Burglary

[crossroads]

Imaging, you and the family are asleep. Then a burgler breaks into your house unaware your upstairs. Lets say he is armed with a kitchen knife. You are the only one to wake up. How would you handle the situation?

[Doc Spock]

Send the Mrs to check it out.

[IggyB]

call the police and shout down the stairs to say they are on their way and my neighbours are all coming round too... hopefully they'd leg it, while i gathered the family in one room and locked them in there to await the cops.

[warpig3]

Pull the duvet over my head, try and flatten myself as much as possible under it, try not to cry and hope he goes away.

Seriously, think I would not confront him, just call the police and then hide.

[unruliejulie]

I had a situation once where i thought a burgular had broken into my house. It was 3am and i heard breaking glass and someone downstairs. I used to have a big kitchen knife under my matress so i pulled it out and very bravely but very cautiously went downstairs. My son was in the house so my first thought was to protect him!
It turned out to be my ex husband doing his bit to frighten me and , burgular or not it was very scary none the less!!!

[whiffey]

I keep a poker by the bed, but it's only a gesture. I would climb out of the window onto the conservatory roof, shin down into the garden and call the police, then hide in the shed.

But how did the burglar get in ? If you put bolts on the doors and close all downstairs windows, it can only have been by smashing a window or breaking down a door, a very noisy and determined business. Do burglars do this, or is it nearly always an opportunistic thing, e.g. an open window. Besides, I have only 2 items of any value worth nicking - a bike, and an Ernst Kaps piano, neither of which is easy to scarper off with. So, why did the burglar break in...?

[bigmamma]

I live alone and would be very scared. I always take the phone up with me so I would call the police. I do hope he would be scared off by the sheer size of my dog though. :-)

[radiogaga]

we fell asleep one evening, and i was woken by my partner leaping from the bed (naked) and dashing down the hall to the front door where, a very drunk man had opened the front door (we forgot to lock it), my partner on hearing the door being opened was now searching the man looking for the front door keys he thought he'd taken. we quickly figured this chap being blind drunk had mistaken our house for his which was nearby.
a close shave, we have learned from our mistake. phew.

[bobtheturkey]

i have a shotgun in room next to my bedroom problem solved

[whiffey]

bob, the burglar also has a gun, and with eyes accustomed to the dark is waiting at the foot of the stairs for you to appear. Good solution ?

[rocklolo]

If he has got a knife, ok i get my baseball bat made of bamboo{imbreakable} and knowing i am more likely to do more damage than him.
Beeing a former tobacconist myself , have witnesssed and indured a lot of bad time with A****s like him and have said before to a lot of them:
" I may be 5ft 1 and a female but no body mess around with me!
Anyway , my first step would be to grab my mobile first and ring the police to tell them that i am about to kill a intruder and put the phone down because they will be there presto
i assure you this trick works.
Quietly go downstairs, and surprise the B*****d making so much noise and screaming like a demanted women on pmt waving my bat at him.
Too scare he is ban to drop dead or if he pass out i would nick his wallet ah ah...

[bobtheturkey]

he is armed with a kitchen knife can you not read?

[whiffey]

OK sorry bob, but how do you or crossroads know he has only a kitchen knife ? You are upstairs and he doesn't know you are there.

[bobtheturkey]

well if he doesnt know im there he soon will :)

[crossroads]

Perhaps i'm Psychic

[rocklolo]

I have been attacked just outside my store last year in day light. A tall men became very abusive in my store and when i told him to go and i was by the front door but he swung his fist at me and repeatively punched me in my face as i fell on the pavement and could see his partner [a women]
screaming and encouraging him to finish me off. By then i did pass out. I am only small 5ft and weight around 7 stones.
Anyway , witnesses were so shocked some took a description of the car, registration etc...... to this day i am still waiting for the police to see me.
SO, if you want your calls to be responded within minutes just state that you are about to kill the intruder and refuse to give description, time and put the phone down. That trick has worked 100 times with me.

[Joe_the_Lion]

I would give considerable consideration to sueing my alarm company after the amount of money it bloody costs me!!!!

Although I consider myself fairly fit and able to handle myself, I would not play Rambo, unless I ascertained that the situation was favourable to me. Such considerations would be given to the way he is holding the knife and proximity to a decent weapon myself. Also access to a decent escape route (for me, not the burglar!!)

If all is in favour I would take his eyes. Let the scumbag live the rest of his foul life without them!. He will never burgle again and the thought that the last thing he ever saw was my bed-head would make me chuckle forever.

If after assessing the legal situation, and quickly formulating my defence that I used reasonable force, I would give considerable consideration to stamping on his balls so he could not breed a new batch of delinquents.

[bigmamma]

rockolol , thats awful for you !!! You poor thing . x

[bigmamma]

" rocklolo " (sorry )

[Scarlett]

Honestly, I would probably be frozen with fear, let him take what he wanted and then call the police as soon as I thought he had gone. Or if I was brave I would call the police from under the duvet on my mobile. But then I live alone. If I had a family I would protect them and probably be a lot braver.

[rocklolo]

I know it is wrong for me to state that it is ok to "handle" a intruder, but in my case i feel i can handle some situation.
You have to be quick to assess the situation cos you may have more than 1 intruder....
In that situation, then ring the police, your neighbours, and stay put.
Our nextdoor neighbour was awaked by noise and found a knife under his nose, the personn asked him to follow him downstairs quietly but the others mates heard the commotion and came screaming down the stairs.
The intruder was too scared and done the runner SUCKER!