were to find out that this guy had a pretty good reason. The pursuit went for about 10 miles. 85 to 90 mph across all lanes. This guy was driving like an idiot. We gave him plenty of room and he exited off the freeway onto surface streets. He crashed driving across the sidewalk while trying to make a right turn.

He ran on foot about 25 yards before being tackled by 3 officers. A pudgy balding middle aged guy laying face down on the grass handcuffed. What was up with this?

This is what was up. During the test drive, the suspect had asked the victim to pull over to the side of the road so that he could check out the generator system. The victim did so, and when he got out from behind the wheel of the motor home, the suspect reached into the black bag and pulled out a tazer. (An electric stun gun)  The suspect fired the stun gun and the 2 darts lodged in the victim’s chest.

The only thing that saved the victim was that the suspect didn’t know there was a separate trigger to apply the electric charge that renders someone helpless. The victim lunged at the suspect and a physical fight took place which is when the suspects fake mustache had been torn away.

The suspect reached into the black bag and the victim thought that maybe this nut could have a gun. The victim jumped out the side door of the motor home, and the suspect drove away in it. The victim remembered he had his cell phone with him and immediately called 911.

Wow! So much for my repossession theory!

The suspect gave me a total confession. This guy was whacked!  He was supposed to turn himself into federal authorities in 2 weeks because of income tax invasion and was had been sentenced to do 18 months time. He had come up with a plan to,

1) Shop for an RV. (To take one, not buy one)

2) Get to know the owner after repeated questions about the RV. (First name basis)

3) Get the owner out on a test drive

4) Incapacitate the owner with the stun gun

5) Tape the owners eyes shut with tape and secure him with handcuffs and duct tape

6) Put different license plates on the RV. (He had bogus plates in the doctor’s bag)

7) Call the owner’s wife and read a pre-written statement – It said do not call the cops or your husband is dead!

8) Drive for 4 hours and dump the owner off at a highway rest stop area

9) Leave evidence in the note to the wife that he was traveling to Oregon, but really head for Mexico.

10) Travel to Mexico and live happily ever after under an alias name. (He had a fake photo ID in his bag)

As bizarre as this whole scheme sounds, he almost pulled it off. He got up to #4 on his list, and if he had known how to use the stun gun, who knows?

In his doctor’s bag, he had maps indicating where off the wall campgrounds were at, as well as the letter he was going to read off to the victim’s wife. He had handcuffs, duct tape, a fake ID, a list of questions to ask about the RV, and glue for the fake mustache he had bought at a costume shop.

Luck was on the victim’s side. If he hadn’t had his cell phone with him to call us so quickly, the suspect may have had time to switch license plates and then who knows?

What do you do when you’re letting a guy take a test drive in the vehicle you’re selling?

First off, I’ve never let anyone take a car out on a test drive unless I was in it! But then I’m a cop. What would you do if a guy pulled over, pulled a gun on you, and told you to get out? I’m thinking the best thing for you to do is “Do what the crook tells you.”

If you don’t hightail it to a phone and call 911 immediately prepared to give us a description of the car WITH A LICENSE PLATE NUMBER, you can kiss your car goodbye. Timing is everything.

Ask for the person’s driver’s license and record the number, name, and birth date on a separate piece of paper. Have a family member keep the driver’s license until you get back, or put it somewhere in your house until you return.

If someone is hesitant to give you their license, it is usually because it’s suspended or they don’t want you to have that information. That’s a warning sign folks! 

Have a copy of the vehicle registration either on your person, or readily available at your house. It will greatly increase our chances of getting your car back if you notify us immediately. We get so many calls for stolen vehicles. You would be amazed at how many people don’t know their license plate numbers.

Hey real quick, do you know what yours is as you read this? Most of you won’t!

The moral of this true story is that car jackings just don’t take place in high crime areas. They happen anywhere, and it’s not just the guy that jumps out from the bushes waving a gun that you have to worry about! Just ask our motor home victim. Ask him and he can tell you how he felt when he was sitting in the hospital emergency room having the electronic darts removed that were embedded in his chest!

That would never happen to me you might say……Think again!    JL