On my way out of the city yesterday, I pulled into the Westlake subdivision of Daly City in order to take some pictures of the cool mod houses there. I’d been planning to do it for quite a while and this was the day…
Apparently, though, one guy was not at all amused that I’d decided to take pictures in his neighborhood. He pulled up next to me when I was stopped at a stop sign and motioned for me to roll down the window. I figured I had a flat or an open gas cap or something, since this is really not a scary neighborhood at all…
The guy was Latino, late teens or early twenties, and he was driving a low-slung newer Cadillac. He asked me about my camera, and I guessed he was your average technology freak. That is, until he started asking why I was taking pictures, and proceeded to get a little more belligerent with each question. Finally, I started getting a little nervous and pulled away…
And then he started chasing me…
It wasn’t a high-speed chase or anything, but he was right on my ass and I couldn’t shake him. I crossed John Daly Boulevard into the shopping center. I wanted a lot of people around and I hoped I might find a cop or a security officer. No such luck. He chased me all around the shopping center, pulling up next to me and about an inch from my car at one point. I was scared shitless…
I turned and saw a bus stop with a bus at it. I pulled in front of the bus and started honking my horn over and over again to draw attention. The guy went on past and out of the center, and I was through with him…
Until I got stuck in traffic on John Daly Boulevard headed for the freeway. I looked in my mirror and there he came, out of the bushes. Apparently, he’d pulled on to a side street to wait for me. He came up to my car, banged on the window and just started yelling. Finally, he went away. I saw his car pull out ahead of me, so I just didn’t move when the light changed. I waited until he was past the freeway on-ramp with no chance of return and I floored it…
This guy was fucking insane. He must not have been armed, which is a good thing. If I’d had a gun in my car, I would surely have killed him, without a moment’s hesitation. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been able to say that about anyone, mainly because it’s the first time anyone has gotten me that scared…
