Rick's Pondmates
Rick,
I wasn't there to see and hear their body language, facial expressions and spoken tone. But the incident you wrote about, at the pond you fished in this week's Panfish story, that shocked me and it has been bothering me all week.
It's good that you reported the incident to the landowner. Good also that the landowner says he will seek a court order barring those people from entering onto his property again. But as a legal matter it is not neccessary that he does this; all he has to do is call the sheriff's office, swear out a complaint and have the group arrested for illegal trespass. Not next time but this time. They did not have his permission to fish the pond; you did.
What is most disturbing to me is that this bunch of hoodlums verbalized a demand that you surrender all your fishing equipment to them. Given that the monetary value of the tackle you typically carry totals over $1,000; given that you were leaving the pond when they made this demand; given that the group attempted to pursue you on your way out -- all these actions taken together are prima facie evidence that this group saw you as an easy mark and they were intent on stealing your property from you.
Technically, what the group committed is a criminal offense. A felony crime in every state. The crime they committed is called Theft By Verbal Intimidation, also known as Strong-armed Robbery. They did not succeed -- this time. They might not have succeeded anyway, given your self-defense skills.
You are a good fist-fighter. Many other fly fishers, myself included, are not. I am, though, a skilled police combat shooter. Had I been with you on this trip, upon hearing that demand for your equipment (and mine, too) I would have gone into my vehicle for a very good friend, after which those people would have found themselves staring into the Tunnel of Doom. I despise thugs and bullies; I despise thieves.
It's a great relief to me that you survived such an encounter...this time. It's none of my business, Rick, but if you would think back again on their behavior that day, giving weight to the question of whether you felt they would have actually attacked you. It's up to you, but would you consider reporting this incident to your county sheriff's office? (Maybe a printed copy of the FAOL article would suffice.) You wouldn't have to file an assault charge, just report the incident as it happened. Give law enforcement their physical descriptions, describe the boat and vehicle, relate the events as they unfolded, and especially give the sherrif the pond owner's name (since he knows the offenders by name).
I suspect there is a high probability this group will repeat such behavior in the future. Maybe not with you but with other fishermen at other bodies of water. If robbery or a physical assault is the outcome (perhaps involving a homicide) it would be a tremendous help to investigators and your county prosecutor to have this evidence of the group's prior aggressive behavior -- evidence and testimony that can be shown to a jury to gain a conviction. People like these need to go to jail. What they did to you rates going to jail.
This group of thugs you encountered on that pond, they are on a collision course with disaster. Better the disaster be theirs and not yours, or someone else's.
And now...back to fishing!
Joe
"Better small than not at all."
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