Crazy huh! And not just while we were in it, but sleeping 3 feet away from the door he came in. The phone and laptop he stole were inches away from my face and my purse was only about a foot away.
The door he broke into is a sliding door that goes from our bedroom directly to the backyard, so he broke right into our bedroom. The door is about 3 feet away from my side of the bed. :/
The horror! You are right to be thankful that it didn’t turn out to be “far more interesting.” Perhaps installing a lock on the bedroom door is a good idea? I mean, someone breaking in while you’re asleep is just the most vulnerable situation you can find yourself in.
The bedroom door has a lock, but he came in through the sliding glass door that leads from our room to the back patio, jimmied the lock. I’ve found a suitable stick to ensure that the door now can’t slide even if the lock is undone.
Yeah, waking up to an intruder in your room is a *very* vulnerable position. Had he been armed, he would have had the drop on me no matter how fast my bedside draw is or how fast I could manage to achieve combat wakefulness from dead sleep. As it turned out in this situation, yelling was (very, very fortunately) enough, because it took me at least 2 or 3 seconds to get the magnum out of the drawer and unholstered. That’s way too long, and will have to be addressed as I reflect on the tactics of what happened. It’s been 15 years since I’ve had to draw a weapon in defensive posture, and I’ve clearly lost a bit of my edge.
Better locks, and some thought and practice in weapon storage and presentation is warranted, in case the locks fail again. (:
also, a rack of very bright decorative spotlights arranged in such a way that they blind anyone not in the bed, but allow me to see exactly what’s going on in the room, rigged to a slap switch on the bedpost might not be a bad investment, once I’m not renting anymore.
Glad to hear you’re both okay, Mr T. I’ve had the “intruder in the bedroom” scenario happen to me. The guy wound up behind my bedroom door with one of our kitchen knives in his hand. Lazy SOB couldn’t even be bothered to bring his own.
You may have to arrange a Q Branch-style spring-loaded hidden compartment in your bedside table where your weapon is stored. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a custom furniture maker in the States who couldn’t put one together.
Geez, armed with a knife and without an escape plan? How did you resolve that?
For years I’ve used a thick US Army holster that held the revolver firmly between the headboard & mattress in a position that made for very fast access, but since we moved I broke the habit and started storing it in the drawer next to the bed. I’m resolved to resume the former method starting tonight.
For that matter, I’m also reconsidering my ammo choices. Having a shotshell in the first chamber seemed to make sense as a gallant warning shot, but now that I’ve faced the waking up to danger just feet away thing, I think I’ll be stoking all 6 with the hollowpoint magnums. If you present a credible threat, you certainly deserve a credible response. Any less would be rude.
Well, it was around midnight. I heard some slight creaking of doors, but thought nothing of it as I tried to get to sleep. After a few minutes and one more creaking door sound, I soon heard my brother as he flicked on the light switch of my room and pushed the door open a little. “What’s all the noise?”, he said as he pushed the door open wider…and felt some resistance. I sat up in bed and saw a guy behind the door and thought; ‘This is a friend of my brother that I haven’t met. Great time for a practical joke.’
My brother looked through the gap in the door frame (where the hinges are) and saw some movement before pushing hard against the door and pinning this guy between the door and my wardrobe.The guy got one arm free and that’s when I saw my mother’s big “Psycho-style” kitchen knife waving through the air. My wardrobe door gave way (it was laminex, dammit!) and this gave the guy a little more room to push back against the bedroom door, causing my brother to lose his footing slightly and stumble back into the hallway. The guy sprang out of my broken wardrobe, ran out of my room and down the hallway towards the open back door through which he had come. I gave chase (I was about 15 AND a Bond fan. Don’t know what I was gonna do if I caught up with him.) and as I got out the back door and flicked on the spotlight, I saw the knife on the ground and this dude climbing over the fence and disappear into the laneway (alley) next to our house.
My brother later claimed that he could smell beer when he first stepped into my room.
These occurences are never pleasant, to put it mildly.
WOW.. JUST – WOW. Glad you are both ok.
Yikes! Indeed, glad it wasn’t worse. That is really cheeky for a burglar to enter your house while you are in it!
Crazy huh! And not just while we were in it, but sleeping 3 feet away from the door he came in. The phone and laptop he stole were inches away from my face and my purse was only about a foot away.
God DAMN! I am so glad you two are OK. Burglars who break in when people are at home, and actually go INTO THEIR BEDROOM, are nuts and desperate.
The door he broke into is a sliding door that goes from our bedroom directly to the backyard, so he broke right into our bedroom. The door is about 3 feet away from my side of the bed. :/
Holy crap. Glad to hear you two are okay.
The horror! You are right to be thankful that it didn’t turn out to be “far more interesting.” Perhaps installing a lock on the bedroom door is a good idea? I mean, someone breaking in while you’re asleep is just the most vulnerable situation you can find yourself in.
The bedroom door has a lock, but he came in through the sliding glass door that leads from our room to the back patio, jimmied the lock. I’ve found a suitable stick to ensure that the door now can’t slide even if the lock is undone.
Yeah, waking up to an intruder in your room is a *very* vulnerable position. Had he been armed, he would have had the drop on me no matter how fast my bedside draw is or how fast I could manage to achieve combat wakefulness from dead sleep. As it turned out in this situation, yelling was (very, very fortunately) enough, because it took me at least 2 or 3 seconds to get the magnum out of the drawer and unholstered. That’s way too long, and will have to be addressed as I reflect on the tactics of what happened. It’s been 15 years since I’ve had to draw a weapon in defensive posture, and I’ve clearly lost a bit of my edge.
Better locks, and some thought and practice in weapon storage and presentation is warranted, in case the locks fail again. (:
also, a rack of very bright decorative spotlights arranged in such a way that they blind anyone not in the bed, but allow me to see exactly what’s going on in the room, rigged to a slap switch on the bedpost might not be a bad investment, once I’m not renting anymore.
Glad to hear you’re both okay, Mr T. I’ve had the “intruder in the bedroom” scenario happen to me. The guy wound up behind my bedroom door with one of our kitchen knives in his hand. Lazy SOB couldn’t even be bothered to bring his own.
You may have to arrange a Q Branch-style spring-loaded hidden compartment in your bedside table where your weapon is stored. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a custom furniture maker in the States who couldn’t put one together.
Geez, armed with a knife and without an escape plan? How did you resolve that?
For years I’ve used a thick US Army holster that held the revolver firmly between the headboard & mattress in a position that made for very fast access, but since we moved I broke the habit and started storing it in the drawer next to the bed. I’m resolved to resume the former method starting tonight.
For that matter, I’m also reconsidering my ammo choices. Having a shotshell in the first chamber seemed to make sense as a gallant warning shot, but now that I’ve faced the waking up to danger just feet away thing, I think I’ll be stoking all 6 with the hollowpoint magnums. If you present a credible threat, you certainly deserve a credible response. Any less would be rude.
Well, it was around midnight. I heard some slight creaking of doors, but thought nothing of it as I tried to get to sleep. After a few minutes and one more creaking door sound, I soon heard my brother as he flicked on the light switch of my room and pushed the door open a little. “What’s all the noise?”, he said as he pushed the door open wider…and felt some resistance. I sat up in bed and saw a guy behind the door and thought; ‘This is a friend of my brother that I haven’t met. Great time for a practical joke.’
My brother looked through the gap in the door frame (where the hinges are) and saw some movement before pushing hard against the door and pinning this guy between the door and my wardrobe.The guy got one arm free and that’s when I saw my mother’s big “Psycho-style” kitchen knife waving through the air. My wardrobe door gave way (it was laminex, dammit!) and this gave the guy a little more room to push back against the bedroom door, causing my brother to lose his footing slightly and stumble back into the hallway. The guy sprang out of my broken wardrobe, ran out of my room and down the hallway towards the open back door through which he had come. I gave chase (I was about 15 AND a Bond fan. Don’t know what I was gonna do if I caught up with him.) and as I got out the back door and flicked on the spotlight, I saw the knife on the ground and this dude climbing over the fence and disappear into the laneway (alley) next to our house.
My brother later claimed that he could smell beer when he first stepped into my room.
These occurences are never pleasant, to put it mildly.
no sir, they are not – I’m pleased to see that you survived to live the swashbuckling life you have now! (:
A bit slow coming round. Sorry you had to go through this – at least you have the comfort he won’t be back. Very glad to hear you are both safe.