A very interesting article in this morning's local paper (Roseburg, Oregon News-Review). In some areas the West is still alive and a wonderful place to live!

Glide is a small logging community about 15 miles east of Roseburg off of I-5 and, incidentally, is where Dave Scovill, the Editor of Rifle magazine, was raised. The Narrows Tavern is a local libation establishment next to a primo fishing area on Zane Gray's favourite trout river, the North Umpqua.

Headline and Sub-Head:

Two Men Arrested For Botched Bar Robbery: Patrons at the Narrows Tavern near Glide chase off armed robbers, wrote down license plate

The Story

"Two masked men entered the Narrows Tavern near Glide just after midnight Saturday morning, brandishing a shotgun and demanding cash, according to a Douglas County Sheriff's Office news release today.

The men fled shortly after the attempted robbery began - without any money - after patrons and an employee of the bar confronted the men. Another patron was able to get a partial license number and a description of the car the men left in, which led officers to a home in Idlewyld Park...

"There detectives arrrested ___Baker, 22... and ___ Saxton, 22...on charges of first degree robbery, second degree robbery, and attempted use of a dangerous weapon in a felony. Both were lodged at the Douglas County Jail Saturday, each on $675,000 bail.

"___West, a cook at the tavern on North Umpqua Highway, was sitting at the bar when the two men entered a side door. Their faces were covered with masks and bandanas, he said, and both wore hats, camouflaged jackets, and black gloves.

One of the pair held a sign which read 'Open the safe, and give us the money'. One had a shotgun, police confirmed, and West said the second man also had a pistol.

"I looked at them and said "Boys, you don't want to do this." A patron told the would be-robbers to leave, West said, to which one suspect responded by placing a live round in the shotgun.

"A patron looked at him and said '...Is that all you got?' and they got real scared and ran.

"We weren't going to mess around and they were shaking like leaves (when they left)."

"Sgt. __ Robeson said officers from the Sheriff's Office, the Roseburg PD, and the Oregon State Police aided in the search for the men which ended after police spotted the get-away car and two men matching the suspects' descriptions.

"After executing a search of Saxton's home and two vehicles, police recovered the clothing worn during the robbery, illegal drugs, and a shotgun which was stolen out of state."

Musings

Why were the guys in the bar unafraid to confront those two would-be robbers, you ask? Weren't they afraid of being shotgunned? Of course they were. But, they knew what had to be done. Pretty much everyone in this county carries, night and day. Those kids would have been blown to dog-ribbons if they had made a move to shoot. And, too late, they realized it.

Loggers have pretty much always had to live on their own abilities, and haven't anyone out there in the woods to take care of them. Pretty much like old-time cowboys, except they do most of their work with a chain saw or an axe rather than a riata. They're stand up guys when it comes time to help each other, or folks in need.

It's one of the reasons I like to live here, 200 yards across my pasture from that same North Umpqua River, half way between Wilbur, Oregon & Glide, Oregon... (There is true safety anywhere there is a true community of good neighbors...and that goes triple for a community that "carries".)

I would bet the two robbers were Meth heads.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
I would bet the two robbers were Meth heads.

Could well be. If so, I'll bet they have the opportunity to benefit from the public health "divergence" program locally administered as the "Oregon State Crowbar Hotel". Under Measure 11, an initiative passed a few years ago by the voters of Oregon despite opposition by some of the State Legislature, having used a weapon in a violent crime they will be looking at a mandatory minimum sentence with no parole until after about 10 years, if convicted. With the local juries here, I doubt that sad tales about their tough childhoods will get them off.

Sometimes the learning curve is a real bitch, kiddies.

Let's see, they go to rob a place and THEN chamber a round?!!! Watching way too many movies!
Peter.

Turns out they weren't that stupid. The round they added into the gun was "another" round...apparently just to prove to the patrons that the gun was loaded. Unfortunately for the robbers, the patrons KNEW their guns were loaded too, even though they never had to brandish them.

(Also puts the lie to liberals' frequent statements that giving folks the right to carry will result in all sorts of wild-west shootouts. What it actually does is sometimes reduce violence by making them confident in their ability to deal with threats. Then they don't absolutely always have to meet violence with instant violence of their own.