Lock your doors: Perham burglary reports widespread

August 06, 2008

http://www.perhameb.com/articles/index.cfm?id=9670&section=news

That's three, count 'em, three hot burglaries in one night, apparently by one thug.

A 67-year-old Perham man who fell asleep on his couch woke up in the middle of the night, startled to discover that someone had been in his house.

and

After responding to the first burglary call, at a home in northwest Perham, Christopherson noticed tracks in the grass behind the house and followed them to the back door of a neighboring home.

Christopherson knocked on the door, and a man answered, saying that someone was in his house about a half hour ago. In the house at the time of the intrusion were the man, his wife, and their daughter.

and

While investigating this second burglary, a call came in about yet another home intrusion—this time in northeast Perham. As with the previous incident, the homeowner reported waking up and hearing someone in his house.

The homeowner said that he took out his 9 mm and drew down on the suspect who was in his home. The man then demanded that the suspect get out of his house, and the suspect ran away.

That's the best way to confront a home invader. Be prepared to defend yourself, if necessary.

Possibly two more, but the article doesn't state that anyone was home.

The other two burglaries reported both involved purses taken from inside the kitchen area of homes. In one case, the suspect entered the home through an unlocked patio door. In the other burglary, entrance was gained through an unlocked back door.

Authorities search for knife-wielding suspect

February 1, 2008

http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/news/2008/feb/01/authorities-search-knife-wielding-suspect/

A woman, home alone, got up around 4 a.m. to put her dogs in an outdoor kennel. She went back inside and went to the basement to start the woodstove. When she went to the main floor of the house, she found a man with a knife standing in her kitchen.

Lock your doors, folks.

The suspect then allegedly started waving a knife at the woman, saying, “Come here.” At that point, she grabbed the phone and called 911, Nelson said.

The suspect came at her again, waving the knife and demanding that she come to him. She told law enforcement she dropped the phone and ran upstairs . As the suspect tried to run after her, he fell down the basement stairs, went back to the main floor of the house and ran out. The woman saw him run between her garage and driveway.

“She said the door was locked all night until she opened it to let the dogs out,” Nelson said.

Don't comply with the bad guys. If you are in your home, you are already effectively in the secondary crime scene. There is nothing, except you, to stop the thug from doing whatever he wants.

This woman broke the thug's script, and he ran away. Good for her.