Intruder in the house!

Another post reminded me of an incident I had in the fall.

It was late at night about 130 am. I was sitting at the puter, wife asleep in bed when I hear a noise coming from the kitchen..
sounded like someone slurring their words talking....

Now my stepdaughter hadnt come home yet, so the door was unlocked still, so I go out there and there is a guy with his head on the kitchen table, kinda mumbling to himself,
I scan the room and nothing is out of place and I see no weapons in the guys hands.
I am pretty confused at this point thinking...is this one of her friends who needs to sleep it off?
(I only had recently moved to this area after dating her mother).

I peek out to the parking area and sure enough...her car ISNT home yet.

This has taken about 15 secs realtime but seems like forever if you know what I mean..

So I go back to my room and grab my 4D maglight in one hand and slip my cold steel tanto point voyager into my back pocket...

Now I shake the guy and wake him up...
Excuse me? what are you doing here? Can I help you?

the guy stands up I size him up he is about 4 inches shorter than me and about 60 lbs lighter too. This relieves me immensely. Glad it wasnt the other way around if he was going to get ornery.....
He says...You know me man,,,, I am your friend, I am drunk I just need to sleep some man.....
and a bunch of other drunk type stuff.

I insisted he had to leave and if he was nice about I was not going to call the cops on him..

He was quite drunk and I thought he may just think he is at his friends house on another street....
( as long as he did nothing silly or stupid I was cutting him a break)

I been drunk a few times myself... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyway he asks to use the phone to call someone I said no way, there is a pay phone at the end of street start walking and use that..

So I shoo him out the door and he goes quietly, I lock the door and go wake the wife and tell her what happened...she freaks out of course..

Nice to get some appreciation for being the MAN of the House too! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

So anyways I go the garage and grab my 2MCP coleman rechargeable and sure enough, I light up the street and in 20 minutes he is only about 100 yds away..

He comes back down the street towards the house and thats when I decided,...you had your chance buddy, now you blew it..
I call up the cops and told them what happened..car on its way....

by the time the two cars showed up....25 minutes later...they drive around and cant find him......

drunk lucky fool musta found a bush to pass out in..

I would estimate his BAC at .20 or better...

Cop said you are a nice guy, I would have just shot him.......

I am actually really glad nothing violent happened, I have pretty frightening demeanor when I need it..

As long as he was cool I was cool. But I assure you had he made one stupid move he would have found himself on the floor in a sleeper hold faster than you can say *spit*.

Been there done that move.....amazing how fast people go to sleep too.......

And I sleep pretty good at night knowing I didnt have to hurt or kill someone...just because I "could" have....

Makes me think of the line about angels unawares.......

Hope you enjoyed it.....

This story is true and none of the names have been changed.....

What do you think your response would have been?

Funny once you get into the situation you really stop thinking well and go on instincts pretty quickly...

The poor guy would be in a world of hurt if he did that at my residence.
I might have even shot him.
Drunk, or not.
Call the cops right away if this happens again please. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif
Once someone enters your residence, you can do whatever you have to to defend yourself and your family.

I understand where you are coming from, I was prepared to gut him like a fish if need be. Just glad it didn't come to that.
Wasnt like he was going through the house with a sack of valuables...

Glad nothing happened, but i would've called the cops first. I don't want to know if a stranger in my house is drunk, crazy, on drugs, armed or what not. My shotgun would've been pointed at him till the cops arrived.

Safety first, always, but try not to shoot anyone unless neccesary, you gotta live with it for the rest of ya life /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/drunk.gif

Are you locking your doors at night now?

Sometimes you have to use your instinct on some things like this. From your story you could sense that he was sort of harmless and he was. However, were not perfect in a means of instinct so next time its better to be safe than sorry.

I would have called the cops right away and kept him at bay with anything available. Again, better to be safe than sorry. Lesson learned.

You guys are right about trying not to shoot an intruder unless you have to. I once almost shot an intruder in my back yard and (drew down on him, hammer cocked) and am glad i did not have to shoot him. Afterwards, i started to think about taking someones life and realized it is a serious thing not to be taken lightly. Lesson learned for me on that situation.

Now this must be the Canadian in me talking.. But I would have made the guy a coffee and tried to figure out why he was there in the first place.
We don't keeps guns for the protection of our homes, mostly because we don't need to. Here we pride ourselves on super high taxes and some of the best beers in the world. Drunk people are not terribly uncommon, violent people are. It makes me wonder if there isn't a connection between people feeling as though they need a gun to make things right and the fact that everyones opinions are different, and they have guns. Just a different mindset I guess.
Now, I was born and raised in Detroit, I am no stranger to constantly feeling as though I need a gun to have peace of mind, and to be honest, I don't miss it. I can go get drunk now and in the off chance (way off chance) I ended up on someone elses kitchen table I know it would not result in getting shot.
I think you did the right thing.

I think you did the right thing by assessing the threat potential very quickly and deciding that the situation didn't call for a violent response. On the other hand, he's now walking around with the impression that he can get drunk and stumble into anyone's kitchen without getting harmed. I think I would've kept my distance and called the cops, but at the same time I would've grabbed something to defend myself with, just in case.

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PhotonWrangler said:
but at the same time I would've grabbed something to defend myself with, just in case.

[/ QUOTE ]

He had his 4D Mag, what else do you need? Carry that thing by the head over your shoulder, and youve got yourself a weapon.

I'm a gun owner, with a concealed weapons permit no less, and I doubt I would have shot him unless he had a weapon and/or was being aggressive. Otherwise I'd just hold him until the cops got there. I certainly wouldn't have let him go, either. Like the cop said... you were too nice. You should lock your doors, too. A deadly weapon should only be a very last line of defense.

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TheQase said:

He had his 4D Mag, what else do you need? Carry that thing by the head over your shoulder, and youve got yourself a weapon.

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But after using it, would you still have a flashlight? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My two 80lb dogs give me a little bit of range in dealing with this not completely uncommon phenomena of drunks walking into houses. Half the time its a drunk that is confused and either thinks its his place or more likely doesn't care. The other half the time its a drunk that wants to see if he can find something to take. I haven't seen too many cases where the intruder has truly violent, malevolent intentions and not been previously known to the homeowner. Of course I'm 6'2'' mid-thirties, and deal with idiots like this during the day. The dogs and me make it an unappealing household to enter if we don't want you there.

OTOH I've also seen the occasional case where seasoned citizens have been terrified out of their wits because some idiot thinks their vulnerability entitles him to free reign of their home. Those people deserve to be able to defend themselves by means more effective than waiting for a police officer to be freed up.

I'd have done 2 things differently.

I keep a gun close a night, so that's what I'd of had instead of a knife.
Not any more effective than a knife in skilled hands but that's how that would have worked out.

Second, I'd have called the cops & let him sleep untill they arrived.
You can bet the cops wouldn't take long to get there if you told them you were holding a gun on an intruder in your kitchen.
There would have been less of a chance for trouble.

You couldn't know the guy was harmless to you & yours.
He was a danger to himself & as such could have caused an accident that everybody would regret.
He truly needed to be taken in for everyone's well being.

All in all nobody got hurt. You were a nice guy about the whole thing.
Good job.

Theepdinker

I probably would have woken my parents first thing, then call the police if my dad hasn't, and then I would have grapped a Husky spotlight and a QIII, and lastly I would have grabbed my paintball gun with some of my "special" paintballs that I keep for a occasion such as that. The special paint balls are ones that I have taken the paint out of through a small hole and filled with metal BB's. It doesn't sound like much of a defensive weapon, but I've tested it in my basement and it tears the hell out of a piece of ply-wood at 20 feet. If you got hit by one of them it'd probably do some serious damage; granted, it probably wouldn't go through you like a bullet but it'd feel like you got hit by a shot gun. Not fun. Anyway, that's prolly what I woulda done. I mean, I wouldn't have gone down stairs looking for trouble, but if that character came anywhere near the stairs before the police got there......well, you could guess.

1. Yes I lock the doors now at night even if she isnt home..
2. The phone was on the other side of him in a cubby hole.
3. I dont have a gun at the moment ( the new bride wont allow it).
4. I think I may have a chance at getting her to allow it after that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Maxabaker, I'd think twice about your special paint balls.

If you have deliberately modified them, it's advance planning. If they "tear the hell out of a piece of plywood" at 20 feet they will probably break bones and cause internal injuries. You'd be prosecuted if someone dies. Might not be convicted, but the legal fight would be very expensive.


I could be wrong, of course.

It seems you might be able to make an effective but less lethal projectile by using less shot so the kenetic energy is lower. The initial deformation of the paintball cover should also spread the impact more and reduce the chance of penetration.

Daniel

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gadget_lover said:
It seems you might be able to make an effective but less lethal projectile by using less shot so the kenetic energy is lower. The initial deformation of the paintball cover should also spread the impact more and reduce the chance of penetration.


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Only concern I'd have is that it might just annoy the fella, and you'd be worse off than before- I'd want to be sure it's effective, or not try it at all.
This is under the assumption he's in your home and leaving you no recourse, and not that you're chasing him down the block, of course. Usually the law's on your side in those situations, but it could very well still bring trouble upon yourself. Just like situations where the crook sucessfully sues for injuries when a storekeeper or homeowner sets a boobytrap for a persistent robber.
Avoidance is best if possible, but if trouble comes looking, I don't know if I'm inclined to go running, especially in my own home-

My training at security academy was limited, but the one thing stressed was that if you fear for your life, then shoot to kill.
Dead center mast.
Most animals including Humans can become deadly dangerous when wounded and suddenly pumping with adrenalin from pain of injury.

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gadget_lover said:
Maxabaker, I'd think twice about your special paint balls.

If you have deliberately modified them, it's advance planning. If they "tear the hell out of a piece of plywood" at 20 feet they will probably break bones and cause internal injuries. You'd be prosecuted if someone dies. Might not be convicted, but the legal fight would be very expensive.


I could be wrong, of course.

It seems you might be able to make an effective but less lethal projectile by using less shot so the kenetic energy is lower. The initial deformation of the paintball cover should also spread the impact more and reduce the chance of penetration.

Daniel

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Oh heck yeah, they're by no means lethal; they'll just stop you in your tracks real quick. But, as I said, I will definitly NOT go looking for trouble.

I have them for the rare case of a drunk (or not drunk) coming up the stairs towards my family when they should not be. If that event does happen though, I would very clearly warn the person that I had a weapon. But, if they ignored my warnings anyway and continued ascending the staircase, it is legaly there own fault and I'd legally be allowed to protect myself and my family and let hell brake loose to stop them if need be.

No, I would not get in trouble for that. First, I could simply say that I had the BB paint balls for taking care of mice in my house, so it wouldn't be considered advanced planning for any human deformation; they just happen to be quite affective at taking care of the drunk threat as well. Secondly, I'd most likely have 1-4 witnesses with me to note the fact that I had warned the intruder, and third, that is strictly self defense. If that same thing happened and you shot the person with a real gun (most likely more lethal), that would still be considered self just defense.

Anyway, the chances of that happening where I live are quite slim anyway. So, I probably won't be whipping out any special paintballs any time soon. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif