'I-knee-do' #1

Great fighting spirit in this "older" guy! If it is totally wise to fight back at that point is another matter all together. I suppose the "spirit" just came over him.

Story:
Pennsylvania -- In Sunbury, an older church leader fought off a would-be robber as he left the church Wednesday night.

The man explained he had finished locking the doors and was walking down a ramp when he saw a man wearing a black mask.

When he was asked for money, the church leader said he didn't have any. However, the man said he was going to check the church leader's pockets anyway.

The church leader, with what he described "just a moment to think", kneed the main in the groin, and punched him to the face. He then ran to his car parked nearby and locked himself inside.

A police spokesman said the criminal took off booking down an alley after the confrontation with the intended victim.

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.

Street-wise

Here's a great example of being street-wise, using your awareness and being prepared.
It also clearly shows how a perpetrator often times will ask an intended victim questions before striking.
I must add I'm full of praise for this young woman!

Gilbert, Arizona -- As a 21-year-old female walked home around 12:40 a.m. on Thursday, she became suspicious when she saw a truck parked with its door open and no one visible inside, azcentral.com reports.

The woman said she removed her knife from her pocket "just in case." It was then that a 22-year-old suspect ran at the young woman and first asked her for a cigarette and then to
borrow her cellphone.

The woman said she didn't answer him either time and kept walking, but had flipped open the
knife's blade. The intended victim said she carries her Winchester pocketknife everywhere, "because you just never know."

The suspect then grabbed her purse and started pulling it and her with it, the woman said. "He was just tugging me and the purse, and I just started slashing at him," she said. She's not sure how many times she slashed the attacker, but said she wasn't going to stop until he quit.

"I must have got him good because he finally left," the woman said, adding that she knew she was fighting for her life and her unborn child. The young woman said she is three months pregnant.

She said the men "messed with the wrong girl" and credited growing up in Chicago for being tough.

Nutcracker nut-case

Canada -- A Windsor man was out walking when a man approached him and asked for a cigarette. The victim declined to give him a cigarette and the suspect then asked him for money.
When the victim declined to hand over money the suspect reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny metal object that was later determined to be a nutcracker.

The victim fled on foot with the nutcracker-wielding would-be bandit in pursuit. The man managed to pull out his cell phone while running from the man and called 911 with details of what had happened. Officers responded and saw the suspect still chasing the victim. He was arrested without incident.

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Stacking

Pay close attention kids...
Here you have a slick perpetrator who is using "stacking" - that is (in this context) using more than one means to distract and confuse his intended victim.
A. Asking for direction.
B. Talking on the phone (probably just pretending).
C. Extending the hand.

Story:
Texas -- Fort Worth police were searching for a man who punched a woman in a parking lot and drove away with her purse.
Police said the incident occurred about 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The 35-year-old woman was loading her vehicle when a man drove up and asked for directions, police said. The man had a cell phone against his ear the entire time he was talking with the woman.

When she sensed something was amiss and began to move away from the man, he stuck his hand out to her as if to shake hands and then hit her in the mouth. She fell and the man grabbed her purse before fleeing in his car.

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Strong "belief"

"Believing she was about to become the victim of a crime, (...)"?
I would dare suggest she was spot on, and wisely enough acted accordingly.

Story:
A man and woman, both 29, dragged a motorist from her driver's seat in a carjacking attempt at a Hermosa Beach gas station, but fled when the victim struggled free and screamed, police said Friday.

Police officers quickly arrested the pair, who are also suspected of another attempted carjacking Thursday, when they pretended to be panhandlers, Hermosa Beach police said.

The first victim called police about 5:35 a.m. Thursday after racing away from a gas station. The driver told police she had just finished fueling her car and was leaving for work when the female suspect approached her and asked for change. At the same time, her accomplice and another man stood at the front and back of her car.

"Believing she was about to become the victim of a crime, she locked her doors, screamed and drove away from the location," a police said. The suspects ran and the woman called police.

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A typical robbery

An arch typical robbery really ...
On your way home after a night out; a secluded area (a short-cut); two perpetrators; a weapon; being asked a question by the goons; trying to escape/fight back.
And: Do you think you would be able to see the knife? The answer would most probably be no, I'm afraid.

Story:
A 22-year-old man was walking home from a pub in Lea just after midnight on Tuesday when he was approached by two men.

As he cut through a ginnel (walkway) between two streets, the men asked him for "a light" and then for his mobile phone. When the man told them he did not have either, one of the men started feeling his pockets.

The victim pushed him away but was then punched in the stomach by one of the men. The two men ran away and the victim decided to chase them - but then realised his stomach was wet.

When he looked down there was a cut to his stomach which hospital staff said could have been made by a craft knife, police said.

The man was taken to the a hospital but his wounds were not considered serious and he was released at 3 a.m.

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Fought him off

Australia -- A serial rapist may be at work in Brisbane. In the second sex attack within a week, an 18-year-old woman managed to fight off a man who entered her home yesterday afternoon in East Brisbane, and tried to rape her.

There were striking similarities between the incident and the rape of a woman on Tuesday of last week – in the method of attack and description of the offender.

In yesterday's incident, the woman answered a knock at her front door at 2:40 p.m. to a man asking about her house being up for sale.

The woman gave the man a card but would not allow him in and told him to leave. A few minutes after she had closed the door and returned to her lounge room, the man, believed to be in his late 20s to early 30s, appeared and dragged her into a rear bedroom.

The pair struggled throughout the house before she fought him off, kicking him in the groin. When she pulled a carving knife out of a kitchen drawer, he ran out the front.

The man was described as about 177cm tall, with a slim but athletic build.

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Hazards at work, 27

The streets of Los Angeles are becoming more dangerous for city traffic officers.

Appalled by a growing increase in assaults against the 550 civilian employees who write parking tickets and direct traffic, city officials Monday endorsed state legislation to increase penalties for attackers.

Last week in Hollywood, for example, someone took a baseball bat to the windshield of a traffic enforcement officer's vehicle. Three other cars had their tires slashed. And one officer was pulled from his car and beaten with fists after an alleged assailant did not like the answer to a question he asked.

"This is just an indication of the intense violence our guys experience out there," said Jimmy Price, the city's chief of parking enforcement. "These kinds of situations traumatize our employees and make them reluctant to engage in their activities when they are in the field."

The number of assaults on traffic officers has increased steadily over the last five years, Price told a City Council panel.

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No hugs please

Somewhat "harmless", yet very annoying!
Here are some advice against people (mostly male family members) who insist on giving all women they meet a "friendly" bear hug.
Both methods here may indeed prove effective, one "a little" less subtle than the other ...

Story:
Dear Abby: May I offer a method that's fast, effective and creates very little attention: When Uncle Harry approaches with open arms, the woman should hold her upper arms close to her chest and slide her forearms up and in front of her breasts. Clenching her fists will provide strength to her upper arms. This position will protect her breasts from contact with Uncle Harry and increase the circumference for her upper body, making a bear hug more difficult.

While holding this posture, she should make direct eye contact and firmly say, "No!" Nothing more. A wishy-washy response will not be effective. He may object, cajole or question, but regardless of what he says, or how many times he persists, her only response should be to repeat, "I said, 'No!"' or, "I do not want you to hug me." -- An Old Man Who Knows What Works

Dear Abby: I know a lady who had the same problem, and after three warnings, she finally became fed up. She was a black belt in karate. Needless to say, it worked like a charm. And after another woman did the same thing to the man, he started being an even better "Christian." -- On the Ladies' Side in N.Y.

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Just ask!

I guess if you ask nicely, anything is possible :-)

Story:
New York -- A 23-year-old Yonkers woman escaped from a would-be rapist when she persuaded him to pick up some books she had dropped, then ran away as he retrieved them, police said.

The assailant told her that he would shoot her if she screamed. The woman felt a gun he was carrying against her back.

She asked the attacker to pick up the books. He bent over to collect them and the woman ran up the steps into the apartment building.

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It was odd

Here's a great example of not trusting your instincts. Luckily the woman managed to get out of the dangerous situation unharmed.
Think about it: Why would someone park close to your car in a garage, when there are lots of vacant slots?
And asking for light, direction, a cigarette etc. is very often a part of what we call an "interview". The fact that the perpetrator "seemed pleasant", should also be considered a danger sign - it's a set up, for crying out loud!

Story:
A Maitland office worker's quick thinking helped her foil a kidnapping Wednesday morning even though she had been choked unconscious and dragged into her abductor's car.

"She's darn lucky to be alive," a Maitland police officer said.

The woman had parked in a multistory garage and was reading a newspaper about 7:20 a.m. when a young man asked her to light his cigarette, police said.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, told detectives she thought it was odd that the man had parked close to her car with so many other vacant spaces, but that he seemed pleasant.

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More 'cane-do'

The attempted mugging of a senior citizen shortly before noon on Monday failed after the intended victim fenced off his shotgun-wielding attacker with a cane, according to a Greensboro Police Department press release.

83-year-old Robert Flynn was walking when a dark-colored car approached. A man inside the car asked for a cigarette, at which point Flynn said he did not have one. The attacker then exited the vehicle, pointed a shotgun at Flynn and demanded his money.

Flynn struck the shotgun with his cane and ran around the vehicle. The attacker again approached Flynn with the shotgun, prompting the man to batter him about the head and shoulders with his cane. The suspect retreated to his car empty handed and fled.

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The interview

Here's a great article showing what we call the "interview". An interview is part of the strategy most predators use to test a potential victim.

Story:
He was sitting on a motorcycle next to her mother's vacant parked car and he gave her the creeps. Then the ''interview'' began: "How old are you... what movie did you see... I have a son your age... who are you looking for?"

It's called an interview because how a potential victim answers the questions, through both words and body language, determines whether or not they'll be the''chosen on''.

Like I said, my daughter Danielle wasn't abducted, she failed the "interview" criminals use to choose their victims. Carly Brucia, the 11 year old in Florida who was recently abducted passed her interview.

Danielle knew what to do; keep at least two arms length from the stranger create a strong presence, assess the situation and surroundings, acknowledge that there could be danger, go to the safety of a crowd.

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Common distraction

Pretending to ask for directions is a common distraction technique used by thieves, robbers, thugs etc.

Story:
Malaysia -- He was only being helpful to strangers seeking directions but Lee Eng Fei's good intention ended with him becoming a snatch theft victim.

In the incident early this month, Lee was approached by two men on a motorcycle on the pretext of asking for directions.

They attacked him with a parang, first slashing him on the head and back. After he surrendered his money, the thieves mercilessly slashed him again, this time on the hands.

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The mind of a perpetrator

On a Wednesday afternoon last summer Naomi Bryant was walking along the street near her home hand in hand with a man she had bumped into in the local pub. A trusting, 40-year-old woman, she had invited the man back to her home but felt embarrassed when she caught sight of friends and dropped his hand. It was a deadly error.

When he was arrested two days after the attack in London, Rice told police he had picked on Ms Bryant because he judged she was "vulnerable".

Thirteen days after being released from prison, Rice was staying in a hostel for recently released prisoners in north London. After spending a night in a pub he stopped a 33-year-old woman in the street and asked her for directions. He attacked her, pushed her into a front garden and over the following hour he sexually assaulted her and threatened her with a knife.

Rice was easily found and told police: "People say rape is about sex, but this is only part of it. Rape is about power and I had power over her - sex is just an extension of it."

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