A metal detecting horror story!

[Hawkeye P]

I just recently talked to an old MD'ing friend whom I hadn't seen in several years. While we were catching up, I mentioned that I was getting back into MD'ing after a long break. He told me he didn't hunt anymore - of course, I asked why, as this guy was definitely a MD'ing fanatic when I knew him years ago. After I heard his story, I almost had second thoughts about getting back into the hobby!

About two years ago, he was out in the local state forest - public land - searching an old canoe-launching site along the river. It was just upstream from a still-active launch ramp, but this one doesn't get used much anymore. After finding about five pounds of lead fishing sinkers and a few clad Lincolns, he was just about to give up when he heard someone yell "HEY!" He turned around to see an older guy about ten feet away with a shotgun. He quickly took off his headphones and said "Hi." The guy said "you're trespassing," to which my friend replied that he wasn't and this was part of the state forest. I know - arguing with a shotgun-wielding hillbilly might not be the best idea. The guy said, "this is MY property, and you are gonna leave." The shotgun was never pointed at my friend, but he realized that he'd rather comply than take a chance. He said, "alright, I'll go," and started to walk away. At this point, the guy said "leave the stuff here!" "What?" My friend said, shocked. The guy said, "I said, drop your stuff and get off my property!" My friend quickly realized that, trespassing or not, he was being robbed. He set down his detector and backed away slowly. "Now get out!" the guy said. My friend got out as quick as he could.

As soon as he got to the main road, he called 911. He told them that he had just been robbed by a guy with a gun. They asked the usual questions, was he alright, did he know the person, could he describe him, where the incident occurred. My friend asked that an officer meet him at a gas station down the road, rather than at home (which was about 1/2 an hour away). About an hour later, a sheriff showed up. My friend told him the whole story, and when he got to the part about being accused of trespassing, the officer said, "WERE you trespassing?" My friend said no, and he could produce the plat maps to prove it. The cop apparently didn't believe him, and told him that if he was trespassing, the owner had the RIGHT make him leave immediately, without his equipment! My friend didn't believe this, but he just repeated that he wasn't trespassing. The cop took notes and left, saying they'd get back to my friend in a day or so. They never contacted him.

About a week later, he finally called the sheriff's department. They had no record of his report, and to make matters worse, they also said that if he was trespassing, he was lucky he didn't spend the night in jail or worse! They didn't even care when he said he could prove he wasn't trespassing. My friend was so upset by all of this that he decided to forget about it and give up MD'ing. Heck, if that happened to me, I'd probably do the same!

 

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[BIG61AL]

So they can make you leave your personal property on their property? Are you supposed to drop your wallet, watch and wedding ring too. Cops are stupid. Your friend should complain to his state Representative that the police told him the man robbing him on state property had a legal right to keep his stolen items. One more reason for me to not like cops. Oh yeah, my dad was a cop so I am very familiar what thieves and liars and how stupid they are.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Yeah, I'm sorry but folks are getting a bit strange up there.
That state is in deep sh#!
Was this near Muskegon?
.
PM me if your friend is interested in getting back into the hobby with a little help.

Mike

 

[Sim_Player]

If that happened to me the fella would be looking down the barrel of a .45 Beretta first chance I got.

And yes, I would shoot him if he forced my hand.

I carry a .45 when MD'ing in public spaces.

The way the cop treated your friend was BS!

I would have called the local news and anyone else I could think of.

Jim on Camano

 

[WishfulThinker]

Could all be a fairy tale the guy is spinning to you, but if it is for real ---
That guy needed to contact the state police .... sounds like a local scam, especially if that really was public land.

It will be up to them to investigate, and he needs to file FELONY Armed Robbery and Assault Charges with State Police, "naming the local police department as participants in an armed robbery ring". Start by arresting the local police force as part of the problem! Happens all the time, especially when these guys turn out to be relatives. Paperwork kind of dissapears, but police dispatch records, and records of office meetings do not! Tell the State Police to FIND HIS REPORT! That alone is a FELONY, and can be substantiated by anyone that he saw there or along the way that day, motel receipts, credit card charges, stopping for food, anything to prove he was there, making that initial theft report.

=========================================================
ANY TIME YOU DEAL WITH POLICE, GET THE CASE NUMBER AT TIME OF INITIAL REPORT.
Otherwise, it is lost in the system, just like this.
=========================================================

Otherwise, detector shows up in pawn shop and they deny everything, claiming he was the one who sold it. Little phrases like "Let me see the security camera footage for that day" or "Let me see your pawn receipt book" usually settles that argument in a hurry. Especially when it comes from State Police Investigation. Pawn shop owner goes to jail and looses license if he does not cooperate! Little thing called possesing stolen merchandise and fencing it.

If that guy does actually own property around there, it should not be too hard for police to find him. They do not want to find him for some reason. Old country boy idea "Possesion is nine-tenths of the law", replaced with "Assume the position, you are under arrest".

 

[Noodle]

Good reason to have a cell phone with a camera on it. I'm sure he knew he was being hussled when he was told to drop his equipment. Would the guy have shot him? Probably not, but he didn't know. Best to do what he did... leave. But I'd have been tempted to leave WITH my equipment. Good time to mark your equipment before you go to such places so it's traceable, at least in the pawn shops. Those thieves can only use so many MDs. Then they have to sell or pawn them. Good ole backwoods, countryboy justice. Next time, don't be so congenial. Stare 'em down with a blank look and pretend to be deaf!

 

[Hawkeye P]

Believe me guys, this scared me too. I'm going to try and get a hold of my friend again and see if he's willing to take any of your suggestions to heart. It was awful to see one of the guys who first introduced me to the hobby give it up, but I really can't blame him after his experience! He's not one to tell "tall tales," so I'm inclined to believe his story.

I told my dad the story, and he said it sounded similar to something he heard years ago about why you SHOULDN'T go fishing near that particular public access point on the river - apparently, there's a guy who owns property NEAR there, but thinks that it all belongs to him! My dad remembered a story he heard about two guys who were forced AT GUNPOINT to leave their fishing rods and tackle boxes and "get out!" Sounds familiar! My dad believes that this is the same guy who, in the 1970s, was known to tape sticks of dynamite to a tree and shoot at them - don't know about that story, but if there's an ounce of truth to it and it IS the same guy who seems to be making a living out of ARMED ROBBERY, it sounds like he's certifiably insane!

Yeah, I'm sorry but folks are getting a bit strange up there.
That state is in deep sh#!
Was this near Muskegon?
Tell me. I can find out very easy who this punk was.
PM me if your friend is interested in getting back into the hobby with a little help.

Mike

Mike, funny you should mention that...from what I understand, it was actually in Oceana County, just north of the Muskegon County line. If my friend's description is correct, he was in an area known as Sischo Bayou (as I know it).

 

[GopherDaGold]

I wouldn't have left my detector. He can have the hooks and weights.
Our hobby is in desperate need of a martyr.

 

[jasonbo]

Id go back an take a friend to hide in the bush. Rob him back.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Believe me guys, this scared me too. I'm going to try and get a hold of my friend again and see if he's willing to take any of your suggestions to heart. It was awful to see one of the guys who first introduced me to the hobby give it up, but I really can't blame him after his experience! He's not one to tell "tall tales," so I'm inclined to believe his story.

I told my dad the story, and he said it sounded similar to something he heard years ago about why you SHOULDN'T go fishing near that particular public access point on the river - apparently, there's a guy who owns property NEAR there, but thinks that it all belongs to him! My dad remembered a story he heard about two guys who were forced AT GUNPOINT to leave their fishing rods and tackle boxes and "get out!" Sounds familiar! My dad believes that this is the same guy who, in the 1970s, was known to tape sticks of dynamite to a tree and shoot at them - don't know about that story, but if there's an ounce of truth to it and it IS the same guy who seems to be making a living out of ARMED ROBBERY, it sounds like he's certifiably insane!

Yeah, I'm sorry but folks are getting a bit strange up there.
That state is in deep sh#!
Was this near Muskegon?
Tell me. I can find out very easy who this punk was.
PM me if your friend is interested in getting back into the hobby with a little help.

Mike

Mike, funny you should mention that...from what I understand, it was actually in Oceana County, just north of the Muskegon County line. If my friend's description is correct, he was in an area known as Sischo Bayou (as I know it).

well, that explains that. A lot of crime near that area. gotta go just a little bit further north to get away from the creepies

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I would have hired myself a lawyer....big advantage to a legal law plan through work..... It doesn't sound right at all, no report filed by officer, why?

 

[Frank1960]

I would take the chance of him shooting me because i would have walked out carrying my detector. I am not just going to give my stuff up I worked hard to get things and by god I am going to put up a fight to keep them.

 

[undertaker]

It sounds like the movie Deliverence. I would have turned my back and walked but I wouldn't have given up my ace 250. If he was hanging in the area than he probably lives near by and would be quite easy to locate. If so it would be bad news for him. I had a state trooper tell me that he had a complanit about me looking a area. I told him who the land owner was and that he gave me permission. He told me to leave the site until he could contact the parties to determine who owned the land and he would get back to me. Months went by and I heard nothing. I then went to the land owner to find out what the out come was. He told me that nobody approached him about it and showed me where his land starts and ends. He said I can still detect it and to send anyone to him that has a problem with it. Seems funny I showed the state trooper where the land owner lived and he never follow up on it.

 

[Noodle]

I own land that I allow people to hunt on, but I give each one of them a laminated card at the beginning of hunting season that shows they have permission to be on the land. Maybe we need to start following that idea. If you have permission to detect on private land, go home, type up a permission ID, have the landowner sign it, and take it and have it laminated. Small insurance and shuts the county blowhards up. No need to wait for them to go "get permission" for you to do what you've already had permission to do. All my "hunters" have them. - Noodle

 

[niffler]

I'm with frank1960..If the Iraqis didn't get me in Desert Storm (And they tried), some wacko in the woods would have his job cut out for him. Nobody gets my detector. Niffler

 

[TxMike]

Man, I am I sorry to hear a tale like this. Something similar happened to a buddy of mine when he had a shotgun stolen from him. He found it later at a local gunshow but had no way to prove it was his as he had bought it second or third hand. He hadn't recorded the serial number and was basically S-O-L. Now all his high dollar items are recorded by serial number, he records pics in one of those freebie software inventory programs, and he records his name and phone number on a piece of labeling tape and hides it somewhere on the item like under the buttstock. I would bet something similar slid down inside the arm of a detector or behind the padding in the battery box would do the trick for detectorist. I can just imagine the look on a pawn shop owners face when you fish a label with your name on it out of the unit right in front of the cops!

 

[Hawkeye P]

"Deliverance" is the first thing I thought of when he told me the story. There are some really strange folks up in that area - lots of good ones, too, but quite a few wackos. I'm sure that's true of any part of the world, but there seems to be a direct relationship between how rural an area is and how many nutcases live there.

I wasn't able to get a hold of my friend yesterday - his daughter said he was out of town on business and she didn't know when he'd be back, but I'm going to keep trying. He works for some big global nuclear power company, and is frequently out of the country. Hopefully he won't be gone too long. In any case, I'm sure he has the money for a lawyer if it comes to that...but come to think of it, since the crime took place about two years ago (he didn't mention the exact date when I spoke to him), would the authorities even care anymore? Sorry if that's a stupid question, but I've never had to deal with a crime like this (fortunately). The more I think about this and hear your opinions, the more angry it makes me. I really wish he'd have called the State Police as soon as the Sheriff gave him the run-around.

As for me, I wouldn't have given up my equipment either. The hillbilly would have to be much more convincing - and if he tried too hard to "convince" me, he'd be the one leaving something important in the woods. My friend is not what you'd call "wimpy," but I always remember that he avoided confrontation whenever possible. He did say that he just didn't know what else to do.

I have a feeling that the local law enforcement up there gets legitimate complaints about trespassers and poachers on a regular basis, and maybe when my friend told them the guy had accused him of trespassing, they just assumed he was guilty. Still doesn't make any of it right, but I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren't just completely negligent.

 

[newbieprospector]

Wow!

I think your friend did the right thing walking away. My old car had the bullet holes to prove that some of those crazy backwoods folks will take things too far...especially when they know or are related to the local police!

But he should definitely bring this up with State police, then it won't matter who the old man knows or is related to...unless of course it's the Governor himself!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

If it took place over 2 years ago, it is highly unlikely anything can be done now.....

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Well, if it was his property or close to it you know whereabouts he lives.

One detector equals about one burned-out pickem-up truck in a driveway. Leave a dirty cent on the hood so he knows who and why.