Intuition - a textbook example

Trusting your instincts when followed
Illustration photo, from sxc.hu

From Tulsa Oklahoma, here's a textbook example of why you should always pay attention to your surroundings and listen to your instincts/gut feeling when you get this "something isn't quite right here".

It is really impressive to see how this woman does everything right in handling this potentially dangerous situation - read it carefully and learn from it!

She got off work Thursday night, went home, opened the garage door and, as she does each night, took a moment to look around.
"When I turned around to check, I felt somebody was there. He looked me straight in the eye," Keely said.
Keely quickly realized she had been followed. She put the garage door back down and pulled out of her neighborhood, hoping maybe he was just lost, but he followed her.

What's your take on this article? Also, do you have similar experiences like this with using your awareness and trusting your instincts?

Your home, your castle?

Your home may not always be your castle.

Now I'm not saying it is dangerous to be at home - far from it. What I am saying is that we tend to worry about sexual assaults by strangers outside - and forget that we are basically at greater risks at home.

You can read more about the statistical evidence and other facts here.

Stories:
In a North Philadelphia neighborhood, several sex assaults and burglaries occurred during one week, according to myfoxphilly.com. Over three days, three women were attacked, according to reports.

Police said each of the assaults happened in the early morning hours against women, alone at their residences. In each of the cases, the attackers reportedly entered the homes through unlocked doors or screened windows.

Also, a 40-year-old woman told how a man followed her into her apartment building in Center City (Philadelphia) around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. The suspect allegedly forced her to the ground and choked her. He also threatened to kill her and attempted to sexually assault her. The intended victim was able to fight the assailant off, police said.

In an earlier case from Philadelphia (July, 2007), two women were sexually assaulted in upscale Philadelphia neighborhoods. Police believed the attackers entered the homes through open doors.

"I'm shocked because it's always been a safe neighborhood," another woman said at the time.

stalking, push-in

Here is a "classic" case of a perpetrator using (at least) two means to get to his intended victim - stalking (following), and a push-in.

Story:
UK -- In Newcastle, police say a man stalked an 18-year-old female in the early hours of March 9 (Sunday morning).

The teenager was walking home from a night out with friends at around 2:30 a.m., and footage from closed circuit TV, shows the intended victim being followed through the city centre.

The assault happened at around 2:40 a.m. The perpetrator followed her inside her complex, grabbed and pushed into her home, before sexually assaulting her. Screaming and kicking him, the young woman forced the attacker to flee her home.

More 'kung-shoe'

New York -- A sexual assault occurred early Sunday in a downtown parking garage in Albany, according to dailygazette.com.

At around 3:10 a.m., a 22-year-old woman left a bar downtown and walked to the garage. On her way, she noticed a man following her on the street, according to a police spokesman.

This man then followed her as she walked up the exit ramp to the parking garage. The woman attempted to call police on her cell phone but the man grabbed her phone, threw it to the ground and then tried to get a hold of the woman.

The woman managed to break away and got into her car, the spokesman said, but the man also forced his way into the car, where he got on top of her. The woman continued to fight the attacker inside the vehicle before both reportedly fell out the passenger side and onto the ground.

The determined woman then began to hit the man in the face and eyes with the heel of her dress shoe. She was finally able to get away from the perpetrator.

The woman was later taken to a medical center, where she was treated and released.

From bad to worse

I can't really argue too much about this man following the culprits after being robbed at gunpoint. I might actually have done the same thing myself if I was in the position to do so.

However, pulling up alongside two armed - and now probably desperate - men, may not be your smartest move.

Personally, I would probably not follow someone in the first place unless I had some way of communicating with police. And my only reason for following someone would be to notify authorities.

Think about this:
After a robbery you're most likely to have strong adrenal reactions, and you most probably won't function too well (unless you're trained to do so/used to it). You are probably very angry, and this also doesn't exactly put you in a better "combat mode" either. And then add to it that you are dealing with (often times) armed and desperate people under the influence of drugs. A criminal does not want to get caught, remember...

And risking your life for some "valuables" ... things? Then that would really have to be some very special items of immense personal and sentimental value!

Story:
Virginia -- Police said a 49-year-old man was shot following a robbery in the Lorton area Sunday, according to nbc4.com.

The victim had just parked his SUV when he was approached by two masked men with guns, according to police. The victim reportedly gave the men his wallet and other items, and they got into a car and fled.

The robbery victim got into his car in order to follow the culprits. When he pulled up next to the suspect vehicle near an intersection, one of the culprits allegedly shot him in the upper body.
The man drove home and called police. He was later was hospitalized.

A loan, alone

Arizona -- A man attempted to sexually assault an employee working alone at a loans business in Mesa on October 10, but the woman fought back, according to kpho.com.

The man entered the business over the noon hour and asked about a loan, according to officers. The employee turned and walked away to gather documents needed to process it, police said.

The man followed her, grabbed her, and then forced her to the ground where he attempted to sexually assault her, according to investigators. The woman was able to fight off the attacker and called 911. In the meantime, the man fled.

Iron man

Sweet - hats off to this senior citizen!
Strange how these "tough guys" are not so tough after all when someone takes their "toys" away and doesn't want to play their game.

Story:
74-year-old Bruce Ferraro had no idea someone was following him as he walked out of a department store at the South Shore Mall in New York on Saturday and got into his car, according to News.yahoo.com.

The mugger demanded Ferraro hand over his wallet, calling the Bay Shore resident an "old man" and threatening to hit him with the tire iron, police said.

Instead, Ferraro grabbed the bar and the two fought, until the septuagenarian managed to snatch away the tire iron, police said.

Without the weapon, the 32-year-old suspect ran to his car and attempted to drive away, police said. But the vehicle stalled, and the man got out of the car and fled on foot. Ferraro later helped police identify the suspect.

"It's too late!"

Are there people so stupid that they actually believe this? Come to think about it, working with loss prevention, I did meet a number of folks who was perhaps a little short with deposits on their IQ-account... :-)

Story:
A young city woman who apparently thought she couldn't be arrested for stealing once she left the store was in fact charged with multiple misdemeanors Monday after she fought with the department store security guard in White Plains who caught her, police said.

The 19-year-old thief "went into a rage, repeatedly yelling, 'It's too late. I already left the store,'" according to a police report of the incident, which took place shortly before 4 p.m. at .

The teenager was seen stealing a $251 pair of jeans at the store by the guard who followed her outside, police said. The guard apprehended the suspect after a struggle during which the suspect pulled the guard's hair, bit her on the wrist and choked her, police said. The guard was not seriously injured.

Source

Still not convinced?

Still not convinced about the dangers of walking oblivious to your surroundings?

Story:
Tokyo police have in custody a suspected rapist who stalked women walking alone at night while using their cellphones or listening to music players, sources said.

The 28-year-old man, a South Korean student living in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, has admitted to police that he attacked several other women.

According to police, the man said he targeted women carrying plastic bags from convenience stores, thinking that they likely lived alone.

He also singled out women wearing headphones or talking or texting on their cellphones because they "tend not to notice that they are being followed," according to police.

Source

'Car-go'

... Or car-do ("the way of the car") :-)
Anyhow - a car is a great and versatile self-defense tool!

Story:
UK -- A shopper has told the Old Bailey how she used her car to scare off a man who attacked a 39-year-old housewife. The man is accused of committing the attack four days before allegedly knifing a teenager in Orpington.

On September 26, the woman noticed a man following the victim in a car park. The woman told the jury she had first seen the man loitering by a car park ticket machine near a shopping center.

When she reached her car on the floor below, she noticed the man was following the other shopper. She then heard screams. The court heard the victim had been knocked to the ground and the attacker was on top of her.

The woman then started sounding the horn of her car and shouting at the man. She told the jury the attacker then stood up and looked at her before slowly walking away. She said: "He stopped doing what he was doing and began to walk away. Initially it was quite slow, which I found quite strange considering what he had just done. He seemed quite cool and calm."

Jurors have already been told the suspect is a loner obsessed with Internet porn, including sites which celebrate rape and other forms of sexual violence. The prosecutor told the court the hospital worker spent hours downloading sick stories and pictures from the Internet.

Source

Street-smart kid

This is one smart kid! Sadly too many people don't know about strategic planning and the positive effects of preparing for what we call worst-case scenario.

Story:
New York -- An 11-year-old girl kept herself ready for the worst, constantly rehearsing in her mind how she could escape an attacker or kidnapper. Little did she know her hours of mental preparation would pay off - possibly saving the Brooklyn girl's life.

On Sunday, the 4-foot-5, 80-pound sixth-grader was hailed as a hero for fighting off an attacker twice her size - then having the wits about her to help capture the suspect.

The girl was coming back home when she realized a 19-year-old male was following her and decided to run home.

She recalled seeing him talking to her landlord before, she said, and wondered if she had misjudged him. But after making it up two and a half flights of stairs in her building, the man grabbed her just short of her apartment, she said.

"He grabbed my mouth and told me to not scream. I thought he was going to take me up to the roof and rape me or something like that," the girl said. "When [we] went downstairs, he loosened my wrist a little bit. And I took advantage of that and I broke out of where he was holding me and I ran outside."

That was Plan B - "to calm down, relax and try to get away." The girl also admitted, "Before a robbery happens, I always think of a plan to do. But sometimes when I'm nervous or scared, I forget my ideas. I only came up with half a plan when I got caught." She didn't immediately scream because she wasn't sure her brother would hear her.

When she got away, she screamed for help and buzzed all the apartment intercoms. Finally, two residents heard them, and the two men, with the help of other neighbors, grabbed the suspect, who had taken off his green shirt, possibly to evade capture. According to the media, the man said, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I won't do it again," as the "crowd pummeled him to keep him from escaping."

The girl's parting advice: "Try to figure out a plan before somebody tries to kidnap you. That way if somebody tries to touch you, you're ready to attack them back."

Source

Hazards at work, 43

Scotland -- A 56-year-old former sales executive was left with painful physical injuries after a 39-year-old man tried to rape her at a furniture store in broad daylight, July 2006. The woman had been left alone after a colleague she was paired with went off to speak to a client.

When she went back to her desk, she noticed the man sitting in one of the designer chairs. She asked what he wanted and followed as he pointed up a short flight of chairs towards French furnishings. The woman said the man jumped on her and smashed her to the floor. She screamed 'help' and one of the store's managers pulled the assailant away.

The woman had two broken bones in her hand and three displaced vertebrae in her neck after the attack. "I loved my job, but I resigned because I thought security in the store was totally inadequate," she said.

Source

More music

Australia -- Police investigating a sexual assault in Sydney have warned women wearing iPods to stay alert to what is going on around them.

The 22-year-old victim had been listening to music on her iPod and was unaware a man had followed her from Town Hall Station to her work about 9:15 a.m. on February 20.

Police say the man indecently assaulted her in a stairwell leading from the foyer to the first floor, before she managed to fight him off and run to a nearby shop for help.

She returned to work and immediately contacted police, who are treating the case as an attempted sexual assault.

Source

A coincidence?

Just a coincidence that this woman believed she was being followed, then notices she's got a flat tire, and then just out of nowhere the man shows up to "help her fix" the tyre ...?

Story:
New Jersey -- A 31-year-old Easton man was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and then tried to sexually assault her.

Authorities said the 26-year-old Hillsborough Township woman believed the man was following her Tuesday as she drove into Franklin Township and then noticed she had a flat tire.

The victim pulled into a motel and asked the manager to call 911 if he noticed anyone following her. She then drove away and pulled into a nearby service station.

Authorities said that's when the suspect pulled up and offered to fix the flat tire as the woman tried to make other arrangements to get home.

The suspect allegedly shoved her into his car and locked the doors before driving away with her. At some point he tried to sexually assault her. The woman escaped from the car at a red light and called 911, authorities said.

Source

Hazards at work, 28

I'm willing to bet that this perpetrator tailgated his intended victim. If you start to look at how employees use the doors when they enter back-rooms etc., it is easy to see how this is possible. It is scarily simple when someone is unaware!

A 20-year-old man was charged Saturday with attempted rape in an attack in the backroom of a K-Mart store.

Jackson County prosecutors accused Wilbert L. Hutchinson of following the victim, an employee, into the backroom then hitting and choking her.

According to court records, a security guard spotted Hutchinson as he followed the employee into the backroom and decided to check on the situation. When he arrived, he spotted Hutchinson choking the woman with both hands and trying to pull her pants down.

The security guard used a choke hold to get Hutchinson off the woman.

Source

A hood-head

Found this at hollabacknyc blogspot (a great blog by the way!).
Stories like this really makes me ashamed to be a member of the male population. There really are some pathetic and ignorant individuals out there ...

Story:
Tonight around 10 p.m., on a train back to her apartment in Williamsburg, a hooded man seated next to my best friend, a 22 year old woman, whispered in her ear "I am going to follow you when you get up."

He did follow her, just a step behind, up the subway steps of her stop and out onto the street. With great clarity in a life-threatening moment, she stepped inside a bodega, while he stood outside, waiting for her, and was fortunate to find a couple who were willing to walk her the few steps from the market to her apartment door.

When they exited the bodega, the hooded man was still there, waiting for his (potential) victim. Unfortunately, it took the help of two people--a woman to make her feel safe, and a man to protect her-- to allow this woman to arrive home unharmed.

The most important part of this is that my friend is safe, but I feel such anger and rage that men like this, who derive such a false, disgusting sense of power from physically and sexually threatening women in public (or private), can make strong, smart, powerful women like my friend doubt their decision to live alone if they choose, to live free and independent lives, or to merely live at all. I am completely disgusted, and concerned for my friend.

Submitted by E.M.

Friendliness

A common way to have you lower your guard: (too much) friendliness.

Story:
Norway – An 18-year-old female was on her way to a friend in Trondheim. She had spent a night on town, had been arguing with somebody and was subsequently walking on her own.

As she was walking, she met an unknown male. The man noticed that she was upset; he asks her for her name and gives her his jacket when she says she’s cold.

The man also asks her where she’s going – suggesting to the young woman she might want to follow him home to his place.

The teenager says no. When she tries to leave, the man holds her back. The female breaks free and escapes. Running away, she believes she has lost the man. But after a while she can hear footsteps behind her.

Finding that she’s being followed by the same person, she presses a random doorbell to a nearby residence. She shouts and begs to be let in.

The assailant grabs her and pushes her against a wall while he attempts to sexually assault her. He holds a hand over her mouth and tells her to be quiet. The intended victim, however is screaming during the whole ordeal.

A young woman living close by has heard the commotion. When she arrives at the scene, the attacker takes off.

Source

Being followed

Hmmm...
"She was very aware this person was following her."
And still she just parks outside her house and gets out without being certain about the follower?
And we wonder why people are being victims, and calling crimes for random?
Luckily, this woman escaped unharmed though.

Story:
The victim, who was described as physically slight and "bookish," was returning home from a wedding early Sunday and had just pulled off of the Blue Route when the she noticed a car following close behind.

This car is right up on her to the point she thought it was a police car, according to police. She makes a right, and he's right behind her. She was very aware this person was following her.

When the victim pulled into her driveway she thought the car had driven past her house. But what she didn't know was that the driver of the black Solara parked behind some tall bushes and turned off the car’s lights and ignition, police said.

As the victim gathered some items from the back of her car, the suspect, wearing a mask, walked up from behind. He told her not to scream and to go with him.

At one point, he hit her over the head with what the victim believed to be a silver revolver with a black handle, police said. The woman was forced into the trunk of the car, which the man then drove off. The victim was able to escape from the trunk and call for help.

Source

Stalking teen

Here's a "classic" example of someone stalking, and most certainly evaluating, an intended victim, and then striking as she approaches her resident.

It is scary that many people are not aware about 1. What to do if they are being followed, and 2. The fact that perpetrators usually strikes (make up their mind to strike) at a certain time.
This is usually as the intended victim is getting to his/her destination, or close to his/her destination.

Story:
Canada -- A 28-year-old Vancouver man was in court this week in connection with an alleged sexual assault on a teen in Burquitlam.

Last Friday, a 16-year-old girl boarded SkyTrain at Lougheed Town Centre to go shopping at MetroTown, according to Coquitlam RCMP.

During the ride, she noticed a man staring at her. He got off at the MetroTown station, followed her around the Burnaby mall and continued to follow her on her way home.

At around 4:45 p.m., Coquitlam RCMP said, the man sexually assaulted the girl just steps from her home.

The teen broke free and ran inside, and her father called police and watched the suspect as he was leaving. He kept the suspect in sight until policed arrived.

The suspect is "well known to police" for similar offences, police said.

Source

Almost abducted

Talk about not trusting your instincts...
If an unknown man - looking as scruffy as this fellow here - is following your family around an amusement park, maybe it's time to ask security to check it out? It could just be that there's something fishy going on?
Trust me on this - if you feel that you're being stalked or followed something IS going on! Paranoid? I don't think so, these predators are out there somewhere constantly looking for an opportunity and an easy prey.

Story:
Clay County authorities are investigating after a 6-year-old girl said a stranger tried to kidnap her Tuesday night at Worlds of Fun.

The girl told police she was waiting with a friend while her mother and stepfather rode a roller coaster. The girl said a man approached and told her that he wanted to show her something, and he led her away from her friend.

The girl said the man picked her up and said he was taking her to his car to watch fireworks, but the girl became scared and was able to escape and return to her friend.

The child's mother told police that the man had been following them around the park. She said she had never seen the man before Tuesday.

Source