My girlfriend, two youngest kids and I were walking from our London summer flat to dinner a couple nights ago. While in route, I overheard a lady on her cell phone saying something to the effect of “this creep has been stalking me for over a month and NOW I am following him.” As it turns out, she was talking to the police, but I was unaware of that.
After a few moments to ponder what I had heard, I told my family that I thought she was in distress and possibly needed some assistance. They agreed. So I inserted myself into the situation which resulted in a few confrontational words with the 6 foot something dude, then while the distressed damsel and I talked, we watched the stalker dude casually walked off and disappear into a side street.
In short, I decide to tail the stalker. Almost lost him. But tracked him unnoticed through a left turn, then right, left, right, left, right and right again. Luckily, along the way I flagged down a policeman that was willing to involve himself ... despite being unaware of the concurrent phone conversation the distressed damsel was still having with the police department a few blocks away.
So … as the accused stalker stuck his key in the door of his flat and looked over his shoulder, he realized I was standing right there with a policeman. A precious, unexpected, moment …
The damsel was able to now make a police report with an identified subject … and my family and I had something new to talk about over dinner!
I did listen into her call. And I did not get permission. And although she may have been offended for a moment that I had overheard (and acted upon) her conversation … she certainly was very thankful!
Could I have handled this better? Was there a better way to avoid consumer surprise? They had very different stories - what if he was an innocent Joe and I actually helped a whacked lady find a nice guys home? He did tell the policeman that he would have done the same thing had he been in my shoes.
Risk Mitigation Note: Had I not stumbled into a policeman, who knows how the story would have ended. And although I am ill prepared for any hand-to-hand combat … I did have a secret weapon with me. But don’t ask as I’d like to protect my sources and methods!
you're in London? try Saint Johns' Bread and Wine restaurant in spitalfields... enjoy your time.
Posted by: James Governor | June 20, 2006 at 08:40 AM
Good God Jeff, you never cease to entertain me...
Stef
Posted by: Stephanie Heuer | June 22, 2006 at 05:00 PM
Great writing Jeff. I plan on following your exploits through your blog.
Joe
Posted by: Joe Gluckman | August 22, 2006 at 10:03 AM