I have a new appreciation for the movie The Fugitive... (Barbra Streisand)

Ok so a few things have happened since I last posted. Most notably the most terrifying thing I have ever faced. Where to start, where to start... oh right GODDAMN TERRIFYING.

So Friday after work me and some friends were all set to drink the weekend away, all we needed was some stuff to mix/chase with. I.e. Powerade, Redbull and various other energy/soft drinks, plus maybe some munchies.

So we set out to the dollar store and picked up a few things, and then to the closest grocery store to get a few more. Finally we headed to our favorite shop. Favorite because it was the cheapest (i.e five finger discount) I know, I know I'm a terrible person.

It's a great set up in that there are plenty of blind corners, there are rarely too many people in the store and we have a great three man strike team. Marcel the largest in the group is the best blocker we could ever ask for, my friend Steven who is the shortest makes great front cover and carries all of the product, he's also the fastest. I am usually the hands (the person who puts the stuff in the backpack worn by Steven). Give us five minutes and we can be all set for a night.

All was going smoothly and we were just heading out the store, me being about 15 feet ahead of Steven and Marcel, and I was almost at my car when I heard yelling and realized that my two best friends weren't at the car. I peered around the corner to see a man with gray hair and medium build gripping Steven by the jacket/backpack, and Steven yelling "Give me my glasses" and a few seconds later the man yelled "You're under arrest!". Instinct kicked in, as I calmly stepped back from the corner, and walked towards my car forcing myself not to sprint away.

In my panic I locked my car and just started to walk to our designated emergency point of contact. All the while alternating between the words "Fuck" and "Please god", my heart was racing my mind instantly becoming a scenario processing machine, my arms and hands numb and shaking from the adrenaline. It all seemed like a bad dream. I forced myself to walk calmly as to not draw attention to myself. I managed to keep myself under control until I got to our designated emergency point of contact, and found no one else there. At which point I sat down and started to shake uncontrollably and hyperventilate.

The longer I waited and no one showed up, the more I panicked. No one else had made it out. So I decided that to keep myself from panicking I would pick objectives and stick to those and from there make my decisions as to what I should do next. So my first objective was to find a phone (I had left my phone, my money and everything important in my car).

I figured the closest one would be the local corner store about 8 minutes walk away. It had started drizzling at this point which did not help the shaking at all, the rain was freezing. I had to ask directions to the store twice, when I should have known the route by heart. When I got there I asked to use the phone and said that my car had broken down. The owner seemed reluctant, but gave me the phone after reminding me about the store's cameras.

I called Marcel's number because I figured if anyone could've made it out of there it was him, as he wasn't in a headlock when I last saw him. I dialed his number and it eventually rang to voice mail. I gave back the phone to the owner of the store, and decided I had to find someone I knew who could help me. I didn't have enough for the payphone and the only people who's numbers I knew were already captured, or family and I knew that my family couldn't find out. I had never felt so alone in my entire life.

So I decided I'd go to a coworkers place next (it was the only place within walking distance that housed someone I knew). so I ran. I ran until my muscles ached and my lungs burned for air I had to stop when my legs began to give out. I probably couldn't have run half that distance in twice the time any other day. Yay adrenaline. All the while thinking "I am a goddamn traitor, I just fucking left them there. What the hell is wrong with me, I have lost my two best friends, and I'm still probably boned."

So after the running and another 25 minute walk I made it to my coworkers building only to realize I didn't know what room they were in, or who to buzz to get them to open the door. I needed to get into her place so that I could contact my friend Remmington who had a car (I decided that I should try to see if my car was still at the store, if it was I was going to take it home, and if it wasn't I was going to turn myself in).

Seeing as I couldn't get into the building I couldn't get Remmington's number and therefore was quite screwed. Oh and you know when I said I had never felt so alone, I lied, it was at that point that I felt the loneliest. Not only did I have no one who could help me or talk to me, I had just lost my two best friends. It wouldn't have been bad at all if I'd had music to distract me.

As per the strategy of not panicking I decided I'd go to the gas station I used to work at and use their phone to contact the only other person's number I knew by heart (Tom's).

Thank god he picked up the phone, he didn't have a car, but he was able to give me my friend Kyle's number. Who after a brief argument of "DUDE I AM SOO FUCKING SCREWED, I HAVE NO ONE ELSE TO CALL" he said he could make it in 40 minutes. Meanwhile my former coworker helped calm me a bit. She had a few similar stories and said that really there was nothing I could do, and that they probably would've done the same thing. As I waited for Kyle I used the payphone to call both Steven and Marcel, both of them went to voice mail.

Once Kyle (and his upset girlfriend) arrived I explained to him the whole story which really took a load off of my mind, at least someone else knew who wasn't panicking and was able to help me make rational decisions. We decided that we should go back to the store and see if my car was still there. If it was I'd drive to his place and crash there for the night.

As we pulled in to the store parking lot, Kyle called Steven's number and Steve told him that it was all over and that he was coming around to the side where my car was still (miraculously parked). He walked right over with what seemed like an angry look, and handed me a police officers contact information. I got out of Kyle's car and gave Kyle some stuff for coming all the way to town to get me. I then saw the police officers car and flagged him down, I was told I was under arrest and being charged for shoplifting. I gave him my contact information, and went back to the car to meet my friends. Immediately expecting banishment from the group. They laughed at me and said that I did exactly what we were supposed to do.

I immediately felt 1000 times better and we exchanged stories of our ordeals, as we headed back to Steven's to drink the memory away.


Below are the first hand accounts of my friends:

Steven:

I left the store and this guy was trying to go out the in at the food basics, I was confused as to what he was doing, so I took a step towards him to let him out.  He grabbed my hand I pulled back in self defense as the private investigator did not identify himself. I fell and I was then put into a head lock, which knocked off my glasses and broke some of the product that was in my backpack. 

I repetitively asked for my glasses and while the investigator yelled “You’re under arrest!” I continued to struggle to get out of the headlock, as I was still disoriented without my glasses. As I pulled back he began to tighten his grip around my neck to the point where I found it difficult to breathe. A bystander came closer and said aloud “that seems a bit excessive” he said this more than once. Then he put me in handcuffs after he loosened his grip around my neck.

We walked us up to his office. When we got upstairs I asked the private investigator who put me in a headlock for his badge, and then he identified himself properly.  He opened my bag (without my consent) and took out the leaking product, and later had Marcel take the rest out (again without my consent). After that they went to the other room read us our rights and completed some paperwork. When we were walking to the office I asked for the bystander to be contacted for the purpose of being a witness, to which I received no reply.  The police officer arrived some time later and did not review video footage and did not ask for our story, only for that of the private investigator. After the investigator was finished to police officer told us we were being charged.

Marcel (www.desolateandfullofyearning.blogspot.com):

When I saw the guy going through the in door, I laughed because he seemed crazy. Then I remember hearing him tell me to go back into the store. He did not identify himself, so I complied, he proceeded to grab Steven. I didn’t see Steven pull back but I did see him fall to the ground, then the citizen said “doesn’t that seem excessive” and I all remember is Steven asking for his glasses and him putting Steven in a head lock, also he at some point said “You’re Under Arrest” .

I saw Steven struggle, and then he kinda calmed down, and then he let Steven up and put handcuffs on him. There was kind of a crowd gathering and then we walked into the store and I heard Steven asking for the citizen as a witness. The foodbasics manager yelled "Call the cops" as Steven went down. The main private investigator apparently thought that Steven had a knife as he then commented that when Steven pulled back he thought that steven was going for a knife or to throw a punch. 

And apparently thought that the crowd of teenagers that were nearby were apart of a “gang”. At this point we are upstairs and Steven and the investigator were arguing about the use of force. To my recollection the investigator only said “You’re under arrest” after steven was in a headlock. 

He asked to remove items from Steven’s backpack. He asked me if I had anything in my backpack and I replied yes. He then opened my bag and took out the product and then said "Ok look through both of your bags and take out whatever you stole." We sat in the room as they read us our rights. The younger investigator told us we could contact a lawyer if we wished. 

We waited for them to finish paperwork and we signed some papers saying we had been read our rights. They then asked for our ID, and steven provided his and I didn’t have mine and I told them that. They asked us to identify our third person (Calvin). I said his name was Calvin and I initially hesitated to give them his last name but eventually did. I didn’t know his home address nor his actual town that he lives at so I couldn’t provide them with that information at the time. 

I identified him on their CCTV recording of him during our entrance into the store. We didn’t know where he had run off to or where he possibly could have run too so I didn’t bother guessing.  After taking our I.D. they handed us our trespass notice banning us from the Metro stores indefinitely. Then we sat around waiting for the police to show up. During our I.D. process I intermittently laughed to myself to which the main investigator asked “Do you think this is funny/fun?”, I just said I was trying to calm myself down.

When the police showed up, he didn’t ask us what happened/our part of the story, the investigator handed him photocopies of some of the paperwork. The cop then said we were being charged. He took us outside to his cruiser and filled out more paperwork while wait stood outside. We asked about changing our fingerprint dates/court dates because Steven might be in Winnipeg at the point but he said he couldn’t. At this point we are free to go and then we met Calvin around the corner and direct him to the cop so that he can be identified. After more paperwork we left

So yea that's the terrifying accounts of what happened Friday.