Yeah, so...I just got in a fight with a gang banger and my nose is broken...

[Geronimo]

are you sure he wasn't a ranger merely pointed you towards the legal trail?
j/k with the witnesses around you should of layed him out after he took a few swings.
APEKS what's the law on self defense and is it any different for you with your background and training? If someone picked a fight and the other person did nothing to escalate the situation, but did knock the piss out of the dude AFTER he started throwing, and there were witnesses - would both be arrested?

[1FG rider]

Sean I think you showed a lot of self restraint. I would've liked to pummel this idiot and make sure he was in casts afterwards, but possible jail time and law suits prevents rational people from doing such things. Better off walking away from this situation especially if its a minor.

[Zippy]

You showed remarkeable restraint and way more than I would have. I fight dirty too, Bruce Lee said that your first strike points are the eyes, throat and groin. Ain't no rules in a street fight.

[graves.z]

To the OP you are a better man than I. If someone takes a swing at me I usually respond, and if they broke my nose I imagine that I'd get in some trouble for damaging the poor SOB.

Originally Posted by ArrrKelly

If you didn't want to fight why did you get in his face? Sorry but sounds like you got what you asked for.

I never want to live in a world where standing your ground and not running is "asking for trouble".

[bvader]

I am glad you showed restraint, but the sucker punch sucks.

A short version of a funny story for me, drunk kid threatens my girl friend and family, lifts a bottle to swing at me, I disarm him, take him to the ground and was in the process of choking him out and about to pummel him when my 2 very cool lesbian neighbors came down and pulled me off and actually did me a great favor by grabbing me, shaking me and looking me in the eye and telling me "He's not worth it" which he wasn't.

Second funny thing, the cops got him right around the corner, threw him in jail for drunkenness. I asked can we get him for assault? They asked me if he actually swung the bottle at me, being the honest guy I said "No, I disarmed him as he reared back" so they said he didn't swing it at me so they couldn't charge him. The cops were nice, but I was a little confused "So I have to let him have a swing *before* I disarm him.
"Yup" they said, OK, not sure I will wait if I am ever face with it again.

Get well soon

[mtnbikerfred]

Nice work!! You weren't getting any prettier anyway. I hope they note that the "victim" is PD (even retired).

The little puke will have a great time at the Flower street hotel if they find out he assaulted an officer....

[EMrider]

Sorry you had such a bad experience and glad you came away relatively OK.

I just don't get the idea that showing restraint (aka, not fighting back) is the correct response in a situation like this. Maybe, but certainly not always. With 20/20 hindsight, it ended well because he got arrested and you were not badly injured.

When a totally random person attacks you (or anyone for that matter), particularly an obvious gang banger, you have no idea when a weapon might be pulled and/or when you might be jumped by others. Had either of those situations developed, the price of restraint could have been getting badly hurt or killed.

When attacked, you have the legal right to self-defense sufficient to neutralize the threat. No doubt you're aware of this being an ex-LEO.

I suspect you did not feel this guy was a serious threat to your safety and made a judgment call on the spot to not escalate. Prior experience probably led you in this direction and in the end, you were right.

I'm quite afraid of people who have little or nothing to lose because they don't act rationally as I would define rational. So my risk/reward calculus would lead me to assume the worst. If I end up in court, so be it. Better that than in the hospital or morgue.
R

[Scott V]

Once someone swings on you, you have every right to defend yourself. Especially if you had witnesses present. Do what you need to do to insure your safety and then hold him until the cops get there.

[guero]

Originally Posted by ArrrKelly

If you didn't want to fight why did you get in his face? Sorry but sounds like you got what you asked for.

i do agree with this. im not saying that anyone deserves to be assaulted, and it is a shitty situation. but like mr. kelly stated, if you were truly trying to avoid confrontation, why stop. if i had stopped, and someone swung on me, it would be on since he threw the first punch. every situation is different though, and it is easy for me to stand on the side and be a monday morning quarterback.

like steph said, im glad he didnt pull out some steel and you only came away with a busted snotbox.

[jonathan_sykes81]

Originally Posted by ArrrKelly

If you didn't want to fight why did you get in his face? Sorry but sounds like you got what you asked for.

I really don't even know what to say to this. Honestly this response pissed me off more than the thought of some random guy trying to punch me. Maybe it's just me but there is this great thing called self defense and I am a firm believer in practicing it.

To the OP, you practiced restraint far beyond my capabilities.

[Pain Freak]

Where I come from when you are attacked you respond and respond quickly and precisely. TAKE HIM OUT! Don't wait, I've seen to many "nice guys", do what they think is right by holding or restraining some thug only to have his partners in crime join the attack. Very effective when the victim has no idea there were even more of the punks waiting in the woodwork. Now they come at you from behind and a baseball bat hit to the head usually takes out most anybody and these scum are not afraid to do it. I'd rather be going to court defending myself, then sitting in a hospital looking at all the pretty colors and eating baby food for the rest of my life.

[guero]

Originally Posted by jonathan_sykes81

I really don't even know what to say to this. Honestly this response pissed me off more than the thought of some random guy trying to punch me. Maybe it's just me but there is this great thing called self defense and I am a firm believer in practicing it.

To the OP, you practiced restraint far beyond my capabilities.

i think what arrrkelly was saying is that, why get in the guys face if you have no intent of throwing blows...perhaps the situation could have been avoided had l8apeks kept on riding (again, none of us were there, so we dont know the exact situation). but by stopping, and getting in the guys face, and dodging punch after punch, what exactly was going to be accomplished, heck, even after he got punched, he didn't even try to restrain the guy, he let him get away, even encouraged him to get away....

[L8 APEKS]

Originally Posted by jonathan_sykes81

I really don't even know what to say to this. Honestly this response pissed me off more than the thought of some random guy trying to punch me. Maybe it's just me but there is this great thing called self defense and I am a firm believer in practicing it.

To the OP, you practiced restraint far beyond my capabilities.

I'm a pretty peaceful person. If I felt my life was being threatened, I would have been more aggressive in diffusing the situation. But I really didn't see this guy as much of a threat so I felt it better not to practice "an eye for an eye..." You know the rest.

Thanks for the comments guys and gals. My nose is HUGE this morning! I mean, it was already huge...but now it's just MASSIVE!

Had 4 x-rays taken...have to go back in 5-7 days after the swelling goes down. Until then, I look like a Rocky wannabe.

[Shannon]

Hey Sean, sorry to hear about your nose. Damn, specially since it ummm, kinda didn't have a fair chance to begin with...

I know you're a pretty peaceful person, so I can't figure out why you just didn't keep riding and ignore the idiot? Specially if the guy is a gang banger, I'd be concerned he'd be looking for revenge for having him arrested. Not saying you should bury your head in the sand, but seems like it was a situation that could have been avoided. I wasn't there, so just my opinion. Hope your nose heals up quick and it's not too painful!

[faded1004]

may be on a positive note... your nose is getting stronger with every break?

you should have had 2 cold beers at the same time... one for you and one for your nose... as you type...

glad the guy got caught...

[karlmichael]

I keep a can of pepper spray on my gear because of people like that. might want to get one you never know if they have a knife, ect. most people in gangs dont fight fair.

[pinoiryder]

that's a bummer sorry to hear that happen.. hope you heel fast.. you are very strong to keep your temper in..

[92se-r]

Good job Sean. That's incredible restraint you showed there.

[Shu]

Originally Posted by mtnbikerfred

The little puke will have a great time at the Flower street hotel if they find out he assaulted an officer....

but unfortunately get cred in the po-po