Kidnapping mistaken for performance art?
And today's "What's with people today?" story comes from Corona, Calif. -- site of an apparent kidnapping involving two men in a black sedan and a woman who they stuffed in a trunk.
This is the part that blows my mind:
A few shoppers appeared to turn their heads and watch but took no action. In addition, several motorists drove through the scene.
OK. It's not a good idea to put yourself in potential physical jeopardy by trying to physically intervene in a situation like this, but what does it say about us collectively that no one bothered to pick up their damn cell phone and call the cops?
Comments
My very first blog entry was about the underage playground arson I stopped. Stomped out the fire, defended myself from the little truants, and walked home to call the cops on them.
Kidnapping is rather more serious, and this sounds like a more crowded area. Someone should have done something.
Posted by: Alphax | November 12, 2004 11:37 AM
Interesting stuff! What happened after you ID'd them? Did you ever see them again?
Posted by: flargh | November 12, 2004 12:41 PM
The cops caught them on the scene, and I walked back over there for a positive ID. Gave them a one page write-up over the incident.
The only aftermath was some letters from the Juvenile Justice department about whether or not I wanted to put in a claim for damages. I called them to explain that while the older one did hit me in the back, I barely felt it, and did not feel that monetary compensation was in order.
Posted by: Alphax | November 12, 2004 03:15 PM
Fark.com is also covering this story tonight.
Posted by: Alphax | November 13, 2004 12:56 AM
It's a variant of the Stockholm syndrome. Usually nobody wants to take the first step forward to save someone else but risk their own life in the process. If it were otherwise, the airplanes involved in the 9/11 attack would have never been successfully hijacked in the first place.
If you want to reproduce a small experiment, assign a task to a group of people and let them know that more than one person has been requested the same thing. Then, do the same but don't let them know that other people have also being assigned the same task.
Posted by: FC | November 14, 2004 02:47 PM