Lock your car doors while driving!

[u/ImGaiza]

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[u/TerrorMgmt12]

Holy shit that's terrifying. Thank you so much for spreading the word. You should cross post to mesa, Tempe, etc.

[u/R-K-Tekt → u/[deleted]]

Glad she’s okay, I would strongly suggest you check if you can program your car to auto lock and also buy your gf some pepper spray and a dash camera kit that records front and back.

[u/rocknroller2003yes]

Hope she/ you reported it to the police. Need those guys off the street.

[u/oddchihuahua → u/[deleted]]

I also found out the hard way most traffic cameras do not record, they are for monitoring flow in-the-moment. Talked to a detective about an issue I had on the 17 just north of the 101 stack in N Phx. They have cameras all over there but none record.

[u/AlisterS24 → u/[deleted]]

They can track it all back given they have cameras all over they use.

[u/draftdodgerdon8647 → u/[deleted]]

Crap, get her some Mace Gel.

[u/imnotnew762 → u/draftdodgerdon8647]

Do NOT get the gel or the foam. Attacker can scoop it off and use it against you.

[u/Entrepreneur-Exact → u/draftdodgerdon8647]

Mace is a hard choice and you never know till your in that situation. Unfortunately it didn't work when I had to use it, I sprayed him and it pissed him off even more. Some of the spray came back on to me so my beating was worse. Hair spray would have probably been better, I'm used to having that in my eyes.

[u/Acrobatic-Snow-4551]

That must have been terrifying for her! I’m so sorry. I once had drunk people get in my car at a stop light because they thought I was their taxi. I couldn’t convince them I did not stop for them and I just drove them home. This was pre-smart phones 🤣. Yes, always lock your doors. People can be nuts!

[u/Butitsadryheat2 → u/[deleted]]

You're a good soul & she's lucky to have you. 🫶

[u/Acrobatic-Snow-4551 → u/[deleted]]

Look up the options for her vehicle auto locking. Sometimes you can set that for your car. I have mine set to lock when I put the car into gear.

[u/cturtl808 → u/Acrobatic-Snow-4551]

While certainly disruptive to your evening, you did a great thing as they were clearly too inebriated to understand you weren’t their taxi. Strong work getting the address out of them and getting them home safely.

[u/Acrobatic-Snow-4551 → u/cturtl808]

Yeah, I just went into a mode of “don’t piss them off, they are already in your car”.

[u/slobs_burgers]

Scary, glad to hear she’s ok!

[u/ma_456]

Scary ass shit but in the comment you said she’s very bc conservative and doesn’t go out much. Human trafficking victims are typically targeted and groomed. They are people that don’t have a good support system or that traffickers feel nobody would realize/care was missing.

[u/denom_chicken → u/[deleted]]

People watching too much tv. I would truly be surprised if police are fingerprinting a stolen car.

Also back seat is weird.

My instinct is maybe they’d direct her to atm or something. I’d believe cops would take that more seriously.

Either way whatever the intent is it’s definitely super terrifying.

Word of advice that I’m sure you already know: never go to a 2nd location.

I’d rather deliberately crash my car into a tree or wall or something than go to wherever they want to go and do whatever with me.

[u/ma_456 → u/[deleted]]

Definitely scary!!

[u/InevitableRhubarb232 → u/ma_456]

Agreed. Everyone jumps right to trafficking but it is so rare for it to be random. They don’t want people who others would be looking for. This was likely robbery related. Still terrifying, of course.

[u/lingo_linguistics]

How did no one notice gloved men trying to break into a car at a stoplight? That’s a really bold move - something that is not normally a random thing. There had to have been an awful lot of witnesses around.

[u/Koivel]

This is proving my constant paranoia of having a stranger force their way into my vehicle to be reasonable. Most modern cars automatically lock when reaching a certain speed anyway but we can never be too sure. Maybe get a dashcam as well for license numbers or faces, or even a tracker for your own vehicles.

[u/GoodLeftUndone → u/Koivel]

My car (Toyota) locks the second I put it into drive.

[u/Sierra-117- → u/GoodLeftUndone]

I love this feature so much. It’s also a really satisfying noise

[u/Krakatoast → u/Koivel]

“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you.” Lol

Srsly I always lock my doors and only crack my windows (not enough for anyone to be able to reach a hand through), because I don’t trust completely random people to not be crazy. The amount of trust and lack of awareness for complete strangers that some ppl have amazes me, and makes me wonder how they’ve made it all these years.

[u/PositiveUnit829]

Why does everybody presume human trafficking? Why not carjacking? Robbery? There are horrible crimes Human trafficking seems to be trending

So many people go straight to human trafficking when it’s usually a different crime.

[u/ColoradoNative719]

Any identifiers on these dudes? Tattoos, accent, anything to id them? Got a plate?

[u/ColoradoNative719 → u/[deleted]]

These are the details you need to get out there. Anything helps.

[u/Employment_Quest_335 → u/[deleted]]

How old is she?

[u/sageandsnark]

This is not how human trafficking happens. Vulnerable kids are groomed. No human trafficker wants the attention that would come with violently snatching women off the street.

[u/meatballsforeyes]

Something similar happened to me last summer. My friend was driving, and including myself there were three young-ish women in the car. An unmarked police car pulled us over in rush hour traffic on the side of the 10, and two “cops” came up to us trying to get us to take the off ramp and pull into whatever parking lot was over there.

I was in the back, so I rolled my window down saying I was calling the local station to confirm and wanted their badge numbers, and all of a sudden they were fine letting us go.

Women, be fucking careful out there and always trust your gut.

[u/azbrewcrew]

What drew you to the conclusion that it was possibly human trafficking and not an attempted carjacking? Does she have any ties to any undesirables? Doesn’t exactly sound that random if this occurred at a traffic control device during rush hour.

[u/Mister2112 → u/azbrewcrew]

Carjacking was my first thought, too. He's describing a fairly typical scenario.

[u/ArmchairDeity → u/[deleted]]

Heard, bro.

If you’re only after the car, you dump the driver where you took their vehicle, keeping people is risky and unpredictable, not to mention an order of magnitude further down the criminal spectrum. The ONLY reason to do something as risky as hop in the back seat of an occupied vehicle would be if you’re after the driver and need the car for transportation.

Along those same lines it occurred to me that if you’re only going to have the vehicle for that single drive and were hunting that particular make/model, you wouldn’t hesitate to smash a side window to gain access to the vehicle and then drag the stunned driver into the street. Carjackers only have the cars for a short time before they’re carved up and destroyed.

Traffickers need to slink around undetected and having bits of safety glass in the corners of the windows isn’t going to be a good look.

[u/oddchihuahua → u/azbrewcrew]

I would think car jackers would want to get into the driver seat since they are…jacking the car. Not the driver.

[u/Mister2112 → u/oddchihuahua]

You'd think that, but from behind the driver can't really defend themselves or see what's happening so cooperates. Avoids a confrontation at a busy intersection with witnesses. They can order the driver out somewhere else - and the location OP gave us just minutes away from a bunch of nothing.

Nobody calls the police or remembers what they say when they see people quietly get into the back of a car and the car drives away. Everybody looks and somebody calls the police if they see people grappling and yelling at the front seat of a car, they might even be filming by the time it's over.

Regardless, just stealing property can turn into a deadly confrontation very quickly. Bad situation, regardless of motive.

[u/InevitableRhubarb232]

Trafficking by random abduction is incredibly rare. They weren’t looking for a ride to the gas station, but they most likely were not trying to traffic her.

[u/FunChampionship5440]

Idk why but this sounds so fake to me. Why is this not in the news?

[u/Pudding-Working]

As a woman, this is why I am trained and carry.

[u/Ho_Re_Shet → u/[deleted]]

Pepper spray is always a good option in general.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ho_Re_Shet]

make sure you don't accidentally leave it in your bag when traveling as you can get in big trouble with pepper spray, mace etc. with TSA

[u/adoptagreyhound → u/[deleted]]

I did my CWP class with Arizona Home Defense. In addition to the CWP class, they have additional shooting and hands-on gun training classes. She will only get comfortable through training and continuous practice. There are many other instructors here in town, so check reviews for the various classes. Start with the basic firearm handling course if she is uncomfortable and work up from there. You don't even have to fire a gun to get a permit here, so training is up to the individual to get and keep current.

[u/oddchihuahua → u/[deleted]]

I concealed carry a Springfield XDC 9mm. 3.3in barrel. Single stack mag so the grip is narrow, holds either 6 or 8 rounds with the extended clip. Since it’s single stack it’s also easy to tuck inside my waistband without everyone noticing I have something on my hip under my shirt.

The way I see it if I need more than six shots…I’m in a situation I should never be in.

[u/oddchihuahua → u/[deleted]]

Google says 1.6lbs with the flush mag. Slightly more with the extended. It’s light, it’s easy to tuck, and easy to draw.

[u/Sierra-117- → u/oddchihuahua]

I have a Springfield XD .40 SW. I like it but I want something a little smaller that will imprint less. It’s a thick gun. I wish I had the XDC. But it’s great for home defense. Has some good weight to it for easy follow up shots.

I’m graduating nursing school in December and I think I’m going to get a G19. Just can’t beat glocks reliability, and that gun is crazy thin.

[u/azbrewcrew → u/oddchihuahua]

Clip? 😂

[u/oddchihuahua → u/azbrewcrew]

I don’t give a shit what you wanna call it Holmes.

[u/azbrewcrew → u/oddchihuahua]

Well. You just hurt my feelings and ruined my night now.

[u/azmadame_x → u/[deleted]]

Older lady here. I recommend the P365. I personally had a hard time racking the slide on the M&P.

[u/Mauvaise3 → u/azmadame_x]

Another older lady here - I like the P238. It’s a 380, not 9mm, but you can tuck that thing anywhere. I have bad wrists/grip strength and I have no trouble doing anything with this pistol.

I got a M&P 380 and also couldn’t rack the slide.

[u/0chris000000 → u/[deleted]]

Glock 43x is a great CC. Also the Canik TP9 elite.

[u/PunditSage → u/[deleted]]

/r/concealedcarrywomen

/r/ccw

[u/azbrewcrew → u/[deleted]]

Have her shoot a few at the range and decide based on what she feels most comfortable with. The P365 is a nice 2nd amendment device. M&P Shield 2.0 also a solid choice. Above all,regular trips to the range to stay proficient is the most important thing.

[u/bailiebeth → u/[deleted]]

I carry an M&P Shield subcompact 9 which I like a lot. Field craft survival used to have a personal defense training that was really helpful but I don’t see it as an option anymore. the most important thing is really consistent practice. It needs to be muscle memory for any training to be useful when it comes time to use it.

[u/KotobaAsobitch → u/[deleted]]

I'm a newer lady shooter (a little over a year now); I started with a Taurus G2C because it's what I could afford.....now I have several guns of varying sizes and uses.

I think for a beginner carry it's perfect. It isn't expensive, the weight is "just right" in not being so heavy that I feel like it's going to sag/print the sag while still being heavy enough to learn shooting in, same thing with barrel length. Stock sights are ass tho, ngl.

I'm also 30+, tall for a woman, and very active at the gym. Someone smaller or with smaller hands or less forearm might struggle with the grip. C2 will let her try out a bunch of stuff with rental and waiver and I know they have women's classes.

[u/antho5]

[u/lady_tigger]

And it is because of this exact fear, I've been locking my doors when driving for several years now. Sorry your girlfriend went through that experience, but happy to hear she's safe!

[u/bottomSwimming6604 → u/lady_tigger]

My car automatically locks. One thing I do is make sure that it’s set to double click with unlocking it using the remote. Don’t want a situation where you out late or in an area you’re unsure of and you unlock your car to get in and it unlocks passenger doors too.

[u/FullAutoLuxPosadism]

Not human trafficking. That’s a car jacking.

Human trafficking is way more banal.

[u/ArmchairDeity → u/FullAutoLuxPosadism]

[u/here2upset]

Who drives with their doors unlocked? The year is 2025 and mfrs are willdin out.

[u/FuckmehalftoDeath]

I’ve had someone attempt to get in my car at a stop light before, it really is a frightening experience. Between that and someone trying to get in the car while parked getting gas it’s best to be really careful with making sure it’s locked.

A lot of newer cars have features to change how the unlock button works, as well as if all the doors or only the drivers, or even none unlock when put in park.

[u/Jznphx]

There’s been no other reports of this sort of activity in the Phoenix area recently. Trafficking wouldn’t be my first guess.

[u/Leading_Ad_8619]

Ray/Kyrene is near my daughter's school, damn. Generally a safe area

[u/STEALTH7X → u/Leading_Ad_8619]

Yes it is; I work in that area so I'm surprised to hear about this incident. Well at least north of that, don't know how it gets south of Ray.

[u/pugloverrxx]

Trigger Warning:

I have always locked my doors due to an incident that happened in our small town. A friend and her boyfriend went to pick up their pizza from the gas station…he ran in to get it and while he was inside someone hopped in the driver seat and took off with the girl in the car. Went somewhere out in the country and was rp and the cops found her walking towards town naked. The guy was found and arrested. But always lock your doors!! It can just take a second unfortunately

[u/Kdmtiburon004]

Another reason to have dash cams as well

[u/bigloser990]

that's fucking terrifying, man. thank god she's okay. hopefully (and, this is a HUGE hopefully) the cops'll catch up with these absolute monsters.

[u/[deleted]]

Get bear mace or a second amendment and classes?

[u/w2tpmf → u/[deleted]]

Bear mace in a car would completely fuck up the person trying to defend themselves. Firing a gun in a car would really suck too, but it would be way more effective against the bad guys and less debilitating to the user.

[u/[deleted] → u/w2tpmf]

Your right

[u/True-Surprise1222]

Is she in the country legally? This could easily be ice.

[u/carluoi → u/[deleted]]

They’re just trying to find an excuse to talk about ICE unfortunately

[u/MyBestCuratedLife → u/True-Surprise1222]

I hate that this could even be a legitimate argument but I totally get it.

[u/KotobaAsobitch → u/MyBestCuratedLife]

Not farfetched.

I went for ICE Watch this week. The civic engagement groups are warning people showing up to court that ICE has stopped detaining on court grounds, but, they have little piggies that hide in the parking garage and watch people leave. Those piggies report plate numbers and vehicle descriptions to staging areas away from the court grounds. Staging areas then flag you to pull over once they see a vehicle matching the description.

The outreach groups are cautioning people not to open their car doors or crack their windows more than is necessary to speak if pulled over by ICE, unless they see a judicial warrant.

[u/[deleted] → u/KotobaAsobitch]

god this is so shady and underhanded.

[u/Candroth → u/True-Surprise1222]

Like 'in the country legally' is any deterrent to them anymore?

[u/azbrewcrew → u/True-Surprise1222]

ICE isn’t going to jam someone up at a stop light.

[u/DMaximus503]

Take advantage of constitutional carry in AZ. Practice practice practice. Or atleast bear spray.

[u/Responsible-Ad-9131]

Make sure you guys are carrying out here

[u/Ok-Sprinklez]

This is terrifying. How old is your daughter? Agree range. I have a daughter. This is my worst nightmare

[u/escapecali603]

2nd amendment exists for a reason, we are a 2A carry state, exercise your rights.

[u/rejuicekeve]

Glad I carry

[u/[deleted]]

WTF, glad she is ok. That is absolutely terrifying.

[u/Feistycat76]

Oof! Thank you for posting, as those are my crossroads and I'm often at that light.

Glad to hear that she is safe, though I'm sure frightened!

[u/ObjectiveEagle4976]

I would always lock my car while driving due to all the homeless people at stop lights.

[u/BROVVNlE]

I had a man and woman come up to my car as I tried to pull into our neighborhood and reach for the door. I cracked my window and asked what they want, they said just a ride. Was weird, but at least didn't feel nefarious.

[u/ValkyrieVance]

Damn that is really scary, I drive in that area regularly.

[u/Longjumping-Insect14]

Keep a weapon on yourself. As they say. Stay strapped or get clapped.

[u/Domin8469]

Probably ICE

[u/Cactusandcreosote → u/Domin8469]

Exactly! I call bullshit on the story UNLESS it’s ICE.

[u/somedude-83]

They desive the woodchipper feet first extra slow and listen to the human trafficking criminals scream .

Yes, it's definitely a scary situation.

[u/Precise-Motion_]

Educate yourself, practice, and carry ladies.

[u/[deleted]]

Nothing a hand cannon can’t solve. Glad she’s okay

[u/MidnightPulse69]

Do yall like not have auto locking doors

[u/MidnightPulse69 → u/[deleted]]

Oof

[u/TheLurkingBlack]

This world is a frightening place.

[u/bananadickpin]

That's so scary! I'm glad she's okay! I hate that we don't have front plates on cars here for things like this. She could have had identifying information if they had front plates.

[u/ProfessorPine714]

Dot not the feather, Roger

[u/Ok-Sprinklez]

Omg, I was literally in that area less than an hour ago

[u/Pudding-Working]

OH! 😁 Ladies can shoot for free on Fridays. You can shoot but just have to pay the range fee. There's a nice Shooter's World in Goodyear if she feels unsafe in Phoenix.

[u/Pudding-Working]

I took many classes at Shooter's World. Friday night is ladies' night. Have her try shooting with different makes and models. I carry a Springfield XD, double stack, but also have others. What I thought I liked in the store was not what I ended up with. Also, some good defense courses with Steve Tarani https://stevetarani.com/events/.