Sunday, December 09, 2007

A Christmas Hero

I am married to my very own hero. Of course I thought that even before my husband's eventful Sunday, but I wanted to share with you what happened to him for two reasons. The first (of course) is to brag on how great he is.

He went to a local store, planning to find a new video game to play. He pulled into the parking lot at the same time as an Asian couple in an SUV. The couple hopped out and went into the store while he finished listening to the current song on the radio and then proceeded to disconnect his ipod from the car plug so that he could carry it inside with him. When he was ready to leave the car, he noticed a guy standing next to the Asian couple's SUV, pretending to open the door. He looked around and saw another guy standing across the aisle from SUV guy and yet another standing a couple of cars down the parking lot.

Because my husband's car has very dark tinted windows, none of the men had noticed him sitting there, but he knew they were up to no good. The SUV guy looked over at the guy across the aisle and nodded. My husband looked up the aisle and saw a woman walking down the lot towards her car. My husband knew right then that they were planning on jumping the lady for her purse or whatever they could get and even though he figured he'd get his butt kicked since it was one against three, he had to do something. He jumped out of his car, surprising SUV guy and walked toward him, pretending to ask for directions.

SUV guy tried to get rid of him, but my husband stepped closer pretending to try to show him a piece of paper with directions. At that instant, my husband heard the lady scream and he grabbed SUV guy, face-planted him to the ground and twisted his arm behind his back so that he couldn't move. (My husband has quite a bit of martial arts training). He looked up in time to see the third guy, who he'd thought was a bad guy, pull a gun out, identify himself as a cop and order the guy who'd started to attack the woman onto the ground.

The cop restrained the attacker and headed over to my husband, not really sure what to make of the situation. My husband convinced him that he was a good guy and the cop gave him some zip ties to secure SUV guy. My husband secured SUV guy, the woman was just fine and now two bad guys are going to jail.

The cops were thankful for my husband, but also cautioned him against getting involved in that sort of thing. Hey, it's a double-edged sword, right? But I'm glad he prevented that woman from being terrorized at Christmas.

Which leads me to the second reason for this post and the most important one - This attack happened in broad daylight (3:00 pm) in a crowded parking lot in a nicer area of town. Ladies, please, please do not go anywhere at this time of the year by yourself. Unsavory people are now desperate and the combination of desperation and a single lady is not a good one for the lady. There is safety in numbers and if you can get your husband or a guy friend to go with you, even better. Also, pay close attention to what is happening around you. Make sure you're not followed and watch closely anyone who seems to take more than just a passing interest in your actions.

Stay safe and make this a great holiday season.

Deadly (but married to deadlier) DeLeon

25 comments:

Gemma Halliday said...

Wow, your husband is awesome! Does he hire out as a bodyguard? I have a lot of shopping left to do this season.

I know it sounds odd, but I've also heard that if a woman has children with her, she's less likely to be attacked. I guess bad guys don't want to deal with screaming kids any more than the rest of us.

~Gemma

Anonymous said...

I got an e-mail that said only two types of people are willing to lay down their lives for you: Jesus Christ and an American GI. We can add Rene's name to the list! "Greater love hath no man but that he be willing to lay down his life for another."

Dangerous? Maybe, but consider this. Would you rather be the one who got involved and risked your life, or the coward who hid and did nothing? Remember, the Bible says that our days are numbered and that only God knows the day of our deaths. It's not how long you live, but how well.

Jenyfer Matthews said...

What a hero! I think I would have just laid into my horn and started yelling!!!

Lucy said...

Wow! What a great story. Thanks for sharing.

Jana DeLeon said...

LOL Gemma - He doesn't hire out as a bodyguard, but I did tell him he out to do security at Christmas time. :)

That's an interesting piece of information about the kids.

Jana DeLeon said...

anon - I totally agree. In fact, my husband said one of the cops said to another "what is the deal with citizens jumping into things these days." I think the "deal" is that regular people are tired of being terrorized - whether by foreign countries or their own countrymen.

Jana DeLeon said...

Jenyfer - Yeah, I don't know that I would have tackled anyone either, but I would have fought like heck if I had been the woman attacked.

Jana DeLeon said...

Hi Lucy - Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Jana DeLeon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Christie Craig said...

Jana,

Wow. He is a hero. Give him a good thatta' boy from me.

And you are so right. This time of year can be dangerous. And while we here at Killer Fiction love drama in our books, we prefer it happens only in the pages of our books.

Stay safe everyone.

Crime Scene Christie

Tori Lennox said...

Wow! Rene rocks!!!

Jana DeLeon said...

Hi Christie - It is sometimes easy to forget that we're not necessarily safe in a crowded place in broad daylight, huh? But it's also very, very sad that things are that way.

Estella said...

Your husband is great, Jana.

Jana DeLeon said...

Thanks, Estella!

Dru said...

I'm glad your husband was there. Thanks for letting us know about your hero.

Jana DeLeon said...

Thanks, dru!

Kathy Bacus said...

Hero is right, Jana! What a great story. I'm so glad no one was hurt.

I heard on the news today that a volunteer security guard at the church in Colorado where a shooter opened fire stepped up and responded when the killer entered the church. The guard was armed and shot and killed the individual before he could take out any more innocent people. BTY, the hero in this case was a woman.

No telling how many lives she saved.

~Kathy~

Anonymous said...

Oh wow. Am I the only one that thought "the guy with the gun could have been a bad guy?" I'm so glad you husband is safe too and that was indeed a very brave thing to do. Lucky lady had two good guys looking out for her.

Wendy said...

Your husband's awesome! And I'm SO paranoid with any stranger around me so I really try not to be alone in a parking lot plus I have a pepper spray on my key chain, and a stunner in my car and I'm sure as hell not afraid to use it! lol.

Jana DeLeon said...

Hi Kathy - great story and scary. What the heck is the world coming to?

Jana DeLeon said...

catslady - she was lucky. I think that's probably what hacked my husband off the most is that the woman could have been me or his mother, my mom, his sister, etc. I can see his point.

Jana DeLeon said...

Good for you, Wendy! Paranoid is not necessarily a bad thing in certain situations. I tend to be sorta paranoid myself. And it's great that you have the self-defense tools!

Anonymous said...

yeah to your husband.
Anyway, don't you guys feel, that as writers, we are always observing our surroundings?
I'm amazed at the number of women I meet who tell me they don't notice something that I just did.
We were having work done on a pipeline by work and there were a lot of men around. (And yes I would notice that.) But they would all stop and stare when I went by. I'm not young enough for them to really have been bowled over by me, but I commented to another woman and she said she never looked up.
You always have to know your surroundings.
cmr

Jana DeLeon said...

Hi Chris - yes, I do think writers tend to notice things more than other types. If we didn't have an interest in human nature, I hardly think we'd want to make up stories, right? :)

Anonymous said...

Jana,

Kudos to your husband. You are so right - he is a Christmas hero!

Faye