OT: Home Invasion and Burglary

[Jebadiah_Smith]

I had kind of an interesting night last night. I occassionally suffer from little bouts of insomnia, and so last night I found myself watching TV in bed until 1 a.m. I fell asleep finally, only to be awakened at 2:20 p.m by the sound of our burglar alarm.

My Dad was away on business, leaving just me, my mother, and my younger sister in the house. I didnt know why the alarm was going off, so I grabbed my WWII from my nightstand. I knew that depending on how things ended up, I would feel either foolish and paranoid for taking it, or foolish and sorry for not taking it. I guess id rather be a paranoid fool with a live family than a sorry fool with a dead one.

I walked downstairs to my mother's room, where she was pacing back and forth. I asked her what was going on and she said that the alarm system had gone off because something had tripped a basement window. The alarm company had called and asked if they should call the police and she said yes. I went back upstairs, got my sister, and had everyone stay in my parents bedroom and lock the door. I didnt really care if anyone stole anything, I just wanted to protect my mom and sister, and maybe a few dogs if time allowed.

When we were all in the room I made sure that all of the dogs were in as well. I then tried to find the Glock which my dad had taught me how to use, and keeps in his bedroom for home defense. We just recently moved to this new house and either fortunately or unfortuneately depending on how you see it, he never told me the new hiding spot for the pistol. All I had was my WWII, which wasn't as comforting as I had imagined it would be. I guess it was better than nothing, but I would have much prefered the Glock.

My mom and sister waited in the master bedroom's bathroom and I stood by the bedroom door, inside the room. My wonderful guard dogs were sprawled out on the bed, having a grand old time. A half an hour later, a person called (Im guessing it was a police dispatcher.) and asked my mom if she wouldnt mind telling them which road we were on again. Thats very comforting .

15 minutes later, around 3:15, when things quieted down, we could hear movement from the basement, and what sounded kind of like someone trying to open the sliding windows. It turns out that this was just the police officer checking around the house. He didnt tell us that he was there before creeping around, but that might be a standard LEO practice, I dont know. All in all, it was around 40 minutes before any police got there.

It turns out that it was nothing. Just some type of glitch in the alarm system. After the cop left I checked all of the rooms in my house and spent the next couple of hours waiting for the adrenaline to wear off. Anticlimatic I know, but i was very glad. The whole experience was not pleasant, and I never want to go through it again, be it because of glitch or actual burglar.

Would I have used the khuk if someone had come through the doorway? I dont know. I sure hope so. I do know that I would rather die than have anything happen to my family. I know, chances are that a burglar wouldnt want to kill anyone, just to take valueables and run, but I will never take that chance. Maybe Ive read too many "Armed Citizens" in the American Rifleman. Maybe some of you will think less of me for not tying on my best black headband and going on a rampaging patrol around my house, but that wasn't my priority then, I wouldn't have left that doorway corridor for anything.

The reson I wanted to share this was not to share my mall ninja-esque adventure. I was just wondering, have any of you ever had something similar happen to you? Did you reach for a khukuri? Standing in the cramped little corridor, It seemed to me that the chopper is at a disadvantage. I would have prefered a stabbing weapon, or a firearm, of course.

 

[Aardvark]

Very glad everything turned out OK. Can't comment on the appropriateness of your responses. Probably just as well that you didn't find the Glock, else you might have been tempted to put a round through the 'movement from the basement'.

 

[raghorn]

I once used a .45ACP to stop a guy from entering my house after he kicked my front door in. That was back in the dark ages when I lived in CA.

Today my "bump-in-the-night" go-to weapon is a Fox 12 gauge side-by-side and a surefire C2. Never had occasion to reach for it except for grouse hunting.

 

[ronsec]

I'm no expert in home defense, but I think you did damn good ! Police called, family to safe room and everybody - including you - waits for the police. Only flaw I see is that you had no firearm (my choice is 12ga) available if someone wanted to breach the door of the bedroom. Your Mom should be proud of you !

PS - what the heck kind of dogs do you have that YOU had to save THEM from the bad guys ?

 

[cognitivefun]

you did great...I can only wonder that the cop entered the house in that situation. Wouldn't the cop be worried about being mistaken for the intruder and shot? I think a call to the police and a chat with the watch commander is fully warranted. It could save this cop's life sometime.

 

[Jebadiah_Smith]

you did great...I can only wonder that the cop entered the house in that situation. Wouldn't the cop be worried about being mistaken for the intruder and shot? I think a call to the police and a chat with the watch commander is fully warranted. It could save this cop's life sometime.

Sorry I wasnt clear on that. The cop never came into the house. The noise I heard was him testing the windows, as far as I can tell. My parents bedroom is right above the basement room where the "forced entry" was supposed to be.

He was a very old looking guy. Older than I would have expected to be making those kinds of calls at 3 am. He walked around the house with a flashlight, saw no tracks or open windows and then came in to tell us everything was alright. I checked the basement rooms because I wasnt quite so sure.

The whole thing had a Mayberry RFD feel to it. A 40 minute response time isnt normal, is it?

 

[cognitivefun]

Sorry I wasnt clear on that. The cop never came into the house. The noise I heard was him testing the windows, as far as I can tell. My parents bedroom is right above the basement room where the "forced entry" was supposed to be.

Ahh, sorry I misunderstood.

The whole thing had a Mayberry RFD feel to it. A 40 minute response time isnt normal, is it?

There are two possibilities I can think of. One is that the alarm company called the police, in which case the priority on the call would be low due to so many false alarms (98% of alarm calls or more are false alarms.)

After the phone verification of the alarm, they should have been there lickety split. In any event, a very poor showing

 

[raghorn]

I don't know what "normal" is in terms of response time. I know that in my situation I dialed 911 and the operator did not seem inclined to treat my situation as an emergency until I stated that I was armed.

 

[Kismet]

(I may have told this before)

Long ago and far away...


in the time known as "sort of early divorce," I got a call from my ex-wife to come over and DEAL with MY children. And so I did....

Coming home, I stopped at a Poppin Fresh pie place and got an apple pie, then proceeded back to the apartment (2nd floor apartment of a 12 flat in Chicago.)

I didn't bother to turn on the hallway light, just went back to the kitchen to put the pie away.

I saw a movement by the back door window.

"Ah, it's probably just the cat jumping up on a shelf," I said to myself.

then...

"I don't have a cat and there is no shelf there." Hmmmmmm.

Then one of the backdoor windows broke.

OK. Apparently, I have an Alternative Reality Personality lurking somewhere within.


"C*^K SUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" My A R P screamed. Then, it dropped the pie on the kitchen table and CHARGED the rear door!....

Fumbling with the chain, it then bounded out on the back porch, once again screaming it's fearsome indictment of the intruder's personal behavior. Down, down the stairs in unseen leaps to the landing.....THERE....running across the courtyard was the would-be burglar.

My A R P SERIOUSLY considered jumping off the landing between the 2nd and 1st floors to cut the chase time before capturing the evil-doer. Once again, SCREAMING the same indictment, my A R P raced down the stairs, and charged through the courtyard and into the alley. Half-way down the alley, I saw a brief movement, and raced to capture...then could not find the exact spot where he disappeared.

I was disappointed. Slowly, I trudged home, called the cops.

Two sets of cops showed: a pair of younger uniforms, and two detectives (older). One of the young uniforms heard my story and grinned, saying:"I'm surprised you couldn't find him by the trail of diarhia he left as you chased him."

The detectives came and heard my story again, and one commented:

"That was stupid of you. You didn't know if he had a weapon, you KNEW you did not. (I'd left the pie in the house.) He didn't get into your house, yet you chased him half a block down the street, and frankly, if you had been able to catch and hurt him, YOU would have been charged.

"Don't do that again."

Turns out I got a very cheap hammer, a middlin' screwdriver, an old hooded sweatshirt, and a half-pint of vodka out of the deal, where the intruder left them in his haste to be somewhere else.

uh...I didn't think about consequences. I am in better control of the Alternative Reality Personality these days.

I was stupid...or worse...unthinking.


Be well and safe.

 

[Thomas Linton]

Fifteen years ago, when we lived in the city, we had a rash of break-ins. Homes were being entered in daylight - several at a time on a given block. Sometimes, the occupants were home when the break-ins took place.

I was home sick with flu when our dog went nuts - neighbor's dog too. I looked out a rear-facing window and saw two kids vaulting the fence from neighbor's yard into ours. By the time I got the 12 ga. pump and called the law, all was quiet.

When they were finally caught, it turned out to be four high schoolers from "good families." They were stealing because it was "fun." They picked Cleveland Heights for their "fun" because they thought guns were outlawed there (see Cleveland Heights, People's Republic of, "A Nuclear Free Zone"). They were wrong. Long guns were (and are) legal. They were lucky not to be shot. (Did I mention that the neighbor''s dog was a 140 pound Rot? He half destroyed the sliding doors trying to get after them.)

 

[raghorn]

We refer to those as "near-prison experiences," Kis.

 

[Jebadiah_Smith]

PS - what the heck kind of dogs do you have that YOU had to save THEM from the bad guys ?

Pretty sorry ones...

1. 9 year old english setter
1. 8 year old english setter
1. 2 year old weimareiner

 

[Daniel Koster]

nice one, raggie.


during my stint in college....one night, my wife woke me up at 4 AM (she was expecting our first....mid-morning arisals all too common by now) to tell me that she "heard noises". I'm one of those dead-heads....can sleep through a train wreck types.... In a half-awake state....I lean up trying to listen. Unfortunately, I still think I'm only dreaming.....so I just hold on to her tightly to help her feel better.

Next morning....about $200 of tools is missing from our "shared" utility closet (we lived in a duplex of sorts...)

I was super-pissed about it. I had just bought them the day before...hadn't even used them.

Well, since then, I've invested in renter's insurance, and I don't worry about it anymore.

I have a few pointy things within a moment's grasp....should the need arise.


If someone is intent on taking my belongings....fine....they need 'em more than I do....and since my deductible is only $200.....I wouldn't mind having to replace a few items.....

 

[Jebadiah_Smith]

What do you guys think of the khukuri as an indoor weapon?

I didnt feel that I had enough room to really swing it, especially in the little hallway by the door. The Ghurkas seem to always use them outdoors. Do any of you martial artists or Ghurka historians know of any time that the khuk was used indoors or in close quarters?

 

[cognitivefun]

I used to own an alarm company and I will regale my kids with stories of movie stars, drug dealers and other assorted Los Angeles types for whom I installed alarms...not to mention the FBI building, police stations, fire stations, and others...yes, even the fire station needs a fire alarm, and even the police station needs a hold-up alarm.

Jeb, just because the police didn't find anything doesn't mean someone didn't try something...

Also, assuming it was a false alarm, consider having the alarm company come out to check things over. You don't want a false alarm situation to continue to crop up

 

[Dave Rishar]

Actually, Jeb, I think more highly of you for not letting adrenaline and machismo get the best of you. You did exactly the right thing under those circumstances.

More importantly, no one was hurt and nothing was taken. I can't imagine a home invasion scare turning out any better than this one did. Take care and be vigilant.

 

[Bill Martino]

Would I have used the khuk if someone had come through the doorway?

Above is the only argument I have with the entire scenario which was very well executed. Decisions like this must be made before the fact and not during or after them. That split second it takes to make that decision, "Am I or am I not" can make the difference between life or death.

 

[donutsrule]

What do you guys think of the khukuri as an indoor weapon?

I didnt feel that I had enough room to really swing it, especially in the little hallway by the door. The Ghurkas seem to always use them outdoors. Do any of you martial artists or Ghurka historians know of any time that the khuk was used indoors or in close quarters?

You're swinging too wide. Think near-vertical cuts from a compact stance -- you don't need a long, slow, wide caveman/baseball swing with something sharp.

 

[Jebadiah_Smith]

Would I have used the khuk if someone had come through the doorway?

Above is the only argument I have with the entire scenario which was very well executed. Decisions like this must be made before the fact and not during or after them. That split second it takes to make that decision, "Am I or am I not" can make the difference between life or death.

Believe me, at that moment walking to the door, I made up my mind that I was going to cut anything that came through it. I was pretty excited then and pumping with adrenaline. Now looking back, I wonder If I really would have done it.

I guess you could say that my mettle wasnt really tested and now I have my doubts about wether I could have jammed my knife through a persons head. Lets hope I never find out .

 

[munk]

When my wife and I were involved in intimacy, we heard shots fired nearby, and then someone hit the backyard fence and fall off. I grabbed my 1911 and went outside to investigate. I held the gun low and I hope out of sight behind a hedge in our front yard. I thought someone was behind my truck. There was no sound for a few moments, then I heard or felt a presence. Inspiration hit me, and I called out in just the right tone of voice; (concerned parent) "Man, are you Alright?"

"Don't shoot." A teenager's voice came back fast.
"What the heck are you doing? Was that you blowing off caps?"
"No. There's some Mexicans in a car in the store parking lot and they pulled their guns and shot around me. "

"Don't shoot, " he said, and went limping off into the night.

The police came soon, but to a neighbor's house where an old women lived who called them once a month for any bump in the night. A car pulled up and the driver got out and said some men in car in the parking lot pointed guns at him.

The police would not travel down the road, 150 yards away and around the corner, to investigate this, even after I explained what happened to me.

You see, it was against policy to leave one potential incident for another. This was in Fontana Ca.
!!!!!!!!!!!!


Several months ago I was sitting up alone in the house. My baby was asleep upstairs, my older boys outside in the trees in a tent. I heard a key hit the front door lock. The knob rattled.

I think I sat there for a minute, processing if what I thought I heard was actually what I heard. Unlike other situations in my life, this time I was actually terrified. The Voice within, the guidance was not there. I ran upstairs to see if baby was OK. I grabbed the 10 mill. I checked every room. I and went outside and racked the slide and something ran away into the night. I it was dark. There are no lights in Montana.

I ran down to my sleeping boys. They'd heard nothing. I got them inside, called a neighbor, and together searched the grounds. Nothing.

>>>>>>>>>>

During the Riots in LA I was waiting for a light to change. I was in San Bernardino. No riots here but chock full of angry minorities and gangbangers.
When the light turned green the car ahead of me did not move. After a sufficient pause I lightly honked my horn. To my astonishment and fear. There was some commotion inside the little Coup among the three men and the driver reached under his seat. He then exited his vehicle with his hand in his trench coat. He was black and appeared to be no stranger to violence, based upon his clothing and posture. He was furious and itching for a fight.

I had a small thirty eight on the floor, but would be unable to reach it before he got off his shots. I could not back up because the vehicle behind me was either unware of what was going on or too stupid to get the hell out of the way. I could not go forward because of the man's car.

Well, I knew I could ram their car ahead. It would cave the fender into my truck, but would accomplish something, and in the confusion I could grab the revolver and kill the man. There was no doubt in my mind once the gun was in my hand the assailent was dead. I knew he'd get his shots off but hitting your mark at a moving truck through a door is harder than it seems, and I would be below the dash. I also figured if I was hit there was a more than good chance it would not knock me out of commision as any pocket gun in a trench coat was not going to be big. I hoped.
He was only five feet away though. It was going to be dicey. I was very very calm. The Voice Ive learned to trust over the years came to me then, and sudden inspiration:

I rolled the window down halfway, looked at this gang bang peice of garbage, and said in the most whitey middle class naive voice you can imagine:

"Hey man, are you alright? Can I help you? Do you need help with your car?"

I looked at him like a smiling idiot. I was so white and innocent. He was furious, but this was exactly what he'd not expected. He expected a response like get out of my way, and then he could use the gun in his pocket. He fumed. He shook a little side to side, 'don't you tell me how to drive, don't you think I can drive? Who are you to tell me anything? blaa blaa blaa- like a Rooster. I rolled the window back and ignored him. He strutted, lost his momentum, went back into his car, got it started and drove away. I could not find a pen to get his lic number.

I felt pretty good about it though. I'd not killed anyone. Too bad the idiot probably continued his crap life until he killed someonelse, and I do wish I could have gotten his licence.

You know, a gun can bring peace and options not available to the unarmed. Once driving late at night through a bad section of So Ca, we came upon a disabled van, a woman and man wandering around in the street. After getting my revolver close, I could drive up and find out if they really were in trouble and needed help, or if this was a ruse for robbery. Unarmed, I could never had offered help to the innocent.


munk