UD's CarJacking ...... yikes!

For those of you that HAVEN'T heard - brace yourselves .....
for the rest of you that know - here's a recap of the events.

First of all - I'm fine, BUT ( there's always a but, huh?) I was car jacked tonight at gunpoint, and the jacker even fired a shot at me to get me to exit my car. Pretty scary stuff. I was on the phone with Chris (my son) when it happened, and I hung up rather abruptly. Thankfully, he had the good sense to call 911 for me, as the theif took my car AND my phone. ( stinker ... he now has my KEYS too.

The reader's digest version is this:
About 4PM, in North Philly, this 20yr old kid shoots a guy(who later died), steals this little silver Chevy and then fled north on 95 where the Chevy ran out of gas. This is where I came in ......
He was waving his arm at motorists to get new wheels, and after a few swerved around him ... I was face to face at close range, stuck behind his stalled vehicle with a gun pointed at my face. Yikes.

He shouted at me to get out of the car, and I didn't respond quick enough for him. I kept the window down for a bit, then I lowered it and asked him what he wanted ..... he fired a shot passed my left ear and shouted again .... this is when I gave up the car. I tried to grab my phone again, but he told me to leave it. He looked more scared than I was, but I didn't take any chances .... I just let him take the car, and he sped off.

I called out to a guy in a convertible, and he called 911 as well ... and soon, the place was crawling with State Troopers. As the traffic got worse and the day got darker - it got even MORE bizzare: A drunk driver SLAMS into the back of a brand new trooper's car. they tried to get him into an ambulance, and he was wrestling with the trooper! What an idiot !
(you all know my tolerance for out of control drunks .......)

so, all in all - it took 3 hours, 7 cop cars, 2 CSI teams, 3 wreckers, 2 ambulances and about 2000 drivers all backed up on 95 before I got home tonight....and I lost the night's work as well. Sheeesh.

There IS good news though:
They found my car at 10 pm in Philly, and they will call in the morning for me to come and assess the situation. They couldn't tell me anything about condition or contents tonight. ( fingers crossed ).
My cell phone aided the recovery - they traced the car as far as Mt Laurel at about 9pm, but this bozo ditched it and stole ANOTHER car before mine was recovered .. so I have no idea if mine was stripped or what. More info in the morning.

So - not to worry .... I'm fine, and all I lost so far was a nights pay.

My gear and my car were not damaged in any way, and I worked tonight without a hitch! The news people were a bit much, but hey - we all have our job to do, right?

Thanx for all the calls and kind words. It's VERY much appreciated!

Wow... crazy night? haha. Good thing your okay! thats fantastic news! All i can say is best wishes to you and that all your stuff is returned, in full!

Phil

Dave, I've been working out of town and just now caught up. It's good you were not injured.
Evidently the guy wasn't a fan!!
DonM

Dave,
What an ordeal! I read every sentence like it was the front page story in the LA Times. Thank God you are alright. We all love Ya Uncle Dave!
George Kaye

Hey Uncle Dave....was this guy at one of your concerts?????....only kidding...again,
thank God that you are ok and thing are coming back to normal for you....good luck
from here on in......
Tony

Good to have you back!!!

Wow, a story to tell your grandkids!!!

Chony

Good to hear everything worked out ok in spite of such nonsense.

[This message has been edited by Scott Langholff (edited 05-13-2005).]

UD, you're well and unhurt so all that matters is safe. Dave, You have been left with an experience that will be with you for a while, use it well. I did feel your pain as I read what you went through, you left that out.

Stay well, John C.

Hi UD,

I'm glad you're OK. This is the kind of stuff you only read about. Best wishes.

Tom J.

Scary stuff.. Glad you are ok.

AJ

UD, glad everything worked out the way it should. We need someone who can hit the right keys under stress and we need someone to help Fran get away from his G1000.

The best days are yet to come.

Dave,

Wow! You hear of these things happening but until now never to someone you know. Thank God you are ok.

Tom

Dave, I'm extremely happy that you were not harmed and are ok. Quite a story.

Now are you and the missus ready to move to somewhere less violent?

I know I am.

Regards,
Al

What a horrible experience! Seems like everything ended up as best possible... thats great.

Hey, Al, where is that? Lemme know. (In all seriousness, I guess maybe there is a place SOMEwhere.) It's been going on since time began. Humans are a pretty rough lot. I have had several personal friends murdered over the years. Not one or two, SEVERAL.

Dave, that is quite amazing. You are one lucky fellow and that is awesome you were not hit. Yikes.

It can happen any moment, friends.

Uncle Dave, glad to hear you are OK, it's also good that you got
everything back in good shape.
Denny

WOW. And sometimes I wish I had a little more excitment in my life. Maybe not. Glad your OK.

Very scary moments. .
Nice to hear you are Ok.

Best Regards
Arno

Hi UD

Glad you are better now

Chico

Uncle Dave,

This is Tim from Allentown...I thank God you are OK. He was watching out for you!
These kind of experiences give you even more reason to sing!

Thank GOd your are OK!

------------------
Precision Mastering
http://vilo4.tripod.com/precisionmastering/

Master Your CD With Us!
Ask Me About it!
www.vicente-lopez.com

HE'S COMING, MAKE MUSIC, GET READY!

UD... MAN THAT'S TOUGH !!! Thank the Good Lord you are ok ...

kbrkr and SemiLive: ... If you ever get the address for UTOPIA, let me know ... While some places may be less of a threat than others (perhaps because of the number of people), NO PLACE is harm free ...
This is just another example of how fragile we are (is there a song in there somewhere ??? ) and how our lives can change forever in a second ...

Just try to live a good life, be nice to others, make beautiful music, and hopefully when we get out of here we will find that UTOPIA ...
t.

Thanks God, again, UD! I couldn't believe it at first but sometimes those things will happen. I'm glad that everything has gone all right now. Sorry, for the lost job but you're STILL ALIVE, MAN!!!

------------------
Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)

Hi UD

I´m glad you are Ok and safe.

Armando

I'm glad for you and your family that you're allright Dave.
These are bad experiences.

Occasionally these thing's start happening in the Netherlands as well, so at this moment if I see somebody waving I won't stop anymore like I usually did in the past, which is a bad result.
(I do call the police though to send help.)


What's not clear from your Readers Digest version though is;

Were you forced to stop ?

Or did you intitially stop to help and then
finding a gun against you?

Fred

Everyone knows how tough a place Philly is to live. Will Smith's mom sent him away from there to live with his aunt in Bellaire California.

Thank God Dave,
Your back and alive!
That's all what matters doesn't it?
Anyway I'm just a little curious for the rest of the story...

[This message has been edited by ReneT (edited 05-13-2005).]

Dave,

I don't know you as well as the others here, but I glad you're O.K.
I'm originally a Philly guy too and it's still a great city.

Best regards,

Peter

Man, I've heard of grandstanding for attention, but's that's WAY TO EXTREME!

Hang in there, friend!

Russ

HI DAVE, Happy to hear you are still in the all together. that is a real bummer.
Back in the days when I had no fear, I got into Philly one Friday afternoon and had to wait until Monday to see my customer. I asked what and where and they pointed me to Broad street. I was sorta hijacked Nobody heard from me again until Tuesday night. I can't/won't go into details but whot a weekend OF course that was back in the good ol daze
Bebop

UD,
Its good to hear that you are OK.

Hope too that your car & stuff is brought back to you in good shape ... keeping in mind that a bullet passed in your direction and you are here, able to talk about it ...
the outcome on the rest of it can be dealt with.

Take Care.

Uncle Dave: wow, quite a tramatically sureal experience you had to go thru. I've seen this sort of thing happen on TV and reported on the news but now that I actually know someone (Uncle Dave) who this has happened to, it really hit home!. I'm just happy to hear that you've survived (with your life) to tell the story. Glad to hear that your car & cellphone have been recovered. Material things can be replaced, but life is irrepaceable, so we count our blessing that you're still here with us Uncle Dave. Stay well.

Scott

Thank God You Are OK!!!!

This place would not be the same without you!

Dave: Somebody up there sure likes your music. (I do too and am grateful that you and your gear survived this unwanted drama.)
Life is short and friends are precious. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

In hindsight, was there anything you can think of that might have either prevented the situation or aided in the capture of this low-life jerk?

RICE (The Lone Arranger)

Dear UD,

Thank God you are alive! Unbelievable!

Wow, now I'm glad I live in a boring suburb.

Dave, you're always buying the latest gizmos. I'm surprised that you didn't have an eject button in your car to get rid of this guy - or something!

We are waiting to find out if your other belongings are still there. That would be a perfect ending to a Bad scene.

Take Kung Fu lessons, UD - or at least eat more garlic so maybe this sort of thing doesn't happen again.

If you're still shaken up, I know a psychiatrist (My brother-in-law) in your area, who can keep you medicated for a couple of months until you're ready to step out of your bedroom.

Next time you post something, UD, make sure it is a little more exciting, OK?

Best regards,

Beakybird

I had no choice really. The cars that swerved in front of me were out of the way by the time I got to the guy in the road. I thought he was in trouble, but as I got closer, it seems to be more evident that I was the one in trouble!

I truly belive that I was in teh rigth place at the right time. This guy was a loose cannon, and if he had encountered someone that made him more nuts, maybe someone else would have gotten killed. Al;l he wanted was to run ... he never wanted to hurt me.
BTW - he was captured that same night and is behind bars as we speak!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Uncle Dave:
[B]For those of you that HAVEN'T heard - brace yourselves .....
for the rest of you that know - here's a recap of the events.

First of all - I'm fine, BUT ( there's always a but, huh?) I was car jacked tonight at gunpoint, and the jacker even fired a shot at me to get me to exit my car. Pretty scary stuff. I was on the phone with Chris (my son) when it happened, and I hung up rather abruptly. Thankfully, he had the good sense to call 911 for me, as the theif took my car AND my phone. ( stinker ... he now has my KEYS too.

The reader's digest version is this:
About 4PM, in North Philly, this 20yr old kid shoots a guy(who later died), steals this little silver Chevy and then fled north on 95 where the Chevy ran out of gas. This is where I came in ......
He was waving his arm at motorists to get new wheels, and after a few swerved around him ... I was face to face at close range, stuck behind his stalled vehicle with a gun pointed at my face. Yikes.

He shouted at me to get out of the car, and I didn't respond quick enough for him. I kept the window down for a bit, then I lowered it and asked him what he wanted ..... he fired a shot passed my left ear and shouted again .... this is when I gave up the car. I tried to grab my phone again, but he told me to leave it. He looked more scared than I was, but I didn't take any chances .... I just let him take the car, and he sped off.

I called out to a guy in a convertible, and he called 911 as well ... and soon, the place was crawling with State Troopers. As the traffic got worse and the day got darker - it got even MORE bizzare: A drunk driver SLAMS into the back of a brand new trooper's car. they tried to get him into an ambulance, and he was wrestling with the trooper! What an idiot !
(you all know my tolerance for out of control drunks .......)

so, all in all - it took 3 hours, 7 cop cars, 2 CSI teams, 3 wreckers, 2 ambulances and about 2000 drivers all backed up on 95 before I got home tonight....and I lost the night's work as well. Sheeesh.

There IS good news though:
They found my car at 10 pm in Philly, and they will call in the morning for me to come and assess the situation. They couldn't tell me anything about condition or contents tonight. ( fingers crossed ).
My cell phone aided the recovery - they traced the car as far as Mt Laurel at about 9pm, but this bozo ditched it and stole ANOTHER car before mine was recovered .. so I have no idea if mine was stripped or what. More info in the morning.

So - not to worry .... I'm fine, and all I lost so far was a nights pay.

DAVE Thank God you're safe and alright. Remember, the material thinsg can be replaced but Uncle Dave cannot be replaced. Good to hear your safe and sound.

Larry P from New York

Dave I'm glad you're OK. I'm suprised I haven't seen you on the evening news. Hope you didn't lose any more hair buddy.

Good to hear all is well, Dave.

I didn't realize the BOSE PAS was that DAMN DESIRABLE!!

Tommy

We're glad that you're ok and that they caught this nut.

Now he should be made to suffer the way you suffered. He should be electrocuted - or even worse, forced to attend your show for a month!!

Seriously, we're glad that you are OK. It does sound like you have recovered your equipment. Is that correct?

I once had intruders break into my home and rob my gear while I was in bed. It took me months to recover emotionally. I was in an extremely creative stage in my musical career and it was devastating to not have my electric guitar and to have no means to replace it.

We hope your next thread is more typical of you - aquiring gear and reviewing it, not losing it.

Beakybird

great to hear that you are OK.

SZ needs you.

UD,
I was shocked to read the news about your ordeal, but I am really glad that in the end everything turned out for the better.
Things like these, once they have solved, can really teach us a lot of things!
All the best
A.

Thanx everyone for all the words of support! My ordeal ( at least THIS part of it ) is over. There will undoubtedly be court testimonies etc. in the coming months ( years? )but the real scare is over, the reporters are on to new news, and my life is as it was on Tuesday. Ahhhhhh........
Feels good to look ahead.

I am glad that you are alive and well Uncle Dave, I hope it is the last time you ever get in a situation like this.

Dave, I am glad you are ok. now
Fathan