OK I Just Escaped Being Mugged...

scottmu65

morning guys,

ok so I am probably the most scared I have ever been, I have been at a friends most of the night, having afew drinks, a chat and palying on their new nintendo wii etc. I have walked home with a friend, as we had no money for a taxi, we get to our "secure" gate at the student flat block we live in when two chavs/hoodies/neds whatever you call them ask me for the time, i tell them its 3 o'clock when one of them grabs my by the neck and tells me to give him all my money, of course I legged it through the main door (which is supposed to be locked at all times) to the our block. leaving my friend there, who ran shortly after me into the building, my friend was carrying a video camera at the time which is why they focused on him next. They chased him to the dor but he managed to slam it shut behind him, and I assume they have left.

Now I couldnt apologise enough for leaving my friend behind but he assured me that it was ok, as I didnt know what to do, it was a natural reaction, when I got into my flat my flatmate advised me to phone the police as soon as i can, but of course i legged it so fast i didnt get a proper look at the muggers and shortly after my friend told me that the security cameras outside the building run ok but are never set to record anything, so i was wondering if anyone could advise me what to do, I was thinking of contactng the head office of the company that owns the student rooms where i live to complain about the CCTV not actually recording anything, but im not sure.

Please give me some guidance, i cant sleep because of it, im filling myself with coffee, it seems so pathetic but im genuinly scared.

John Drake

Not a nice situation to be in and I wouldn't feel to bad about running. You were scared. What you have to do is make others aware of what happened. I would definitely tell your advisor at Uni on Monday or whoever fulfills that role). Presumably these **** are targeting students on purpose and its better for others to be made aware of this. If you can't sleep, just lie down and listen to your mp3 player/i-pod. I often drift away when I'm lost in music. Hope this is a comfort. Take care.

scottmu65

John Drake wrote:

...Presumably these **** are targeting students on purpose and its better for others to be made aware of this. If you can't sleep, just lie down and listen to your mp3 player/i-pod. I often drift away when I'm lost in music. Hope this is a comfort. Take care.

I'm actually listening to my music right now, its making me a little better, i find music can be an escape from things, i just cant belive this happened, i should of mentioned that it was in our "secure" car park where this happened, its just typical of liberty court student rooms to not actually use their CCTV facilities.

Loeffelholz

You should make a report with the police, I think, without further delay. Of course your school should be notified, but so should the police. Such a report might well change the situation with your CCTV cameras. They certainly ought to record 24/7...even if it's time-lapse.

I'm certainly glad you and your friend are unharmed.

jetsetwilly

Glad you are ok, and hope you have managed to sleep and relax. I was accosted once for my mobile phone, and I managed to leg it and get away, so I can totally sympathise with the fear and emotion you're feeling.

I'd recommend speaking to your Student Union. Students are easy targets - they are in strange towns, they live in halls which are simple to spot, they often have, as you did, iPods and video cameras and decent mobiles. If your halls have poor security features or are being targeted (think about it; if these people are hanging around outside the gate, you may not have been their first or last victim that night), then the SU needs to know so it can apply pressure. It's there for you. Speak to some other people in your hall, see if they have similar experiences. And certainly let the owners of the hall if it's not the Uni know that it's being targeted.

But most of all remember that this sort of thing is incredibly rare, and that you're lucky, and that you are a decent, intelligent human being, unlike the pond scum who approached you!

blueman

Jesus, glad you and your buddy are alright. Loeff's suggestion sounds good, get those cameras doing something that helps. In the meantime, treat yourself to something special, a movie, dinner, the whatever you've been saving for...you're alive and you're worth it.

s96024

Definitely go and report it to the police. Doesn't seem like it was too serious (weapons). But atleast they will know something is going on and they may have had reports from other people it's happened to.

General_Ourumov

I was once almost mugged myself. A few years ago as I was walking to my car which was parked along a road, some drunk came up to me and wouldn't let me past. When he actually grabbed me, I swang him around and pushed him over a fence. Even though I got away with it, the shock certainly stays with you, and I've since been twice as careful going anywhere alone.

The above suggestions are good ones; particularly making a point of getting those cameras to actually record. Sometimes they're put there just for show, but sometimes that's not enough.

s96024

General_Ourumov wrote:

I was once almost mugged myself. A few years ago as I was walking to my car which was parked along a road, some drunk came up to me and wouldn't let me past. When he actually grabbed me, I swang him around and pushed him over a fence. Even though I got away with it, the shock certainly stays with you, and I've since been twice as careful going anywhere alone.

I'm surprised the drunk didn't sue you for assault.

General_Ourumov

s96024 wrote:

I'm surprised the drunk didn't sue you for assault.

The amount he'd had, he probably thought there was three of me!

emtiem

What a horrible experience- I'm glad you and your friend are okay. I was once mugged in central London- I gave chase and the police arrested the morons who tried it on (it was quite a pleasure to see the little git nearly wetting himself in the police lineup a month or so later!), however that meant I had to give a statement and only left the police station at 4am, at which point, you guessed it: I got mugged again! Only a lot worse that time, and got quite a bad beating. The worse part is the fact that you're on a fairly busy street and no-one helps. I can't give any other advice rather than 'don't try to catch night buses'.

A friend recently told me of his experience of being mugged at screwdriver-point. Unfortunately for the mugger, my chum is a little more fearless than I and saw the mugger a few moments later from behind the wheel of his car. So my chum decided it might be nice to give the mugger a little 20-mph 'hello' with the front end of his BMW! I can't say I'd recommend doing that either, but I also can't say I was too upset at the thought!

Sir Hillary Bray

blueman wrote:

Jesus, glad you and your buddy are alright. Loeff's suggestion sounds good, get those cameras doing something that helps. In the meantime, treat yourself to something special, a movie, dinner, the whatever you've been saving for...you're alive and you're worth it.

This is a great suggestion. Make sure you take care of yourself first and foremost, scott -- that's the best way not to let *******s like this beat you.