Woman Foils Train Mugger By Slumping Over, Crying, Shaking To Fake Seizure
A mystery mugger with a bizarre mugging ploy on a train handed the intended victim a note that indicated not one, but two guns were pointed at her back. The BART train passenger was scared, but she didn’t want to hand over her wallet and phone as the note indicated, so she did something rather bizarre herself.
Julie Dragland, 32, was given credit for her quick thinking during a situation that would be rather scary to anyone, suggests SF Gate. The note said,
“There are 2 guns pointed at you now. If you want to live hand back your wallet + phone NOW + do not turn around and be discreet. Do not turn around until after you have left civic center + you will live.”
Once getting that note, which was written in red ink on a torn piece of paper, she was afraid to turn around. She saw a man in front of her on the train and attempted to mouth to him “help me.” But the man apparently didn’t get the message as he got off the train. She didn’t see the mugger but knew the culprit was behind her because she was just handed the note. This is when Julie said she knew she had to improvise.
She said she slumped over to the side and started crying and shaking as if she were having a seizure. She also thought that she probably looked rather ridiculous, but she knew if she faked a seizure, she would attract the attention of other people on the train. She said she “closed her eyes and increased the vigor so people would pay attention.”
Woman Fakes Seizure To Escape Armed Robber Who Threatened Her With Terrifying Note https://t.co/gjio76mwpv
— Mellie Adams-Yee (@melodile2015) September 19, 2017
One person who apparently paid attention was the mugger, as it appeared the suspect took one look at Julie in this condition and hightailed it out of there. She said a couple came to her aid and asked her if she was alright. Julie said she handed them the note. It didn’t appear that mystery mugger was anywhere around once Julie composed herself and then looked behind her. Julie thought the mugger was a woman with a suitcase and police released images of the possible suspect, which is seen in the tweets above and below.
Woman fakes seizure to avoid mugging on California train; suspect’s photo released https://t.co/EP1zboWaQA
— WREG News Channel 3 (@3onyourside) September 19, 2017
No one saw where the prospective mugger went, but they suspect the criminal got off at the next stop. Julie “is not sure who handed her the note and did not see anyone with a weapon,” reports KRON 4.
Police did check the station for the mugger, but no one matching the description was found. According to SFist, the incident occurred on Friday afternoon at about 4:50 p.m. local time. She was on the Dublin-bound train when this incident occurred.
[Featured Image by Ulf Wittrock/Shutterstock]
