Monday, July 07, 2008
Avondale, Arizona
From ABC15 of July 7, 2008
Avondale man shoots at armed robbers trying to take his baby
An Avondale man shot at armed robbers Saturday night when they tried to take his infant during a robbery, according to a police report released Monday.
The Avondale family had started to unload groceries at their home near Main Street and Litchfield Road when three men approached the car with guns and demanded money.
When the victim, 52, said he didn't have any cash, one robber said, "get the baby", according to Avondale Police Sergeant Memo Espinoza.
The victim pulled out a handgun and the three robbers started shooting at the man and the house. The father shot back.
The robbers ran away, and one was crawling on the ground as if he had been shot, according to Espinoza.
The victim and baby were not hurt in the shootout.
The three armed men left in a black SUV with chrome trim and chrome wheels.
They were described as Black males, between 19- and 25-years old.
One wore all black clothing, one had black pants and a brown shirt and the third wore blue shorts and a white shirt.
Avondale police notified Valley hospitals to look out for someone with a gunshot wound.
Another similar incident occurred Sunday at an Avondale family's home near Indian School Road and 107th Avenue.
Three men pulled into the family's garage and forced their way into the home rummaging through their belongings.
The family wasn't hurt, however their truck was stolen by one of the three suspects.
The truck was pulled over by police near the home and the man was taken into custody.
Espinosa said the two incidents are not related.
Anyone with information should call Avondale police at 623-333-7000.
Labels: AZ, kidnapping, street robbery
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Coral Gables, Florida
From June 10, 2008 NBC channel 6:
CORAL GABLES, Fla. --A woman said she used a gun to scare away a man who was trying to lure her teenage daughter into a truck.
The mother, who did not wish to be identified, said the man approached her 16-year-old daughter on Alhambra Circle near their home.
“She was walking her dog in the median right out in front of our house here, and a man approached her in a truck and tried to get her to come to the truck,” the woman said.
The teenager ran to nearby Coral Gables Elementary School, calling her mother and 911. The mother confronted the man and showed him her 9-mm gun.
“It’s not until I showed him that I was armed and that I meant business to protect my daughter that he backed off,” she said.
Coral Gables police arrested Ramon del Risco in connection with the incident.
The mother said her gun made the difference in the situation.
“I’m licensed. I shoot almost every week,” she said.The woman said she recommends a day at the shooting range for every parent.
Labels: female, FL, kidnapping
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
El Paso, Texas
From the El Paso Times of October 31, 2007
In brief: El Paso police arrest 2 men in home invasion
Two men were arrested after an incident in which gunshots were fired in the 3300 block of Wyoming in Central El Paso, police said.
About 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, police were called after a 35-year-old man fired rounds into the air when he was allegedly threatened at his home by two men. When officers arrived, the men forced their way into the man's home and held him against his will before surrendering, police said.
The two men, ages 31 and 21, were charged with evading arrest and unlawful restraint. Names were not immediately available.
Labels: home invasion, kidnapping, TX
Monday, April 16, 2007
Kansas City, Missouri
From the Wichita Eagle of April 16, 2007
3 men charged in botched kidnapping in Kansas City
Three men face second-degree murder charges in an attempted kidnapping that left a fourth suspect dead.
According to police, the four men plotted to kidnap another member of their gang and demand a $50,000 ransom. Police said the suspects lured the man to a house Saturday claiming they wanted to buy drugs from him, then bound him with duct tape and called his brother, demanding the ransom be paid within 30 minutes.
The kidnap victim, a man in his 20s, managed to escape without injuries and call police after shooting one of his captors, police said. Police Sgt. Richard Sharp said the shooting was considered self-defense and the man has not been charged.
However, Marlyn L. Standifer, 18; Robertico Cooper, 19; and Antwan Wooden, 21, were charged with second-degree murder, kidnapping and armed criminal action. Standifer and Cooper were in custody, but police were still looking for Wooden, who also is wanted in an unrelated shooting death in January.
According to court records, the shooting happened when Antwan Wooden, Standifer and Cooper went to meet the victim's brother, who had gone to the police station.
Court records say the victim was left alone with Keith Wooden, 24, the older brother of Antwan. The hostage worked his hands free from the duct tape and took Keith Wooden's gun from him, court records say. When Wooden lunged at him, the victim fired, court records say. He then fled the house.
Wooden was pronounced dead at the scene.
Cooper also faces assault charges from a previous shooting. He is being held on a $250,000 cash bond, Sharp said. Standifer was being held on a $500,000 cash bond. Standifer had been sought on murder and assault charges involving shootings in December, January and March.
Labels: criminal's gun taken away and used against him, kidnapping, MO
Friday, March 30, 2007
Memphis, Tennessee
From Memphis’ WMCtv.com of March 29, 2007
Attacker strikes same place twice, but runs out of luck
A man who stopped a kidnapping and the woman he saved are telling their stories.
Their stories begin with a tale of a man who came looking for his ex-girlfriend. He threatened her life and took her money. He got away with it once.
He was not so lucky the second time around.
Sharon Hamblin worked as a caregiver for 85-year-old Louise Hardin.
Last week, Hamblin's past came back to haunt her.
"I came here to kill you but I changed my mind" were the words she remembered coming from her ex-boyfriend, Gary Stewart, who police say broke into the home through a bedroom window.
"He said give me all the money you got," she recounted.
Stewart then forced her and Hardin into the car and made them drive to West Memphis so Hamblin could cash a check for nearly $300.
Stewart took the money and let the two of them go.
"Officer first on the scene told me it's possible this man may come back," said Louise Hardin's son Kent. He came to live in the house to protect his mother and her caregiver.
Three days later, as the officer had warned, Gary Stewart was back after breaking the glass on this garage door.
"I woke up and looked out and saw the perpetrator with a knife to the caregivers throat," said Kent Hardin.
That's when Hardin grabbed his gun. Meanwhile, Hamblin was being forced to the car again.
"I was backing up and I saw Kent come out the back door," she said.
"I ran out with the gun, opened up the car door and stuck it in his face," added Kent Hardin.
"I put the car in gear and I jumped out of the car and got on the ground," said Hamblin.
Kent Hardin added, "When he looked up and saw the gun he just kind of faded, melted."
"He told Gary Stewart, get out of the car get out of the car!" said Hamblin.
"He just rolled out of the car and laid down here in the garage floor put his arms in front of him, his feet back and I held the gun on him."
Hardin says five minutes later, the police arrived.
Stewart is charged with kidnapping, assault and burglary. He also faces robbery charges in West Memphis.
On top of that, he could face federal charges as well. His court date is set for April 13th.
Sharon Hamblin says her biggest mistake was telling Stewart where she worked. Hamblin is no longer working for the Hardin family.
Labels: assault, home invasion, kidnapping, TN
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Greybull, Wyoming
From the Casper Star-Tribune of January 28, 2007
Suspect surrenders after brief standoff
A man wanted in connection with a shootout outside Bozeman, Mont., was arrested here without incident following a brief standoff Thursday.
Chris Wagner, 33, will be held at the Big Horn County jail in Basin until he can be transferred to Montana's Gallatin County to face a charge of attempted murder.
Authorities say Wagner tried to kidnap Michael Peters, 33, southeast of Bozeman on Jan. 17. Both men began shooting, and both were wounded. Peters, who was shot in the torso, face and hand, was hospitalized. Wagner fled.
Investigators said they traced a call Wagner made from a pay phone in Greybull and began looking for him around the town. When they found where he was staying, they surrounded the house and locked down a nearby school.
Wagner stayed in the house for about 10 minutes before coming out.
Labels: kidnapping, WY
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Jacksonville, Florida
From WJXT channel 4 October 21, 2006:
A man who could have spent his life behind bars for the 2005 kidnapping of a 10-year-old boy pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to 30 years on Friday. Last October, David Nieves broke into a Westside home and grabbed the child from his bedroom. Police credit the boy's father with saving his son.
...
During his testimony, the victim's father also said that he had stopped Nieves and had a gun to his head and held him there for 35 minutes until police arrived. He said during that time he considered shooting the kidnapper, then looked at the judge, saying, 'It's not my job to punish him, it's your job."
Labels: FL, kidnapping
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Vallejo, California
From the Vallejo Times-Herald of October 28, 2006
Abduction interrupted
Oakland Hills home invasion ends in shootout; women safe; police seek suspect
A masked man abducted an Oakland Hills woman and her maid at gunpoint Friday before driving the pair to a Vallejo marsh, where authorities speculate he was about to kill them when a property caretaker interrupted the crime.
The suspect had just forced one of the women to lie down in a ditch when the caretaker, armed with a shotgun for protection against thieves, arrived around 2 p.m., authorities said. The suspect and caretaker exchanged shots before the suspect sped away in the Oakland woman's Lexus sport-utility vehicle.
No one was hit, and the women were not injured, though they had been bound and gagged. Tape could still be seen around one woman's neck as investigators questioned her at the Highway 37 scene.
The suspect had unsuccessfully robbed the women, and authorities suspect he was trying to find an isolated spot to kill them.
"I don't know why else he would take her over there and make her lie in the ditch," Sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Brackett said.
The shaken-up caretaker, Doug Paul of Vallejo, said: "I think he was doing something bad. It's pretty f---ed up to have a woman gagged and bound."
Authorities are on the lookout for the dark gray 2006 Lexus RX 400H Hybrid with California license plate number
(More)
Labels: CA, home invasion, kidnapping
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Stonelick Township, Ohio
From the Cincinnati Enquirer of April 18, 2006
Armed man shot by ex-girfriendUpdate
But he ends up getting shot
A Goshen man was charged with felonious assault, aggravated burglary and kidnapping after he forced his way into his ex-girlfriend's home early Monday.
Gary L. Glass, 37, of the 1800 block of Main Street, was shot in the legs after Cassandra Gray, 28, got control of a shotgun Glass brought to her home, the Clermont County Sheriff's Office said.
According to the sheriff's office, Gray was awakened by her dogs barking about 7:30 a.m. and found Glass standing in her doorway pointing a shotgun at her.
Glass allowed Gray to let her dogs out and she used that chance to call 911.
When Glass realized Gray had called police, the two struggled. Gray got the gun away from Glass and shot him, the sheriff's office said.
Glass was taken to University Hospital for treatment of injuries that did not appear life-threatening, the sheriff's office said.
Glass apparently is Gray's ex-boyfriend, the sheriff's office said. Glass, who was also charged with illegally having a weapon, was free on bond on two other charges involving Gray, the sheriff's office said.
In January, he was charged with aggravated menacing for threatening Gray with a knife, and last month he was charged with criminal damaging for slashing tires on her vehicle, the sheriff's office said.
Interview with Ms. Gray
Labels: assault, criminal's gun taken away and used against him, home invasion, kidnapping, OH
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Fort Collins, Colorado
From the Greeley Tribune of September 8, 2005
Three men arrested after home robbery in Fort Collins
Fort Collins police took three 18-year-old men into custody after a home robbery shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday in the 1200 block of Remington Street. A fourth suspect is in Poudre Valley Hospital recovering from gunshot wounds.
Robert Joseph Cruz Jr., Gerald Lee Batrez and Mitchell Anthony Rosales, all of Fort Collins, face charges of aggravated robbery. Rosales and Cruz also face charges of kidnapping and menacing.
According to the victims, a man entered their home through an unlocked front door, head covered in a stocking mask, carrying a shotgun and demanded cash or drugs. The suspect grabbed a male and threatened a female in trying to force entry into an adjoining apartment. An apartment resident shot the suspect after he appeared to threaten him. The intruders then picked up the injured man and fled in a car.
At 2:15 a.m., police got a 911 call reporting a man had been shot and needed assistance. When police and emergency personnel arrived at 532 Villanova Court, they determined the incidents were related and the suspect was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he was treated for non life-threatening injuries.
Those in custody are believed to be suspects in two prior home robberies Monday evening in the 1600 block of Hastings Drive and 600 block of Zuni Circle.
Labels: CO, home invasion, kidnapping, residence robbery
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Memphis, Tennessee
From the Memphis Commercial-Appeal of August 10, 2005
Victim strikes backFrom the Memphis Commercial Appeal of September 7, 2005
Forced at gunpoint to bank, man kills back-seat suspect
He said they'd gotten him two weeks ago in his front yard, forcing him to the ground with a gun and stealing $400.
But this time, 59-year-old Jacob Evans was ready.
Tuesday, the same two robbers returned, telling him to withdraw $10,000 from his bank, or die, he said. Instead, Evans deposited six bullets in one of them.
"I got prepared for them," Evans said, standing outside the Criminal Justice Center Tuesday night. "Today they acted a damn fool and came back."
Shortly after 2 p.m., Memphis police arrived at First Tennessee, at 1200 S. Third, and found one of the robbers shot to death, lying face down in the back seat of Evans's Lincoln Towncar.
About 20 minutes earlier, Evans was pulling up to his home in the 300 block of Edsel in South Memphis, when the two 20-something men came out from behind some hedges with guns, forced a friend of his out of the car and jumped in. Evans was in the driver's seat, one robber was in the front seat and another in the back.
Evans had just gotten off work at Hershey Foods, where he's a sanitation worker. He was wearing his uniform and a blue hairnet.
With guns pointed at Evans, the robbers told him to drive to a nearby bank to get some money. He told him he didn't bank there, but said he had an account at First Tennessee.
"If I didn't withdraw $10,000, they said they were going to kill me," he said.
As he was driving, Evans said he looked for police but didn't see any and tried to work out a plan. The bank's about two miles from his house.
He pulled up to the teller window and told the men he would need a withdrawal slip to get the money. The front-seat robber handed his 9mm pistol to the back-seat robber -- who already had a .22-caliber rifle -- and went inside to get the slip.
Evans noticed a security guard leaning against the bank's wall and mouthed to him: "Call police, I'm being robbed."
The robber, sitting directly behind the driver's seat, asked him what he said and Evans told him, "I didn't say a damn thing."
The man kept turning around nervously to look at the security guard, Evans said. That's when Evans reached under his seat and pulled out a .357 Magnum.
"When he turned around, I unloaded six rounds in him," Evans said. "He didn't have a chance."
Evans bought the gun in the parking lot of a gas station the day after he was robbed two weeks ago. He'd cleaned it up, putting baby oil in the revolver, so it'd be ready if he needed it.
Evans said he got out of the car and started to reload when the other suspect came out of the bank. "He took off running."
He tried to shoot that suspect too, but his gun wouldn't fire.
Someone inside the bank called 911. When employees heard the gunshots, the bank was immediately locked down and remained closed Tuesday, said spokesman Walter Dawson.
Late Tuesday, investigators were looking for the man who ran away and were working to identify the man who died, said Lt. Toney Armstrong.
After being questioned by police, Evans said they told him he was free to go.
Police said late Tuesday their investigation will be turned over to the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office, as a matter of routine.
Evans said he has only one regret. "I didn't kill the one that got away."
Tuesday night, his family drove up from Mississippi to be with Evans, who said he was happy to be alive.
"It's really not something to be proud of," he said. "But I'm happy it was them and not me."
Robber's killer to serve 1 year for using gun
Jacob Evans, who gained near-celebrity status last month after killing a would-be robber, will spend the next year in prison for using a gun while on parole.
The decision, recommended two weeks ago by a hearing officer, was made official Tuesday after it was upheld by two members of the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole.
The votes by board chairman Charles Traughber of Nashville and board member Larry Hassell of Memphis mean Evans, 59, will be returned to prison at least until August of next year when his case will be reviewed again. Hassell declined to comment Tuesday.
Evans was on parole for a 1969 murder, though his supporters said special circumstances in this case should have earned him a more favorable outcome.
"I'm terribly disappointed," said Nashville attorney David Raybin, who wrote the board on Evans's behalf. "I think Mr. Evans did what he had to do to save his own life. To me it just sends a bad message when somebody can't even defend himself when they're kidnapped. I don't know what other choice Mr. Evans would have had, given that situation."
The incident occurred Aug. 9 when two men who had robbed Evans three weeks earlier abducted him at gunpoint and forced him to drive to a South Memphis bank.
While one robber went inside the bank, the second sat in the back seat guarding him with a 9mm pistol and a .22-caliber rifle.
When the back-seat gunman man, identified as Leverett Dickson, 17, was momentarily distracted, Evans pulled a pistol from under his driver's seat and shot Dickson six times. Evans later said he regretted that his gun jammed, preventing him from shooting the second robber who fled.
Alonzo Thomas, 17, who turned himself in two days later, is charged with two counts of aggravated robbery.
Authorities ruled the shooting justified, but the parole board ruled Evans had violated his parole by having the .357 Magnum, which he said he bought at a gas station parking lot for $75 after he was robbed the first time.
In 1969 Evans was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his mother-in-law, Ollie Lee Derdun, 54, and the wounding of two others. He was paroled after about 12 years in prison, but was revoked three times over the next 13 years for drugs or weapons violations.
He's had a better record over the past nine years and said he has tried to avoid trouble by giving up nightclubs, holding full-time jobs and paying his bills.
Evans told the hearing officer last month that he used the gun to save his life and that if required to do more prison time, "I'm just going to have to be man enough to do it."
Labels: carjacking, kidnapping, minor offender, street robbery, TN
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Northport, Alabama
From the Tuscaloosa News of July 20, 2005
(Requires free registration)
Man kills his alleged kidnapper
A Northport man shot his alleged kidnapper to death early Tuesday morning in the Huntington Place subdivision.
Lt. Loyd Baker, commander of the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit, said the 53-year-old Northport man, whose name isn’t being released, said he shot his alleged kidnapper, Ricky Brimer, 49, of Haleyville, after Brimer abducted him from his second home in Haleyville on Monday afternoon.
“Brimer came to the victim’s Haleyville residence and abducted him at gunpoint, pistol-whipped him, shocked him with a stun gun and threatened to kill him," Baker said. “He was held there throughout the night by the suspect [Brimer] and then brought to the victim’s residence in the Huntington Place subdivision in Northport."
“The victim’s wife and daughter were home when they arrived, and the victim tricked the suspect into allowing the wife and daughter to leave the room under the pretense that they were going to get some photos to show the suspect," he said. “When they left the room, the victim obtained a gun from his house and shot Brimer once in the head."
Baker said the Northport man’s wife called the Northport Police Department at 7:57 a.m. right after she left the room where her husband was being held. Four minutes later, officers arrived and immediately called an ambulance after finding Brimer shot and barely breathing, Baker said.
Brimer was transported to DCH Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m., Baker said.
The Northport man was taken to DCH for several bruises and lacerations that he sustained to his head and body during the abduction.
At some point in the past, Baker said Brimer had lived with the Northport man and his family in their Huntington Place residence.
But because of several threats Brimer allegedly made against the Northport man and his family, Baker said Brimer was kicked out and that several protection orders were obtained to keep him away.
Baker said no charges have been filed against the Northport man, but he said the case would be forwarded to the grand jury for review.
Labels: AL, assault, kidnapping
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Silver Springs, Nevada
From the Carson City Nevada Appeal of June 24, 2004
Daughter kills father after he shoots mother
A teenage girl shot and killed her father Wednesday morning after he kidnapped her and two sisters at gunpoint and shot their mother in the face, authorities said.
Walter Nelson Ball III, 43, was found shot to death in his Jeep Cherokee in an isolated area near Lahontan State Park. The discovery came about 8 a.m. after his three daughters, ages 13, 16 and 19, made their way to a road where they flagged down an officer.
Police had been looking for the girls since 4 a.m., when their mother, Cindy Ball, called to say she'd been shot in the face by her estranged husband and that he'd abducted the girls.
"Detectives are investigating the possibility that Ball sexually abused the victims during the kidnapping," said Lyon County sheriff's Capt. Jeff Page. ""There's no rhyme, there's no reason. This is simply the most evil thing I've ever heard of in my career."
It appears Ball eventually fell asleep at Lahontan Reservoir ,and it was then that one of the girls shot him, Page said. He declined to reveal which of the three sisters fired the gun.
"These girls were scared to death. They believed they were going to die," he said.
The Nevada Appeal is withholding the names of the daughters. No charges are pending against them, Page said.
(MORE)
Labels: assault, domestic abuse, kidnapping, NV
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Missoula, Montana
From MSNBC March 9, 2004:
Authorities in Missoula say a 21-year-old University of Montana student grabbed her attacker's gun, and jumped from a moving truck, after being kidnapped and raped by a man on Saturday.This is only marginally a gun self-defense use, because she didn't actually threaten or shoot the guy (although she should have).
...
MISSOULA (AP) - Sheriff's Lieutenant Rich Maricelli says the woman parked her pickup truck in a lot on campus, and a man asked if she could give him a lift to his vehicle and maybe jump-start it for him. She agreed. But the man pulled a handgun out of his jacket and told her to drive up Deer Creek. [too graphic description of the rape deleted] He set the gun down between the seats; and she managed to free her hands, get the gun, leap from the truck and roll down an embankment. She later told detectives she was prepared to use the gun if the man came back for her.
Labels: criminal's gun taken away and used against him, kidnapping, MT, rape
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Grand Prairie, Texas
From the Dallas Morning News of January 13, 2004 (requires registration)
Grand Prairie man fatally shoots men who were trying to rob himUPDATE (by Clayton): This news story from NBC 5 on January 14, 2004, reports that "Police now say they think a shooter in Grand Prairie did not have to use deadly force." But the news story contributes nothing new--two criminals force entry, force this guy to withdraw money from an ATM, and he shoots the bad guys.
Police were questioning a Grand Prairie man on Tuesday who said he fatally shot two men who were trying to rob him.
The man reported to police that the suspects took him against his will from his home to a local bank. There, he said, he was forced to withdraw cash from an ATM.
According to Grand Prairie Police Detective John Brimmer, the man said the suspects then drove him back to his residence where one of them threatened him with a baseball bat. The man said he feared for his life and fatally shot them with a pistol he had been carrying in his pocket.
He called 911 around 8:30 a.m. and stayed on the phone with the dispatcher until police arrived.
Police said the man, who was in his 60s and was not injured, had a concealed-weapons permit.
Brimmer said the two suspects had not been identified, but both looked to be in their 30s, and one was wearing a ski mask.
Their bodies were being taken to the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office for autopsy.
Labels: concealed carry permit, home invasion, kidnapping, residence robbery, TX
Monday, November 24, 2003
Lufkin, Texas
It's an Associated Press wire service story that appeared in the November 24, 2003 Las Vegas Sun:
LUFKIN, Texas (AP) - A suspect in the murder of an elderly Oklahoma couple who eluded police for weeks was finally arrested in Texas after he kidnapped another couple and the husband shot and wounded him, authorities said.
...
Eizember was accused of killing A.J. Cantrell, 76, and his wife, Patsy Cantrell, 70, on Oct. 18 in Depew, Okla., in the northeastern part of the state.
He is also accused of beating Carla Wright, a neighbor of the Cantrells, and wounding her grandson, 16-year-old Tyler Montgomery, that same day. Wright's daughter Kathy Biggs, Tyler's mother, is Eizember's former girlfriend, and authorities believe he had been stalking her.
Eizember managed to elude teams of law enforcement officers who combed through dense woods in between Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
...
Eizember drove about 200 miles east, where he allegedly kidnapped a doctor, Samuel Peebles, and his wife, Suzanne, near Waldron, Ark., O'Keefe said. They were forced to drive in their van about 300 miles south to East Texas, he said.
At that point, Samuel Peebles managed to grab a pistol he had concealed in his van and shot Eizember, O'Keefe said. The couple then drove Eizember to the hospital, O'Keefe said.
Wounded four times in the chest, Eizember was in stable condition early Monday at the Memorial Health System of East Texas in Lufkin.
Labels: fugitive, kidnapping, TX
