Rammed at a four-way stop. Is this a thing now?

Submitted by CommonGreatHornedOwl t3_z0efti in baltimore

About a week ago, I was coming home from picking up pizza at Zella’s in Hollins Market and got t-boned at a four-way stop just north of Lombard. I got to the stop sign (headed North) and stopped, and another car pulled up on my left (headed East) and stopped. I pulled out into the intersection and about 2/3 of the way through, the other car revved its engine, accelerated, veered toward me, slammed right into me, then sped off. Lots of witnesses and the cops came pretty quick, so pretty thankful. But they made it seem like this kind of stunt is a common occurrence.

Posting this as a PSA to watch out, and seeing if anyone has had this happen to them or heard of it being a thing around the city these days…

Be safe out there.

Edited to add: the pizza survived but my car did not. At least I got to enjoy pizza.

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Comments

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SuperBethesda t1_ix54vs6 wrote

Is this an insurance scam? Wonder why they would do that. Good to have dash cam.

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CommonGreatHornedOwl OP t1_ix5cptr wrote

That was my thought. The other car had no front plates so it was either an out of state car or they took the tags off. I was fully prepared to get robbed, but they took off so quick and I couldn’t see their rear plate with all the airbag dust. The cops said sometimes teens steal cars and ram other drivers and ditch the cars for fun.

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PleaseBmoreCharming t1_ix5bwk5 wrote

Yeah, it's definitely some kind of scam or robbery attempt. I remember others posting about it awhile back but can't remember the specifics about how the scam/robbery is supposed to work.

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planetarylaw t1_ix5klpw wrote

I've heard of it happening in other cities I've lived in. The robber rams their car into yours so when you get out of your car to sort out the "accident" they assault you and rob you. I mean, OP could've just been the victim of a run of the mill hit and run which is bad enough. Hopefully this won't become a thing in Baltimore.

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Killbot_Wants_Hug t1_ix7a1cx wrote

We had bump and jacks here for a while. They'll rear end you and when you get out they'll steal your car (usually at gun point). Took them like a year but they busted enough people (mostly teens) that I haven't heard about it happening since pre-covid.

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planetarylaw t1_ix98y1e wrote

Bump and jacks, yes! I was trying to remember what they were called, I remembered bump and something. Yeah, they were very common in St. Louis a couple decades ago. I'm glad they got nipped in the bud here. I wish other crimes would be too.

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Killbot_Wants_Hug t1_ix99du0 wrote

Nipped in the bud might be a bit of an overstatement. More like it was happening for 2ish years and in the good neighborhoods as well so the police finally put together a task force and actually worked on the problem.

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Cunninghams_right t1_ix5lptw wrote

everyone get a dashcam, and everyone get a Tile to track your own car. I would bet the ramming car was stolen.

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[deleted] t1_ix5a5na wrote

What kind of pizza does Zella’s have? The good NYC foldable kind?

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CommonGreatHornedOwl OP t1_ix5cazs wrote

It’s foldable but I wouldn’t compare it to NY style pizza. Good nonetheless and definitely get the chocolate cake!

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jtbis t1_ix68efc wrote

It’s either an insurance scam or attempted carjacking. People often jump right out of their car to survey the damage, next thing you know someone else is driving away in your car.

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CommonGreatHornedOwl OP t1_ix68qga wrote

That would make sense why they sped off after hitting me -- they spun my car twice and left it completely undriveable. Would recommend they review car-theft best practices and slow their roll next time.

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MeatballTeddy t1_ix812k6 wrote

Yikes I was completely unaware of this. Thanks for alerting us and sorry this happened to you.

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coredenale t1_ix86kz6 wrote

Expect anything while driving in Baltimore these days. Glad no one was injured and the pizza made it.

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