Brittney Gilbert reports that a man on the 49 around 26th and Mission had his wallet stolen right out of his hand. It sounds like the kids who stole the wallet did not even try to be discrete about it:
“To clarify, two teens on the 49 took a man’s wallet that was in his hand, and hared him to do something about it. He did not.” (link)
To reiterate:
Man, what the hell do you do in that situation? I have half a mind to pull out my bike lock and smack the little hoodlum in the face!
But one of them might have a knife, and another kid in the back might take their side instead of some whiteys side and pull out his gun. So I guess you do nothing.
But honestly, if they had a gun or a knife they would have shown it, they wouldn’t need to dare.
I did not know what to do, either. I was scared, frankly, and stepping in could have escalated the situation in a bad way.
You know what you do? Instead of tweeting, you (the bystander) get on the horn to 911 and you report it because he can’t.
This incident happened in under a minute, maybe two. I did what I thought I could in a frightening situation. In retrospect would I have called 911. Yes. But I was too stunned to act. I reported, which is what I do. As a result of my “tweeting,” the issue of intimidation on buses in SF is being discussed here and at SFist.
The title of this post should be “Man has wallet stolen and bystanders tweet instead of calling police.”
And why instead of tweeting? Why not in addition to? Reporting the incident has value.
Not immediate value. No.
I know! Things like this are TWITTER GOLD!
one cannot be critical of another’s actions in what could have been a dangerous situation.
it’s easy to say “you should have blah blah blah”….until one is faced with the potential of physical harm ones-self.
Placing a discreet call from a cell phone, even waiting until the crooks get off the bus is not in my opinion risky. 911 first. The you can tweet your ass off for all I care.
That guy is clearly an idiot for carrying his wallet anywhere but in his pocket on a crowded bus.
“This is MUNI Security reminder. Remember to protect purses and wallets on crowded transit vehicles.”
The city needs a @SF911 Twitter account similar to the @SF311 account. Also, I think it would be more helpful if one discretely snaps a photo of the perps before calling 911, or writing a tweet.
bingo! what a twittertwat!
Tweeting is your first instinct when seeing a man get jacked for his wallet? Really? Someone needs to get off her social networks. Like, forever.
This isn’t unlike that time when a man jumped to his death in front of the H&M by Union Square last year, where the by-standers stood in shock, and then immediately busted out thier phones. Why? To take pictures, of course. Except in this MUNI case, a call to 911 might have helped.
“I reported, which is what I do.” Jesus. Insert “helped” in the place of “reported.” Please?
Spineless twats. What if he has a gun or a knife? What if another rider decides to help the robber? What if… Thank goodness there are people in life who value right over wrong and will risk life and limb in doing so. Thank you Firemen. Police officers. Soldiers. Paramedics. Civilians who stand up for others. Shoplifters?…I chase ‘em down and beat them. Walked up to someone stealing my truck mirror with a knife in one hand…beat him to a pulp and handed the bastard to the cops. Handed cash to a robber with a gun and told him flat out that he’s not getting my wallet even when he shoved my head against the wall with his gun. And so on, and so on. Stupid? Maybe. But at least I’m not a spineless twat. The owner of the wallet would have gotten his wallet back if I was on the bus.
I hate to let out my inner-Ian to rant about someone else’s trauma, but I kind of can’t help wishing some of my fellow young, healthy-ish Mission hipsters would start to at least take a teenaged punch for their wallet. This is the second “mugging” post on this blog where the answer to the (admittedly intimidating) question: May I have your wallet? has been: Why, yes you may, sir.
Right now those kids are yucking it up with their friends about how all you have to do is, like, insist on a hipter’s wallet and they hand it to you with a smile. I don’t think it’s going to make this sort of thing happen less.
I’m not a fraction as Bronson as Ian, but I was mugged by four teenagers (one with a gun) and they kicked my ass proper and they left with my wallet and they’ll never be caught, BUT: There was eight dollars in that wallet, two for each of them, and I’ll bet you none of them would tell you it was worth $2. And I’ll bet you if those same four guys saw me walking alone with eight dollars again, they’d decide to wait and take somebody else’s eight dollars.
At least make them earn it, right? A lot of those kids do that more for fun than for money. I think it prove a genuine disincentive to make it less fun.
jesus, call the fucking police! that’s what I did when a fight broke out on the 26. holy shit you dumb twats.