I Was Attacked by a Drug Buyer & Had to Defend Myself

Currently annoyed

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED:  Two mornings ago, I was in front of the driveway to bring in the garbage can in front of the house, still wearing my dressing gown & fez (as I have said I would do every morning in the new year - see pics above), and I saw a dealer in a white sedan do a hand off to 3 guys in a light blue minivan. As the minvan drove by me I yelled out to it, "Did you just buy drugs?," at which time the driver swerved the van and tried to run me over. I had a hard wood bat with me (as we tend to carry them in the neighborhood because of occasional loose dogs), and swung it at the van as I jumped out of the way - smashing the window behind the driver's door - which broke the bat.

They sped away, then, leaving the street littered with glass, and the broken pieces of my bat... I loved that bat.

I immediately called 911; but my adrenaline was so high I couldn't get the license number or much to help out - click the links in the description above to see images I remembered for the police. When the police arrived, an officer I had never seen before gave me one look (see image above), and pretty much dismissed everything I said from that point forward.

Note to self: remove fez before talking to police.

Still pulling pieces of glass out of my hair the next day. But got the glass cleaned up out of the street. Checked all the perimeter alarms at the house, again. Checked everything is loaded. Now I have to get a new bat. Maybe a composite this time...

I will say this:  the buyer is very lucky I didn't break the bat over his head.


BACKGROUND:  If you didn't know - we have sort of a problem with drug dealers in my neighborhood. This fine neighborhood, once voted the most beautiful street in the city, has been on something of a downward trend (just like the ENTIRE CITY - make no mistake) with more empty houses... but the houses still look good and the residents are on the up & up. Well... except that ONE house (you know the one I mean).

But because of the type of street it is (short, quiet, & open at each end with not many houses on it), and its proximity to certain well-traveled areas -- AND, I suspect, because our house stood empty for 3 years before we bought it -- out of town buyers are often directed to wait on our street for a buyer to come by and do a quick hand off. Sadly, we know that when we see a car with a white person in it, they are probably there to buy. Watch them for a few minutes, and a dealer will come by and make the deal.

We are not talking about simple weed deals, though -- biggest problem in this city is heroin. And it is so cheap that buyers drive for HOURS to get here to score. And, because of the ineffectiveness of the DA's office in prosecuting dealers (there really is NO other reason) and basic issues with how "law enforcement" works (if you want to call it that), there is very little the police can do.

These failures (a regular occurrence) are what led me to try and run for mayor in the last election (though my family made me pull out of the race prior to the filing deadline for the election). There is no passive way to fight this kind of thing.


IN MY OPINION:  NOTE: This goes against a lot of what I have read on the subject.  Drug dealers only understand two things: profit and violence. I believe the only way to get them to leave an area is to impact their profit. Get the buyers to leave; harass them and make it too much trouble for them to deal in your neighborhood or area. Chase off the buyers (I have done it with axe handles, sledgehammer, and one time a chainsaw... once I did it just by looking like Cat Stevens). Chase off the dealers. Threaten them, then follow through with physical violence. Drug dealers, by and large, use violence as intimidation -- use it right back at them. But harder.

The "war on drugs" says that you get the low-level dealers, then have them cut a deal by rolling over on the one above them (then that dealer gets out of jail free), then get that next guy to roll over on the one above him (in turn, going free), and so on up the line to find the supply chain.

Thing is: that doesn't work. The low level dealer is back out on the street that same day, and back to dealing. The quality of life for the neighborhood and citizens continues to stay low. Get someone higher up the food chain and able to make the charges stick? Whoopee, Mr. D.A. Someone new just steps in the position, and the whole network is still in place to make the deals.

Follow the example of Russia (watch this video here) and remove the low level dealers. Cut off the hydra's head and stick a torch in it (by making it REALLY hard to deal - so casual sellers won't want to get in on it - again, attack the bottom line). Make it hard for buyers to find a guy (and make them just plain scared to even try). Keep doing that - and it will seriously limit the amount of dealers on the streets.