Begging for gas. again.

[PepperElf]

Last week I went to walmart and saw a guy begging for gas in the parking lot. I suspected a scam but I didn't say anything to walmart because of where the man was parked.

In my town both the walmart and lowes have "property lines" across the parking lot. AFAIK the store-side is store property and the other side is public property. so walmart had no jurisdiction over him begging really.

When I left I saw he was still there an drove by looking at him, and memorized the plate. About this time he was packing up to leave.


But note the title in the thread... cos I saw him again today at the mall near the store I work at. I noted his plate - Yep same guy! - and went to work. I told my manager and pointed the van out to him. It wasn't on our lot so all they could do was notify the mall cops and i don't think they had the number.

I don't know if the man recognized me but... I did notice that when I checked back about 5 minutes later his van was gone. So either he was asked to leave or he realized it was time to move on to another scam location.

Still, after work, I headed to the mall to talk to their security and pass the information on to them. I am thinking my manager *didn't* call cos the guard was a bit surprised at the information but was glad to take it down on his notebook.

i gave him... time of sighting: about 1150, color of vehicle, kind of vehicle & brand, plate, and physical description of the man.

The mall guard agreed it sounded like a scan. Not sure if they'll turn the data into the cops but hey... maybe they will.

[blas]

It's good that you brought it to someone's attention. If anything, there's always a way for someone at the bottom to bring it further to the top.

Betcha he didn't think he'd run into the same people multiple times in a matter of days.

I wish the panhandlers around here would put a little more thought into it. Due to my little shopping addiction, in the spring/summer, I see the same people and their cardboard signs at the same places by the mall and outlet malls every damn weekend. And of course, they are on cell phones and smoking cigarettes.

[Draper Mel]

I had a similar situation several years ago when I lived in Indianapolis. This guy approached me in a Walgreens parking lot, hit all the usual buzzwords (unemployed, kids, just a few bucks, etc) but I told him sorry, and he moved on.

The next day I saw him in a nearby grocery store parking lot, giving somebody else the same story. He approached me again, too. I don't remember what I said, but at the look on my face, he looked sheepish and moved on. It didn't occur to me to call the police.

[MoonCat]

Had a thing going on here a couple years ago where kids from the nicer areas (aka "moneyed suburbs") would come into town to the movies and hang around the parking lot, begging money off of other customers. They didn't even give a sob story - too lazy? I dunno - but would just ask for money, and some of them got pretty snarky when told "no." The trend seems to have faded away, though.

[infinitemonkies]

I had a guy walk up to me while I was waiting for the bus with my groceries yesterday and ask if i could spare bus fare. I was feeling generous so I gave him the 2 bucks... then he walked away as the bus approached.


When I used to work downtown, I'd see panhandlers all the time sitting on the sidewalk with signs saying "stranded and broke, need $ to get home" One particular guy I saw in the same spot every day for more than a year. And everyday he was wearing different (and clean) clothes.

[DeltaSierra]

There's a guy around here who goes around with a empty gas can saying he needs $ for gas - but suddenly DOESN'T need the $ when you offer to meet him at the gas station across the road and say you'll put gas in it for him.....

[PepperElf]

What's the diff between red & yellow? His was red, I remember. old looking thing too.

at walmart he had a sign up iirc. but at the mall (across state lines) he was just waving the gas can.

[wolfie]

What's the diff between red & yellow? His was red, I remember. old looking thing too.

It's a colour code. Red jerrycans are for gasoline, yellow are for diesel, and blue are for kerosene. Because yellow ones are harder to find than red, some TDI owners (mis)use a red can for diesel fuel.

What I was getting at was that if I had a red can that I used for diesel, and a diesel vehicle that wasn't obvious about the fact (kind of hard to pretend that the Peterbilt of Natural Selection burns gasoline), once I'd positively identified the beggar as a scammer, I'd offer him a couple gallons of fuel. He'd be likely to accept (even though it wasn't cash, it would look like saving a bit next time he had to fill up) - but when things "dried up" and he went to go to a new "fishing hole", he'd find that his engine didn't like the "donation".