1 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:08,919 Speaker 1: I had just gotten out of work at eleven PM 2 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:12,519 and was heading back to my house. It's about a 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,759 forty five minute drive to get home. Usually, as I 4 00:00:15,839 --> 00:00:20,320 lived several miles outside of the city, It's always very 5 00:00:20,399 --> 00:00:23,079 quiet and the roads are pretty empty once I start 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:26,640 to get further out and closer to home. I always 7 00:00:26,719 --> 00:00:29,920 enjoyed the drives back from work. I found them peaceful 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,079 and just a nice way to wind down after a 9 00:00:32,079 --> 00:00:36,119 long day. I was twenty minutes away from home and 10 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,920 just turned down alongside road that pretty much leads directly 11 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,960 to my house. This was my usual route home that 12 00:00:44,039 --> 00:00:46,719 I'd been taking for years now, and I'd never had 13 00:00:46,759 --> 00:00:51,119 anything happen before. I will admit though it was a 14 00:00:51,119 --> 00:00:54,399 bit of a creepy road at night. It was very 15 00:00:54,439 --> 00:00:57,359 dimly lit and the sides of the road were surrounded 16 00:00:57,439 --> 00:01:02,320 by a dense forest mention. It would often get foggy 17 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,879 during the later hours of the night, making things only 18 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:10,480 visible within a few feet ahead. Again, though barely anyone 19 00:01:10,599 --> 00:01:13,120 is on this road at night, and there's no turns 20 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,799 or anything, so visibility is never too much of an issue. 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,040 Though a couple minutes down the road I see through 22 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,239 the fog a small blinking light. I couldn't really tell 23 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:27,840 how far ahead it was or even what side of 24 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,640 the road it was on. I slowed down, and as 25 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,840 I started to get closer, the light turned off completely. 26 00:01:36,239 --> 00:01:39,200 At this point, I was maybe going fifteen to twenty 27 00:01:39,239 --> 00:01:42,319 miles per hour when out of the fog, a small 28 00:01:42,359 --> 00:01:44,400 car pulls out from the side of the road and 29 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,480 stops directly in front of me. I tried to break, 30 00:01:48,719 --> 00:01:51,640 but I was too close already, and my car tapped 31 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,040 the back of theirs. I was kind of in shock 32 00:01:55,079 --> 00:01:58,640 at first as to how suddenly it all happened, but 33 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,599 I noticed neither of our cars really had much damage. 34 00:02:02,719 --> 00:02:05,760 Not really knowing what to do, I opened my door 35 00:02:05,799 --> 00:02:08,520 and stood beside my car, waiting for them to get 36 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,400 out as well. I could see them moving around in 37 00:02:12,439 --> 00:02:15,199 the front seat, but I couldn't tell what they were doing. 38 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,919 As I stood there, I looked at his car, noticing 39 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,639 how old and worn it was and that the headlights 40 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:28,280 were all turned off. Eventually, a man got out of 41 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,520 the car slowly and began making his way over to me. 42 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:34,680 From what I could see, he looked like a middle 43 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:39,039 aged man and was a pretty large guy. I decided 44 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:43,199 to start off and asked, is everything okay? You pulled 45 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:47,599 out pretty quick. He was acting a little strange and 46 00:02:47,879 --> 00:02:50,599 looking all around and never making eye contact with me. 47 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:58,120 After a couple seconds, he replied, yeah, sorry. I wasn't 48 00:02:58,159 --> 00:03:01,639 really sure how to respond, but he was starting to 49 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,240 really make me uncomfortable, and I didn't want to be 50 00:03:04,319 --> 00:03:08,120 out on an empty road alone with him. I told 51 00:03:08,199 --> 00:03:10,719 him that there was no real damage to either car, 52 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:12,639 so I was going to get back on the road 53 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,960 and head home. But as I began reaching for my 54 00:03:16,039 --> 00:03:20,159 car door, he told me to wait. He told me 55 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,800 he wanted to check his car out for damage before 56 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,560 I left. I said okay and stood next to my 57 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,199 car as he looked at his back bumper. But then 58 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,439 he started to walk around this car, pretending to look 59 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,560 at it for damage, which was really weird because I'd 60 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,919 only tapped his back bumper. As he started to make 61 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,960 his way to the passenger side, I saw a large 62 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,360 figure get up in the back seat and start moving 63 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,919 towards the door. I immediately got in my car and 64 00:03:51,039 --> 00:03:53,479 locked it as a man got out of the back door, 65 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:56,560 and both of them began waving their hands at me, 66 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,759 telling me to stop. I was panicking at this point 67 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,199 and put the car in drive and went around them 68 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,919 down the road. Looking in the rear view mirror, I 69 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,919 could see their lights turn on through the fog. I 70 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,599 could see their lights for about thirty seconds, but eventually 71 00:04:14,599 --> 00:04:18,360 they faded out. I pulled into a gas station that 72 00:04:18,439 --> 00:04:21,120 was about five minutes from my house and waited there 73 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,319 just to make sure that they didn't follow me home, 74 00:04:24,639 --> 00:04:29,680 but the car never passed by. After waiting for fifteen minutes, 75 00:04:29,959 --> 00:04:33,759 I headed home. I decided not to call the cops 76 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,600 at the time, as I wasn't entirely sure if I 77 00:04:36,639 --> 00:04:41,279 was just overreacting or not. I'm still not sure what 78 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,800 those people really wanted, But the more I think about it, 79 00:04:45,079 --> 00:04:49,279 everything about that situation felt wrong. I don't know what 80 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,279 their plan was, but part of me feels like something 81 00:04:52,439 --> 00:04:55,000 very dangerous was about to happen if I had not 82 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,639 gotten out of there in time. Another part of me 83 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,920 wishes I had reported the incident, as I find myself 84 00:05:01,959 --> 00:05:05,519 wondering what if they had stopped following me so that 85 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,279 they could try and lure someone else into their trap. 86 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,759 I used to work for a small trucking company that 87 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:22,199 would deliver frozen product to stores across several states. For 88 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,800 the most part, I would do three or four deliveries 89 00:05:24,879 --> 00:05:29,040 before heading back to the warehouse and then home. Every 90 00:05:29,079 --> 00:05:31,040 once in a while, though, we would have a long 91 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,920 delivery route where we would end too far to head 92 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,079 back that same day, so we would have to sleep 93 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:41,600 somewhere overnight before heading back. Usually I just pulled the 94 00:05:41,639 --> 00:05:44,040 truck into a truck stop and rest for a few 95 00:05:44,079 --> 00:05:48,120 hours and then get back on the road. Anyways, I 96 00:05:48,199 --> 00:05:50,759 was scheduled for a long delivery this day, and I 97 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,319 knew I wouldn't get back until pretty late the next day. 98 00:05:54,399 --> 00:05:57,680 I got ready and headed out. Nothing happened the whole 99 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,839 way there. I drove down, unloaded the truck, and started 100 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:06,079 heading back. It was pretty late though, around one in 101 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,319 the morning. I figured I should rest for an hour 102 00:06:09,439 --> 00:06:13,279 or two before continuing all the way back. The last 103 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:16,279 sign I saw for a truck stop said forty miles ahead, 104 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:21,040 so I still had a bit before getting there. I 105 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,000 tend to space out for long periods of time when 106 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,439 driving down long, straight roads, especially this late at night 107 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,480 when nobody else is on the road. Though I saw 108 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,360 something flicker in my side mirror. I looked over and 109 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,759 noticed headlights shining from right behind the trailer, but I 110 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,480 couldn't see the car at all. This usually means that 111 00:06:43,519 --> 00:06:45,959 the car is in my blind spot because it's too 112 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,839 close to the back for me to see. I continue 113 00:06:49,879 --> 00:06:52,360 down the road at the same speed, waiting for the 114 00:06:52,399 --> 00:06:54,399 car to get into the other lane and pass me, 115 00:06:54,959 --> 00:06:59,800 but to my surprise, he stayed right behind me. This 116 00:07:00,199 --> 00:07:02,920 was starting to really bother me, as I knew if 117 00:07:02,959 --> 00:07:05,319 I had to break for any reason, this guy was 118 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,879 for sure going to hit me. The truck stop was 119 00:07:08,959 --> 00:07:11,439 just a few miles ahead, though, so I tried to 120 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:15,519 ignore them for the rest of the way there. Finally, 121 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,399 I see the sign for the rest area and start 122 00:07:18,399 --> 00:07:22,279 to pull in. As I'm turning, I checked my mirror 123 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:24,680 and I see the car slow down a little, but 124 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,680 then he continues to follow me into the parking lot. 125 00:07:29,199 --> 00:07:31,920 I honestly wasn't sure what to think at this point, 126 00:07:32,279 --> 00:07:34,920 but I figured I must have accidentally cut him off 127 00:07:34,959 --> 00:07:37,279 a while back and he just wanted to yell at 128 00:07:37,279 --> 00:07:40,920 me about it. I've gotten a lot of angry drivers 129 00:07:40,959 --> 00:07:43,920 in my years of trucking, so I was pretty used 130 00:07:43,959 --> 00:07:47,319 to it, but I've never had anyone follow me like this. 131 00:07:49,639 --> 00:07:52,399 I pulled into an open spot and shifted in the park. 132 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,920 The car slowly trailed behind me and continued to get 133 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:03,839 closer and closer to the back before eventually stopping again. 134 00:08:04,079 --> 00:08:06,279 He was too close for me to see him, but 135 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,480 at this point it was getting too weird. I got 136 00:08:09,519 --> 00:08:12,439 out and started walking around to the back to question them, 137 00:08:13,279 --> 00:08:17,079 though almost as soon as I slammed my driver door shut, 138 00:08:17,319 --> 00:08:20,600 they put it in reverse and drove away in a rush. 139 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:23,759 I couldn't see too well, but I could tell it 140 00:08:23,839 --> 00:08:25,920 was an older man and the car was white and 141 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,800 rusted all over. It looked pretty similar to one of 142 00:08:29,839 --> 00:08:33,240 those old police cars with the front upper bars and everything. 143 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:37,159 I stood out there by the back of the truck 144 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,360 for a couple of minutes, making sure everything was securely 145 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,440 locked and that he didn't come back. Then I got 146 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,639 back in the truck and turned it off. I double 147 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,080 checked all the doors to make sure that they were locked, 148 00:08:50,159 --> 00:08:52,799 and did one quick glance out all the windows for 149 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,960 any more cars. Then I laid back and closed my eyes. 150 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:05,240 I woke hearing a bang echoed through my trailer. I 151 00:09:05,399 --> 00:09:08,559 checked my watch, seeing it had been almost two hours 152 00:09:08,879 --> 00:09:12,559 and was a little past three am. Then there was 153 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:18,720 another bang, but this time louder. I looked over in 154 00:09:18,759 --> 00:09:22,120 the side mirror and saw a very faint shadow moving 155 00:09:22,159 --> 00:09:26,759 around towards the back. This time I got pretty freaked out. 156 00:09:27,519 --> 00:09:29,480 I grabbed a small knife that I kept in the 157 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,200 middle compartment and started making my way to the back, 158 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,279 but this time I left the driver door open as 159 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,960 to not make any noise. As I got closer, I 160 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,679 crouched down a little and looked under the trailer. I 161 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,600 could clearly see someone standing right up against the back 162 00:09:46,639 --> 00:09:49,320 of the truck and their car just behind them with 163 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:53,799 its headlights off. Once I saw that, a rush of 164 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,360 fear ran through my body, and I decided not to 165 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,360 approach any further and instead shouted out to them. My 166 00:10:00,519 --> 00:10:02,960 voice was a little shaky, but it seemed to do 167 00:10:03,039 --> 00:10:06,240 the trick. They rushed into their car and sped off. 168 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,320 Looking at the back door, there was scratches all over 169 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:13,759 the lock and clear marks as if he was trying 170 00:10:13,759 --> 00:10:17,000 to cut it open. I looked around to see if 171 00:10:17,039 --> 00:10:19,720 any other trucks could have seen the incident, but the 172 00:10:19,799 --> 00:10:24,200 lot was pretty empty. After a couple minutes, I ended 173 00:10:24,279 --> 00:10:26,480 up just getting back on the road and headed home. 174 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:32,480 Nothing else happened for the rest of the trip. I've 175 00:10:32,519 --> 00:10:35,120 always assumed the man was just trying to steal from 176 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,879 my trailer, but obviously he didn't know that I was 177 00:10:38,919 --> 00:10:41,200 on my way back from a delivery and the whole 178 00:10:41,279 --> 00:10:46,480 trailer was empty. Anyways, It's still the most unnerving thing 179 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:49,679 that happened to me during my years of trucking, and 180 00:10:49,759 --> 00:10:52,799 I still get paranoid sometimes with a feeling that a 181 00:10:52,799 --> 00:10:56,559 car might be following right behind me without me even knowing. 182 00:11:07,519 --> 00:11:10,399 I was attending a popular concert in the South Side 183 00:11:10,399 --> 00:11:14,200 of Chicago last year. As most of you probably know, 184 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,279 it's a pretty sketchy area down there, and the crime 185 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,919 rate is really high. But the tickets were really cheap 186 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:25,039 and the concert was well populated, so I felt pretty safe. 187 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,720 Plus I decided to go with a couple of my friends. 188 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,120 The concert was great and we all really enjoyed ourselves, 189 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:34,639 but we knew the drive out would be pretty bad 190 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,919 with all the traffic. It was almost ten pm by 191 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:40,919 the time we got out of the parking lot and 192 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 onto the main road. We realized pretty quick though, that 193 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,159 we were going to be on this road for a while, 194 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:51,919 as the cars were barely even moving forward. Sitting there, 195 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:54,519 my friends started to look up other routes to get 196 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:56,919 back to our town, and they found one that could 197 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,200 hopefully get us past all this traffic. After sitting in 198 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,360 basically the same spot for thirty minutes, we agreed we 199 00:12:04,399 --> 00:12:08,120 would try the other route. We turned off the main 200 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,200 road as soon as we could and began going through 201 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:16,320 neighborhood streets. Surprisingly, there were a lot of people outside 202 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,759 this late at night, just walking around or standing in 203 00:12:19,799 --> 00:12:24,360 their yards. This wasn't normal from where we lived, which 204 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:28,399 was just a couple hours west. As we continued down 205 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,000 these neighborhood streets, we began to notice that the people 206 00:12:32,039 --> 00:12:36,120 outside would watch us as we drove by, and then 207 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,720 we also started to realize that we hadn't seen any 208 00:12:39,759 --> 00:12:44,200 other cars in probably twenty minutes. This got us a 209 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,240 little bit nervous and we all started to pay more attention. 210 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,320 I asked one of my friends to check where the 211 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,600 nearest main road was, and as he was scrolling through 212 00:12:53,639 --> 00:12:56,759 the map, my other friend pointed out a car at 213 00:12:56,799 --> 00:12:59,759 the end of the street that we were on. It 214 00:12:59,799 --> 00:13:04,399 was parked sideways, blocking both lanes of the road. I 215 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:07,559 stopped the car immediately and backed out and got onto 216 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,919 the road that we were on. Previously then continued down there. 217 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,720 We began to panic a little bit, trying to find 218 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:16,960 a safe way out to a more public area with 219 00:13:17,039 --> 00:13:21,480 other cars. But just a few seconds later we again 220 00:13:21,639 --> 00:13:23,840 saw at the end of the road a sideways car 221 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:28,159 blocking both lanes. I stopped the car and I looked 222 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,360 over at my friends. We were all looking at each other, 223 00:13:31,639 --> 00:13:34,879 clueless of what to do. It was too dark and 224 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,279 we couldn't tell if anyone was in the car up ahead, 225 00:13:37,399 --> 00:13:40,679 so we didn't want to approach it. As we were 226 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:44,279 discussing our options, two men came up from one of 227 00:13:44,279 --> 00:13:48,159 the houses off the street. One of them stood behind 228 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,000 the car, and the other one came up to my window. 229 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:54,600 He signaled with his hands for me to roll down 230 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:58,000 the window, and nervously I rolled it down just a 231 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,639 few inches. The man looked at each of us and 232 00:14:01,759 --> 00:14:04,960 scanned the inside of the car, then asked me where 233 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:09,720 we were headed, Just back to the highway, I said. 234 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,000 He nodded and looked over at his friend, who started 235 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,759 to walk over to the passenger's side. There was a 236 00:14:17,799 --> 00:14:21,240 small moment where it felt like everything went silent and 237 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:27,440 nobody moved. Then suddenly both men grabbed the doors trying 238 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,000 to open them repeatedly. I reacted as fast as I could, 239 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,200 putting the car in reverse as everyone was screaming. Just 240 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,639 as I started to back out, the man tried to 241 00:14:37,679 --> 00:14:40,240 stick his arm through the gap in the window and 242 00:14:40,399 --> 00:14:42,559 even got stuck for a second as I pulled the 243 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:47,000 car back before slamming to the ground. I turned around 244 00:14:47,039 --> 00:14:49,399 and flooreded out of the street and went back to 245 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,840 the way we came. We were all in total shock. 246 00:14:55,159 --> 00:14:58,759 I tried to stay calm, but I was shaking uncontrollably. 247 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,240 Agreed we would go back to the same way we 248 00:15:02,279 --> 00:15:05,960 came and just get on the highway from there. I 249 00:15:06,039 --> 00:15:09,480 think we were all pretty shaken by the situation, but 250 00:15:09,759 --> 00:15:13,039 I do think that I handled it pretty well. Luckily 251 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:16,600 our doors were locked, though, because I'm not sure if 252 00:15:16,639 --> 00:15:19,360 I'd be here right now if they weren't.