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Baldran
Location: The Ira Bemis House Gender: Male Total Likes: 873 likes
Solvitur Ambulando
| | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 40 on 9/16/2019 5:16 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | How convenient that a bot should bump this thread right when I finally have a good story to add to it. Over the weekend, I traveled up to New York to check out a former tuberculosis hospital well known for its architecture and decorations. Although they're on an active campus, I managed to get into the buildings I was interested in with no difficulty and photograph them to my satisfaction. The buildings are protected by a fence along an active road, and I had entered through a small gap in a gate in this fence. The heavy overgrowth around the buildings made it very difficult to see more than a small part of the road unless I was right by the fence, so I made it almost all the way back to the gate before I noticed an unmarked black car coming down the road towards me. I had seen several cars pass by while I was inside, so I hid behind a nearby tree trunk and hoped that this one would pass. To my immediate horror, the car stopped right in front of the gate and two uniformed NYPD officers got out and strode towards me, ordering me to come out. Knowing I was screwed, I walked up to the fence, handed my backpack through, and squeezed out. One officer, who I believe was training the other and wanted to demonstrate the way things should be done, was understandably rather aggressive, and had a very hard time believing that I was alone, and that I had driven all the way from Maryland just to photograph some old buildings. I was entirely respectful, truthful and compliant throughout the process, which I believe probably helped me immensely in the end . They frisked me, searched my backpack, confiscated my pocketknife, and brought me to a police building on the campus. Once there, they made copies of my ID and informed me that they could bring me up on two charges: trespassing and possession of a weapon. After a short wait, a very reasonable detective joined the two officers, and asked me to show him the photos I had taken. As I was never handcuffed and was told win the car that I wasn't under arrest (YET), I was a little less terrified by this point, but as I scrolled through my images I was immensely disappointed that it would probably be the last time I saw them before I was ordered to delete them. Imagine how delighted I was when the detective told me I could keep them! He recommended that I go photograph another set of ruins nearby, but warned me that I would be brought up on charges if I ever set foot on the property again. With my photos safe, I was only too happy to comply. The two officers who apprehended me then drove me back to my car, with the lead officer telling me about another college campus close by that had originally been a state hospital. They reiterated how lucky I was to get a break like this (to which I agreed), and I made my way home with no further hindrance. So stay tuned for those photos!
| Flickr |
| blackhawk This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control Total Likes: 3996 likes
UER newbie
| | | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 44 on 9/17/2019 2:15 AM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by Baldran
I imagine the detective was well aware of that, but the lead officer did make it clear that he wanted my photos deleted while he was searching my bag, so he was either unaware of that fact or bluffing.
| Pretty unprofessional. I never had a cop ask or threaten that although they did confiscate my cam and cards once. That they can do with a search warrant. Impounded and searched my car too. Got car back the next day and the gear back, intact, a week latter. Lol, initially they were very pissed. Being compliant goes a long way with most cops. However different approaches sometimes work too... Once a cop caught Nicksan scaling a fence at a popular off limits psych hospital. The cop asked Nick what was he doing. Nick replied:"Trying to get over this fence so I can take some fucking pictures!" I think Speed told that story years ago.
| Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in. |
| Cfourexplore
Location: North Carolina Gender: Male Total Likes: 583 likes
Never a dull moment in Midworld.
| | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 49 on 9/21/2019 11:39 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | A few months ago I was doing some out of state exploring, I had about 5 locations to check out. The first three were no problem, but at an abandoned race track the law of averages finally caught up with me...I've been 'discovered' a few times in the past, but this one almost got me arrested. I drive up to the site; nice sunny 90° day, the gate to the property is open, no 'keep out' signs (and I don't mean I selectively ignored them; there weren't any). I go down towards the track, park as inconspicuously as possible, and begin shooting some outside pics, including a screeching young eagle in a nest on a light post. I work my way up to the grandstand, and see the owner's box is missing its window glass, so I head in and explore the various rooms. At this point, I've been here maybe 20 minutes; I decide to return to the car, and get some of the outer shots I missed...I emerge and see an SUV sitting down near my vehicle...a special truck with lightbars and ________ County Sheriff on the side. Crap. So he knows I've been inside now; I'm hoping he hasn't yet decided to drag himself out of the car and chase me down. I've got my backpack on and my camera in hand. I hold out the camera, keep my arms away from my body, and carefully walk down the rickety stands. He's on his radio, in the car...not ideal, but better. I say hi, he says hi, and asks what I'm doing. I told him I was just taking pics; that I'd seen the gate was open, and figured I'd take a look around. The next words out of his mouth give me a chill, and make me think my fate is sealed; "There's a local lawyer who owns this place, and he's been real adamant about having any trespassers arrested and prosecuted." I told him I was sorry, but that I was just photographing, and wasn't causing damage, stealing or vandalizing. He asked to see my ID, so I begin to turn from him and slowly move my hand to my back pocket. He asks if I have any weapons, "aside from that pocketknife there" (clipped to that tiny pocket on my right front). I told him I had a small bottle of pepper spray in my left front pocket, and (while we're being honest, which tends to work better than lying outright), that I have a CCW permit, and a .380 pistol in a zippered pouch in my glove box. (I won't have it on me during explores, but driving out of state, to a legal carry state, I tend to at least have something in my car). He requests to see the gun, and walks towards my car. I tell him I have to unlock it. Hand on his pistol, he tells me to do so, I reach in my pocket, grab the key, and hit the button. He finds my piece, checks it, unloads it, and says I can get my ID. I present it to him, he gets back in his car, and does his thing as I stand near mine and wonder if he'd just randomly arrived, or was called (a question I never had answered). After about 5 minutes, he hands back my DL and says, "You know, it'd be a real pain for you to have to come all the way back here for court, you're obviously not causing trouble, so I think we'll let this one go...but you don't want to come back here again now, do you?" I allowed that I kinda did want to, but that I most assuredly WOULD NOT. He asks again why I'd want to hang out in places like this, so I gave him a brief rundown of our weird (but awesome) hobby. He told me much of the reason Mr local lawyer was so strict about this site was because of some vandals and squatters they'd just gotten control of; I told him I understood; too many idiots out there giving curious but innocuous dorks like me a bad name...but he's gotta do his job (although I wanted to add that a lawyer of all people would at least think to shut and lock his gate, and maybe throw up a "No Trespassing" sign or two...but why come off as a smartass at this point especially considering I wasn't in handcuffs like I easily could've been). Well, as you can guess, he handed back my gun, and let me go (after I thanked him for letting it slide, and for checking up, I suppose), and he followed me off the property...despite the close call, I attempted one more spot (demolished), then headed home, my camera loaded with pics. (Trespassing is such an ugly word...I prefer the word exploring; the X makes it sound cool!😏) Oh, and Baldran, great story, I'm excited to see your pics, too!
| "When you've truly done something right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." |
| blackhawk This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control Total Likes: 3996 likes
UER newbie
| | | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 50 on 9/22/2019 12:27 AM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by Cfourexplore A few months ago I was doing some out of state exploring, I had about 5 locations to check out. The first three were no problem, but at an abandoned race track the law of averages finally caught up with me...I've been 'discovered' a few times in the past, but this one almost got me arrested. I drive up to the site; nice sunny 90° day, the gate to the property is open, no 'keep out' signs (and I don't mean I selectively ignored them; there weren't any). I go down towards the track, park as inconspicuously as possible, and begin shooting some outside pics, including a screeching young eagle in a nest on a light post. I work my way up to the grandstand, and see the owner's box is missing its window glass, so I head in and explore the various rooms. At this point, I've been here maybe 20 minutes; I decide to return to the car, and get some of the outer shots I missed...I emerge and see an SUV sitting down near my vehicle...a special truck with lightbars and ________ County Sheriff on the side. Crap. So he knows I've been inside now; I'm hoping he hasn't yet decided to drag himself out of the car and chase me down. I've got my backpack on and my camera in hand. I hold out the camera, keep my arms away from my body, and carefully walk down the rickety stands. He's on his radio, in the car...not ideal, but better. I say hi, he says hi, and asks what I'm doing. I told him I was just taking pics; that I'd seen the gate was open, and figured I'd take a look around. The next words out of his mouth give me a chill, and make me think my fate is sealed; "There's a local lawyer who owns this place, and he's been real adamant about having any trespassers arrested and prosecuted." I told him I was sorry, but that I was just photographing, and wasn't causing damage, stealing or vandalizing. He asked to see my ID, so I begin to turn from him and slowly move my hand to my back pocket. He asks if I have any weapons, "aside from that pocketknife there" (clipped to that tiny pocket on my right front). I told him I had a small bottle of pepper spray in my left front pocket, and (while we're being honest, which tends to work better than lying outright), that I have a CCW permit, and a .380 pistol in a zippered pouch in my glove box. (I won't have it on me during explores, but driving out of state, to a legal carry state, I tend to at least have something in my car). He requests to see the gun, and walks towards my car. I tell him I have to unlock it. Hand on his pistol, he tells me to do so, I reach in my pocket, grab the key, and hit the button. He finds my piece, checks it, unloads it, and says I can get my ID. I present it to him, he gets back in his car, and does his thing as I stand near mine and wonder if he'd just randomly arrived, or was called (a question I never had answered). After about 5 minutes, he hands back my DL and says, "You know, it'd be a real pain for you to have to come all the way back here for court, you're obviously not causing trouble, so I think we'll let this one go...but you don't want to come back here again now, do you?" I allowed that I kinda did want to, but that I most assuredly WOULD NOT. He asks again why I'd want to hang out in places like this, so I gave him a brief rundown of our weird (but awesome) hobby. He told me much of the reason Mr local lawyer was so strict about this site was because of some vandals and squatters they'd just gotten control of; I told him I understood; too many idiots out there giving curious but innocuous dorks like me a bad name...but he's gotta do his job (although I wanted to add that a lawyer of all people would at least think to shut and lock his gate, and maybe throw up a "No Trespassing" sign or two...but why come off as a smartass at this point especially considering I wasn't in handcuffs like I easily could've been). Well, as you can guess, he handed back my gun, and let me go (after I thanked him for letting it slide, and for checking up, I suppose), and he followed me off the property...despite the close call, I attempted one more spot (demolished), then headed home, my camera loaded with pics. (Trespassing is such an ugly word...I prefer the word exploring; the X makes it sound cool!😏) Oh, and Baldran, great story, I'm excited to see your pics, too!
| Legally he couldn't arrest you and make it stick I believe. It wasn't posted and the gate was open. If wanted to be a pain and make a bad bust he could but most cops don't knowingly violate the law so blantantly. However since he verbally informed you that you were trespassing he can arrest you in the future if you venture back. At least you got some shots...
| Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in. |
| Cfourexplore
Location: North Carolina Gender: Male Total Likes: 583 likes
Never a dull moment in Midworld.
| | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 51 on 9/22/2019 2:18 AM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by blackhawk
Legally he couldn't arrest you and make it stick I believe. It wasn't posted and the gate was open. If wanted to be a pain and make a bad bust he could but most cops don't knowingly violate the law so blantantly. However since he verbally informed you that you were trespassing he can arrest you in the future if you venture back. At least you got some shots...
| That makes sense; he waits to see what I'm up to, and how I'll act...I come down holding a camera, I'm respectful and honest, so he puts on a bit of a scare, runs my record, sees I'm clean (and that I live several hours away), then lets me go, most likely because he knows, as you said, it's a bad bust. (Or maybe I'm just overthinking it😏) Little punk assholes causing trouble are a dime a dozen; he'll likely get his fill. I think he played it just fine, and while I wish I could've gotten some more shots, I'm definitely happy with the ones I did get.
| "When you've truly done something right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." |
| blackhawk This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control Total Likes: 3996 likes
UER newbie
| | | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 52 on 9/22/2019 2:48 AM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by Cfourexplore
That makes sense; he waits to see what I'm up to, and how I'll act...I come down holding a camera, I'm respectful and honest, so he puts on a bit of a scare, runs my record, sees I'm clean (and that I live several hours away), then lets me go, most likely because he knows, as you said, it's a bad bust. (Or maybe I'm just overthinking it😏) Little punk assholes causing trouble are a dime a dozen; he'll likely get his fill. I think he played it just fine, and while I wish I could've gotten some more shots, I'm definitely happy with the ones I did get.
| Almost like he had the drop on you from the get go; funny how he turned up so fast but just enough time for you to get busy if you were a scrapper or vandal. Or you may have tripped a silent alarm. Or his timing is superb
| Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in. |
| inloc
Location: SF Bay Area Total Likes: 119 likes
Always question the context.
| | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 55 on 9/23/2019 2:53 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Not exactly caught in the traditional sense so much as stopped by an interesting scrapper. Awhile back I attempted an explore at an abandoned prison. As I was driving up, I noticed there was a white pickup hidden behind some brush at the end of the road. Having not passed any signs, closed gates, or other obstructions, I simply continued on to the parking lot. After reaching the parking lot I noticed the gate was closed and covered in cob webs with several car-sized holes on either side. Around the same time, I see two people who look like a couple in their 60s wearing casual clothing. My immediate intuition said “just go for it”, so I did. Right as soon as I walked over the small hill leading up from the parking lot, I realized the entire site was recently demolished. Not much left other than concrete foundations. After walking around for 5 minutes, one of them approached me and we started talking. They wanted to know why I was there and where I had heard about the site. Their questions seemed more curious than anything else, though when I asked them the same they claimed they were simply out for a morning walk. A tad suspicious (the site is around 45 minutes from the nearest town), I finished taking pictures and started heading back to my car. As I was on my way out, I noticed the two individuals had moved their truck and were proceeding to load an old wooden post into the back of their vehicle. Stood there for a moment trying to process the fact that two 60ish year olds actually spent the time and effort to drive that far to steal old posts.
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| Ruzzeh
Location: PDX Gender: Female Total Likes: 6 likes
| | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 57 on 10/13/2019 6:49 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Yep, by my own mother. I was about 12, and about a block from my house was an abandoned toilet factory. My mother knew I was interested in it, and a few days while scoping out the scene with a friend of mine we realized that there was a decent sized hole in the side of the building. I decided one day that I needed to see what was on the inside. I got dressed and told my mother I was going on a walk. My mother told me when I leave the house I had to take my brother (who was about 4 at the time). She told me specifically not to go into the factory (I had been talking about how cool it looked for a while and I told her about the giant hole, yes, I wasn't a bright kid) but I already had my mind set on it. I was too young and stupid to realize that bringing a 4 year old to an abandoned factory was a terrible idea. Well, my mother had a motherly instinct, and decided to walk by the toilet factory to make sure I wasn't doing exactly what she told me not to do. She looked into the actual entrance which was basically a big glass door (it was locked) and pounded on it. To my terror, I turn around and see her. She beckoned me to get the fuck out and tore me a new one. Luckily she caught me before I could have gotten my brother hurt, or even myself. I didn't know that urbex was a dangerous hobby, so I didn't realize how bad of an idea it was at the time. I decided to wait to explore again until some time passed so I wouldn't be caught again, but the building got torn down shortly after. I still regret not actually getting to explore it. While I made it inside, we were only in there for about 10 minutes before I got busted so I never got to see the whole thing. Ever since then, I've been in love with old buildings.
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| coten22
Location: Montreal Gender: Male Total Likes: 41 likes
| | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 58 on 11/7/2019 4:37 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | I have never been arrested by the police, but I have already been caught. Once in fact. Maybe two. It was while leaving an abandoned church that it happened. I wanted to do the church in question for a long time. So I went there with a friend. You need to know that the church I'm talking about is in town. We arrive on site and one of the main doors is open, but completely open. I take some light, I start recording with a GoPro and we go inside. Barely a minute later, two people come back, they are explorers too. One of them recognizes me, and I recognize him. A minute later, we returned to the famous door after identifying ourselves aloud in case there were other people inside. Fleeing face to face with a police car, I went back immediately to alert my friend who took his ease. We did not run.I do not recommend you to flee. We had nothing to be ashamed of, so we went out the same way we had returned. Me and my friend had decided not to run because we could have been identified by the other group. That's one more reason why we did not run. Our identifications have been taken. Then the police asked to see the contents of our bags. Having nothing to hide, I showed the contents of my bag. The second guy in the other group also showed his bag. So, we were let go.
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| Laythrom
Location: NE Ohio Gender: Male Total Likes: 28 likes
Just bouncing around, doing my thing...
| | | Re: Ever been caught exploring? < Reply # 59 on 1/15/2020 7:03 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | I haven't been caught but one time, I did come really close to it. During my high school days, we use to explore an old Air Force radar site that was only a 10-minute drive away. Daytime exploration was out of the question due to nosey neighbors near the only two practical ways onto the property. So, one night, we park my car down the street in a church parking lot, walk down the road, sneak into the town park, into the woods and into the backside of the radar base. Everything was going well for about half an hour until I saw headlights driving up the access road (I was standing on a concrete water tower that was probably 10-12 feet high and could see most of the property). I didn't really think anything of it until the teardrop spotlight turned on and started panning around. I wasn't sure where my friends were at the time and I had nowhere to really go, so I laid down on the water tower's roof and waited for the cops to leave. Long story short, we had to dodge the cops a few more times as we were trying to sneak out of the property to go home.
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