The one guy had bloodshot eyes, was short, unusually confident way in which he was doing nothing but walking around, other than constantly moving between each other obviously they were in cahoots somehow. The other thing that was quite unusual was the amount of traffic generally in the store - in terms of other people being present. There was only one store clerk. Ridiculous really. I latter learned that there was no CCTV security at the premises either.
Anyway, When I walked passed them and turned my head back, they started shuffling drugs off the shelf into a large bag. They had their back turned. They turned and made eye contact me, and a dreaded impulse flowed right through me, and they made their way straight towards me(I was in front of the exit). I instinctively knew that this situation was very wrong but causally but assertively said to them as they approached me, "wait a second you can't do that..." That's when thy charged at me. They hit a brick wall, I grabbed them in a frantic tug-and pull struggle and instead of going through me, they bounced off me as I opposed them in kind. I grappled them(and unconsciously the not the bag) and started heaving them backwards. They weren't expecting this. A another younger lady in the shop joined in(courageous I thought) in(quite remarkable) and the situation started to become complex. I took hold of the guy, grappled him by his arms and had him. He was struggling to get passed me. He wasn't getting anywhere. That's when I realised what am I doing? To what end am I subduing these criminals. What was my plan here? There were more of them than me. I was just making them more and more desperate to escape. I knew I couldn't keep them for long and any longer thy might have resorted to untold alternative to rid themselves of the inconvenience I had caused them. The lady got in the way, and got knocked over and I knew this was it, I had to let these thieves go - what was I going to do to 3 guys? During the struggle, and as I had the guy pinned in my arms, I became aware of this and his friends' potential actions. I thought that they might start throwing punches etc... So in the panic struggle, they dropped the £750 worth of drugs and dashed off. We recovered the stuff.
I was electrified.
Just a moment earlier, before entering the store, I told myself that I need a coffee to wake up. I had a tough workout this morning an this week was physically demanding and I was in danger of nodding off in the library. I didn't need anything to keep me awake after this.
Later on, I wondered if how I approached (or more appropriately reacted) to the crime was correct.
In hind sight, even though I could have kept the thief I had in my control, it was not worth risking the rest of them getting into me or hurting me. Within minutes of the situation, in the calm that followed, I quickly got my protein bars(they were very misshapen by now), collected the drugs spewed outside the store entrance now and inside the shop, payed for my bars(with money) and left.
Sure, I handed back the bag of drugs. And I exited the store almost as quickly as I entered it. I kinda had to comprehend and think about what just had happened and I needed to 'escape' myself. Really strange feeling. I played it back to myself as I walked back. Could I have done better? Could I have done more? What did I do wrong. What should one normally do in such a situation? These raced through my mind. Obviously there wasn't much I could do once the fight/struggle was done and the criminals fled. So I left. Didn't leave my name, just left.
But as I through about it(I went for a long walk) I realised that I should go back and leave my name and number. I returned to see the police just leave. I left the clerk my details, and then went to the police station. I figured I needed to do the right thing. Report my involvement, give evidence, register as a witness...something, anything more. More, because this whole time I felt that I'd missed something I could have done better. Should I have actually tried to punch them up, subdue them, apprehend them - get more wholly involved. So I best do more, so I put my details down at the police station too. This is when they told me that that store had no CCTV footage. That bothered me.
The other interesting thing was as I saw the wrong doing unfolding before me, their was a little bit of me that said, ignore it, do nothing, don't get involved. Then another that said, no, no - that is not right, it's unfair - they shouldn't get away with this. It was an injustice. I hate unfairness(is that a word?) and well, I could have been beaten, stabbed, mugged. But that would have been in reaction to preventing that which was against my believes so I guess, I couldn't have acted any differently other than to try and stop them. I don't think I could have done it differently, even though I was thinking that there were other options. But all in all, I realise I would not have taken those options as I was incapable of controlling my reactions in those split seconds that I decided to grab and prevent the thieves from doing what they were intending. That is actually quite interesting, it is also quite relieving because you can't argue with yourself about what ifs, because you know you didn't even really consider them. I did what I thought was right and that is what it is. Plain and simple.
I figured that it was a good thing I did. I also liked how I manhandled those thugs, they weren't expecting it. They were thinking I'd listen to my little voice and do nothing. It was a good thing I was stronger than them. I took them all on and it really foiled their attempt to steal some very expensive drugs. I'm satisfied with myself. Apparently, these drugs sold for £40 a pop and we(there was that lady that through herself in) ended saving up to £750 worth of drugs. Good girl, I thought. She added even more complexity to the equation and that helped hasten the decision by the crooks that they should cut their losses and run.
Afterwards, I was able to sit down on the church steps, in the glorious sun, overlooking nelsons column in Trafalgar Square in the distance. I finished my new library book - learn HTML5 in ten minutes. That was satisfying but the library was closed now so I couldn't take it back. Normally I'd spend more of my day reading, but I was more 'out of sorts' today due to the attempted Burglary and these slow-mo recollections that were constantly showing up in between my chapters. My book was also finished too...
I remember part way through our struggle, when the bag of drugs were dropped. I immediately said, "ok ok let them go!". I said this because as I mentioned, what were we going to do with 3 grown men? That said, I was amused at how well we did. The assailants were of dark skin complexion, certainly foreign, probably of East European origin. Very bold and brash as criminals are, they very casually integrated into the public and almost seemed to walk as if nothing happened.
I think what perhaps may have precipitated my reactions was that once before(this year) I did see a petty teenage thief steal a handful of sweets from my local Convenience store and I just watched him exit the store as I comprehended what had happened.
I knew what happened. I was useless. I also post analysed it for some time. I guess you weigh up the options, and I let him leave. I shouldn't have but perhaps because it was a confusing, quick, incident by a minor who didn't pose a threat, perhaps I thought it not worth getting involved or being wrong or causing a commotion. All this I realised was rubbish and wrong. That's possibly why I reacted they way I did today. I tell you what, experience and careful consideration go along way...
I remember when I tried to apprehend a similar thief at home, back on the farm in Vlakplaats, a very young black child/teenager and perhaps his brother. I could have grabbed them(I did for a split second before letting go), taken them down, hurt them...but to what end? My uncle said to me that what I did was stupid - they could have had knives. I was surprised at his reaction but it was true, I didn't consider that. It was true. I did however consider it during my stale-mate struggle today. I guess it comes down to simple facts: if you put an a criminal in a corner, they'll do whatever it takes to get out of it. Moral of the story: don't take away a thieves options to flee. If you're going to pin him down, he'll react. Better to let him flee. I t's good though to not let them get away with it.
That was the true victory today.