T.J.
SuperDork
4/11/11 9:07 a.m.
Glad she made it through her ordeal in one piece. I cannot imagine how scared she must've been and how hard it will be to get over something like that. I wish her a speedy recovery - I'm sure the physical wounds will heal much faster than the emotional ones. Hopefully she does not lose faith in humanity, but based on her actions I do not think she will.
My prayers are with you both.
In reply to donalson: Thanks a lot donalson, I really appreciate your offer.
I appreciate trying to make people aware.
But people should also be aware, just as often in the statistics, the attacker is someone they know, not an unknown hopped-up tweaker.
The overall lesson should be situational awareness, not just preparing for one or the other.
Holy crap! Glad she's physically OK. I know she'll be mentally scarred for a little while. My thoughts and prayers are with you guys. She sounds tough, I have no fear she'll make a complete recovery. Please update us as to the status of the case. I hope they catch this bastard...
More bruising is appearing on her face today but she can talk much better and we talked for quite a while. I hadn't pressured her about details yet, I was waiting for her to choose to talk about it. I know she won't be able to help but review this many times, now, and for the rest of her life. I asked her to please tell me, her friends and relatives and anyone else anything she can that might help us know how to relate to a situation like this. With so many people feeling hopeless about the job situation combined with rampant drug and alcahol addiction that is often turned to more than ever in a time like this for escape from reality, I fully expect this to continue to increase. We all need to be more careful.
Take note of this - her car unlocks when you put it in park (a loaded 09 Accord). She opened her door, reached to get her purse, and hadn't even taken the key out of the ingition. He walked up and immediately started beating her down and made her crawl over the console forcing her head down into the seat. In this situation a pistol might have gotten her killed. I'm going to see if there's a way to disconnect the auto-unlock function. If anyone knows, please let me know. Auto-lock funtion, good. Auto-unlock function, bad.
By the way, I told her of how the grm forum members have responded to this and she too appreciates it. I was right about her indomitable spirit. The more we talked this morning, the stronger her voice got. She's a petite 61 yr. old woman but that fire still burns bright. Man, she can be a handful sometimes, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I AM proud of her.
Maybe not a pistol, but a stun gun/tazer or possibly pepper spray? At 61 years old, pepper spray may not be the best option, especially in a situation like this in a very contained and fast moving vessel. I'd look into a tazer or stun gun. Makes quite a bit of noise and packs a huge punch. Plus the Non-Lethal aspect really helps the ladies.
Just my $0.02
Condolences on this incident. It is never easy to go through something like that. It can shake you to your core to go from feeling safe and secure in your community to feeling vulnerable and targeted.
I hope that it does not shock too deeply and prevent her (and you) from enjoying life in your community.
Graefin10 wrote:
Take note of this - her car unlocks when you put it in park (a loaded 09 Accord). She opened her door, reached to get her purse, and hadn't even taken the key out of the ingition. He walked up and immediately started beating her down and made her crawl over the console forcing her head down into the seat. In this situation a pistol might have gotten her killed. I'm going to see if there's a way to disconnect the auto-unlock function. If anyone knows, please let me know. Auto-lock funtion, good. Auto-unlock function, bad.
according to http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2468317
if you go to your owners manual its pages 80-85 that tell you all way ways you can program your locks
Apparently by doing a series of key turns and door locks you can set it differently.
I would at least be getting her a can of pepper spray to keep in her purse. (made sure my mom and my girlfriend have them and carry them)
It may not have helped on this occasion, but it still increases her odds.
Best wishes to you both. I'm sure its nearly been as bad for you as it was for her and its not nearly over. Florida has a great CCW law. Many people in sure would suggest it as I carry. Before either of you carry, if you don't already, make sure you / she are ready and willing to use it. Otherwise it becomes a danger to you.
Once again, best wishes to you both. You can never be too careful.
jrw1621
SuperDork
4/11/11 11:45 a.m.
Graefin10 wrote:
I asked her to please tell me, her friends and relatives and anyone else anything she can that might help us know how to relate to a situation like this.
Seek out a rape conselor. I know that is not what really happened but at the very core, rape is not a crime of passion but rather a crime of power/domaneering. Certainly she has been through that portion of the experience.
you must feel absolutely horrible with this--I couldnt stand to hear my wife cry, much less see her beat to a pulp. you must be devastated as well-
and at her age to boot. we will install a pull ring inder the right seat for the drivers side bottom cushion shot gun shell. messy, but great stopping power.
Last year I got bored sometimes when I couldn't sleep and watched the 3 Charles Bronson movies where he turns vigilante and kills all the perps. guilty of harming the women in his life. Believe me, I found it hard to get those movies out of my mind right after this happened. but this is reality and I'm no Charles Bronson.
She has a pistol and a stun gun but doesn't carry them. That may change now. She also has pepper spray that she does carry but didn't even have time to use it. He was forcing her head into the seat bottom and threatening her not to look at him. He had large hands and was very strong and apparently quite a large man.
Before I decided to arm myself I thought it over very carefully and decided that I would use it if necessary. I'm quite sure she would too. As a matter of fact, she'd probably beat me to the draw. When the number of home invasions began to increase I knew that weapons in the house was a necessity. I can imagine a planet where brotherhood and equality exist, but it's surely not this one. If aliens have visited earth, it's clear to me why they haven't chosen to show themselves. Mankind can't even make a movie about them without it including war, domination, and destruction. Sorry, I tend to ramble.
This occurence has caused me to think of many things I need to do and knowledge I need to gain.
In reply to thummmper: I like that idea but I'd never drive it again. "Oh, I don't know officer. . . we were just driving along , ah talking, and ah, I heard this loud noise and my husband just exploded".
Maybe if the ring pulled off a 2" thick kevlar blanket before the trigger was activated.
Lesley
SuperDork
4/11/11 2:53 p.m.
jrw1621 wrote:
Graefin10 wrote:
I asked her to please tell me, her friends and relatives and anyone else anything she can that might help us know how to relate to a situation like this.
Seek out a rape conselor. I know that is not what really happened but at the very core, rape is not a crime of passion but rather a crime of power/domaneering. Certainly she has been through that portion of the experience.
I second this. Almost certainly she'll suffer some PTSD for a while.