Thursday, May 21, 2009

"The Good Samaritan Law"

Perhaps you saw the Seinfeld finale back in 1998. If you did, you probably recall the infamous "Good Samaritan Law." The re-run came on TBS today, which I thought was ironic because I considered myself a good samaritan today!
I witnessed, what was quite possibly, the scariest thing I'd ever seen. While jogging down University Drive late this afternoon, I came upon an apartment complex in which I noticed a lot of commotion. I remove the headphones from my ears and look to my right where I see a guy completely beating a woman. He was kicking her, hitting her, and trying to force her into a car. She was screaming and trying to get away. I didn't know if I was witnessing a kidnapping or some sort of domestic violence. Either way, it was a terrible sight.
You may recall that I run with my cell phone in hand. Well, on this particular day, that cell phone was quite handy! I couldn't help but notice that these college kids, who most likely lived in the apartment complex, were just watching this take place. They were taking no action. Well, I couldn't stand it. I immediately called 911 (for the first time in my life) and provided the dispatcher all of the information from what the guy was wearing to the license plate number of the car into which he was trying to force her. I stayed until the cops arrived, but by that time, the girl managed to get in the car alone and speed off without him. He took off running in the opposite direction. I didn't stay long enough to see if the guy got caught (hopefully he did!). While I don't tend to get scared, I must admit I was a little afraid to jog back to my house! After all, the guy did see me on the phone reporting the incident! I was afraid that if he was still 'on the run' he might see me (I was wearing a HOT PINK T SHIRT of all things!).
Needless to say I locked the door behind me when I got home, but at least I felt like I had done my good deed for the day.
I hope that jerk is behind bars RIGHT NOW!

10 comments:

Melanie said...

OH MY!!!! That had to be a terrible sight!!!! Glad you were able to help though! That is awful.

The Robertsons said...

Good for you! Wasn't that episode the season finale?

Alison said...

Oh my goodness! I am SO glad you called the cops - I'm also not surprised some people just watched and did nothing (sigh). Glad you're safe!!!
As far as your last post and J&K+8, isn't that sad? I was going to watch an episode the other night but it just made me sick to my stomach thinking a/b what's going on in their family and had to change the channel. I really hope they will choose to work things out - I truly think their marriage could be better than ever if they both are willing to work on it.

Anonymous said...

Good for you for stepping up, just as you'd want somebody else to do if, God forbid, you were in the woman's position. In the meantime, relegate that pink t-shirt to the bottom of your t-shirt drawer for a while, just in case.

Unknown said...

LAURA! I told you NOT to post this! What if the said criminal also blog stalks you and now he knows it was you that called the cops!
Geeesh. You must not watch CSIs.

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

OH NO!!!! I saw you in your hot pink shirt through my kitchen window.......

How scary. And, how morally irresponsible of those damn college kids not to intervene.

I'm not surprised though. If they can't even put their dogs on leashes how can we expect them to help a woman in a time of need???

Thank you for being you and keeping our town a little safer!!

Tricia said...

Everyone in the Criminal Justice field salutes you LT! That sounds pretty scary. Go Laura Go!

The Segrest Family said...

wow. that is craziness. kudos to you for doing the right thing!

Jack, Emily, SB & Annie said...

YIKES! I'm glad you are safe. That is so scary! And kudos for doing the right thing.

AnnaLittle said...

Laura... what a hero you are. I cannot believe you saw that on University Drive!!! The world is going to pot.

We knew you were a 'good person' before this ever happened :)