NIGHTTIME SURPRISE

Robert Arabian

Covered 6

This is a true story. Last night, an intruder came into the upscale home. Everyone in the house was asleep. On the couch was a small child, spending the night after the party went longer than anticipated. Normally, the alarm is on and the doors are locked. But tonight, that was not the case.

The normally secured doors were closed, but one was unlocked. The alarm was not turned on. Everyone was just too tired to take the vigilant steps normally taken to ensure security because of the “get together” party the homeowners hosted. The house was quiet, as everyone settled in for the night.

Then it happened. The meth using mentally unstable boogey man was lurking through the neighborhood. An opportunist. A predator.  He picked the house, not by choosing it, but by a drugged lotto-happenstance. He got into the gated community when a car drove in, and left the slowly closing electric gate that “secures” the complex and gives the weary owners their sense of security.  Using the cover of night, our drug crazed loser started picking his target. The side gate was open because the Dee Jay left it that way when he hurriedly packed his truck.

He continued into the back yard, located the first door, and noticed it was locked. He moved further into the yard and tried the next door. To his surprise, it was unlocked and he entered the house. He sees the child on the couch asleep. What goes through his mind at this point is unknown, but for some reason, he intrudes further into the house, bypassing the vulnerable child.Thank God!

With no dog to alert the home owner, and the cat sleeping soundly, the intruder continued up the staircase, passed the other rooms where the other children were soundly asleep. He penetrated into the master bedroom, seeing two sleeping bodies.  He stared at them, pondering his next move.

Luckily, something stirred the homeowner. The homeowner who though he was safe, behind a gated community; a security door and an alarm system. The homeowner who thought, “it won’t happen to me.”  But that primal drive awakened him, and through the fog of grogginess, he saw a figure in the room that doesn’t belong. As reality sets in, and questions mentally get asked and answered, the homeowner reacted due to his prior training and he grabbed his pistol by the bed. Go time!

The muzzle of a semi-auto and some choice words luckily forced the fried brain freak to comply with the order to lay on the ground or be shot. A pivotal decision, potentially his last.

The wife, now awakened to her mates frantic voice, dials 9 1 1. After the barrage of questions, and answers that can’t get out of her mouth in a cogent manner, the police eventually arrive in 3-5 minutes. They were delayed by the gate guarding the “Gated Community” since they didn’t have the code. If you were wondering,and we know you are, she told us “that was the longest 5 minutes of my life.” The perp is taken away to the local joint, and the homeowner is left trying to figure out what went wrong. Facebook postings followed.

There are many lessons here. First, you have to protect yourself, cause nobody is going to protect you. Having appropriate weapons, ammunition and desire are important parts of this equation. However, all the Roscoes in the world won’t help you if you don’t train and train some more. If you don’t rehearse the potential scenarios in a non-stressful situation, or even a semi-stressful situation, maybe you won’t be as lucky as this homeowner was. If you aren’t willing to commit, then you are deciding to allow someone else to control your destiny. In short, you have become the sheep in the world of wolves. I commend this homeowner, who has decided to protect himself and his family.

The “homeowner” in this story is a longtime friend of mine and former cop, now attorney. He admits that even though he has had training, it had been a while since his family discussed this type of scenario.

At Covered 6, we can help prepare you to take on the wolf. Be a sheepdog, stay vigilant and watch your flock!  Peace.  6/12