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Know what and
how much money you are carrying!
Criminals are coming up
with craftier, less threatening methods of attack, so we have to be
extra cautious. Read on... I live in Alexandria, VA, but I often
work in Lafayette, LA, staying with friends when I'm there. As you
know from America's Most Wanted TV program, as well as the news
media, there is a serial killer in the Lafayette area. I just want
to let you know about an "incident" that happened to me a few weeks
ago, and could have been deadly.
At first I didn't go to
the police or anyone with it because I didn't realize how serious
this encounter was. But since I work in a jail and I told a few
people about it, it wasn't long before I was paraded into Internal
Affairs to tell them my story. It was proximately 5:15 a.m. in
Opelousas, La. I had stayed with a friend there and was on my way to
work. I stopped at the Exxon/Blimpie Pie station to get gas. I got
$10 gas and a Diet Coke. I took into the store two $5 bills and one
$1 bill (just enough to get my stuff).
As I pulled away from the
store, a man approached my truck from the back side of the store (an
unlit area). He was an "approachable-looking" man (clean cut, clean
shaven, dressed well, etc.).
He walked up to my window and knocked. Since I'm very paranoid and
"always looking for the rapist or killer," I didn't open the window. I just asked what
he wanted. He raised a $5 bill to my window and said, "You dropped
this." Since I knew I had gone into the store with a certain amount
of money, I knew I didn't drop it.
When I told him it wasn't
mine, he began hitting the window and door, screaming at me to open
my door, and insisting that I had dropped the money! At that point,
I just drove away as fast as I could. After talking to the Internal
Affairs Department and describing the man I saw, and the way he
escalated from calm and polite to angry and volatile. It was
determined that I could have possibly encountered the serial killer
myself.
Up to this point, it had
been unclear as to how he had gained access to his victims, since
there has been no evidence of forced entry into victim's homes,
cars, etc. And the fact that he has been attacking in the daytime,
when women are less likely to have their guard up, means he is
pretty BOLD. So think about it...what gesture is nicer than
returning money to someone that dropped it?
How many times would you have opened your window (or door) to get
your money and say thank you.... because if the person is kind
enough to return something to you, then he can't really be a
threat....can he? Please be
cautious! This might not have been the serial killer... but anyone
that gets that angry over someone not accepting money from them,
can't have honorable intentions. The most important thing to note is
that his reaction was NOT WHAT I EXPECTED! A total surprise! But
what might have happened if I had opened my door? I shudder to
think! |
