This is in regard to the pedestrian who threatened Amanda and damaged her truck with a Dr. Pepper bottle. We nicknamed him "Dr. Pepper Dude."
No, Amanda had never met him before their first encounter. He was a complete stranger to her. He was in the middle of her lane on a curve in a storm. She was driving the speed limit and nearly hit him. She had to swerve her truck and hit the brakes. He became ENRAGED with her and threatened to kill her if he ever saw her again. He spelled out graphically how he would do it. It's too awful to repeat.
She did drive off as soon as he was clear of her truck. That is when he slammed the bottle into her car. You might imagine the incident as being longer, but this first encounter was very brief. It was in an isolated area...no homes within view or other cars going past.
The dent was sizable. She was not able to get all of the dent out. I am more upset by that than Amanda is. She worked hard to purchase and pay off her SUV early. That enraged man could have physically harmed her, so we are thankful the vehicle took the brunt of his anger.
Police said they could not press charges since a verbal threat without a weapon is not a crime. If he had the stated weapon in his hand when he said it, it would have been a criminal offense. If he wrote it in any form...criminal offense. I understand people are upset she could not press charges, but please read the law before you contact me to tell me how the officers were wrong. The underlined part in this paragraph takes you to the VA Code.
The police told her she could press charges for him throwing an object at her truck and for damaging it, but they told her that might make things worse. Amanda followed their advice and decided not to press charges then.
When Amanda told her friend at the gas station she goes to, the young woman warned Amanda of the times he was usually in there and had plenty of observations to share. She told Amanda point blank, "He is going to harm someone."
Our family immediately started praying for him, Amanda, and this situation. Amanda showed a lot of maturity and wisdom. She informed her neighbors so they could help her look out for him while she was sleeping in the daytime. She changed her schedule and route as much as she could to avoid him. She even tried to disguise her vehicle (removed the grill and added other things) and changed the color of her hair. She drove the "long way around" to miss a long section of the road he was frequenting. She could not avoid the road altogether. She parked her truck out of sight so he would not discover where she lived. She still passed him. He still recognized her. He still picked things up to throw, and threatened her as she drove past. I was with her one of those times, witnessed his behavior, and took pictures of him for deputies, our family, and neighbors. She also has footage from her dash cam.
Because it happened, and he was staying with relatives very close to where Amanda lives, she was concerned for her safety in her home. She asked us to pray with her on that. Every single one of us felt the Lord telling us she was safe in her home. She was kept safe, and now she does not have to be concerned with his whereabouts at all.
Has anyone else in our family seen him before? Maybe... There was an incident some months ago when Caleb was driving Bethany to Brandon's house. They were coming to a stop sign, which is in view of Brandon's, and a strange man rapidly approached the passenger's side with arm outstretched as if to open the door. It was dark and they did not see him until he was inches from the door. Caleb did check for traffic but did not come to a complete stop because it would have put his sister in what he felt was grave danger. He drove to Brandon's and told Brandon. (He felt so bad about running a stop sign that he contacted us to let us, his parents, know. We reassured him he did the right thing.) A short time later, one of our children, saw the man lurking in the dark in Brandon's front yard and alerted Brandon with a shout. Brandon secured his home and put his siblings in one spot while he monitored his security cameras. The man went into the shadows when he heard the shout. Brandon called us. We drove about an hour home, searched Brandon's property and buildings with our spot lights, told everyone to move to our house for the night, and then went back to our getaway. Bethany and Caleb believe this is the same man. Bethany feels very strongly about it after seeing him in the news without his glasses. He does fit the description they gave me which I wrote down after the event. It does look like him on the footage. However, we can't say 100%.
"Detective Dad" did some digging. First, we have it on camera that Dr. Pepper Dude says he spent time in prison. Clint learned Dr. Pepper Dude has a Virginia residence history and a long history of traffic violations in three surrounding cities. He also has an assault and battery conviction in a neighboring county. We learned he moved to our county with relatives, who are trying to help him get his life right, to get away from the situation that led to the assault charges and probation. From what Dr. Pepper Dude said to me, he HATES everyone and everything in our county and neighborhood. So, here's to hoping he never returns!
We were told by a very reliable source he is using meth. That would explain his "rage walking" up and down the road and his unpredictable behavior. You can feel the anger and evil emanating from this man. He is set on destroying anyone and anything. Seriously, when you meet him, you know instantly he hates you, your car, the ground you are standing on, the air you are breathing, etc. Hatred is oozing from his pores. He curses God, growls, makes guttural sounds, paces like a bear, grinds his jaw, postures, etc.
Amanda made a video immediately after Dr. Pepper Dude charged Clint in a rage. (He just saw Clint and charged him without provocation. We don't know if he saw Amanda.) I watched the video and was impressed by how calm but forceful Clint was with the words he used to keep the man away and to keep from using his weapon. I am married to a strong alpha male and am thankful for it. He is calm mannered and gentle most of the time, but when that switch is thrown, Clint is a fierce warrior! I am glad Clint is on my team and not against me! I could tell by the tone in Clint's voice if that man had come any closer to them, Clint would have stopped him. No doubts about it. I am thankful it did not come to that.
If Clint had not had a weapon to stop him, Clint would have been stabbed. Dr. Pepper Dude did not stop his charge until Clint moved his hand to the weapon he carried on his hip. The man had a knife hidden. Clint did not know this until it was discovered by police.
Amanda is the one who called police during the incident with her truck and again with Clint. She was calm with her daddy beside her. However, Dr. Pepper Dude also called during the incident with Clint, after he saw Amanda calling, probably trying to manufacture a defense. He lied and said Clint charged him with weapon drawn and put the gun against his forehead!
Clint did not even remove his firearm from the holster. He knew better. You don't point it unless you are ready to use it. Clint unsnapped the holster, had his hand on it and lifted it just a tiny bit (enough the weight of it was in his hand but not out of the holster) in case he had to use it because the man was very close. From what I saw myself and saw on camera, he was closer than 10 feet before Clint was able to get him to stop. If you are familiar with the recommendation of a 21 foot reactionary gap, you realize the danger to my beloved.
Dr. Pepper was cursing, grunting, and growling, so the officers didn't believe him at all. They told him he could press charges if he wanted and let it get sorted out in court but they tried to talk him out of it. Dr. Pepper Dude wanted to press charges. Finally, Amanda said she would press the two charges against him and make him pay for the damage to her truck if he pressed charges against her father. That was the end of it. Dr. Pepper is on probation, if what we were told is true.
There were other witnesses and another video to the event mentioned above. They spoke on Clint's behalf against Dr. Pepper. Some of these people have been observing Dr. Pepper Dude for a long time. A young woman said he stops in the middle of the road and watches her for at length as she works outside. She has to go inside to get him to leave. That had been going on for months. Both she and her father were concerned, but there was nothing police could do.
There were other incidents that happened to other women, but we believe Amanda was the first woman targeted.
Amanda is not the one who pressed charges against him. She can press charges on him still and ask the court make him pay for the damage for up to a year. She prayed and asked us to pray with her about it. She feels led to let it go. As she prayed, she realized the man does not know her name or where she lives. If she presses charges, her name will be known to him, and she can be found.
The man did not expose himself to Amanda. That happened to another woman.
With the way it worked out, another person's name, the one who pressed charges, will be in his head now. He is "going away" for a good while. He became violent with the deputies. That didn't work out to well for him. They had to take him to the hospital before he went to jail.
The man would be agitated in the store he'd stop at every day, but his behavior would greatly escalate as he went by a church in the isolated area of road. Most of the incidents happened around this church.
Please pray with us for Dr. Pepper Dude to be set free of drugs and evil, to see his need for Jesus, to repent and surrender to the Lord, and to embrace living his life for Christ. I know the enemy has him in his grips and has damaged his mind, body, and life, but I also know God can snatch him out of the enemy's hand, redeem him, and raise him up to have a powerful testimony! Our entire family wants to see him living better. Please pray for his relatives. I imagine they are heartbroken and disappointed their kindness and generosity did not help change his direction.
We appreciate everyone who has called, texted, written, or visited and told us this is a spiritual battle and encouraged us to fight on our knees like a warrior of the Almighty. We thank everyone who offered to help in practical ways. We are thankful for your prayers for our family.
Spiritual warfare is a part of the Christian life. Sometimes it can be scary, but God is always in control. He has kept our family safe, granted us peace, and He has been victorious through every bit of it. My family was concerned by some of the recent happenings, but we were not fearful or shaken from our focus on our current efforts. Please keep praying for us as we serve the Lord and try to reach others in His name.
If you are serious in your walk with Christ, you will face spiritual warfare too. I want to encourage you not to fight the way the world fights, but fight the way Scripture tells us so that God will be glorified. Remember we already have the victory over evil through Jesus! If you need a team of prayer warriors, send us a note through the address in the header. Our family will join you in the battle.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
2 Corinthians 3-4
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
I Peter 5:8-9
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Pray also for me,
that whenever I speak,
words may be given me
so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
for which I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare it fearlessly,
as I should.
Ephesians 6:10-20
Ephesians 6:10-20
