Community Forums

Bigd9 · 10-01-2015, 04:15 PM

We were camping at a franchise campground where you have a mix of short day to day campers, along with monthlies and long term campers. It's a pretty nice place.

Last night at 10:00 while walking Nilla for her "night time potty" break I suddenly heard shouting, crying children and a woman yelling something in another language. Suddenly the door to the trailer opened and this naked woman exited very quickly stumbling down the steps and falling to the ground. She got up and dusted herself off and proceeded to try and reenter the trailer when this foot appeared through the door hitting her in the chest knocking her back a few feet, down the steps and onto the ground. It took a minute or so for her to get up all the while the kids were crying. Other people came running and went right into trailer removing the kids. The next thing I saw was the adults leading the kids down the road with a naked woman running after them!

Ok my friends, what would you do at this point? Call 911? Go up with your gun and confront the guy in the trailer? Mind your own business? Or another course of action?

beamisl · 10-01-2015, 04:24 PM

Bigd9,

I would call 911. Unfortunately you don't know if the owner of the TT has a gun also and would shoot you upon seeing your gun.

Were the people who took the kids friends or family? If you don't know, I would call 911 and let them handle it. Someone needs to help the kids and woman. The kids were removed to hopefully a safer place and that would be my biggest concern.

You also need to be kept safe. So, what did you do?

bulldog2 · 10-01-2015, 04:24 PM

call 911 and follow them if i could , as long as there not hurting the kids if they were , then i would stick me nose in

MaverickBBD · 10-01-2015, 04:30 PM

There is no question you witnessed an assault. Call 911 describe the scene as best as possible. As you are doing so increase your own safety measures.

Rocky Larson · 10-01-2015, 05:00 PM

There is a reason LE shows up in pairs for domestic issues. Even then they can call in more help. Leave it to the professionals.

timetogo · 10-01-2015, 05:25 PM

I don't walk the dog at 10PM, but more importantly, what did you do?

Just For Fun · 10-01-2015, 05:56 PM

Call 911 quickly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ArmandV · 10-01-2015, 06:02 PM

Domestic calls are some of the most dangerous for police to respond to. Even such, I would have immediately called 911 without hesitation and kept the scene under surveillance from a distance with the 911 operator still on the line.

wa8yxm · 10-01-2015, 06:14 PM

Joining the 9-1-1 chorus.. And so you know.. Before I retired. that was MY phone number at work...

This is NOT a situation a civilian should walk into. IT IS a situation that has gotten many police and other law enforcement officers killed when they arrived.. So by all means I'd leave it to the pro's.

At this late date notify park management.

Bigd9 · 10-01-2015, 06:37 PM

Well this is what I did,

First off I saw the kids knew the adults that were leading them away. The children quieted down, were holding hands with the adults, and talking to them as they walked away. It appeared as a family clan type of thing.

The language they were all speaking was an Irish Dialect completely foreign to me.

The woman who was kicked down the steps disappeared with the kids to an unknown trailer out of my sight. I had no clue where they went.

Now for what I did. I went inside my coach and talked it over with my wife. Since the woman disappeared along with the children and it seems that they were safe, that left only the man in the trailer. Calling the police at that moment in time seemed to be non productive as I didn't think anyone would talk IF we could find any of them.

First thing this morning I rounded up the manager and told him we had a problem. I explained what had happened and what I saw. He said the family were Irish stone masons speaking a Irish dialect he couldn't understand with only rudimentary skills in English. In fact he gets the children to interpret for him when he needs to collect the rent! He also said they can't hold their liquor and get loud when they drink.

The manager said this wasn't the first time something like this has happened with that family and if I would talk with the police he would have the legal merit to evict the family. I agreed to write a description of the events and talk with the police, at my convenience, if necessary, explaining we were leaving to explore the area, I did not want to wait all day for a police person to show up. I left my phone number so he or the police could contact me at any time. I also asked to be moved to another part of the campground for our safety. Never know when a crazy has a gun, and the walls on the RV's are pretty darn thin to be able to stop a projectile.

Tonight the manager stopped by to tell me he asked the people to leave and they did so. Also the police has someone from social services investigate the incident for the children's protection.

Now, did I do wrong? I feel good about the decision my wife and I made. Do you?

PS: Not walking Nilla at night for her bedtime potty break could lead to adverse consequences

thomasamski · 10-01-2015, 10:03 PM

Never, ever get involved. I learned that the hard way when I stepped up and rescued a woman being beaten by her husband. She turned on me.

99-Am.Star · 10-02-2015, 11:55 AM

Even if you had a gun, that would be no place to get the a gun involved. Call 911 is the only answer to that situation.
Just my dimes worth......

Winepress · 10-02-2015, 02:40 PM

I seriously hope you do not own a gun. To ask such a question, somethings wrong here. One would only bring a gun if they intend on using it. If you were to take a gun would you be prepared to shoot this guy for what was happening? Stay away from any domestic disturbance, call 911 and take my pooch back home for bedtime.

Try and live up to your dogs opinion of you.

tinkerreknit · 10-02-2015, 03:49 PM

I would have to intervene just enough so that the perpetrator knows he's being watched. It's dangerous stuff though. I would call 911 as soon as possible. Here's the problem; just seeing part of an altercation can be misleading. Perhaps (maybe not likely) the woman was the perpetrator and on drugs or wild, and had no business being in the RV.
I took a course taught by a retired deputy and he presented a scenario; in a mall parking lot, a teenage girl is violently grabbed by a nasty-looking man and rushed toward a van and pushed into the side door. The "perp" followed her in, shut the door, and the van sped off. You, the uninvolved shopper, had the opportunity to intervene. So what would you have done? Turns out the girl had been hanging out at the mall for days, high on some drug. The "thug" was a private investigator hired by the distraught family to get their daughter into a rehab facility.