It’s A Family Affair.
Violent home invasions are not as common here in this quiet corner of SW Florida as they were in my former hometown of Phoenix, so when one happens here in Naples, I pay attention to why it occurred and what went down.
Deputies made three arrests following a home invasion robbery early this morning.
Deputies responded to the 2800 block of Van Buren Avenue in East Naples following reports of a break-in at 12:48 a.m.
The victim was at home in bed when he heard the sliding glass door in his bedroom shatter. The victim observed his ex-girlfriend enter the room with three or four men who were wearing dark clothing and red bandanas over their faces, and carrying firearms. The men held the victim at gunpoint and stole two gold necklaces from his nightstand while the ex-girlfriend went into the bathroom.
Hearing the commotion, the victim’s roommate came into the bedroom and was confronted by the armed men. The suspects then took flight on foot out of the residence and onto Van Buren Avenue, where they drove away in a white Toyota Camry.
Oh, and the kicker? The third person was arrested because he texted one of his accomplices while she was in custody, and the police just sat there, reading her texts.
Criminal masterminds, they ain’t.
This caper also illustrates something we don’t like to think about: If you’re like me, (and I know I am), you don’t go down to the, ahhh, entertainment district of your town on a Saturday night and stay there until 3 am. and you don’t partake in illicit and illegal mind-altering substances. People like me who do such things solve 95% of our violent crime problem just by not doing stupid things with stupid people at stupid times in stupid places.
That other 5%? That’s a problem. That’s a potentially violent attacker who you already know, which is a sobering fact. We like to think that all our friends are good people and we’ve managed to avoid the @$$holes out there that will get us into trouble. This may very well be the case in your life.
But then there’s family.
Family can be a problem. In my case, my problem was my wife’s cousin, a 6’2″, 250lb meth addict with a prior conviction for manslaughter. He has since shuffled off this mortal coil by his own hand so this problem has resolved itself, but he was a big part of the reason why I started down this journey of armed and safe self-protection. There was just no way I would have a chance in a fight with such a man without the mechanical advantage of a firearm, and that got me thinking that yes, being armed would be a pretty good idea.
So I armed myself, and learned to get better at it.
If we have to think about defending our lives, we like to think that it’ll be a mugger jumping out between parked cars who attacks us because somehow, the thought that a friend or loved one who wishes us harm seems unsettling. We don’t like to think that maybe Grandma really is the big, bad wolf after all. It’s therefore up to us to live safe lives wherever we are, inside the home or not.
Update: Another Instalanche? Wow! Sorry about the server issues, I’ll be contacting my hosting company about upgrades. In the meantime, make yourselves comfortable, check out some of my other posts, and maybe sign up for my email list too.
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An awful lot of people, mainly women, live with the person who will eventually cripple or kill them.