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Woman gets mad, then even over theft

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  • slim jim

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    Woman gets mad, then even over theft

    By Christine Clarridge
    Seattle Times staff reporter

    When Pauline Goldmeier pulled up to her Seward Park home last week and saw a group of teens making off with her $500 mountain bike, something snapped.
    She'd been the victim of a carjacking, a kidnapping and uncounted incidents of vandalism, but that day she'd had enough.
    "They had no idea whose bike they were stealing," said the 41-year-old legal secretary and mother of two. "I've had a lot of things happen to me, and I'm tired of it."
    Thirteen years ago, Goldmeier said, she was kidnapped and carjacked on Genesee Street in South Seattle as she picked up her toddler from day care. The man told her he had a gun, forced her into her car and to an ATM to withdraw cash.
    Goldmeier, who was four months pregnant with her second child at the time, escaped with her toddler on her lap by jumping out of the moving car.
    Her testimony put that man in prison, and, Goldmeier said, "I became very proactive about protecting myself then."
    So last week, when she saw her bike being ridden away from her house, she turned her car around and took off after the teens, yelling, chasing them through the streets and, once they'd scattered, staying on the tail of the kid with the bike.
    "He was laughing at me," she said, "but I floored it and literally cut him off a few feet from his face. He stopped laughing then and jumped off the bike."
    Goldmeier leapt out of the car just as her husband arrived on foot — having been alerted to the drama by their teenage daughter — and the two of them continued their pursuit of the teens with her on the bike and him in the car.
    They tracked down a few of the kids, but the kids denied knowing anything. "They lied to my face," said Goldmeier.
    When Goldmeier and her husband returned home with her bike, they were able to show police a video surveillance tape taken by the home security cameras they installed last year — after a series of car prowls — that led to the arrest of three of the five suspects.
    "As soon as police showed them the video where you can see them plotting and see their faces, they started singing like canaries," Goldmeier said.
    The three teens are being held at the King County Juvenile Detention Center for investigation of burglary, according to a spokeswoman with the Seattle Police Department.
    The two other suspects are still being sought.
    "We do not encourage people to chase after burglary suspects," said Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt. "However, people do what they feel they have to do when they are being victimized. We can't tell citizens not to chase after a suspect; we just ask them to be safe and use good judgment.
    "In this case, it worked out for these homeowners, and good for them. The fact that they had video footage was awesome," Witt said.
    According to Goldmeier and a police report, Goldmeier had gone to pick up her kids from the bus stop on May 14 and neglected to shut the garage door.
    When she returned from the five-minute errand, she saw the teens in her neighbor's yard.
    One of them was on her bike and another had a fishing pole taken from her garage in his hand, she said.
    The teens also had taken her husband's mountain bike from the rack, but they had apparently left it behind because of a flat tire, she said.
    Police said in their report that the video showed the teens walking northbound on 57th Avenue South. Two of the teens are caught on tape entering the garage, and one can be seen emerging on the bicycle, wrote responding officer Jason Atofau.
    Goldmeier said that not everybody would go to the lengths she has, but she's pleased with herself.
    "I feel good because I did this," she said. "Hopefully, those kids won't ever do this again, and people will know it's OK to fight back."


    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004435817_vigilantes24m.html
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    juwaba98

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    Not really related, but I've known people for years that have stored their bikes with the tires deflated so they could not be stolen by just hopping on and riding off. Doesn't always work though as some crooks are quite determined and likely just return with a truck to load 'em up in.
     

    Moe Howard

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    "We do not encourage people to chase after burglary suspects," said Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt.


    It is not always prudent to give chase, it all depends on the situation, but this mentality being pushed on the public by the media and, sorrowfully, some LEA, has aided in the mentality these kids have of, stealing is OK. The number one thing a criminal fears is resistance, especially armed resistance at that.
     

    Bob Loblaw

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    It is not always prudent to give chase, it all depends on the situation, but this mentality being pushed on the public by the media and, sorrowfully, some LEA, has aided in the mentality these kids have of, stealing is OK. The number one thing a criminal fears is resistance, especially armed resistance at that.

    re-read his wording. He can't say "Go get 'em tiger" But he's not saying "Don't fight back"
     

    Moe Howard

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    re-read his wording. He can't say "Go get 'em tiger" But he's not saying "Don't fight back"
    "We do not encourage,"Doesn't say can't" people to chase after burglary suspects," said Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt. "However, people do what they feel they have to do when they are being victimized. We can't tell citizens not to chase after a suspect;"Says Can't,doesn't encourage folks to stand up for themselves" we just ask them to be safe and use good judgment.
    See how I use the actually quotes, I must have missed the "Go get 'em tiger" and "don't fight back" quotes in the article. I stick by my original post. Don't fight back is an all too common mentality in the LE world, not everywhere, but all too common.

    From my original post.
    It is not always prudent to give chase, it all depends on the situation
    I stick by this, I don't need a cop or anyone else who is not on the scene giving advice on how to handle it. I may make the wrong decision based on what I see happening but I will deal with the aftermath, we don't need Monday morning quarterbacking form anyone who was not there.
    I am not nor do I endorse being a vigilante, I would not leave my wife and son unprotected to give chase over the theft of property. Personal protection and protection of your family should be priority one. However if the circumstances allow someone to stop a crime, especially on their own property, the by all means have at it.
     

    JKTex

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    re-read his wording. He can't say "Go get 'em tiger" But he's not saying "Don't fight back"

    Moe Howard, I think you're missing what he said. This is an accurate statement. In your 2nd reply you appear to be sparring over it. Bob is right, the PD Spokeswoman never said to or not to do anything.

    Using the quote you are, LE can't, won't and shouldn't "encourage people to chase after burglary suspects..." and the PD Spokeswoman says just that, she's saying they don't make that decision. Sometimes, not taking action is action.

    From your reply is sounds as if you think PD Spokeswoman's comment should read "we encourage people to chase after burglary suspects...". And using your words, in affect, she says she can't tell people to stand up for themselves. It's not LE's job to "tell people" to stand up for themselves; people still have choices and not everyone will make the same choice as you or I.

    I would have taken chase, but the charges would have been filed after the kid was released from the hospital for treatment from the accident he had. ;)
     

    DopaVash

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    Apr 23, 2008
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    I would have taken chase, but the charges would have been filed after the kid was released from the hospital for treatment from the accident he had. ;)



    "So you're saying the kid fell off of your bike, broke his arm, leg, 3 ribs, nose, and mysteriously has a seemingly permanent imprint of your boot on his face?"
     
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