Have you had any Close Calls with Death ?

[TerryC]

Was that drug related? I lived in the area at that time and it seems that many places around there are in better shape now than they were in the 70s/80s.

At first I was thinking I’ve led a charmed life...no near misses. But then I remembered what a bad driver my ex husband was and all the accidents I walked away from and the near misses, almost getting hit by a train and once by a dump truck full of gravel.

Almost got smashed flat by a circus wagon once. Was down on the lakefront in Milwaukee helping unload them for the Great Circus Parade. One of the ramps broke. I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye and was backing up when it came down with a crash. Got hit on the head and saw stars for a while. Thankful I wasn’t all the way underneath it.

Have had bullets zing overhead or ricochet past me more times than I care to think about.

Been hypothermic to the point where I stopped shivering...thought I was going to freeze to death.

I think the scariest was almost being abducted. After my divorce I bought a house in a small town and was walking my dogs down the street after work when a van pulled up at the intersection in front of me. The driver had parked against traffic, rolled down his window and said ‘what kind of dogs are those?’. Before I could answer he was getting out of the van by the sliding door behind the driver seat and coming at me at a quick walk while saying ‘oh ya I have one just like your brown one’. I was distracted by thinking ‘if he has one why doesn’t he know what kind of dog it is?’. He grabbed the arm of my jacket and tried to pull me into the van. I backed up and hauled off to hit him when the dogs intervened...one started barking and the other growled and lunged at him. With all the commotion he let go, jumped back in the van and took off. I just stood there and shook for about 10 minutes. If it wasn’t for the dogs I feel I’d have probably met a fate worse than death.

Adding one I try not to think about because I've been feeling so good...coming up on 5 years cancer free. Knock wood.

Yes, drug related. Here's the REST of the story.
Van Skyhock was a drug dealer. His dealing partner kept $40,000 in cash in his van for deals of opportunity. They lived in Elm Grove. Van Skyhock decided to rip his partner off and make it look like someone else was to blame. Van Skyhock hired two out-of-towners to rip off V S and his partner and they were to use his partner's van as the getaway car. V S did not tell the holdup guys about the cash in the van. He had them drive it to a motel in Wauwatosa, where I worked as a cop, and wait for V S's call. His partner called the van in as stolen but did not report the other things stolen (at gun point), such as cocaine and 17,000 in cash. As the dispatcher was announcing the auto theft, I was passing through the motel parking lot and was looking at the stolen van! I continued through and parked out of the lot. The troops arrived and we cordoned off the lot. Tommy Simon, detective, checked with the front desk and learned the van was registered to room 110. We know the two bad guys saw us and just walked away because the room was empty. They left two pistols, two ski masks, $17,000 in cash and a kilo of cocaine in a gym bag. Two Elm Grove cops arrived and we were checking out the room when the phone rang. Tommy answered and V S said he was on the way. We saw him pull up in front of the room. He came to the door and we opened it. He is looking at four officers pointing guns at him. He reached for the revolver in his waistband. I jumped up from a kneeling position (two officers were behind me and I did not think it wise to be in their line of fire!) and grabbed the gun. As long as I held on to the revolver, he could not pull the trigger. I spun around, removing it from V S's hand and the other officers piled onto V S. I took V S to the station in my squad. Van Skyhock did not know that I was the officer that took his gun. He was a talker! He told me all the things listed above and basically "confessed" to the entire plan. He thought we were hired by his guys to rip HIM off so he thought we were going to shoot so he thought he had nothing to lose but to shoot us. Since we never gave him his Miranda warning (we would later when ready to question him) all he said in the squad was admissible in court. To explain about the revolver... if the hammer is not cocked, it is impossible to get the gun to fire if you hold onto the cylinder and (easily) keep it from turning. BUT DON'T LET GO! I got a medal to wear for possibly saving the lives of four officers from an armed assailant. ╦╦C

 

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[Xraywolf]

Lived & worked in Metro-Detroit for many years = about 30. Yeah, what a shame. When I went up there it wasn't like that, it was still Motown. But then it "rotted". I guess for many reasons, but the blame should be placed on the people who lived there AND GAVE UP.

Well, 100,000's of people "gave up" - It was called "white flight" and I sure don't blame my parents not wanting to see me kill or be killed going to school, was quickly heading in that direction - People with the means got out while they could, and it really was just as simple as that.
Should we have stayed and watched our neighborhood get looted, burned and torn down ? Might we have been able to defend ourselves with enough ammo, guard dogs and fortifications ? Perhaps, glad we didn't stay around to find out - Though at the time of course, as a kid, I was really pissed at leaving my friends and neighborhood, and spent the next couple years in Detroit until I adjusted got new friends and made a mark in a new area. Looking back, they made the only decision they could make and it was the correct one - And as today, I place the blame on those who looted, burned and destroyed instead of getting a job and trying to live like a normal human.

Most of the metro Detroit neighborhoods are cesspools which the average person would quickly turn around and speed away from but the downtown area has made quite a comeback with lots of productive people moving in, the blight goes out, things get safe, businesses are attracted ect. Mostly around areas with college campuses and/or large businesses, tough to see how this model could ever be applied to urban areas in cities like Detroit [Philly, Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, St Louis ect the list goes on and on], it can't. Has to be safe for decent productive people to move in and businesses to follow, there is no magic wand to wave.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Wave after wave of pouring rain here, been in bed trying to sleep but it's not happening. You & I have traded posts for years here. We be who we be my friend. You stay safe my friend -- ya ever need to hide somewhere, come on up

Thanks!, will do; i know the area. I will howl, to let you know...