Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Police: Two Traveling Salesmen Beat Up St. Cloud Man [Minnesota]
WCCO/CBS ^ | July 14, 2012 6:14 PM | unattributed

Posted on 07/14/2012 8:22:38 PM PDT by Hunton Peck

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Two out-of-state traveling magazine salesmen allegedly beat up a St. Cloud man on Friday after he refused to buy a subscription, police say.

According to St. Cloud police, the 29-year-old St. Cloud homeowner was attacked when a 21-year-old salesman from Iowa and a 18-year-old salesman from California allegedly knocked down his door when he declined to buy from them. By the time police arrived at the 300 block of 17th Avenue North, the two assailants were restrained and the homeowner suffered only minor injuries.

Both men are being held in the Stearns County Jail on first-degree burglary charges.


TOPICS: Local News; Society
KEYWORDS: assaultandbattery; magazines; nosale; travelingsalesmen
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last
No joke. They used the hard sell approach.
1 posted on 07/14/2012 8:22:52 PM PDT by Hunton Peck
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the nearby Lowes.

A young man approached me “Excuse me sir, can I have a moment of your time? I’m selling subscriptions to magazines so that I may win a college scholarship...”

“Uh, dude? I’m SURE you’re not supposed to be soliciting in here.”

“Sir, my boss told me to just switch between here and the IKEA.”

“Boss???”

How many people subscribe to having paper magazines delivered to their houses by the Postal Service anyway? I’d rather they offer to recondition my buggy whips.


2 posted on 07/14/2012 8:28:28 PM PDT by End Times Sentinel (In Memory of my dear Friend Henry Lee II)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: South Hawthorne

This almost sounds like some new scam sweeping the country.

I can’t remember the last time I had a subscription to something printed on paper.


3 posted on 07/14/2012 8:45:34 PM PDT by Hunton Peck (The patient is bleeding to death! Apply more leeches!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck
Two things:

  • Got to love the wife. She woke me up this morning telling me two clean cut guys in short sleeved white shirts were knocking on our door She had her S&W Bodyguard in her hand, I grabbed my PDX1 loaded Public Defender Poly from the nightstand and we just waited. After a few minutes they left.

  • Years ago when I lived in a citesh often some earnest leftist would approach me on the street and ask if he/she could speak with me for a moment. I always answered 'sure' and kept waking. LOL! They expected me to stop. Right!

4 posted on 07/14/2012 8:45:38 PM PDT by I see my hands (It's time to.. KICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHER FREEPERS!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

Kinda takes “high pressure sales tactics” to the extreme, doesn’t it?


5 posted on 07/14/2012 8:47:12 PM PDT by factoryrat (We are the producers, the creators. Grow it, mine it, build it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

I came close to this just a few weeks ago. Perhaps this is unfair, since the man was never physically threatening, but he did show anger. He rang the doorbell, and when I answered he introduced himself and said he was an ex-convict seeking to improve his life, and showed me ID from the state of Tennesee. He had a folder with some kind of cloth cover, which had been folded into squares. There was a signature sheet, asking you to evaluate his politeness etc. I asked to look at it and leafing ahead, I saw this was all lead-in to the magazine pitch, since he would not get “full credit” for the evaluation unless I bought magazines. Meanwhile, he was asking me if I would be willing to help “someone like him”, and I said “sure” ( “willing”, N.B. ) Of course, when I preemptively told him I wasn’t going to buy any magazines under any circumstances, he accused me of lying; using that word, as I recall. It was very much like an affirmative action meeting from the ‘80’s. I noted that the last signature was from Strongsville, Ohio, and he said that’s where he was last. It’s about 350 miles east of the Chicago area where I live. I found the whole thing rather disturbing, needless to say.


6 posted on 07/14/2012 8:54:26 PM PDT by dr_lew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

I have heard of the Ben Franklin close, would this be the Chuck Norris close?


7 posted on 07/14/2012 8:55:12 PM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

I suppose in retrospect he wishes he’d have just taken Sports Illustrated for a year...


8 posted on 07/14/2012 8:58:35 PM PDT by bigbob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dr_lew

Mmmm. Sounds like you deserved a good beating.


9 posted on 07/14/2012 9:01:11 PM PDT by Krankor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

“By the time police arrived at the 300 block of 17th Avenue North, the two assailants were restrained and the homeowner suffered only minor injuries.”

It sounds to me like St. Cloud Man Beat Up Two Traveling Salesmen....


10 posted on 07/14/2012 9:01:32 PM PDT by JoeDetweiler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck
I'm surprised to hear that they still do this. There has been controversy around the door-to-door magazine salemen for a while. In fact, there was a murder case a few years ago in this area related to these folks (I think one offed another, not a homeowner). Pretty shady stuff, for the most part.
11 posted on 07/14/2012 9:05:57 PM PDT by Major Matt Mason ("Journalism is dead. All news is suspect." - Noamie)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

Hard to get repeat business that way.


12 posted on 07/14/2012 9:08:45 PM PDT by dog breath
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Major Matt Mason

>> I’m surprised to hear that they still do this.

Yeah, but back in the day, traveling salesmen had the guts to beat up the prospective customers on their own without the help of a buddy. Boy, talk about the new Castratti.


13 posted on 07/14/2012 9:10:04 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Demoralization is a weapon of the enemy. Don't get it, don't spread it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: JoeDetweiler

The “reporting” does leave something to be desired...


14 posted on 07/14/2012 9:11:27 PM PDT by Hunton Peck (The patient is bleeding to death! Apply more leeches!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck
No pictures. No description.

I'm going out on a limb here -- the two assailants might be magazine salesmen, but they might also be black. If so, it begs the question: did they resort to violence because they are magazine salesmen, or did they resort to violence because they are black?

Of course, if they aren't black, then I'm just jumping to conclusions. But the odds are in my favor here.

15 posted on 07/14/2012 9:13:25 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Roger Taney? Not a bad Chief Justice. John Roberts? A really awful Chief Justice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy
“Of course, if they aren't black, then I'm just jumping to conclusions. But the odds are in my favor here.”

I think the odds are in your favor. When I see these stories I always bet on it being one of Obama’s sons. I am right over 80% of the time.

16 posted on 07/14/2012 9:34:05 PM PDT by Parley Baer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Wally_Kalbacken

LOL....”Roundhouse kick your sales success to a new level!”


17 posted on 07/15/2012 2:36:55 AM PDT by PhxTM06
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

Buy or die!


18 posted on 07/15/2012 3:03:18 AM PDT by Free in Texas (Member of the Bitter Clingers Association.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: South Hawthorne
“Excuse me sir, can I have a moment of your time?"

No. Stopping people dead in their tracks with a question is a highly effective technique. Time of day? Spare change? A few survey questions? Caught off guard, they freeze. Easy pickins' from there...Magazine subscriptions? Get off my lawn.
19 posted on 07/15/2012 4:12:42 AM PDT by PowderMonkey (WILL WORK FOR AMMO)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: dr_lew
"There was a signature sheet, asking you to evaluate his politeness etc."

Another effective technique: You've been outmaneuvered and manipulated at the start, by getting something into your hands. Now you're stuck with whatever they've handed you, and you're anchored in place, under their control. They won't accept it back until you've "answered some survey questions" with a view towards separating you from your money.
20 posted on 07/15/2012 4:25:23 AM PDT by PowderMonkey (WILL WORK FOR AMMO)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson