Why Do Criminals Keep Targeting Cal Ripken's Mom?

Vi Ripken, mother of Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., found herself with a gun pointed at her for the second time in two years on Tuesday afternoon. Vi Ripken was confronted outside an Aberdeen, Md., bank by a man wielding a gun who wanted to steal her car.

According to the report, Ripken, 75, scared off the suspect, Jesse A. Bowen, by pressing the panic button on her car key’s fob. Bowen was later apprehended.

In July 2012, Ripken was abducted from her home in Aberdeen by an armed suspect. She was returned 24 hours later. Earlier this summer Cal Ripken offered a $100,000 reward for any information about his mother’s kidnapping as the case remains unsolved.

Police say the two incidents are unrelated and that Tuesday’s was a random act.

Either way, it’s an very unfortunate stroke of bad luck that Vi Ripken would be the victim of these two crimes about a year apart.

Making it even worse? Here’s what Ripken told the Baltimore Sun in July, reflecting on her 2012 abduction:

"“I didn’t want to go and hide. I felt like if I keep away from things, it’s not going to be very fun for me. I just had to face it. I didn’t do anything wrong, and I didn’t want to be made to feel like I did.”"

And Tuesday it nearly happened again. Sad.