chrisn1niq
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2003
- Messages
- 64
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I want to share this so that people can learn and plan from my experience. I'll preface my story with some background information. I live on the outer border of a bedroom community in southwestern Connecticut. It is definitely not a rural area but at the same time it is not in the heart of the city. My home has a long driveway and we have had problems in the past with kids partying at the road end of it. Also, we have had some strained relations with the police in the past becasue they do not feel that it is their job to tell trespassers to leave our property in the middle of the night.
With that said, last Wednesday night my wife returned home from babysitting to discover a car and SUV parked at the end of our driveway. While she was calling me on her cell to inform me, a man (mid to late 20's) climbed out of the back of the SUV half dressed and started demanding to know who she was and why she was there. As she was explaining that he was on private property I arrived from the opposite direction. From my vantage point I could not see the man. What I saw was a woman crawling out of the SUV. At that point I began asking her what she was doing and pointed out the "No Trespassing" signs. Apparently the man did not like the fact that I was talking to his woman and started yelling "hey, hey, hey" while approaching me aggressively. At about 10 feet I lit up his face with my Ultrastinger. This seemed to shock and disorient him as he stopped dead in his tracks. I took a few steps back and he advanced again. I lit him up and again and he stopped again but I knew that this wouldn't work forever. I retreated again and this time he turned and started to approach my wife who was now on the phone to 911. I then shined my light on the registration tags of their cars and recited the numbers to my wife to pass on to the police. I also wanted to get his attention back to me. At this, the guy told his girlfriend to take off (which she did) and then turned on me and started saying "you'll be sorry" and "I'll make you sorry".
I was able to continue blinding him with one and two second flashes as he would start to advance. All the while he kept up his "sorry" statements but would not state an actual threat. At one point he even popped open the trunk of his car and started looking for something but I kept the tight beam in his eyes. Finally, after acting like he was going to leave and then changing his mind a few times he departed. About two minutes later the police, who had trouble finding my address, arrived. The evening concluded with the police tracking down both parties. The man was stopped, searched and found to have no weapons on him or in his car. The woman turned out to be a "foreign national" live-in au pair or nanny. Neither party was charged with anything but were told they would be arrested if they returned (Ain't America great!?).
I have left a lot of the step by step details out for the sake of brevity but let me tell you that this entire exchange was intense. My shoulders and thighs were sore for two days after from the adrenaline rush. Looking back, if I had known I was dealing with adults I would have been more cautious. Also, if my wife had not become hysterical when it became obvious that things were getting ugly (and if the guy hadn't kept himself between us) we would have retreated.
Equipment wise, I love my Ultrastinger but I really wish I had had a Tigerlight. Without a doubt, I would have emptied the pepper gas on this guy on his third advance if not sooner. No bull****! At that point in time I don't think I would have felt safe with a flamethrower and an elephant gun. What I think worked for me is that I kept my head together. I didn't draw a line in the sand and face off with him except to keep him from my wife. When I withdrew from him each time I did so at an angle so that he had to keep turning to follow me. I also got the impression that he was used to using his height to scare people (I am 5'6" and he was well over 6') but I kept calm and moved with purpose. I also think that I had him confused as well as blinded/disoriented since he couldn't see me well and didn't know what I was up to. I also kept analyzing his statements and trying to keep him off balance mentally (working career EMS for a state mental hospital gave me that skill). I'm not sure if it wasthe combination of things I did or just one but I was able to walk away.
Going forward, my wife and I have agreed that if either of us arrive home and find a car in the same spot we will leave and call the police (who have now agreed to respond). If need be, the police station for the next town over is a straight line from our place. I have also arranged for security lighting for the area. Finally, I have told my wife that if she ever does call me from the driveway I am going to assume, no matter what she says, that her life is in danger and I am going to respond appropriately.
As I said at the start of this post, I hope you can learn from this, plan, and be prepared. This situation went south in the blink of an eye. You may be a tough talker now but when it happens your going to wish you had done a million things differently. And yes, my flashlight helped me but at the time it felt as effective as a matchstick weapon wise. I would have much better off if my wife and I had had plan to evacuate the area when things didn't look right.
Chris
I want to share this so that people can learn and plan from my experience. I'll preface my story with some background information. I live on the outer border of a bedroom community in southwestern Connecticut. It is definitely not a rural area but at the same time it is not in the heart of the city. My home has a long driveway and we have had problems in the past with kids partying at the road end of it. Also, we have had some strained relations with the police in the past becasue they do not feel that it is their job to tell trespassers to leave our property in the middle of the night.
With that said, last Wednesday night my wife returned home from babysitting to discover a car and SUV parked at the end of our driveway. While she was calling me on her cell to inform me, a man (mid to late 20's) climbed out of the back of the SUV half dressed and started demanding to know who she was and why she was there. As she was explaining that he was on private property I arrived from the opposite direction. From my vantage point I could not see the man. What I saw was a woman crawling out of the SUV. At that point I began asking her what she was doing and pointed out the "No Trespassing" signs. Apparently the man did not like the fact that I was talking to his woman and started yelling "hey, hey, hey" while approaching me aggressively. At about 10 feet I lit up his face with my Ultrastinger. This seemed to shock and disorient him as he stopped dead in his tracks. I took a few steps back and he advanced again. I lit him up and again and he stopped again but I knew that this wouldn't work forever. I retreated again and this time he turned and started to approach my wife who was now on the phone to 911. I then shined my light on the registration tags of their cars and recited the numbers to my wife to pass on to the police. I also wanted to get his attention back to me. At this, the guy told his girlfriend to take off (which she did) and then turned on me and started saying "you'll be sorry" and "I'll make you sorry".
I was able to continue blinding him with one and two second flashes as he would start to advance. All the while he kept up his "sorry" statements but would not state an actual threat. At one point he even popped open the trunk of his car and started looking for something but I kept the tight beam in his eyes. Finally, after acting like he was going to leave and then changing his mind a few times he departed. About two minutes later the police, who had trouble finding my address, arrived. The evening concluded with the police tracking down both parties. The man was stopped, searched and found to have no weapons on him or in his car. The woman turned out to be a "foreign national" live-in au pair or nanny. Neither party was charged with anything but were told they would be arrested if they returned (Ain't America great!?).
I have left a lot of the step by step details out for the sake of brevity but let me tell you that this entire exchange was intense. My shoulders and thighs were sore for two days after from the adrenaline rush. Looking back, if I had known I was dealing with adults I would have been more cautious. Also, if my wife had not become hysterical when it became obvious that things were getting ugly (and if the guy hadn't kept himself between us) we would have retreated.
Equipment wise, I love my Ultrastinger but I really wish I had had a Tigerlight. Without a doubt, I would have emptied the pepper gas on this guy on his third advance if not sooner. No bull****! At that point in time I don't think I would have felt safe with a flamethrower and an elephant gun. What I think worked for me is that I kept my head together. I didn't draw a line in the sand and face off with him except to keep him from my wife. When I withdrew from him each time I did so at an angle so that he had to keep turning to follow me. I also got the impression that he was used to using his height to scare people (I am 5'6" and he was well over 6') but I kept calm and moved with purpose. I also think that I had him confused as well as blinded/disoriented since he couldn't see me well and didn't know what I was up to. I also kept analyzing his statements and trying to keep him off balance mentally (working career EMS for a state mental hospital gave me that skill). I'm not sure if it wasthe combination of things I did or just one but I was able to walk away.
Going forward, my wife and I have agreed that if either of us arrive home and find a car in the same spot we will leave and call the police (who have now agreed to respond). If need be, the police station for the next town over is a straight line from our place. I have also arranged for security lighting for the area. Finally, I have told my wife that if she ever does call me from the driveway I am going to assume, no matter what she says, that her life is in danger and I am going to respond appropriately.
As I said at the start of this post, I hope you can learn from this, plan, and be prepared. This situation went south in the blink of an eye. You may be a tough talker now but when it happens your going to wish you had done a million things differently. And yes, my flashlight helped me but at the time it felt as effective as a matchstick weapon wise. I would have much better off if my wife and I had had plan to evacuate the area when things didn't look right.
Chris