Self Defense

A Lesson in Escape

The theme of this month is escape. 

Here’s a situation that happened in California just last week. The quotes are from Mercury News - at  http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19042611. I know hindsight is always 20/20, but I think it’s helpful to study actions from real-life situations and use them to be more safe in our daily lives.

“An armed man robbed a woman of her purse Monday night when he couldn't force her into a waiting vehicle, Menlo Park police reported. The man approached the woman at about 9:50 p.m. as she talked on her cellphone while walking along the 2300 block of Sharon Road, police said. He allegedly pointed a gun at her chest and told her to get into a silver or gray car. When she refused, the man grabbed her phone and arm. A brief struggle ensued, with the man ultimately snatching the woman's purse and running to the vehicle, police said. The woman was not injured.” 

The article goes on to describe the man and provides information on how to contact police with more information. 

Let’s look at the different lessons we can learn from this encounter. 

  • Lesson #1 - Perhaps the entire incident might have been avoided if the woman was NOT talking on her cell phone and walking at the same time when it was dark out.  When on the phone, your attention is distracted from paying attention to your surroundings. At best, she should have saved the call for when she was in a safer place, sitting down, perhaps in a restaurant or store. If it was absolutely critical for her to be on the phone and walk at the same time, she could have kept her eyes up and scanned her surroundings. It’s best to save that call for when you’re in a safer place.
  • Lesson #2 - She refused to get into the car. Even though she was threatened with a gun. Bravo for her! NEVER get into a car to be taken to an unknown (secondary) location. Whatever he was planning to do to her, he wasn’t planning to do it on that street. He probably had a place picked out where she could not be seen or heard; a place where it would be almost impossible to escape.
  • Lesson #3 - She gave up her purse. According to the report, it’s unclear whether she was struggling to save her purse or to save herself, but in the end, she escaped unharmed. Remember, your stuff can be replaced and your credit cards can be cancelled, but YOU are irreplaceable. Make a plan to give up your stuff in order to escape.

All in all, this was successful self-defense. The woman escaped uninjured. Even though she lost her purse, there are a lot more worse things that she could have lost if she would have gotten into that car. It doesn’t say how she fought the guy off, but she did.

And you can do it, too.

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