Posted on 12/13/2002 12:33:36 PM PST by aculeus
GERMAN TWP., Ohio -- A petite 17-year-old, irate after seeing three men running from her home in the wee morning hours Tuesday, sprinted outdoors barefoot, clad in pajamas, outran one of the trespassers, tackled and straddled him, then hog-tied him with a rope until police arrived minutes later.
Melissa Alexander, a high school junior, said her training in track and running bases for the varsity softball team came in handy, as did her ability to handle horses, which she cares for at her family's property.
As a result of the young woman's efforts, 18-year-old Jason N. Burkett, 18, was apprehended, said German Twp. Police Chief W. Lew Wilcox.
Also arrested were Trestan B. Stamps, 18, and a 17-year-old juvenile.
The two 18-year-olds were charged with theft and criminal trespassing in Miamisburg Municipal Court. Both will be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The juvenile is expected to face charges in Montgomery County Juvenile Court, Wilcox said. A fourth person has not been charged.
Burkett was charged in September with receiving stolen property, a fifth-degree felony, and was being screened by Montgomery County Prosecutor's Diversion Division.
German Twp. police were called after Melissa's cousin, 21-year-old Jennifer Alcorn, saw a vehicle pull up slowly in front of the driveway, back up and stop. Three men jumped out and ran up the driveway, where the family's four cars were parked.
Alcorn, staying with Melissa's parents while her house is being built, went upstairs to alert her aunt, Vickie Stanley.
"I told her just to flick the lights on and off a couple of times" to scare off intruders, Stanley said. "Then I crawled back into bed."
Melissa, now awake, followed her cousin downstairs, and both heard noises. The teen opened the garage door and said someone running away.
"That's when my daughter took off after him, ran about 300 feet and tackled him on the grass," Stanley said.
She described her daughter as 5'3 and 110 pounds, "a little bitty thing." Police described Burkett 5"10 and 140 pounds.
"I felt violated," Melissa said. "The only thing running through my mind was, 'how dare you?'
Her mother said that Melissa yelled and asked her to bring a dog leash. She grabbed a lunging rope, used to exercise horses.
"(Melissa) tied his right hand and wrapped it around his neck and held him down until the cops got there," Stanley said. "She had it all under control."
The kid's lucky. In this part of town it costs big money to get tackled and hog-tied by a purty lady...
You might be on to something there....can they do it in Saudi, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen? From Apaches?
Yep, that's what the sheriff told me when I chased a perp one night. I didn't catch him, he managed to get in his car and out run me.:)
Of course what I told the sheriff was this. All you are going to do is fill out a report, if I had caught him he would have been here when you got here.
WarHawk42
The best essay ever written on that topic: A Nation of Cowards
Excerpts:
Crime is not only a complete disavowal of the social contract, but also a commandeering of the victim's person and liberty. If the individual's dignity lies in the fact that he is a moral agent engaging in actions of his own will, in free exchange with others, then crime always violates the victim's dignity. It is, in fact, an act of enslavement. Your wallet, your purse, or your car may not be worth your life, but your dignity is; and if it is not worth fighting for, it can hardly be said to exist.[snip]
It is impossible to address the problem of rampant crime without talking about the moral responsibility of the intended victim. Crime is rampant because the law-abiding, each of us, condone it, excuse it, permit it, submit to it. We permit and encourage it because we do not fight back, immediately, then and there, where it happens. Crime is not rampant because we do not have enough prisons, because judges and prosecutors are too soft, because the police are hamstrung with absurd technicalities. The defect is there, in our character. We are a nation of cowards and shirkers.
[snip]
One who values his life and takes seriously his responsibilities to his family and community will possess and cultivate the means of fighting back, and will retaliate when threatened with death or grievous injury to himself or a loved one. He will never be content to rely solely on others for his safety, or to think he has done all that is possible by being aware of his surroundings and taking measures of avoidance. Let's not mince words: He will be armed, will be trained in the use of his weapon, and will defend himself when faced with lethal violence.
You too, eh?
Hehehe, no kidding. It's a joke today, I wonder how long untill this is being really debated in the papers.
You too, eh?
Make that three.
This ought to put an end for awhile to claims that America's youth are too fat. Doesn't anybody FEED these kids in Ohio?
PS for every fat KID that I see around, I see about a dozen that look emaciated...
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