In Chicago, men of a certain unsurprising demographic dressed as parking attendants are surrounding cars before they even exit the freeway and demanding money to park at Comiskey Park.
In a (not-so) shocking twist, if you don’t give them the $40 they’re demanding, they become violent.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1908162578641027072/vid/avc1/650x480/wAy_4va6RimmcLHu.mp4?tag=16
Well done, Chicago. Even in L.A. you don't get held up on the freeway by masked bandits like it's an 1820s stagecoach robbery or something.
On 2025-04-09 3:37 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
In Chicago, men of a certain unsurprising demographic dressed as parkingMy friends and I were actually victims of something similar at a car
attendants are surrounding cars before they even exit the freeway and
demanding money to park at Comiskey Park.
In a (not-so) shocking twist, if you don’t give them the $40 they’re
demanding, they become violent.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1908162578641027072/vid/avc1/650x480/wAy_4va6RimmcLHu.mp4?tag=16
Well done, Chicago. Even in L.A. you don't get held up on the freeway by
masked bandits like it's an 1820s stagecoach robbery or something.
race around 45 years ago. We were at Mosport, which is a couple of hours north-east of Toronto, camping for the weekend while we took in some
motor racing. Mosport had provided a huge pile of "firewood" - actually,
they were chairs like the ones we'd had in our high school cafeteria -
and as we approached in a car, a guy came over and told us it would be
$5 for a trunk full. We were a little surprised but Mosport had
obviously spent some money getting that wood so we coughed up the $5,
took a trunkful of wood, and went our way. It was only later that we
heard that the people collecting the money had nothing to do with
Mosport, who had provided the wood for free.
I had wondered why the guy who approached us spoke so quietly and
realized after the fact that he must have been trying to be discrete so
that no one else nearby could tell us the wood was free. I seem to
recall other guys also approaching people that were coming for wood so
I'm not clear if it was an organized scam or if other people just spontaneously started imitating the first guy when they saw his scam was working. (There were several big piles of wood around the park but I
have no idea if the same scam was used at the other piles.)
I also remember a bit of an epilogue to the whole thing later on that
long weekend: the wood piles (or at least the one we had gone to) were
set on fire and all the remaining wood burnt. I suspect that was a bit
of protest from people who'd been ripped off by the scam.
I should also point out that no one was threatened or abused if they
chose not to give these guys $5 for firewood. I'm sure we were free to
drive away and look elsewhere if we liked. But it probably would have
cost us more than that to drive to some other supplier of firewood and
it might have taken a while given that Mosport isn't in any town. I
didn't see anyone tell these guys to fuck off and then helped themselves
to the wood for free so I don't know what would have happened; I
*suspect* they would have simply got their wood for free without any
kind of altercation.
I would think the baseball team could arrange to get a couple of cops
(on- or off-duty) to hang out at the offramp to discourage these
scammers (and chase them if they try to leave on their scooters); it
would go a long way to rehabilitating the image of the team and the city
for tolerating that nonsense. (I saw the bit where the police car tried
to stop them but the scammers just scattered on their scooters. The cops should have been on comparable vehicles that could give chase.)
On Apr 9, 2025 at 1:36:22 PM PDT, "Rhino" <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
On 2025-04-09 3:37 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
In Chicago, men of a certain unsurprising demographic dressed as parking >>> attendants are surrounding cars before they even exit the freeway andMy friends and I were actually victims of something similar at a car
demanding money to park at Comiskey Park.
In a (not-so) shocking twist, if you don’t give them the $40 they’re >>> demanding, they become violent.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1908162578641027072/vid/avc1/650x480/wAy_4va6RimmcLHu.mp4?tag=16
Well done, Chicago. Even in L.A. you don't get held up on the freeway by >>> masked bandits like it's an 1820s stagecoach robbery or something.
race around 45 years ago. We were at Mosport, which is a couple of hours
north-east of Toronto, camping for the weekend while we took in some
motor racing. Mosport had provided a huge pile of "firewood" - actually,
they were chairs like the ones we'd had in our high school cafeteria -
and as we approached in a car, a guy came over and told us it would be
$5 for a trunk full. We were a little surprised but Mosport had
obviously spent some money getting that wood so we coughed up the $5,
took a trunkful of wood, and went our way. It was only later that we
heard that the people collecting the money had nothing to do with
Mosport, who had provided the wood for free.
I had wondered why the guy who approached us spoke so quietly and
realized after the fact that he must have been trying to be discrete so
that no one else nearby could tell us the wood was free. I seem to
recall other guys also approaching people that were coming for wood so
I'm not clear if it was an organized scam or if other people just
spontaneously started imitating the first guy when they saw his scam was
working. (There were several big piles of wood around the park but I
have no idea if the same scam was used at the other piles.)
I also remember a bit of an epilogue to the whole thing later on that
long weekend: the wood piles (or at least the one we had gone to) were
set on fire and all the remaining wood burnt. I suspect that was a bit
of protest from people who'd been ripped off by the scam.
I should also point out that no one was threatened or abused if they
chose not to give these guys $5 for firewood. I'm sure we were free to
drive away and look elsewhere if we liked. But it probably would have
cost us more than that to drive to some other supplier of firewood and
it might have taken a while given that Mosport isn't in any town. I
didn't see anyone tell these guys to fuck off and then helped themselves
to the wood for free so I don't know what would have happened; I
*suspect* they would have simply got their wood for free without any
kind of altercation.
I would think the baseball team could arrange to get a couple of cops
(on- or off-duty) to hang out at the offramp to discourage these
scammers (and chase them if they try to leave on their scooters); it
would go a long way to rehabilitating the image of the team and the city
for tolerating that nonsense. (I saw the bit where the police car tried
to stop them but the scammers just scattered on their scooters. The cops
should have been on comparable vehicles that could give chase.)
This is why you should be allowed to carry in your car (and on your person). Betcha these guys wouldn't be pulling this crap if they had to expect every second or third car to have someone pointing a gun back at them.
In Chicago, men of a certain unsurprising demographic dressed as parking >attendants are surrounding cars before they even exit the freeway and >demanding money to park at Comiskey Park.
In a (not-so) shocking twist, if you don’t give them the $40 they’re >demanding, they become violent.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1908162578641027072/vid/avc1/650x480/wAy_4va6RimmcLHu.mp4?tag=16
Well done, Chicago. Even in L.A. you don't get held up on the freeway by >masked bandits like it's an 1820s stagecoach robbery or something.
BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
In Chicago, men of a certain unsurprising demographic dressed as parking
attendants are surrounding cars before they even exit the freeway and
demanding money to park at Comiskey Park.
In a (not-so) shocking twist, if you don’t give them the $40 they’re
demanding, they become violent.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1908162578641027072/vid/avc1/650x480/wAy_4va6RimmcLHu.mp4?tag=16
Well done, Chicago. Even in L.A. you don't get held up on the freeway by
masked bandits like it's an 1820s stagecoach robbery or something.
Absolutely outrageous. I hadn't heard about that.
An alderman is working on an ordinamce that would allow vehicle owners
to sue unlicensed predatory towing companies, that just show up at
accidents and try to get cash from motorists. I have no idea where they
take vehicles.
On 2025-04-09 6:00 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
In Chicago, men of a certain unsurprising demographic dressed as parking >>> attendants are surrounding cars before they even exit the freeway and
demanding money to park at Comiskey Park.
In a (not-so) shocking twist, if you don’t give them the $40 they’re >>> demanding, they become violent.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1908162578641027072/vid/avc1/650x480/wAy_4va6RimmcLHu.mp4?tag=16
Well done, Chicago. Even in L.A. you don't get held up on the freeway by >>> masked bandits like it's an 1820s stagecoach robbery or something.
Absolutely outrageous. I hadn't heard about that.
An alderman is working on an ordinamce that would allow vehicle owners
to sue unlicensed predatory towing companies, that just show up at
accidents and try to get cash from motorists. I have no idea where they
take vehicles.
Probably somewhere that they charge hundreds of dollars a day to "store"
the vehicle but that is out of the way and/or hard to find so that the
owner takes a while to locate them....
Shady tow operators are common up here too. But it's gotten to a point
where they will exchange gunfire with their competitors to get a tow at
an accident scene. That's obviously REALLY bad but I don't know of
anything that the police are actually doing about that beyond their
standard declarations that this is unacceptable.
Given how much stricter gun control is here than there, you'd think the police would have plenty of leverage over anyone discharging - or even displaying - a firearm. Then again, with just about everyone getting
bail for every offence, even if they are already out on bail, they may
not think it's worth the risk of confronting the tow truck operators.
BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
In Chicago, men of a certain unsurprising demographic dressed as parking
attendants are surrounding cars before they even exit the freeway and
demanding money to park at Comiskey Park.
In a (not-so) shocking twist, if you donât give them the $40 theyâre
demanding, they become violent.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1908162578641027072/vid/avc1/650x480/wAy_4va6RimmcLHu.mp4?tag=16
Well done, Chicago. Even in L.A. you don't get held up on the freeway by
masked bandits like it's an 1820s stagecoach robbery or something.
Absolutely outrageous. I hadn't heard about that.
On Apr 9, 2025 at 3:57:15 PM PDT, "Rhino" <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
On 2025-04-09 6:00 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
In Chicago, men of a certain unsurprising demographic dressed as parking >>>> attendants are surrounding cars before they even exit the freeway and >>>> demanding money to park at Comiskey Park.
In a (not-so) shocking twist, if you don’t give them the $40 they’re >>>> demanding, they become violent.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1908162578641027072/vid/avc1/650x480/wAy_4va6RimmcLHu.mp4?tag=16
Well done, Chicago. Even in L.A. you don't get held up on the freeway by >>>> masked bandits like it's an 1820s stagecoach robbery or something.
Absolutely outrageous. I hadn't heard about that.
An alderman is working on an ordinamce that would allow vehicle owners >>> to sue unlicensed predatory towing companies, that just show up at
accidents and try to get cash from motorists. I have no idea where they >>> take vehicles.
Probably somewhere that they charge hundreds of dollars a day to "store"
the vehicle but that is out of the way and/or hard to find so that the
owner takes a while to locate them....
Shady tow operators are common up here too. But it's gotten to a point
where they will exchange gunfire with their competitors to get a tow at
an accident scene. That's obviously REALLY bad but I don't know of
anything that the police are actually doing about that beyond their
standard declarations that this is unacceptable.
Given how much stricter gun control is here than there, you'd think the
police would have plenty of leverage over anyone discharging - or even
displaying - a firearm. Then again, with just about everyone getting
bail for every offence, even if they are already out on bail, they may
not think it's worth the risk of confronting the tow truck operators.
Back when I lived in Houston, they trolled the freeways and if they found you broken down or with a flat tire, they'd pull up, hook your car up, and tow it away whether you wanted them to or not. They'd say it's for your "safety", since changing a tire on the side of the freeway is dangerous. They didn't really seem to care that they'd left you on the side of a freeway with no vehicle. That part of being "safe" didn't concern them.
Happened to me once in my issued government SUV-- got a flat from a sharp piece of concrete on the road-- and a tow truck guy arrived and pretended I wasn't even there when I told him I didn't want a tow. When he started pulling the chains out, I flipped on my red-and-blue flashers, stepped in front of him with my badge in one hand and my handcuffs in the other, and asked him how far he wanted to play this game. He stared daggers at me, then packed his chains back up and drove off. Never said a word the entire time.
Sometimes I miss having that badge...
On Apr 9, 2025 at 3:57:15 PM PDT, "Rhino" <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
On 2025-04-09 6:00 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
In Chicago, men of a certain unsurprising demographic dressed as parking >>>> attendants are surrounding cars before they even exit the freeway and >>>> demanding money to park at Comiskey Park.
In a (not-so) shocking twist, if you don’t give them the $40 they’re >>>> demanding, they become violent.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1908162578641027072/vid/avc1/650x480/wAy_4va6RimmcLHu.mp4?tag=16
Well done, Chicago. Even in L.A. you don't get held up on the freeway by >>>> masked bandits like it's an 1820s stagecoach robbery or something.
Absolutely outrageous. I hadn't heard about that.
An alderman is working on an ordinamce that would allow vehicle owners >>> to sue unlicensed predatory towing companies, that just show up at
accidents and try to get cash from motorists. I have no idea where they >>> take vehicles.
Probably somewhere that they charge hundreds of dollars a day to "store"
the vehicle but that is out of the way and/or hard to find so that the
owner takes a while to locate them....
Shady tow operators are common up here too. But it's gotten to a point
where they will exchange gunfire with their competitors to get a tow at
an accident scene. That's obviously REALLY bad but I don't know of
anything that the police are actually doing about that beyond their
standard declarations that this is unacceptable.
Given how much stricter gun control is here than there, you'd think the
police would have plenty of leverage over anyone discharging - or even
displaying - a firearm. Then again, with just about everyone getting
bail for every offence, even if they are already out on bail, they may
not think it's worth the risk of confronting the tow truck operators.
Back when I lived in Houston, they trolled the freeways and if they found you broken down or with a flat tire, they'd pull up, hook your car up, and tow it away whether you wanted them to or not. They'd say it's for your "safety", since changing a tire on the side of the freeway is dangerous. They didn't really seem to care that they'd left you on the side of a freeway with no vehicle. That part of being "safe" didn't concern them.
Happened to me once in my issued government SUV-- got a flat from a sharp piece of concrete on the road-- and a tow truck guy arrived and pretended I wasn't even there when I told him I didn't want a tow. When he started pulling the chains out, I flipped on my red-and-blue flashers, stepped in front of him with my badge in one hand and my handcuffs in the other, and asked him how far he wanted to play this game. He stared daggers at me, then packed his chains back up and drove off. Never said a word the entire time.
Sometimes I miss having that badge...
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