OT: "That would never happen to me."

[William]

“That will never happen to me.”

Most people don’t think “It”, what ever “it” is will happen to them. The ones who acknowledge the “It” are those who have had first hand experience, or know a friend or relative who have.

The following incident that I am going to discuss has no violence involved in it. Though it possibly could have if it hadn’t been raining so hard on Friday night. It’s not uncommon for me to take the dog out at night and walk the property. I didn’t realize what had happened in my own yard until later the next day.

The gist of it is that a young 20 something male with psychological issues who lives in New Jersey got hopped up on meth and heroin (according to the police) and started driving North on 95. Sometime late Friday night, early Saturday morning he pulled off the hi-way in our town and ended up crashing his car on nearby road. He then began walking and eventually turned off that road and about a mile later ended up on our property. Those of you who have been to the farm know we aren’t exactly on the beaten path. At some point this guy ends up falling in the pond, gets himself out and makes his way to our cars to find mine unlocked.

Yes, I know. I lock my car about 98%, but I had been grocery shopping late in the afternoon and our son had helped unload it and I didn’t follow back to make sure I locked it. That’s my fault.

It’s raining like mad out, this guy had crawled out of the pond, and then he proceeded to get into my car. Once inside he strips off his soaking wet socks, shirt, and necklace (?) and throws them into a ball on the carpet. He starts rooting around and finds my Propper jacket in the back and puts it on. At some point he apparently he decides he has to take a leak….and to his credit…pees into two empty water bottles and then screws the caps back on and leaves them on the floor behind the drivers seat. We don’t know how long he stayed in the car, but at some point he gathers up a number of my things out of the car and starts walking again. Unfortunately he doesn’t take his mangy clothes and bottles of pee with him. He walks another mile or two up the road and turns into housing development. Somewhere in that development he finds another unlocked car, crawls inside and crashes out. The next morning the owner comes out around 9:30 - 10:00 and discovers this person sleeping, runs back into the house to get his three teenage sons who all come back out with baseball bats and surround the guy until the police arrive.

What are the chances this guys leaves wherever he lives in New Jersey and ends up on my property, and in my car in Rhode Island late one stormy Friday night? Pretty slim, and yet he did. Things could have easily gone another way had I encountered this guy on my property. He could have gone on to try the doors on the house….. you never know.







William

[ANAO]

That story is incredible, William.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[weisan]

Fargo

Things could have easily gone another way had I encountered this guy on my property.

William pal, pray tell what scenario is playing thru' your head?

[gasman]

Wow. That guy is lucky he didn't try to get into your house with you and your boys home. Very weird scenario though.

[Hilltopperny]

Wow that is madness. Glad it didn't end up worse.

[parris]

William I'm glad that nothing more came from it for you. Given just how bad Heroin has come back the guy could've very easily have stroked out in your car.

When these people are dope sick as we call it they're systems are in rough shape.

I deal with this on a daily basis at work and the general public doesn't have very good info on just how bad things have gotten. Heroin is killing people at an alarming rate and it crosses all boundaries.

Sorry for the rant but I'm happy that you and your family didn't have to deal with the person directly.

[Jad]

Wild. I'm glad you didn't meet up with him. Glad too that nobody seems to have been hurt. It's strange when one of the very unlikely of all the swirling possibilities lands close to (or on) your doorstep.

[OtayBW]

Wow - that is WEIRD!!!!!

[merckx]

Incredible story, William. These are the same hopped up on meth and heroin individuals who we now share the road with when riding our bicycles. There is not a helmet manufactured today that will save us from this phenomenon.

[KJMUNC]

wow, glad he didn't do more damage to your stuff. I had a similar experience a couple months back and wasn't as lucky:

I travel for work and stay in the same hotel about 3hrs from home Mon-Thurs every week. The hotel is located on the edge of downtown Fort Worth and is generally a safe area, but it's in close proximity to the shelter about a half mile away across the interstate, as well as a big homeless camp under the highway in the same area as the shelter. Anyway, I've never had any security issues in the 3yrs I've stayed there. I park on the backside of the hotel so I have easy access to my car instead of staying the parking garage. I take my bike with me every week so it's easier to go in/out the back of the hotel from my room.

One night in Feb I apparently left my car unlocked....and came out the next morning to find a homeless guy sleeping in my backseat. I didn't even think and just yanked the door open to try and get him out of my car. He was startled awake and as he tumbled out of the car, the worst smell I've ever smelled came along with him. It was a mix of everything you'd expect, including a very strong smell of urine. He was in rough shape and had clearly been beaten up the night before as he had dried blood caked to his face, he was covered in mud, and he'd urinated on himself in my backseat. He did refrain from spilling his tallboy Coors Light, so that was a plus. He was and old guy, was so beat up I couldn't tell if he was black or white, and was terrified I was going to call the cops and said he was just looking for a warm, safe place to sleep. It wasn't going to solve anything to get this guy booked into jail so I told him just to take off before they showed up (hotel staff saw this happening and called them). By the time they arrived he was gone, but his stench wasn't. To the hotel's credit (they didn't have to) they paid for a full detail and ozone treatment, which got ride of 99% of the smell. Every so often I'll still catch a whiff of it if the weather is right, but it's faint.

Just sucks to see people in that position where it's their last resort.

[Ken Robb]

The wanderer is very lucky he didn't act aggressively around William.

[William]

Originally Posted by weisan

Fargo




William pal, pray tell what scenario is playing thru' your head?

Weisan pal,

I wouldn't speculate on what I would or would not have done in this case.



Thanks folks,
It certainly could have turned out another way, I'm just glad that it didn't. It's a good wake up call that weird things can touch you even in places you generally consider to be safe. Part of what we train regularly is the "What if's" of what can go wrong, not that it means you are 100% safe, just that you have a better chance of dealing with things with a favorable outcome. Again, I'm very glad it didn't have to go there.


KJ, man I'm sorry. Seeing people hit bottom like that is rough, their actions destroy themselves and negatively effect those they come into contact with as well.

We've been hearing more about very strong opioids hitting the area on local radio but this is the first contact I've had here with it.









William

[msl819]

Glad he did do more damage to your stuff and you didn't have to do damage to him. From what I have read about you on here you are both large enough and well trained enough to do so. Thankfully for him there is hope he can get help and get better. Had he come into your house and you had to take permanent measures we could be reading about a different end.

I had a similar issue happen with some thieves who were breaking into cars one night when they go spotted and ran. Long story very short one ended up in the storage closet under my carport where he knocked over some golf clubs making enough commotion to wake me up. The cops were already on the look when I told a cop that the guy they were looking for was inside my storage closet. They arrested him a few mins later. Then 2 weeks later I was cleaning out the storage closet when I found a small bag of weed.

[Peter P.]

As bad as the opioid epidemic is, I'm still having a hard time being convinced the majority of those affected started through legitimate opioid use such as pain treatment.

Either that or due to our 'effed up medical coverage in America, those in need of opioids can't afford the high cost so revert to cheaper, more potent, fentanyl laced heroin. We need more affordable medical coverage.

Call me skeptical.

[Hardlyrob]

I had something kind of similar happen a few years ago. Those that have been to my house know we're not exactly in an urban environment - 40 acres of hay fields behind the house, but relatively close to Route 1 north of Boston.

Woke up about 3AM one morning to the beeping of a truck backing up, and noticed the flashing yellow lights of a tow truck in our driveway - curious. Went outside and there were several cop cars local and MA state police - asked the officer what was going on, and why they were in our driveway. He said that they were following a car on route 1 for driving suspiciously. the driver noticed he was being followed, got off route 1, and bailed into our driveway. The officer then said he knocked on our front door and tried to get in - at which point they detained him. Found cocaine, heroine and meth. on him. The officer then made a joke about how we must be pretty sound sleepers (!).

The really scary part is we only lock the front door because it doesn't close completely - 160 year old farm house. Back door is usually unlocked. 'It' could have been much worse than it turned out.

Weird stuff happens everywhere.