How to Detect a Backseat Ambush

D7reamers

D7reamers

Joined
Aug 29, 2001
Messages
850
I was sitting in my car day and it was very cold outside (still is), the front and back windshields started to fog up after 10-20 min.

I noticed this and though, "If someone was in my car, waiting to jump me from the backseat to rob or hurt me, this might help me if someone was in the back of my car."

So what other ways are there to tell if someone is hiding in your car, waiting to ambush you?
 
Bingo!

Actually, it is always a good idea to look under/around your car as you approach as well as inside before you get in. When I lived in D.C. a while back, there was a rash of attacks on people getting into their cars preempted by a knife slash to the achilles tendon.

Nice, huh?
 
In stalker movies there is always ominous music and the camera angle will shift to the front before the slasher jumps out of your back seat to get you.

Well actually I guess this could happen to you if you leave your door unlocked.
The key would be awareness.
Notice if your window has been broken or the lock forced.
Be aware of any strange smells and check the back seat before you climb in. Last time my car got broken into there was a nasty tweaker smell that lasted long after Id repaired the damage and replaced the stereo. Sort of metallic and stale.
The awareness needs to be there before you get to the car.
Preferably always in place.
But scope things out as you get to your car.
You're as likely to have problems from someone around your car as in it. If someone is under my car and slashes at my legs theyd better get me cause they're in a bad spot to defend themselves. Id be most concerned with someone armed behind the car or approaching quickly as I got in.
If I get in and get the car started, they are in trouble because Im not above a little vehicular retailtion.
 
Keep control of your vehicle. Meaning? Keep it locked. If someone goes through the trouble of using a Slim Jim or other Car Opener on it, they are probably after something else in the car.

But, never say never...it is possible someone might want to try to Ninja yur ass...

Carry bright LED Lights and if you have a Wife/Girlfriend/Daughter or Sister, get her one and teach her. Look back there before you get in the car to begin with and you never have to fight the guy in the backseat at all! If you are walking up on your car and you do spot someone back there and they open the door to come after you, kick the door shut on their face and use that as a segue to draw whatever you have.

Alot of cars look alike, just make sure it is in fact your car. Sounds stupid but I've seen people trying to use their keys to get into cars that did not belong to them... The last thing you want is to give someone some lead or steel and they were sitting in the black Ford Explorer that really wasn't yours...
 
I have an advanced technique for dealing with this. It's called the "pickup-truck method." :)

In all seriousness, I think a light is a good solution, But most of all just common sense. Lock all doors, stay near a light, walk around the car once before entering, etc.
 
An interesting side bar: a while ago there was a case in NYC involving a woman who pulled into a gas station, had the attendant fill the tank and paid with a credit card. The attendant seemed to look at the card then asked her to step out of the car and come to the office as there was a problem with it. The lady got out of the car and as soon as they were in the gas station office he told her there was someone on the floor in the rear of the car! Seems a bad guy had entered the vehical and haden't figured on her getting gas right away..... he was waiting for her to pull out to make his move! Attendant called cops while bad guy waited patiently, thinking the (almost) victum was comming right back. Talk about quick thinking..
 
You'll be able to tell if your windows have been blown out from the claymore mine that was rigged to the backseat.:D
 
Nothing 5 rounds of 00 Buck into the backseat won't cure. Sure, the neighbors may look at you funny when you do this every time before you start your care, but when they wake up in a tub filled with ice, missing their kidneys, they won't be laughing so hard.

Kevin
 
Dreamer,
I know or practice nothing other than the obvious here. I always strongly recommend a small light on your key ring, this to remind you to always check the whole vehicle. I have to plug the SureFire executive light series, it is small and effective. I also do check my whole vehicle for many things that might indicate something is out of the norm not the least of which could merely be a fluid leak or tire damage.
Please don't forget the first rule of tactics is to plan ahead. Always remember to park under a light whenever possible, remembering that although it is daylight when you leave, it might be dark when you come back. Do not have piles of things in your car for someone to hide under.
We should probably do a whole block on vehicle info. I will think about it.
 
Why use a shotgun. Why not 8 or 10 rounds of .22lr? sure, its not as impressive, but it saves the car from being wrecked so often.

If you were hiding in the back seat under a blanket and someone pumped 8 rounds of .22 into your rear you'd cry too.

No, that is not a statement from experience...:D
 
Yep, having a flashlight handy is always a good idea. It's at the top of my list of "safety devices" to recommend or give to others, even those with no training.

The stories about BG's "hiding under the car to cut the Achilles tendon" or "waiting patiently in the back seat while the gas station attendant calls the cops" are probably "urban legends," but who is to say some BG who hears about them won't try it? I've heard many stories in our S-D classes, and we always caution folks to question what they hear when there are no reliable sources given.

Still, when I wrote the Safety Column for OSU's student newspaper years ago, I was given a question about BGs hiding in the back seat. I asked the police chief if he had ever heard of such a thing happening. He told me that it had indeed happened to a nurse at OSU hospitals several years before that (would have been around the late eighties). A BG had hidden in her back seat and apparently succeeded in abducting her. No "alert gas station attendant happy ending," though (I don't recall whether or not the chief told me what happened, but I don't think she was killed).

Keep in mind use of "slim jims" won't always leave a sign, and the BG can relock upon entry, so a fully locked car is no guarantee. And even I don't always walk entirely around the car before entry, but I do always check my back seat (except in my Festiva, which has so little space to hide). Broken quarter windows and punched out locks (on the other side) aren't always immediately apparent either.

I think that the greater threat is certainly around, beside, or near the car more so than the interior, but you never know!

Condition YELLOW 24/7!

Karl
 
The simplest remedies are often the most overlooked.
"Remove the fangs from the Rattle snake...the snake becomes harmless"
That is...'remove the windows ability to frost over or fog up!'
After living (and surviving) 20 or so frigid winters in Montana and NO. Colorado, I have found ways to prevent fogging and frosting. (the less time spent scraping windshields...the better)
Cut a potato in half and rub it on the glass. Inside and outside. The starch will not allow the fog to stick nor the frost to settle. With your scenario just a basketball sized circle on the approach side will do. Not to much rubbing though. Remember to wipe glass after the vehicle warms up.

Hope this helps
The purest water comes from the deepest well. -M. Ueshiba, Founder of Aikido
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Heya, everyone. Newbie poster, be gentle. :eek:


I live in DC, and yes, we did have a rash of them some time back.

I drive a cherry '95 Ford Bronco XLT, which gets some covetous looks from the local hoodlums. Nice high ground clearance for the ankle cutters.

Unfortunately for them, I wear a pair of thick leather Chippewa motorcycle boots (ain't gonna cut those without a hacksaw) with steel toes and steel-reinforced insteps. April Fool!
 
Originally posted by Spark
Nothing 5 rounds of 00 Buck into the backseat won't cure.
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This is my first car SPARK! It's suposse to last me for a 2 to 3 years!

And I don't think any sheeple will buy a car with a back seat all shot up with bullet holes!!! It lowers the resell value!!!
 
I forgot you were from NW Ohio, the only thing I ever worried about climbing in my car when I lived in Maumee were the racoons and possibly the skunks. I wouldn't worry too much about anyone in the back seat, a quick glance before you get in will probably keep you safe. If you are worried about someone slashing your ankles before you get in, buy a pair of boots and stick a few titanium sheets in there and you will have taken care of that. Be careful of people in parking lots offering samples of cologne to you-it could be mace! Also if someone doesn't have their lights on at night don't flash your brights-they may follow you! Good luck :D :p
Matthew
 
I don't know about the foot slashers, but the guy in the back seat was a case that came up in NYC court - friend of mine wass on the Grand Jury it might be an "urban ledgend" out in farm country, but it is a fact of life to be prepared for in the Big City.
 
Originally posted by Kampfjaeger
When I lived in D.C. a while back, there was a rash of attacks on people getting into their cars preempted by a knife slash to the achilles tendon.
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Absolutely f-in right, Kampfjaeger!

Some years ago there were at least 2 rapes at a local coffee shop where the BG hid under the car, grabbed the victims by the ankles, and slammed their shins into the side of the car, which dropped them onto their butts. The rapes then proceeded from that point. Folks, we're talking about a restaurant at the "V" intersection of two major streets that always have traffic regardless of the time.

During the 70s, bums in San Francisco were known to hide under cars where FBI workers parked, so this is not a new phenomenon. I've scared both cats and raccoons out from under my car using Sure-Fires, and been damned glad I wasn't surprised by them.
 
I once read where a little old lady found three men sitting in her car as she exited the grocery store. She whipped out her pistol and made them run away. However, when she tried to start her car the key wouldn't work because IT WAS THE WRONG CAR! The three men made a police report on the "car-jacking granny". The police couldn't stop laughing when she went to turn herself in at the station. No charges were filed.

Goes to show how important it is to know what your car looks like.

:rolleyes:
 
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