I Am Finished

vdehart

vdehart

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Long Beach/Torrance, California
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vdehart
I Am Finished - Got Myself Into a Very Bad Situation

As a little background, I've been running a process serving company for the past three years and have about five years of experience in the business.

Today was the final straw and a real wake up moment for me. I took a job far out in the boonies north of Los Angeles serving a small claims lawsuit—I quoted a good price tag for the job to cover expenses so I stood to make a lot. Generally, serving small claims suits are an easy-in, easy-out kind of deal. I would normally sub a job like this out to one of my regular guys I work with, but I decided it had been a while since I'd done any real work and I wanted to go for a drive. Well, today was a different day...The defendants are a husband and a wife. I drive all the way out to their home which is at a dead end road in the middle of nowhere. As I'm getting closer to the destination I start to get a weird feeling in my stomach that things aren't going to pan out well. I just had a weird vibe.

I check my phone and realize I have no cell service, I am truly alone. I am unarmed today; no gun, no taser, no knife. I reach the house and nobody is home after knocking on the door a few times. As I go back to my vehicle I decide that I'm going to stake out the residence from a distance until the defendants get home. As I'm approaching my car, the wife pulls up and plays the "I'm just a concerned neighbor card". She asks what my business was and I said it was a family matter. I believe it is her but I'm not certain. She continues along the road towards another home which is about a half mile away. I figure she is probably bluffing and will be coming back soon. Well, low and behold she does come back and pulls up next to me. She explains that she is the defendant. I tell her I have court papers for her to be served. She refuses to take them so I drop them on the ground next to her vehicle (totally acceptable in California). At this point, this is when things start to get bad. I look in my rearview and I see a grey Jeep booking it towards me at about 65mph down this dirt road. I am facing towards the dead end and there is no space to make a quick U-Turn. I (stupidly) elect to speed off towards the dead end in hopes of making a turn there. The jeep blows past her vehicle and two men hop out. The man who approaches me is defendant #2 (the husband) and he starts threatening me telling me he could kill me right now and nobody would know—he alludes to the fact that he is carrying a gun but doesn't produce it. I'm sitting in my vehicle and he is standing next to my window. He has the high ground as my car sits low. I have my eyes fixed on his hands as I've been trained to do. Suddenly he's reaching. My eyes zero in like nothing I've ever felt before, and there he is pulling out a big folding knife. I throw the car into gear and slam on the gas but he is able to take two quick jabs with the knife to cut my back driver's side tire. I can hear the air hissing. It is at this moment that I am about 200 feet from the end of the dead end and he has my vehicle blocked in with his car. Strangely enough I start talking out loud. I'm saying "this is it, I'm going to die here". "He's going for the gun, this is it." "This is where I die." It was a strange balance of a calm feeling. I was coming to terms with the fact that I had put myself in a really crappy situation. This was augmented with incredible focus and adrenaline. I've encountered my share of near death experiences in my time, but I never had the opportunity to really reflect on it in the moment like I did here. I truly believed that this was possibly going to be the end. I knew I was going to make the best move I could to escape but I was boxed in on a road in the middle of nowhere, with a disabled vehicle, and the only way out was to cut through a guy with a knife and most likely a gun.

I flip a quick U-Turn on this road and he jumps into his SUV and is backing it up. I see enough space to the left of his SUV and I make a go for it with my now three tired car. I am ducking below the dashboard as I fully expected a hail of gunfire coming my way. Alas, no shots fired as far as I could hear. I skid into the dirt to the left of the car and I make it past them. All I see now is a two mile dirt road in front of me. I can hear the now completely flat tire flopping all around on the rim. I look in the rearview and I can see his Jeep fast approaching. I skid out onto the main, paved road, and I am headed back towards the "town" area. He is gaining on me when suddenly I come around a turn and I believe he must have decided to end the pursuit. I find a safe place behind a building to park and pull out my phone. I am flipping between no bars and one bar of service. I try four times to make contact with 911 when I finally get through. Deputies come out in full force and they head over to the house but are unable to find him. There's now a warrant out for his arrest.

Anyways, I'm now typing this message from a hotel in the middle of nowhere as my car was towed to a tire shop but they won't be open until the morning to replace the tire (I did not have a spare).

I've reached out to an individual who contacted me a few months ago with an offer to buy my firm and my attorney client-base. I've had plenty of angry run ins over the years but this was truly an eye opener. This was the moment when I realized that this job is not worth the hazards that come with it. I am lucky to have escaped relatively unscathed.

I am finished. And I don't care if people call me a quitter or whatever. I've weighed the consequences and it is simply not worth it.
 
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Re: I Am Finished - Got Myself Into a Very Bad Situation

And I think my job is tough... Don't blame you for your decision.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
He brought a knife to a pedestrian/car fight and didn't lose?
 
Maybe you can start a new career as a writer. I'm sorry you went through that, bu I enjoyed your write up.
 
So he was standing at the door of your car and you didn't use the car door as a striking instrument?
 
Quitting a job doesn't make you a quitter in all cases. In fact, sometimes it means you're specifically not quitting some larger, more important goal.

Glad you're alright, and agree with the writing as a next career.

Also, I'd think in a job like that I'd want 2 things for my car: a BMW 740iLP (P for protection, bulletproof glass) and runflat tires.
 
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You have to do what's right for you. Sometimes that's to give it up.

Glad you're OK.
 
Just curious what that particular job paid. If for the most part its a fairly routine process and not usually life threatening, it may be worth it. On the other hand, you couldn't pay me enough to deal with the general public these days
 
Sleep on it. Let the adrenaline wear off. If I am correct, you could have alleviated the situation with a firearm. Perhaps carrying one should be part of your SOP.

The thing is, you serve a valuable societal function. If you don't do it someone else will, and they might not have the wherewithal to survive the experience. You clearly do. That, and if you give it up you also give up a sizable chunk of your life.

My thoughts. I also wanted to echo the thought that you wrote that up quite well. Good luck.
 
Wow... I agree with iWannaretire... What a great recreation of events... Glad you're still around to share it. Some people are just plain human waste... (Scumbags, I think is the technical term). I would say it was probably better that you didn't have a weapon (though I have a CWP myself) but this may have escalated into a regretful situation if you had that option... That said, I think you would have been totally correct to pop a cap on that knife wielding psycho!

Whatever you decision... Good Luck!
 
I agree that you should sleep on it after you come down off of the adrenaline a bit more. I also believe that carrying a firearm, preferably open-carry in situations like that, would go a long way as a deterrent to violence. I would also not be driving any vehicle without a spare, much less on a trip to the middle of nowhere. Your other choice mentioned above is run-flat tires.

If it were me, I'd probably be choosing a vehicle which had 4x4 and a little bit of ground clearance so as to give you an option in that situation of going off-road until you got around the threat, instead of being limited to the gravel road.

Hindsight is always 20/20.
 
Don't sell yourself short. While you may have put yourself in a bad spot, you succeeded, and escaped and evaded without harm. Now you have made the decision to AVOID, which is always a good one. I don't see you as quitting.
 
crap, does this mean you will have to go to trial if there is one; ref. the arrest warrant?
Maybe the Ca jails are so full they will let him walk.
nice write up.
 
steingar said:
Sleep on it. Let the adrenaline wear off. If I am correct, you could have alleviated the situation with a firearm. Perhaps carrying one should be part of your SOP.
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It's California. He might get a permit because being a process server may qualify as "good cause" but the PRC isn't a "shall issue" state. Open carry probably would be counter productive to trying to maintain a low profile while looking for the subject of the service in addition to pretty much also being illegal in the PRC.
 
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FlySince9 said:
Wow... I agree with iWannaretire... What a great recreation of events... Glad you're still around to share it. Some people are just plain human waste... (Scumbags, I think is the technical term). I would say it was probably better that you didn't have a weapon (though I have a CWP myself) but this may have escalated into a regretful situation if you had that option... That said, I think you would have been totally correct to pop a cap on that knife wielding psycho!

Whatever you decision... Good Luck!
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I was thinking the same thing in regards to not having a handgun on me. I know I would have at least pulled the gun which may have precipitated the situation to the point that he also pulled a firearm and left me no option but to meet the threat with deadly force. And the very last thing on Earth that I want to do is take another man's life :(

I've now had my night's sleep and I am still feeling as if leaving the business is the best option for me.
 
What I'm having trouble getting my mind around is why the couple would escalate this whole thing over a small claims suit. Don't know what constitutes a small claim, but I'm quessing it's a whole lot less time, money, and trouble than an assault. Perhaps they have bigger problems and they over-reacted to the small claim thinking it was another larger issue? Don't know, but this sure seems like a major over-reaction to a getting served with a small claims suit.
 
Never underestimate the ability for neighbors to get petty with one another. The small claims suit is probably only the tip of the iceberg.
 
I hope you're gonna see the assault charges through. Testify against this jerk and laugh when they haul is butt off to jail.

I hate idiots like this. I'm thankful that I'm not LEO. I'm usually pretty laid-back with run of the mill rudeness. But, I despise people like this so much that my aggressiveness tends to show pretty quickly.
 
Wow, sucky story.

There are lots of serious nut cases in the AV, especially way out of town.

And assume EVERYONE there is carrying weapons to protect their basement meth lab.
 
vdehart said:
I was thinking the same thing in regards to not having a handgun on me. I know I would have at least pulled the gun which may have precipitated the situation to the point that he also pulled a firearm and left me no option but to meet the threat with deadly force. And the very last thing on Earth that I want to do is take another man's life :(



I've now had my night's sleep and I am still feeling as if leaving the business is the best option for me.
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Is your next move to drive over to the attorney who gave you this job and kick him in the nuts for not warning you that you were dealing with the Manson family?

I'm glad you made it out OK.
 
I can't believe you'd do that job without a firearm. That to me is problem #1 in this story.
 
vdehart said:
I was thinking the same thing in regards to not having a handgun on me. I know I would have at least pulled the gun which may have precipitated the situation to the point that he also pulled a firearm and left me no option but to meet the threat with deadly force. And the very last thing on Earth that I want to do is take another man's life :(

I've now had my night's sleep and I am still feeling as if leaving the business is the best option for me.
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The only thing I can say about having the handgun, is that it may have calmed your nerves a bit knowing you had one within reach. That knowledge may give you enough resolve not to pull it out and escalate the situation, but it sure gives you another tool to help you escape with your life.

Do I think the guys walking around in everyday situations with an open-carry weapon their hip are going overboard? Yes. However, in your situation it may have caused someone to withhold pulling that knife when they knew you had a loaded firearm. Tough to know how the situation would have changed with different variables.

You made it out with your life, but there can be valuable lessons learned to prevent it from happening to you again. Perhaps the position of your parked vehicle or a different vehicle would have given you options. Lots to consider anyway.
 
Crazy people are everywhere!
Glad you are okay and survived this. Good actions probably saved your life.
Though with some more training, you could have swung the situation in your favor. When he pulled the knife next to your car door, you could have used your door to knock him down, jumped on him, grabbing the knife with both hands, turning it and thrusting it between his ribs. While watching the other guy like a hawk, you could have searched the body for the alleged firearm and expect to use it as a shield in case the other guy is armed. Once found the firearm, you could have performed a citizen arrest of the second perp or if he was armed, put him out of his misery as well.
The society would thank you.

Glad you are okay. Bring your gun next time, that's what it's for.
 
KRyan said:
What I'm having trouble getting my mind around is why the couple would escalate this whole thing over a small claims suit. Don't know what constitutes a small claim, but I'm quessing it's a whole lot less time, money, and trouble than an assault. Perhaps they have bigger problems and they over-reacted to the small claim thinking it was another larger issue? Don't know, but this sure seems like a major over-reaction to a getting served with a small claims suit.
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They may have thought they were being approached on a criminal warrant or by a rival gang member, jilted lover, jealous ex... The list is endless. Or they may just have been high and/or mentally ill and/or terminally stupid.

OP, glad you made it out. In hindsight, you did everything right, since you escaped a harrowing situation with no loss of life. Only casualty was a tire, and whatever sleep you lose for a while, it seems. Totally respect your decision either to pursue or leave the rough business.

Good luck, and thanks for the great write-up.
 
steingar said:
Sleep on it. Let the adrenaline wear off. If I am correct, you could have alleviated the situation with a firearm. Perhaps carrying one should be part of your SOP.

The thing is, you serve a valuable societal function. If you don't do it someone else will, and they might not have the wherewithal to survive the experience. You clearly do. That, and if you give it up you also give up a sizable chunk of your life.

My thoughts. I also wanted to echo the thought that you wrote that up quite well. Good luck.
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This. I've been through several life threatening confrontations. In each case, the initial urge was to hang up whatever got me there. In one case it was Reno 2011 and I never wanted to see an airplane again. Over time, I not only retracted that viewpoint, I finally took on the adventure of flight school and getting my private.

That said, if after some period of cool down/reflection you stick to your belief that it's time to move on, nothing wrong with that at all. Anyone who'd judge you at that point isn't someone whose opinion should matter.
 
BigBadLou said:
When he pulled the knife next to your car door, you could have used your door to knock him down, jumped on him, grabbing the knife with both hands, turning it and thrusting it between his ribs.
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Disagree with that scenario entirely. The reason for his visit is not to inflict physical harm on anyone, and going all "Rambo" is fine in the movies or for LEO's, but more than likely would end up getting himself killed. If the second man has a gun and sees you slam the car door into the first man, chances are you'll be shot in the back before you wrestle a knife away. He made the perfect decision given the tools at his disposal. I wouldn't suggest anyone get into hand-to-hand combat when outnumbered 3-to-1, especially over something as trivial as serving papers.
 
Glad you're ok. Good luck with your decision.

I suspect a certain member of this board will be along shortly to tell you how this happened to him a couple times and how to best handle the situation in the future :rolleyes:
 
EdFred said:
So he was standing at the door of your car and you didn't use the car door as a striking instrument?
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the other guy had a knife, and possibly a firearm. TS made the best possible decision at the time, by getting himself out of harms way.

Pushing the car door against an angry man would have probably resulted in the man grabbing the door and stabbing the TS. This isn't the movies, and TS isn't Chuck Norris.
 
pilot_dude said:
Glad you're ok. Good luck with your decision.

I suspect a certain member of this board will be along shortly to tell you how this happened to him a couple times and how to best handle the situation in the future :rolleyes:
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Is that the certain member who probably used the Vulcan Nerve Pinch technique that he learned on the Starship Enterprise while exploring strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, and boldly going where no man has gone before?
 
nddons said:
Is that the certain member who probably used the Vulcan Nerve Pinch technique that he learned on the Starship Enterprise while exploring strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, and boldly going where no man has gone before?
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...while rescuing a baby seal that got lost in the Mojave desert and dating a tranny that lives downstairs.
 
Glad you made it out OK. Great and exciting writeup. :thumbsup:

As others already said, I would also sleep a couple nights on it, before you make a decision.

You might also use this as a learning experience to improve your tactics. Just the way you parked your car or how to dealt with the 'customer' could have made a big difference. I would also see carrying a gun as an absolute must in your line ob business, when to pull and use it would again be a part of your tactical considerations and legal requirements. To pull it on him, because he is yelling at you, would for example be illegal and get you into trouble. If you usually do your job alone, a dashboard and a body-camera might save you bacon when it comes to a trial. If you would have done any harm to him it would have been 3 against 1, who would have claimed that you ran over him / shot him / stabbed him / whatever without any reason.

To try to fight the knife off his hands seems really risky to me, especially since he had the other guy as his backup.
Deescalate, retreat, possibly observe and call the cops.
 
BigBadLou said:
When he pulled the knife next to your car door, you could have used your door to knock him down, jumped on him, grabbing the knife with both hands, turning it and thrusting it between his ribs. While watching the other guy like a hawk, you could have searched the body for the alleged firearm and expect to use it as a shield in case the other guy is armed. Once found the firearm, you could have performed a citizen arrest of the second perp or if he was armed, put him out of his misery as well.
.
Click to expand...

That seemed to work well for the guy trying to detain Randy Howard.... Or ol' Randy was just a terrible shooter....
 
nddons said:
Is your next move to drive over to the attorney who gave you this job and kick him in the nuts for not warning you that you were dealing with the Manson family?

I'm glad you made it out OK.
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Unless things have changed in California since I used small claims court there, no lawyers allowed. And, although the defendant's son was a paralegal, I kicked his butt, both in the original trial and the appeal. Facts are powerful things. I had them, he didn't.

Glad you got out of that with your skin intact. Best of luck with the new career, whatever it might be. I don't blame you at all.
 
Aside from the 'bad situation', you did a great job of describing the moment with text. Few people can capture readers like you did. I was on the edge of my seat reading your story and wondering if there wasn't an "April Fools" at the end. Since you've had multiple 'near-death' experiences, you could write a volume of thrillers. Too bad there isn't any money in writing for the vast majority of us. Still - glad you're safe and good job!
 
Some of you guys watch way too much TV. :rolleyes2:

I'm just wondering if the OP actually has a concealed carry permit? Those are tough to get in California. If he carried one without a permit and ended up using it, he might likely be looking at his own legal defense.
 
Sounds as though some mistakes were made, but those could easily be avoided for the next time. I would think that serving would certainly have the potential for confrontation, but if it's a good business, it's probably worth saving. No other line of work is going to be without challenges, especially if you're the employee rather than the employer.

Not carrying a spare tire? Really? I've picked up enough nails and other road debris in normal highway driving that I'd never consider going without a spare (a properly inflated one helps, too).


JKG
 
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