Newbie- Need info or advice. Urgent.

OK, First, I am from GreenEville TN (USA). Here is my main reason for posting...

Recently (past week and a half), I have been spotting some strange SUVs on the road I live on. OK, for this to make sense I need to try and fill in the blanks, the events may not be in order due to the condition of my nerves. A few years ago my house was burned to the ground, I barely made it out. It was clearly arson, However the local police did not do much of anything about it. I no longer trust the local law due to this. I have been very paranoid and unable to sleep at night after the incident ( I am getting to the point, I just want to try and let you know everything thet might be relevant.) I am 26, unemployed, and I stay at two different residences since the house was burnt. I usually arrive at "residence-B" at 4 or 5 pm and leave at 1-2am and return to "residence-A". This has been my pattern for over a year now. I have no police record, speeding tickets or anything. I have no involvement with any illegal activities. Now, here is whats going on... I was on my way back from "B" when I passed three newer SUVs, one Maroon, one Forest Green, and one Silver. They were following each other VERY closely (mabey 5 feet apart), NONE of them had license plates. When I passed them they all hit their brakes as if they intended to stop and turn around to come after me. I quicky went to the driveway of "A" and turned in, shutting off my lights (it is mostly hidden by trees and the angle of the turn, also it was about 1 am. "A" is a small farm with a long gravel drive and I keep a large number of pistols and rifles there (all legal). Mainly, I thought that I would be safe if I could get to the house and arm myself. Well, I didn't see the SUVs any more that night, I sat outside for about two hours with a pistol and a maglight ready to take action (Like I said, I am paranoid since I lost my home and all my possesions.) The next night, I am followed from "B" back to "A" by one of the same SUVs, after I reach the driveway, it is out of sight, I don't know if it turned around or parked on one of the side roads or what. Again I sit outside for a few hours and see nothing. This happens every night until three days ago. The 17th I think. On this night I come back to "A" at about 10pm, with a friend whom I had went to Kmart and some other stores with. When we turn onto the road to "A" we find ourselves behind one of the SUVs (the Maroon one, no tags, tinted windows, and gold colored bumpers and trim. It quickly swings into a driveway and lets us pass, then procedes to follow us. I had allready informed my friend of what was going on so he knew we needed to be calm. We stayed at a constant speed until reaching the driveway of "A" at which point we had lost sight of the SUV behind us, so we turned in, cut the lights and waited. The SUV never arrived. I found out from my father (who lives at "A" also) That a friend of his had been followed here by the same SUVs at about 8pm and had decided to leave his vehicle here and have my father drive him home. (there are a few odd things that happen between this night and the next, but I felt they had nothing to do with the SUVs so I am omitting it.) OK, The night before last I took a different route from "B" back to "A" and I saw nothing until I arrived at the driveway. There, a few hundred feet away was the Silver SUV, parked at the side of the road with it's lights off. I paused at the start of the driveway to see if I can make out what model it is and the lights come on. It heads in my direction, so I gun it down the driveway thinking there might finally be a confrontation. Again, It never passes. (I have a clear veiw of part the road from where I park, so I would see if any vehicle had passed the driveway.) Now, Today, feeling VERY stressed, I took along pepper spray, and a small caliber revolver to "B". At about 12:30 am I turn out of the driveway of "B" ( I had looked both ways and it is a clear veiw for about a quarter mile on the right, with three driveways in veiw.) as I turned left, I look in my rearveiw mirror and see a Silver SUV aproaching at high speed (Honestly, it scared me so I stomped the gas and turned left at the next crossing (This is the direction I have to go to get to "A" anyway.) The road makes a sharp right crossing a bridge over a creek and then goes up hill and levels off , so a few hundred feet make it impossible to see each other. (Something I shoud have mentioned earlier is that "A" and "B" are only two miles apart.) I kept the SUV out of sight and reached the driveway. As I turned in the driveway, I saw headlights from both directions and recognised them both as being the SUVs, I think they had intended to corner me before I could reach the driveway, but I had moved quicker than they had expected. As soon as I made it to the house I jumped out and shut the truck door to avoid being spotted from the clearing I watched the road through. Again I never saw them pass, so I know they were staying close and out of sight. I came in and grabbed my maglight and beganwalking around the house (light off of course, I wanted to see them first.) Across a fence a few hundred feet away, I see a small red led (like from a small radio or similar electronic item). The light continues slowly along the fence so I came inside and woke my father, gave him the short version of what had hapeened while he was putting on his shoes and getting a pistol and flashlight and we continued outside hoping to put an end to this. Well, We don't see or here anything. We stood outside for about an hour. I am sure He was convinced I was crazy so I told him to get in the truck and ride up the road and back to see if anything would happen. Well, We made a trip up the road and down the road, we turned around at the highway (about a half mile to the right of the driveway) and came back home without a single SUV in sight. I was really depressed at that point, I had woke my father up at somewhere near 1am and could not even prove what I had told him. Then from where I had parked, we see a large vehicle with a spotlight in the clearing traveling toward the driveway while shining the light in our direction ( we had allready ducked bhind the truck so I don't think we were seen but I am sure they saw the truck.) Now I knew Dad beleived me, but I could tell it upset him to realize that this was true. He said we should call the police, but I didn't think it was a good idea since this is a small town and the cops have NEVER hepled us out before ( Most people here beleive 90% of our police force is dirty or just doesn't care.) We stayed outside with pistols ready for an hour or so, but nothing happened, the vehicle never stopped or even slowed down at our driveway But they kept the spotlight on as far as we could see them through the trees. I stayed outside for a little longer than Dad, then I came in and got on the computer and searched Google for a website that might have some information and this is the first place I found, so I am asking you all for any advice or information that might be of use in my situation. I assure you this is no joke. I don't type very well and I have spent a LONG time trying to write this, so please, forgive any misspellings or grammar errors. I will be awaiting any responses, until I am too tired to stay awake. Thanks in advance for any helpful information.

Administrators, This is my first post, please forgive me if I have put this topic in the wrong area or broken any rules.

[edit on 20-9-2004 by Arminius]

[edit on 20-9-2004 by Arminius]

Hi Arminius..

I have read your post and am a little concerned that you feel you have nobody to turn to in your local area..
Hope the following helps..
1. Have you been to the police? (these vehicles could just be unmarked police vehicles..)
2. If the police are no help, try contacting another law enforcment agency.. eg FBI but only if you are sure you are in immediate danger.. as far as I can tell, they have as yet not done anything agressive other than follow you..
3. If your feeling brave, see if you can hunt them out... how many SUV's are in your area of those desciprion, you said it was a small town..

Unfortunately, because of the incidents that occured regarding your home, I can understand your paranoia.. but the fact they have no plates would indicate that the vehicle was suspicious.. (I would prolly be sneaky and call the cops and say that 3 SUV's of said desciption was seen taking someone off the street by force and if questioned by the police after they investigate this just explain you must have been mistaken but thought it best to report it just incase.. this might put the wind up you 'assailants'

hope this helps.

Klep.

Pretty scary story Arminius, I see now why you're freaked out. But one thing bothers me about it though. If as you say, you're a law abbiding citizen without a criminal record, what reason would someone have to go trough all this trouble to follow you?

I mean think about it. I don't think you're telling us the whole story here. Do you have any enemies? Enemies of your family that might wish you harm? There must be something. Anyways if the local police don't help then I suggest going to the FBI. But I would suggest you file a report on the incident with your local PD anyways.

In my experience, not even police vehicles run around without any kind of plates on them. If you are out in the middle of nowhere, they might be vehicles intended for only off road use, like the forest service, or someone. It could also very well be someone up to bad business out there, taking off their plates when in the area, like poachers, drug runners, God only knows. Either way, I would defiantly make a suspicious vehicle call to the police the next time I saw them.

I would not concoct a story about them doing anything like the other poster said, that is only going to lead you into further trouble. I would defiantly NOT be toting around a bunch of firearms, if it were the local authorities, they are just going to use this against you in the end. If you do end up in a confrontation with someone, and draw on them or fire at them, the police are going to charge you more strictly because it will look like you where looking for a fight, instead of trying to avoid one by contacting the authorities. Especially if you are creeping around outside with mace, a gun, and a flashlight. To be honest your erratic driving and creeping around might have raised someone else�s suspicions about you and that is why you are being watched.

If you feel that you cannot trust the local Police, try your counties sheriff office, or the state troopers. If the road you are passing them on is a state or county road the state boys should have the jurisdiction to handle it.


[edit on 9/20/2004 by defcon5]
spelling

[edit on 9/20/2004 by defcon5]

I mean think about it. I don't think you're telling us the whole story here. Do you have any enemies? Enemies of your family that might wish you harm? There must be something. Anyways if the local police don't help then I suggest going to the FBI. But I would suggest you file a report on the incident with your local PD anyways.

I really would have to agree with the above statement.
I mean if you've done nothing wrong, I would just report the incident.
If someone is up to no good, how do you know it's not mistaken identity,
who are your friends for example? Is it another member of your family?
I mean who knows.
I certainly wouldn't be waving any kind of firearms around thats for sure.
Anyway I hope everything is okay, and you get to the bottom of this.

The only things I left out seemed meaningless, IMHO. But I will add them just in case they may help.
Before my house was burnt down, I was a bit careless about choosing friends. Some of the people I hung out with were wild and did break the law. However, I outgrew that crowd before I got into any trouble. I kept to myself for about 2 years leading up to the fire. I supose I have made a few enemies over the years, When I first got out of high school, I used to cruise town and break up fights when it wasn't fair, mainly ones where some guy had gotten drunk and was beating on his wife/girlfriend in public. I thought of myself as one of the "Good guys", as did most of my friends, they said I was too kind hearted (and that I needed to stop trying to be a "Knight in shining armor" for people who would go out and make the same mistake the next night). Honestly, I never STARTED any trouble, it just seemed I was there at the wrong time (My own fault I guess.) BUT, all of this was years before the house was set on fire.

As for a reason for the SUVs to follow me, I have no clue. There is a bit of information that might be important to this in some way, although I can't see how. My fathers friend, who was also followed, was released from jail around the same time this all started. He was in jail due to a very unfortunate turn of events. His teenage son was being harrassed by some local "punks" who had treatened his life. His father took matters into his own hands when the police refused to help . the "punks" had been driving by his house and shooting windows and such (they even tried to force his car off an embankment one night, so one afternoon he sat outside and when they made their rounds, he shot at their car with a shotgun (He has some health problems and on medication, not to mention suffering from a nervous breakdown due to a recent divorce.) I don't agree with what he did, but considering the police response to his repeated calls I can see why it came to that. Anyway, due to his condition, he was held for a few months for observation and then released. I do find it strange that this is happening at the same point in time, however, the "punks" who would be looking to get even, can't afford the type of SUVs I have been running into. I also can't see why they would have come after me when I have no ties to the guy from jail.

Another thing. There have been a LOT of recent thefts in the area, four wheelers, cars, boats,ect. Rumor has it that a Red SUV has been spotted near the scene in a few of the cases.(Dad and I are poor farmers, we don't have anything of value other than our guns and no one around here knows how many or what kind we have, so I doubt that anyone would put forth this kind of effort to rob us.)

the only other recent even was a friend of mine was asaulted by her boyfriend, but I didn't find out about it until a week after it had happened. I have made no attempt to contact either party involved, so I don't feel that was important.

There could be a key to this in some of these events, but I can't figure it out. Dad is set on calling a cop he knows and asking if they have had any reports of similar ocurrances in the area and mabey asking if a car can be sent out to patrol the road from 12pm to 2 am. I honestly don't think it is a good idea because if the cops are dirty, calling them may be asking for trouble.

As for calling the FBI, that might be an option if things get any more suspicious. When the house burnt and the police didn't do a proper investigation, I called the TBI (State BI instead of Federal) and all it got me was a nice sit in the detectives office while they accused me of burning down my own house (I had no insurance and the house had belonged to my Grandmother so I was VERY upset when they accused me.

Now, I have to say I am affraid, not just because of the fact that I may be about to be hurt or worse, but because of the fact that these people know where both my mother and father live. When the house was burnt it put things into perspective. It made me realize that there are worse things that can happen than getting beat up or killed. When you lose EVERYTHING you own and are left homeless, it makes you rethink your priorities.


Thats it. I can't think of anything else that might be important. If anyone can make sense of this and sees a reason why this is happening, I am more than willing to read their opinions.

To answer a few of the posts above, I follow the speed limit and it is only a two mile drive, takes about 4 minutes. The only time I was speeding was after I had been followed for a week. As for "creeping around" , NONE of the neighbors can see the house or most of the property due to trees and hills. Also, I did not have the flashlight on, I was just carrying it "In case" I needed it. I do not carry a "Bunch" of firearms, only a small 22 caliber revolver on one night and Dad has a carry permit so it doesn't matter what he has. There is no law against pepper spray here, so I don't see how any of this has anything to do with the SUVs. It seems that some of you are jumping to conclusions. I have not been "waving" any firearms around or doing any of the other activities that some of you have mentioned. Please read the post carefully and dont take parts of it out of context.

As for city, county and state police, Its a small town and like I said, most people feel the cops are dirty or don't care. this includes city and county. I live way out in the country and I have have never seen a State police vehicle within 20 miles of here, so I don't know if it would do any good to contact them.


[edit on 20-9-2004 by Arminius]

How big/small a town is Greenville Arminius.?
If it's a small town, surely other people would notice something strange
going on.

Just a thought.

Originally posted by madhatter
How big/small a town is Greenville Arminius.?
If it's a small town, surely other people would notice something strange
going on.

Just a thought.

The town is pretty small, I dont know the population, but I live quite a ways outside of "town".
From what I can tell the whole thing is taking place on a 3 or 4 mile stretch of road. You only pass three houses (that are visible from the road) and at 1am all the neigbors are asleep.

After thinking it over, I beleive it would be best if I try to contact an "outside authority" such as the State police. I feel a lot better just being able to let this all out here. I think I am calm enough to get a few hours sleep now.

[edit on 20-9-2004 by Arminius]

Do not know if that has anything to do with what your talking about or even if Greenville is in Greenville County, but I came across this:

www.gcso.org...

Thought it was funny, because the person disappeared going to sell his silver GMC Silverado, which is also missing.

I would defiantly call the sheriff's office if I where you, leave the local police out of it.

Anyway there is the website for the Greenville County Sheriff office, they have there numbers posted. I would just call a non-emergency number, and tell someone what is going on. I would probably skip the part about running around armed though.

Originally posted by defcon5
Do not know if that has anything to do with what your talking about or even if Greenville is in Greenville County, but I came across this:

www.gcso.org...

Thought it was funny, because the person disappeared going to sell his silver GMC Silverado, which is also missing.

I would defiantly call the sheriff's office if I where you, leave the local police out of it.

Anyway there is the website for the Greenville County Sheriff office, they have there numbers posted. I would just call a non-emergency number, and tell someone what is going on. I would probably skip the part about running around armed though.

Thanks for taking time to research that. Unfortunatly it's the wrong Greeneville (notice the extra "e" mine has and it's in Tennessee, not South Carolina.Thanks anyway.

[edit on 20-9-2004 by Arminius]

Sorry about that, I did a search on Greeneville TN, and that was one of the sites that came up. I just thought it was somewhat amusing that the first page I opened to was about a missing silver SUV.

There still must be a county sheriff office there, what county are you in?

Down here the sheriff, offices are bigger and generally handle more calls then the local police do anyway. I have a difficult time believing your going to run into as much good-old-boy syndrome in a bigger organization.

Originally posted by defcon5
Sorry about that, I did a search on Greeneville TN, and that was one of the sites that came up. I just thought it was somewhat amusing that the first page I opened to was about a missing silver SUV.

There still must be a county sheriff office there, what county are you in?

Down here the sheriff, offices are bigger and generally handle more calls then the local police do anyway. I have a difficult time believing your going to run into as much good-old-boy syndrome in a bigger organization.

There are three diferent police departments here. there is Tusculum (don't know if I spelled it right) They actually have jurisdiction here, even though it is in the county, but they only have two part-time officers. The county sheriff also is only part-time but has about 7 officers I think. Then there is the City police and from the few times I have met any of them they are real @#$**&%$ (hope you know what I mean). All the police officers that might be on duty at the time this is happening are the real "royalty" types. They think they are better than everyone else and tend to have a don't give a **** additude. I have heard from reliable sorces that most of the night shift cops here are selling drugs and doing some other illegal things, thats why I am really wondering if its worth the risk to contact them, for all I know they might have something going on that I accidently ran across and don't know it. I have decided that the state police is the best choice right now. I intend to call them in a few hours and I will post back here later today.

I was just thinking, if it's possible why don't you go and stay somewhere
else for a week or two? (That's if it's at all possible of course)

See if the trouble follows you, you'll soon find out if it's derected at you
or not.

Originally posted by madhatter
I was just thinking, if it's possible why don't you go and stay somewhere
else for a week or two? (That's if it's at all possible of course)

See if the trouble follows you, you'll soon find out if it's derected at you
or not.

You know, that would be a good idea. I really hadn't thought about that. Of course, I don't know anywhere I can stay, but it might be worth a shot if I can talk someone into letting me stay with them. I would hate to leave Dad here alone with this going on, that would be the only downside to that idea.

Good news! Seems that things might have calmed down. I made my usual trip tonight without even seeing ANY other vehicles. I just hope it is over for good.
I placed a call to the state police earlier today. They would not even listed to me. They said I should take it up with the Tusculum police. I was unable to find a number for them, so I called the county police, I told them what had been going on and they said to call Tusculum. I told them that I could not find a number for the Tusculum police (turns out is is unlisted in the current phone book I have!!) Finally I got the number and called Tusculum. They were very rude and did not listen to any thing I said. The first lady just kept saying OK, yeah, OK. So I asked to speak to someone else, This guy was really in a bad mood and said he "didn't Feel like dealing with it right now". When I told him I wanted something done NOW, he asked what road I lived on (first question he had bothered to ask) When I told him Ball Road he responded with "Call the City".

Well I called the city and they were a little easier to talk to, but they said it was not their jurisdiction and that I should call Tusculum. I explained to them what Tusculum had told me and the guy said he would look into it and then hung up without asking my name or phone number. I tried to call back off and on and only got a busy signal for over 3 hours.

The response I received from each police dept. confirmed my theory that they would be of no help.
I am also a little suprised that the SUVs were not around tonight, seems odd that they would be absent after I phoned the police. I had wondered if there might be something going on and the police were involved and this turn of events makes it seem that I might be correct. Why else would the SUVs not show up after being present for over a week?

I am still nervous since I don't know what was going on to begin with but I am VERY releived that I didn't see anything suspicious tonight.
I will keep you posted if anything else developes.

[edit on 21-9-2004 by Arminius]

if you are as law abiding as you say there is a good chance these pepole think that you are watching them?? is they have a speed lab tou will have a smell in the air like kerosine or if the are growing hydro weed the smmel of that is quite strong as well.
my advice is to just leave these guy's alone small towns are quite often used for this. if the pepole are new in town then it's my geuss they won't be there for long forget the cops they won't help they never do.