arnisador
12-30-2006, 02:07 PM
First, give up the purse (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612300312)
Expert offers tips on surviving a mugging (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612300312)
So when a man grabbed my purse while I was strolling down 15th Street in Washington, I was shocked. An afternoon mugging? At least wait until it's dark.
I resisted. I screamed and yelled. I tugged with the weight of my body, my purse straps looped over my arm -- and I hung on even when shoved to the ground, the back of my head snapping against the sidewalk. It wasn't until I was dragged five yards toward my attacker's cohorts -- four of them in all -- that I felt scared.
[...]
[Carol] Middleton is a karate black belt, and yet when she was mugged 10 years ago, she quickly acquiesced. Later, she learned that her attacker was notorious for firing his gun at the first sign of resistance.
[...]
Carry cash. Middleton calls it "martyr money": $30 to keep in your wallet in the event of a holdup. It's an easy way to avoid a more prolonged, and costly, holdup at the ATM. "You're safer if you give them the money and don't say anything incendiary," Middleton advises. "Just be completely neutral and cooperative. Even be respectful: 'Yes, sir, it's all yours.' "
[...]
Ditch the pepper spray. At my parents' insistence, I went out and bought a small vial of pepper spray called "American Defender" ($15 at Ace Hardware), but I'm terrified to use it. With good reason, Middleton says. People who carry Mace or pepper spray "are more likely to get attacked -- carrying it makes them believe that they're somehow less vulnerable," she says. You should be trained before using pepper spray and Mace, Middleton says, and the sprays don't work against the usual determined attacker. Muggers know there's Mace out there, she says, "and they're ready for it. It's going to get in your eyes, too, and you're going to struggle with it more, because they're prepared and you're not."
Keep keys handy. People commonly get mugged outside their car or building door while fumbling for the key, Middleton says, so she advises her clients to keep their key in hand, pressed between thumb and forefinger. In the event of a physical attack, the key can be used as a self-defense tool, to be jabbed in the attacker's face -- though Middleton advises this approach only for physical attacks. Property attacks, after all, should never be resisted.
The story is originally from The Washington Post.
Expert offers tips on surviving a mugging (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612300312)
So when a man grabbed my purse while I was strolling down 15th Street in Washington, I was shocked. An afternoon mugging? At least wait until it's dark.
I resisted. I screamed and yelled. I tugged with the weight of my body, my purse straps looped over my arm -- and I hung on even when shoved to the ground, the back of my head snapping against the sidewalk. It wasn't until I was dragged five yards toward my attacker's cohorts -- four of them in all -- that I felt scared.
[...]
[Carol] Middleton is a karate black belt, and yet when she was mugged 10 years ago, she quickly acquiesced. Later, she learned that her attacker was notorious for firing his gun at the first sign of resistance.
[...]
Carry cash. Middleton calls it "martyr money": $30 to keep in your wallet in the event of a holdup. It's an easy way to avoid a more prolonged, and costly, holdup at the ATM. "You're safer if you give them the money and don't say anything incendiary," Middleton advises. "Just be completely neutral and cooperative. Even be respectful: 'Yes, sir, it's all yours.' "
[...]
Ditch the pepper spray. At my parents' insistence, I went out and bought a small vial of pepper spray called "American Defender" ($15 at Ace Hardware), but I'm terrified to use it. With good reason, Middleton says. People who carry Mace or pepper spray "are more likely to get attacked -- carrying it makes them believe that they're somehow less vulnerable," she says. You should be trained before using pepper spray and Mace, Middleton says, and the sprays don't work against the usual determined attacker. Muggers know there's Mace out there, she says, "and they're ready for it. It's going to get in your eyes, too, and you're going to struggle with it more, because they're prepared and you're not."
Keep keys handy. People commonly get mugged outside their car or building door while fumbling for the key, Middleton says, so she advises her clients to keep their key in hand, pressed between thumb and forefinger. In the event of a physical attack, the key can be used as a self-defense tool, to be jabbed in the attacker's face -- though Middleton advises this approach only for physical attacks. Property attacks, after all, should never be resisted.
The story is originally from The Washington Post.