Burnsville Man Stabbed, Home Set On Fire

May 11, 2008

http://wcco.com/crime/burnsville.home.invasion.2.721211.html

A man in Burnsville, Minn. was stabbed, his home set on fire and his car stolen early Sunday morning, police said.

[snip]

Police said two intruders walked through an open garage door to steal a car and then likely entered the house for the keys. When the homeowner awoke and walked-in on the robbery, they attacked him.

"Why did you have to beat him so bad, why did you have to stab him?" said Wanda Trousmil.

Needless, pointless, random viciousness. This escalated from car theft to murder in the space of a few heartbeats.

These thugs walked into an open garage, and apparently, the connecting door was unlocked.

Two things:

First, the door to an attached garage is an exterior door. Treat it as such and put a deadbolt on it. Keep it locked.

Second, keep your garage door closed. All a thief has to do to get some privacy is close the door after walking in. Then, he can attack the door to your home in peace. I recommend something similar to this to keep your garage door closed. I can't speak to how well it works, because I don't have one. My garage isn't attached, however, so it's not as much of a safety issue.

Police: 'U' Student Sexually Assaulted In Dorm Room

May 11, 2008

http://wcco.com/crime/university.sex.assault.2.721427.html

Police said the victim was asleep in her unlocked dorm room in Middlebrook Hall when she woke up felling someone touching her. When the victim awoke she saw the suspect flee from the room.

Please, please, please, lock your doors. This woman was incredibly lucky that this thug wasn't interested in more than he was.

Boy charged with burglary, assault of 74-year-old woman

May 8, 2008

http://www.plamerican.com/news/general-news/update-boy-charged-burglary-assault-74-year-old-woman-5643

Avis Johnson, 74, said she was sleeping soundly when she was awoken by a man digging through her dresser drawers. Johnson said when she awoke, she made eye contact with the man, who was wearing a bandana over his face and had “a crazed look in his eye.”

As if simply breaking into the poor woman's house wasn't enough, the little thug had to prove how vicious he was:

“I sat up on the side of the bed and thought I was having a nightmare,” Johnson said. “I realized I wasn’t having a nightmare after he hit me three times and I felt blood running down my face. I looked at him and said, ’Get the hell out of here.’”

The suspect then ran out of her bedroom, and Johnson said she barricaded herself with a phone in one hand and her “trusty lantern” in the other.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” she said.

These feral thugs came in through a locked door, and were later caught at a loud party.

St. Paul Home Invader Quickly Caught

May 8, 208

Edwin Deandre Nash

From the Pioneer Press:

Police received a 911 call at about 10:20 p.m. Thursday reporting that a man had just entered a home in the 1100 block of Edgerton Street. The man, wearing dark clothes and a black ski mask, had knocked on the victim's front door, pointed a gun at her head, forced her back into her home and demanded money, police said.

It's not clear what caused him to leave, but the woman wasn't hurt and police quickly caught him (Edwin Deandre Nash). Good job guys.

Home Invader in Bloomington, Startled by Children's Presence, Flees

May-07-2008

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6493133&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

It could have been worse. Thankfully, this home invader decided to leave when the woman's children showed up. It's not clear what his motive was, nor do we have any idea what he would have done if he thought he was alone with the woman. Pretty scary for her.

Bloomington police say the man entered the home at West 68th Street and Pine Hill Road around 5:00 p.m. He grabbed the woman as she was standing at the kitchen sink. The woman’s children came into the kitchen, startling the intruder, who threw the woman to the ground and ran out of the house.

Since she was standing by the sink, apparently not on alert, and the invader is not reported as an acquaintance [who might have had a key], it seems likely that a door was unlocked.

Princewally and I are pretty tired of repeating this: Keep your doors locked!

We're really not trying to fear-monger; but is seems like such a simple step that many, many people don't take to provide a first layer of physical security when in the house.

Yes, it's a bit inconvenient. But safer and inconvenient seems like a reasonable tradeoff to me.

And, yes, there's the risk of locking yourself out. You can avoid this in one of a couple ways among others:

- keep a key on a carabiner latched to your belt or clothing at all times awake [and dressed :)]
- install a real estate grade combo lock box in an inconspicuous location outside with a spare key in it

Woman jumps from window to escape attacker near the U

May 5, 2008

http://www.startribune.com/local/18678554.html

A 20-year-old woman broke her ankle after jumping from a second-story window to flee a man who broke into her apartment off the University of Minnesota campus and sexually assaulted her early Sunday, Minneapolis police said Monday.

This woman was sexually assaulted, escaped, jumped from a second story window, and made it to a friend's house to get help. That's impressive.

One of the major problems with having a rapist break into your home is that, the minute your door closes, your house or apartment is effectively a secondary crime scene. Once that happens, the rest of the script is generally left up to the thug. Don't, under any circumstances, allow yourselves to be taken to a secondary crime scene.

Homeowner said 'do not move.' Burglar was in no spot to argue.

05/01/2008

http://www.twincities.com/ci_9126447

he security alarm sounded in Jon Sokol's St. Paul home early Wednesday while he and his wife were asleep.

He looked up the stairs from their lower-level bedroom and saw a man, dressed all in black, walk by. Sokol, 49, grabbed a revolver — he started keeping a gun in the home after it was burglarized 20 years ago — and went upstairs, Sokol said Thursday.

I'm glad he was prepared.

The burglar, who Sokol thinks was hiding behind a door, hit him in the forehead when he got upstairs.

My recommendation: Bolt the door call the police. Don't go looking for the invader. This could have gone much worse. What, exactly, did this thug have in mind while he was waiting for the homeowner? I don't want to think about what he would have done next.

"So many people are so against guns, and I'm not saying it's the greatest thing in the world and you can conquer anything, but in this particular case I believe it saved Joan and my life," Sokol said. "I don't know what his true meaning was in this house. You read or see on the news about people getting shot and killed in their homes.

I agree. It probably did save their lives. The thug was a meth-addict who tried to ambush Sokol.

The homeowner and his wife weren't seriously hurt, and the thug is in jail. That's a good outcome.