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Have you been the victim of a crime?

Jblack44

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
291
Location
Westland, Michigan, USA
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After reading another post about someones attempted home break-in. I wanted to share my story.

To start off, I've had things stolen in the past(bicycle, dirt bike, truck). You feel violated that's for sure. Someone has taken your property. It happens to a lot of people.

The only other run in I've had with a criminal was my house being broken into and the guy was in the house when I got home. This was before I carried a firearm.

I lived with my wife in a city that bordered the city of Detroit. Like many, in the "good days" it was home to a lot of good hard working people. But times change. It was a small house with no garage, so I was looking into having a garage built. I was meeting a contractor to get an estiment for the new garage. I told him I would meet him on my lunch hour since I worked about 15 minutes from home. Both my wife and I work, so nobody is normaly around during the day.

I arrived a few minutes before the contractor was to show up. I pulled in the drive and was about to go inside, but figured I'd just stay in the car and wait since there was no reason to go in. A couple minutes later he shows up and we talk for a minute in the drive. We walk to the back where there's a gate. Just as we get to the back of the house we both see someone hanging from the bathroom window!:what: I yell at the guy as he jumps down and runs to the opposite side of the house and jumps the fence back to the front. I tell the contractor to call 911 and I take off chasing the guy! Looking back I know how stupid this was, but I was pissed off! :X

He was probably 50yds in front of me running down the street with me calling him every name in the book! :cuss:Before he gets to the corner I see him reach in his pocket then point something at me. I don't know if it was a gun or not, he was too far away to tell. I jumped behind the nearest tree and stayed there, as he rounded the corner and was gone. Again stupid of me to chase this guy! It could of turned out bad for me.

Two police cars where there fast and one took off in the direction the guy ran. I went back to the house with the other. The cop entered the house with gun drawn and cleared the house. It was empty. The contractor gave his statement and took off knowing there was no business to be had that day. A detective showed up and we went through the home to see if anything was taken. Luckly nothing was.We figured that he had just broken in when I arrived, since there was jewelry in plain sight that cuold of been grabbed easily. He told me that I was very lucky that I didn't enter the house with this guy still in there! No kidding! Hemust ofseen us talk in the driveway and knew we weren't leaving, so he ended up going out the way he came in, the broken window in the back of the house. We found a large rack that was used.

The second car came back and didn't find anyone. Sothey completed the investigation and went on there way. Needless to say I ran through several emotions after the fact. Angry that my home was violated by some punk. Grateful that I was safe and my wife and children weren't around. Helpless that someone was able to violate my personal space. But the biggest thing was the reality that it can happen to anyone at anytime!

We ended up moving the next month. I know that there is always a chance that it could happen again. But I try and prepare myself for that event if it ever does.
 

markand

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2006
Messages
512
Location
VA
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Glad it turned out OK. I've also had a number of nasty incidents. Fortunately, I've never been hurt and have never had to hurt anybody else, although I was ready to do so, as you'll see from the summary below.

1. Armed robbery attempt (Baltimore City, MD, mid 1970's). I didn't have a single penny on me and eventually talked the guy out of it.

2. Handgun assault (Columbia, MD, 1970's). Disgruntled employee pointed gun at me from a car in parking lot. Didn't fire, just wanted to scare me. Police were not very interested, despite his drug possession record. Said the guy would probably not get prosecuted for anything more than misdemeanors and would quickly get his gun back. At least he got fired.

3. Two "hot" home invasion burglaries while a college student (Baltimore City, 1970's). One got away with all the goodies. The second guy, a couple of years later, wouldn't leave until I told him I had a shotgun. He decided to leave.

4. Two "cold" burglaries. In the first one, (Pikesville, MD, late 1970's) bad guys entered the roof of the apartment complex and kicked holes in the ceilings of numerous 3rd floor apartments. Heavy metal door, steel door frame, masonry wall and 3 inch deadbolt were easily bypassed. Police, who were investigating burglaries these guys had done earlier in the morning, found these guys still at it. They shot and wounded one of the two suspects in a gun battle on my doorstep while I was at work. In the other burglary, (McLean, VA, 1982 or 3) a daring guy climbed up the OUTSIDE brick wall, 3 stories up onto my balcony where he gained access through the unlocked balcony door (protruding bricks, intended to make a nice visual design were used as hand and foot holds). A cheap burglar alarm my wife had won in a contest scared the bad guy away.

5. Nasty encounter with a homeless guy at a fast food place (Fairfax City, VA, late 1990's). After he vandalized the place by smashing a large pane of door glass, I found myself between him and the bathroom. He must have had to go. He growled at me, didn't like the way I was looking at him (I prefer to think of it as my cold steady stare.) Had he taken another step toward me, or displayed a weapon of any kind, I would have drawn the SIG P239. Instead, he walked across the street to another bathroom. 911 fire dispatcher answered in seconds, and stayed on the line with me for an hour, but Fairfax City police took 45 minutes just to answer their phone, and another 10 or 15 minutes to arrive on the scene. Guy was long gone.

6. Two car jacking attempts. In the first, in gun-unfriendly Baltimore, MD (late 1990's), I had no choice but to run down the two thugs trying to take my car. They jumped out of the way. Since they hadn't hurt me, and I hadn't hurt them, Baltimore City police declined to respond. Wouldn't even take my name or file a report. In the second attempt, after midnight near Yorktown, VA, (2004) the leader of 4 thugs trying to get my nice new Lexus SUV (still had temporary tags) saw my handgun in its holster and broke off the attack.

7. While on the way to Tae-Kwon-Do class (Fairfax, City, VA, 1991 or 2), my then 6 and 8 year old kids ran ahead of me. A gang of teenagers had cornered them and were taunting them as I came around the corner of a building. The sight of an adult, all dressed up in the martial arts uniform, including brown belt and carrying a practice weapon (basically a long stick) was more than they could handle. The gang leader got real sweet and apologized all over himself for a few seconds, then the gang scattered.

Every one of these 10 incidents has quite a story to go along with it. Of all 10, the only bad guys who got caught and prosecuted were the two Pikesville, MD burglers. Pulling a gun when you're surrounded by police isn't a great idea. Even though they got convicted and sentenced to 10 or more years each, they probably didn't serve all of that time.

I've learned to practice often, think about bad stuff that might happen (no that's not paranoid). Police sometimes can't, or sometimes won't, be much help. No knock on police officers, most of whom I believe to be trying earnestly to do a good job, but are working in a system that is far from perfect.

Most importantly, I've learned to carry a gun whenever I can and be responsible for my own safety. Typical sidearm these days is a SIG P-229 in .357 SIG and one or two spare mags on my belt and another couple of spare mags in the car. If I can't carry that due to dress limitations, I carry a SIG P-230 in a pocket holster.
 

compmanio365

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2007
Messages
2,013
Location
Pierce County, Washington, USA
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Had several occurances when working in Seattle of homeless people trying to start a fight. Never had to draw my gun, but pepper spray worked real well. Seattle PD just sat there in their car across the street and didn't bother even seeing what was up. Figured if they weren't interested, then I wouldn't bother calling it in.

Other than that, I find that OC and good SA tends to keep most thugs from bothering me, and I've never been broken into or anything like that, knock on wood.
 

Nutczak

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
2,165
Location
The Northwoods, lakeland area, Wisconsin, USA
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I have had a few encounters, and none of them were pleasant! I do not thnk they ever are even if you have the upper hand and are able to legally defend yourself without getting injured.

When I lived in downtown Milwaukee, I found 2 people breaking into my neighbors home, I called police and they finally showedalmost an hour later. I was able to "Detain" one of the suspects by holding him in a "Full-Nelson" wrestling hold. And what do I get from the cops?? them threatening to arrest me for battery! We also had a drunken patron at the bar grab a knife from the kitchen and threaten me and the other bartenders life with it. A fire extinguisher eneded that confrontation when it was emptied on him and the canister made contact with his head.

An attempted car-jacking in FL when the guyjumped in my passenger side door at a traffic light and held a knife on me, I answered him with a .357 and he ran off onlyto be struck by a police car and quickly arrested. The police kiddingly asked why i didn't shoot him in the car when he first got in.

A drunken neighbor on a rampage; allegedly another neighbor called the sherriffs dept to have somemarijuana plants removed from their yard. Turns out it was my next doorneighbors plants! and he thought I called the police. so he came at me with a claw-hammer in a drunken rage. he got a few good hits in, but when the police arrived they found him laying facedown in my driveway, so i got arrested! the charges were later dropped by the prosecutor once the full story came to view. I had no idea what the guy was so bent out of shape over when it happened.

And most recently another drunk on a rampage focused their rage towards me, a Maglite that held 3 D-cell batteries put a quick end to that threat. And again! the friggin cops treat me like the criminal although 5 witnesses stated repeatedly I was onlt defending myslef and my GF from the attacker.

The only occasion I had a firearm within reach was the FL carjacking incident, becuase the other places have no CCW provisions or legal vehicle carry.

My geographical choice of home now is relatively low on violent crime, I live in a small town surrounded by near wilderness. We are a tourist destination and hunting/fishing hotspot. We still get some nutcases though! recently a man fled his home state of IL after murdering his wife, and he was apprehended near here.
I guess the northwoods is a good place to hide out, Just watch the new John Dillinger movie, a famed shootout between his group and the feds took place 15 miles north of here. the most current movie is named "Public Enemies" with Johnny Depp. and opened this week. Lots of the Chicago criminals used this area as their hideout including capone, nelson, and many others.

I see theonly realchance of a threat to our wellbeing as wild animals (4 legged kind) with a healthy population of Wolves, Bears and Coyotes. We just do not have a strong criminal element up here (yet) but still no reason to go unarmed!
 

TehGruu

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2009
Messages
277
Location
, Texas, USA
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Wow, I am so glad that everyone that posted here including the OP are ok. I am also thankful that no shots had to be fired. Trust me, shooting someone is not fun. Been there done that. Anayway, I am always relieved when I see that others are able to overcome the paralyzing fear that come with the adrenaline. All three of you should be glad that your are able to act to protect yourself and loved ones.



-Gruu
 

tcmech

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2009
Messages
368
Location
, ,
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The only incident I have had where I actually pulled a gun out to defend myself was several years ago when I lived in Imperial Beach (Peoples Republic of Kalifornia). The place where I lived was an upstairs apartment, downstairs were 5 garages, the two end garages belonged to the two apartments over the garages. The three in the middle belonged to the landlord. There was an over hang which prevented you from seeing who was at your door, or which door they were at from the upstairs windows.

On the night that my neighbor moved out I went to sleep late and was awakened by someone trying to get into one of the doors downstairs, I didn't know if it was my door, my garage door, or one of the other doors downstairs. I did'nt wait to find out, I picked up the P-89 on my night stand and chambered a round. (At that time I never kept a gun with a loaded chamber in the house due to my daughters age.) All I heard after that was footsteps running down the alley. I guess that is what I get for leaving my window open when I sleep.

I never had another problem there, but I moved shortly afterwards.
 

HankT

State Researcher
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
6,215
Location
Invisible Mode
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tcmech wrote:
.... I did'nt wait to find out, I picked up the P-89 on my night stand and chambered a round. (At that time I never kept a gun with a loaded chamber in the house due to my daughters age.)...

A reasonable choice.

There's usually time to rack the slide, as your example illustrates...
 
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