From the article:Regardless, it is not brandishing or assault because you have not drawn a gun or pointed it at anyone.
That's so wrong it's not funny. The word brandishing does not appear anywhere in the Colorado statutes but you can be charged with it not even have a weapon on you. All you have to do is intentionally make things someone think you have a weapon with the intention of intimidating them or scaring them.
I worked as a security guard for 15 years. I basically watched people for a living and I got pretty good at it.
Over time I've observed certain behavior patterns that when I see them I know that person is up to something.
If I see somebody just aimlessly loitering someplace where there's really no reason for them to be loitering they're almost always doing something they're not supposed to be doing.
Another one that is somewhat specific to being a security guard is when just my presence changes their behavior. If the aimless loiterer watches me come around the corner making my rounds and he takes off he was up to something.
The last one IMO is the most important
If someone is paying an inordinate amount of attention to you, you had better be paying attention to them because it's been my experience but they're sizing you up and deciding whether or not you're a mark. Even if it's just to put the mooch on you for a couple of bucks.
One thing that they don't really talk about in these articles is that when somebody mugs you it's not like the shootout at the OK Corral where everybody lined up and you knew who was who and people talk smack to each other for a minute or so and then started shooting.
It's much more often like this
Almost all of the witnesses said the mother was wandering around in that section of the store for about 20 minutes until we found somebody he thought was worth attacking.
When he found the person he walked up behind them and hit them in the head and took their phone