Posted on 11/20/2007 6:34:52 AM PST by nin_kasi
Benito Valdez had settled in for the night security shift, listening to Spanish radio on a chair outside a Hialeah juice bar when he saw shadows coming toward him.
That's when the 71-year-old's training in the Cuban navy kicked in.
Two thugs -- who between them had at least one gun, a Halloween mask and a pair of fuzzy black slippers -- approached Valdez and told him not to move, police said.
Keeping his seat, Valdez rotated slightly and kicked his left leg at the man holding the gun.
Valdez then fired at least two shots in the air from his own handgun, sending the shadowy pair running to a waiting car.
''It all happened in fractions of a second. I figured they would be armed and I used that technique,'' Valdez said Monday night, outside El Palacio de los Jugos in Hialeah, where he returned for work less than 24 hours later.
``I could have killed them, but I spared their lives.''
Surveillance cameras captured the 3 a.m. incident at the juice bar and small market at West 24th Avenue and 78th Street.
After Valdez's swift kick, the would-be robbers ran away -- one of them in such a hurry that he left his black fuzzy house slippers behind, police said.
It's not clear what the pair wanted, though police suspect they were would-be robbers.
''I won the battle with only one kick,'' Valdez said Monday evening. The only mark the guard received was a small scrape from hitting the outside wall after he kicked the gunman. ``. . . These are inexperienced youngsters. My hope is that they realize they could have been dead and learn from this experience.''
Valdez has worked security jobs for years, said the store's owner, Jose Gutierrez.
It's the fourth time he's had to defend himself from an armed robbery, Valdez said.
''I have had a gun under my belt for years,'' said Valdez, who said he joined the Academia Naval de el Mariel when he was 18 and had a career in the Cuban Navy -- the Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria.
Flexing his left bicep Monday evening, Valdez told reporters he stayed strong by eating a lot of pickles.
Valdez ''wasn't nervous. He was calm,'' said Det. Carl Zogby, with the Hialeah Police Department. ``If you listen to him, he's got a lot of military experience, so this to him was nothing.''
Gutierrez isn't kidding around when it comes to security. Though the store is just a couple blocks from a police station, he has a $35,000 security system that uses 16 cameras -- not to mention a security guard who can intimidate toughs.
Gutierrez said he was proud of Valdez.
''We're going to give him a good Thanksgiving,'' Gutierrez said.
``A turkey, a bonus. He's part of the family.''
Hialeah police are looking for at least three men, two of them in their 20s, in a dark getaway car.
Anyone with information can call Hialeah Police Department Detective Pam Zorsky at 305-687-2525 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
couldn’t get it.
But, as they say, if you can do it, it ain't braggin'.
(I hope the young thugs are suitably humiliated by the announcement from a 71 year old that he magnanimously spared their lives.)
Dumb move. When you have the chance to rid the streets of scum, do it.
Excuse me! I’m goin’ to the store to buy some pickles!
If you're really in a jam, you're aiming for center of mass and that's all. Whether the person lives or dies depends mostly on your accuracy, the caliber, and the exact path of the bullet.
It's also a really dumb idea to shoot into the air. "It fell to earth I know not where . . . " perhaps into the body of some innocent.
Bullets shot up into the air slow and stop usually if straight up, and they reach terminal velocity, and that is not enough to penetrate and kill people. Bruise the hell out of them yes, kill them no.
A bullet fired on a slight less than vertical trajectory will still slow and fall at something considerable less than the speed it left the muzzle. Those bullets can kill if the unintended target is close enough.
Either way though, you’re right. Firing into the center of mass is always a better option that shooting in to the air
>>Valdez then fired at least two shots in the air from his own handgun<<
“When the rockets go up; who cares where they come down; it’s not my problem, says Werner von Braun” (Tom Lehrer)
The Miami-Dade county police dispatchers routinely issue a “take cover” advisory 5 minutes before the hour on New Year’s eve. Ain’t multiculturalism wonderful?
>>Bullets shot up into the air slow and stop usually if straight up, and they reach terminal velocity, and that is not enough to penetrate and kill people. Bruise the hell out of them yes, kill them no.<<
Oh really? Does this include unfused infant skulls? Can you give us a demo?
>>A bullet fired on a slight less than vertical trajectory... can kill if the unintended target is close enough.<<
Close enough = a mile or less.
I’m an NRA Training Counselor (the guy who certifies new instructors). I was a federally certified officer before retirement, and am currently licensed to teach concealed carry courses in Utah, Colorado, and Kansas. For starters, may I humbly suggest that you take a Basic Pistol course. After that, try Personal Protection (both inside and outside the home) courses. Please. (p.s. Did you take any courses at the Saddam Hussein school of gun safety?)
It would’ve been a better idea to fire two or more warning shots to center of mass.
Every couple of years someone gets killed by falling ordnance in Mardi Gras in N.O., sometimes straight down into the top of a head.
Warn two of them by center-shooting the third one?
And just how many of these “rogue” bullets are fired exactly straight up? That is the quintessential “straw man” in this argument, the liberals’ favorite sort of argument. If we set up the computer simulation just right we can prove that something is inevitable/impossible. And what is the point of making this particular point? Does it show that you read a physics story in My Weekly Reader once? Do you mean to “prove” that shooting into the aìr is inherently safe? You can “prove” global warming or anything else by carefully selecting your datapoints.
Actually, no, you can’t “prove” Global Warming.
And you can’t prove that bullets fired straight up are going to kill anyone, but with math, you can prove they won’t.
You’re missing the points.
1) Bullets fired straight up do NOT come down with enough force to kill anyone.
2) People CAN’T easily fire bullets straight up by holding a weapon in their hands.
3) MOST bullets fired into the air are fired at an ANGLE and will indeed come down somewhere and either hit something or someone.
I never said “No one was ever killed”, I said the chances of those bullets being fired “into the air” of hitting someone is NIL. In fact, apparently it didn’t happen because there are no reports of anyone “being killed” by his bullets.
Furthermore it is idiotic to fire into the air - I was agreeing with you on that aspect. Shoot the target, center of mass, and know whats BEHIND your target.
You, and many other make rash assumptions about things you read and sometimes know, and you make rash assumptions about others (as in “Does it show that you read a physics story in My Weekly Reader once?”)
So, don’t get snotty an insulting simply because you disagree with something. Show me some facts on your alleged “every few years someone dies from bullets fired straight up” nonsense. That’s what that was, nonsense.
Never bring fuzzy slippers to a gun fight!
No, I tend to think he probably should’ve warned ALL of them by firing a couple of shots to center of mass each. :-)
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