# Um...yikes? Pack of pre-teen girls assault woman in Target **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 12, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927 "2007-02-12T22:03:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/21 "2007-02-13T00:44:30Z")
[QUOTE=SeaCanary] ::gently:: We don’t know that everyone around just let it happen. You might want to re-think that. ::/gently:: I’m reasonably certain no one else actually slugged one of the perps; surely the article would’ve mentioned it. Perhaps others dialed 911 on their cell phones, hollered **"SECURITY!!** or at least screamed **“HEY !!! DON’T DO THAT!!!”** We don’t know. I certainly would do that much. We know the perps are 10, 14, 16 and 20. We also know they were smart/quick/strong enough to overwhelm a 22 year old. Surely you’re not suggesting someone should have dived in and started restraining or swinging? [/QUOTE] Oh yes, somebody is getting there ass kicked, better just stand there and wait for somebody else to do something. I would hope that any able bodied man that was present would be willing to step in and stop a couple teenage girls. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/22 "2007-02-13T00:56:50Z")
Targeted. ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/23 "2007-02-13T01:07:17Z")
[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong] Oh yes, somebody is getting there ass kicked, better just stand there and wait for somebody else to do something. I would hope that any able bodied man that was present would be willing to step in and stop a couple teenage girls. [/QUOTE] I had a feeling this would pop up. :rolleyes: So the odds are 1 (that’s me, 6’1" out-of-shape 55 y.o. male) to 4 (that’s them.) They’ve already proven they can subdue a 22 year old woman. Let’s assume they are all 5’6" or less and nobody weighs more than 135 lbs and no one’s flashing a blade. You’re right. 🙂 See where I’m going with this? Now let’s assume the 16 or 20 y.o. are 5’11" and 135 lbs of muscle like the woman I used to sing with. We already know they’ve got attitude and are not afraid to use the muscle. And I decide to open negotiations by breaking a bottle across someone’s head or by grabbing a mop and lunging about like a glue-sniffing samurai. (Hey, I know **one** person who’s gonna come out of this unscathed.) And now the police show up and everybody – but _everybody_ – has a different take on the action of the last 10 minutes. You gonna post my bail? :dubious: Please say, “Yes.” ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/24 "2007-02-13T01:11:35Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Lendervedder] That’s odd; when I was 10, we’d only rip their pants off. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but was it on Halloween, in response to them neither smelling your feet nor giving you something good to eat? Because that’s different. ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/25 "2007-02-13T01:13:01Z")
Hey **Snarky\_Kong** - Did you read the following from earlier in the post? [QUOTE=groman] … Physically restrain an unfamiliar ten year old girl? At best I’d wind up losing a lawsuit, at worst in prison and sex offender registration. Adult woman or boys of any age, not so much, but you’re on the wrong end of any court case, criminal or civil, where an underage girl’s involved and you’re a single, adult male – you’re scrod. [/QUOTE] Probably missed it, right? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/26 "2007-02-13T01:19:15Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] I like how they apparently travel in “packs” now. [/QUOTE] Or maybe a new Long Beach. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/27 "2007-02-13T01:21:03Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] Yeah, but was it on Halloween, in response to them neither smelling your feet nor giving you something good to eat? Because that’s different. [/QUOTE] Well never mind, then. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/28 "2007-02-13T03:02:08Z")
[QUOTE=groman] Adult woman or boys of any age, not so much, but you’re on the wrong end of any court case, criminal or civil, where an underage girl’s involved and you’re a single, adult male – you’re **scrod**. [/QUOTE] Wait, how do fish factor in again? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/29 "2007-02-13T03:11:02Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] Wait, how do fish factor in again? [/QUOTE] I am introducing a simple future conditional continuous tense (did I get that right?) into the english language. But ssshh… it’s a secret. to screw (v. tr. ) - screws - screwing - screwed - scrod ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/30 "2007-02-13T03:19:16Z")
Oddly, somewhere on the net this is being reported as late-breaking fetish news. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/31 "2007-02-13T03:30:51Z")
[QUOTE=groman] I am introducing a simple future conditional continuous tense (did I get that right?) into the english language. But ssshh… it’s a secret. to screw (v. tr. ) - screws - screwing - screwed - scrod [/QUOTE] So, to sleep (v. intr.) sleeps sleeping slept slod? To ride (v. tr.) Rides Riding Rode Rod I am liking this already! ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/32 "2007-02-13T03:37:02Z")
[QUOTE=groman] At best I’d wind up losing a lawsuit, at worst in prison and sex offender registration. Adult woman or boys of any age, not so much, but you’re on the wrong end of any court case, criminal or civil, where an underage girl’s involved and you’re a single, adult male – you’re scrod. [/QUOTE] You have one really, really good witness, the person originally assaulted. IIRC 3-1 or more odds hand to hand in many states constitutes lethal force and permits quite a bit more force on the part of bystanders to intervene. Administering a beatdown on one of these girls will at least level the playing field a bit, if they turn on you en masse, you are at least prepared for it rather than a surprise attack. Target and take down the one that looks like the biggest threat, the others will probably back down. Not to say it would be a good thing to cripple or kill one of these girls in the process of stopping them but under the circumstances may be legally defensible. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/33 "2007-02-13T04:49:18Z")
I think the hypothetical murderous 4 year old would probably not be charged, but instead would be sent to a state mental facility. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/34 "2007-02-13T05:25:37Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Wait, how do fish factor in again? > [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Oddly, somewhere on the net this is being reported as late-breaking fetish news -Oh, come on, some one had to [do it (not safe for work!)](http://www.fetishfish.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/35 "2007-02-13T06:00:23Z")
Hey, **Don’t fight the hypothetical** , I went ahead and added an extra NSFW warning to your link. It doesn’t break the two-click rule, but it does go to a site that could get people in trouble at work. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/36 "2007-02-13T06:29:10Z")
[QUOTE=sturmhauke] I think the hypothetical murderous 4 year old would probably not be charged, but instead would be sent to a state mental facility. [/QUOTE] Don’t be too sure. Not quite four year olds but: [Seven-year-old arraigned for murder](http://www.wkyxwngo.com/local-news-details.asp?NewsID=2052) [Six-year-old charged in infant’s beating [attempted murder, scroll down]](http://www.cnn.com/US/9604/25/newsbriefs/index.html) [13-year-old charged with **First Degree Murder** , as an adult, a capital offense. Crime committed when he was 11.](http://www.courttv.com/archive/trials/abraham/101999_ctv.html) Now, I don’t know about the outcomes of any of these cases. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/37 "2007-02-13T06:38:04Z")
[QUOTE=SeaCanary] Hey **Snarky\_Kong** - Did you read the following from earlier in the post? Probably missed it, right? [/QUOTE] No, I caught that. I also didn’t say anything about going in swinging. If you put your body between them and the victim and present an obstacle, I’d think that the attackers would back down the vast majority of the time. Do you think that having the vague threat of some untrustworthy young girls trying to mislead the police is justification to watching a person be assaulted while functionally not helping? I have never been in that situation, but I would hope that I would feel incredibly guilty if I didn’t do anything. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/38 "2007-02-13T09:11:32Z")
[QUOTE=groman] I am introducing a simple future conditional continuous tense (did I get that right?) into the english language. But ssshh… it’s a secret. to screw (v. tr. ) - screws - screwing - screwed - scrod [/QUOTE] No, “scrod” is long since established as the [pluperfect subjunctive](http://tenser.typepad.com/tenser_said_the_tensor/2006/01/scrod.html). 😃 (It’s amazing what you can find a cite for these days.) ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/39 "2007-02-13T10:14:53Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] No, “scrod” is long since established as the [pluperfect subjunctive](http://tenser.typepad.com/tenser_said_the_tensor/2006/01/scrod.html). 😃 (It’s amazing what you can find a cite for these days.) [/QUOTE] [Apparently Uncle Cecil Covered This One as Well](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mscrod.html) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927/40 "2007-02-13T10:52:33Z")
Too bad the victim wasn’t packing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/um-yikes-pack-of-pre-teen-girls-assault-woman-in-target/391927.md?page=3)