Posted on 05/13/2005 9:06:14 PM PDT by ConservativeMan55
The following is a personal story about something that happened to me and my family.
My mom was recently told that she needed to have an extremely dangerous surgery in order to correct an irregular heartbeat. In order to correct this problem, we had to travel to Oklahoma City. We checked into a motel called the "Comfort Inn"
My sister and I stayed in one room, and my grandparents stayed in the room right next to ours. My dad stayed at the hospital with my mom the entire time. When we got to the motel we quickly realized that we weren't in the greatest part of town. But this hotel had one of the better rates.
Neither of my grandparents can walk very well. So when we got to the motel I unloaded their car. I let them go inside and sit down and rest while I brought the bags to them.
My grandpa was an avid hunter up until he had his heart attack a couple years ago. So he's very experienced with guns and ammo. He knew that we wouldn't be in the best part of town, so he packed his gun in his luggage.
My mom's heart surgery was on Tuesday morning, and it lasted around 8 hours. The surgery went great, so we decided to go ahead and leave on Wednesday morning. My dad and mom decided to stay a couple extra days just in case. They planned to check into a very nice hotel in Oklahoma City when she got out of the hospital. So that she would be close to the hospital if something happened or went wrong.
We ate out every night that we were there, and several times we talked to each other (my grandparents and my sister and myself) about how the restuarants looked, etc. We would speculate if the place was safe or not before we went in.
Tuesday night we ate at a Pizza Hut there in Oklahoma City. I always kept watch of my surroundings and sometimes even felt like I was being watched. We probably were being watched seeing as how we were really the only white people around in the restaurants we visited. We looked out of place.
We also had a dog with us, so one person would stay in the motel and watch the dog, while the other three went out and ate. Then we would bring dinner back to the person who stayed at the motel.
Tuesday night we all went to bed with plans to wake up in the morning and pack our things and leave together. But that didn't happen exactly how we wanted it to. We are very close to this set of grandparents that went with us to Oklahoma City. I see them once a week at least.
My grandma is on a walker, but is the kind of person who offers to put things on her walker so she can help carry bags in. My grandpa has the same attitude. He will do things by himself before he asks for help.
My grandpa has slowly gone downhill in the last couple years. His heart began to not work properly. So he had a pacemaker put in. It is now doing 100 percent of the work. So a walk from the car to the door can seem like an eternity.
Wednesday morning came and we awoke around 8 o clock. My grandparents had already been up for at least 30 minutes to an hour. They had both eaten breakfast and gotten dressed. By the time 9 o clock rolled around my grandpa began to load the car without telling me.
My grandma came in to see how we were doing. She didn't mention anything about him loading the car either. My grandma played with the dog for a minute or two, told me to take some allergy medicine, and then went back to her apartment.
As she left our apartment she thought she heard someone or something. But she couldn't see anything, so she went back inside the apartment. There are back doors to each room. The back doors are sliding doors, so you can walk next door.
Back to the parking lot where my grandpa was loading the car. As he walked to the car, he noticed a man sitting on the curb. The man got up, and was trying to get inside the motel. You can't get inside the main doors of the motel unless you have a key.
The man tried to get inside the janitors closet. When he couldn't get inside he sat back down on the curb. My grandpa thought he worked for the motel and was waiting to go to work.
My grandpa loaded a few bags in the back of the car and then turned around to walk back to the door. He was using my grandma's walker to load bags. As he turned to go back inside the man who was sitting on the curb bum rushed him knocking him down.
The man turned him over, and stuck his hand inside his back pocket trying to get his wallet. My grandpa turned back over and kicked the man. The guy would turn my grandpa back over, and my grandpa would kick him again.
My grandpa was screaming at him "I'll kill you, you bastard!" Finally the mugger gave up and began to walk away. But then in a desperate attempt to get the wallet, he walked back over to my grandpa who was now laying on the ground. He said "Oh look man. I'm sorry. Let me help you up." My grandpa grabbed the guys hand and then kicked him three times "in the balls"
The guy ran off with no wallet and no money. My grandpa stood up and sat in the car for a minute or two. A lady walked by and saw him bleeding. She asked him if he was ok, and he said "Yes I'm fine. But you better be careful. There's a mugger out here."
She got his room number, and went and told my grandma and me what had happened. My sister and I got dressed and ran outside to find him in OK shape. He was standing up. He had a lot of cuts and bruises on him.
Especially a bad one on the side of his head. But he was never knocked out, and all of the cuts seemed fairly minor. The fire department arrived first. They treated him and fixed up the bigger cuts and bruises.
My grandpa was out of breath, but was able to tell the fire department that "If he had had his gun on him, he would have left the guy laying out here in the street for you all to pick up."
He was very feisty. The firemen loved him. They asked him if he was ex military and he said no. Then they looked at my grandma and said "Can I take him home with me? You can teach my daughter some stuff!"
The police arrived 5 to 10 minutes later. They got a description of the suspect from my grandpa, but they didn't ask any detailed questions. That led me to believe they weren't really going to look for the guy.
I am in training to be a reporter, so I know what kinds of questions to ask. They didn't ask questions as if they were going to go look for the guy. They asked very general questions.
They took down my grandpa's cell phone number, and said they would call him if they found the guy. But they never called. My grandpa said he would have had his gun if he had made one more trip to the room.
I am still very upset about the entire situation. I wish I had been there. The man probably wouldn't have attacked him. And if he had, I would have taken care of the creep with my bare hands.
Its one thing for somebody to mess with you, but when they mess with somebody you love, they cross the line. Imagine walking outside only to find out somebody just beat up your mom. Thats what I felt like. I feel terrible I wasn't able to stop this.
But I was also very proud of my grandpa for fighting and not letting the guy get any of his money. Even if it did cost him a few cuts and bruises. But one thing's for sure. He learned a valuable lesson. He won't go very many places without his gun anymore.
Thank goodness your Grandpa is OK. Just curious, what did Comfort Inn do for him regarding this incident?
They did absolutely nothing except say they were sorry.
And they only did that AFTER he chatted with the manager.
The manager never offered an apology of any kind.
I'm so glad he's all right. You come from solid stock eh!
Yep!
I've always watched my surroundings carefully, but I will do so even more now.
I guess I'm not surprised....every business is so paralyzed in fear of litigation that they've stopped doing simple customer service.
bttt
They're not. That is, they're not going to actively look for him. Up to now, I've lived in high-crime areas all my life. Before living and working in a major city as an adult, I grew up in a town that even the criminals from the major city were afraid to go to. If your grandfather was attacked in the type of high-crime area that you described, then sadly the police don't have time to look for a mugger.
Good thing your grandfather is so tough. :-)
bump!
When I was in Troop R of the OHP in the early 80's I lived in OKC, and I interacted with them frequently. All the officers I knew then from OKCPD were top of the line, caring officers. I'd hate to think that OKC has gone this far downhill .... :(
±
"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty." 
Toward FREEDOM
You served time as a LEO in a rather rough part of the country. Know about Kirksey Nix?
I can't imagine anyone without a weapon in their pocket!
Tho we did have our share of dirtbags in the early '80s ... :(
±
"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty." Toward FREEDOM
bttt
Seems like Kirksey has been locked up since about '72 when he was convicted or murder in New Orleans, life without parole but has committed numerous crimes while locked up including paying for murder. At one time he was a really nice looking guy, lots of fun, great opportunities to be something but chose a life of crime instead
My son-in-law's uncle served 10 years in Angola with him. Nowadays, Kirk is in SuperMax in Florence, Colorado.
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.