⌛ American Burlarized Near CDO

Burglarized - Correction

I received this email from a former marine friend living near CDO in a remote area. His house was broken into but he and his wife were not injured. This is why I keep a pistol and a loaded magazine next to my bed.

Hi Pat,

I haven't heard from you so I'm hoping everything is ok with you and
the little lady.

Well, it's story time.....

An interesting story, but it has no ending yet.

However, I did want you to hear it from me prior to reading it in the
paper, because I know you are someone who can relate.

About 10 days ago, we bought a new 21" flat screen TV set. Four days
later, last Saturday morning, I went and bought a new DVD player with
FM radio, videoke and video game all built-in.

Saturday night (2:30am Sunday) thieves broke into my home and took my
TV and DVD player. The TV was 4 days old and the DVD was not even one
day old.

Like most people here, we lock the doors and windows at night, then we
go into our bedroom and lock that door also. Our house has steel
grills on the windows but not the front and rear doors. We also have a
front porch light that we leave on all night, plus there is a street
light next to our yard that lights the whole yard.

The thieves pried open a front window next to the front door and then
used a piece of bamboo with a coat hanger twisted around the end, to
reach in and unlock the front door and then walked right in.

XXX heard them in the house but did not wake me because she said they
always carry a gun in case of confrontation. She knew that I would go
out there and possibly get hurt or killed. After she thought it was
safe and they were gone, she woke me a little after 2:30am and we
opened the door to find the lights on, the things missing and both the
front and rear doors wide open.

The problem is that they obviously saw the Wi-Max unit for the
Internet and the wi-fi router of mine, so they know we have at least
one laptop (we have 2). I'm sure they've seen me outside and know we
have smart phones (2 iPhones). They also saw our microwave which is a
very expensive microwave and convection oven. And last, they saw that
we keep a months supply of food on a shelving unit next to the
refrigerator. We had just bought a months supply of food that morning.

So, I'm reasonably sure that they will return for more.

Pat, I'm sorry, but I can't/won't run or hide. I just don't have that
in my personality.

At this moment, I don't have a spare 25,000 pesos to buy a shotgun,
because of all of the things we've bought to move, so I'm gonna have
to make do with my meaness and the element of surprise.
I have stayed up every night until 3:30am in the completely dark
living room/dining room/kitchen watching for them to come back.

I have told XXX very firmly that she is to stay in the locked bedroom,
regardless of what she hears, until I tell her it is safe to come out.

I go to sleep at 3:30 and sleep until 8am or so.

My plan ain't great, but with surprise, it is workable.

I have a 8oz can of gasoline, my stun gun, a 24" bolo knife and three
very sharp bamboo spears (that we keep for the Aswang).

My plan (don't laugh please), is to let them open the door and throw
the gasoline in their faces and light them on fire, and then go after
whoever has a gun with a spear and the bolo knife first.

My hopes are that the surprise, panic and fire will give me the edge
on them.

The police NBI and PNP, that investigated the break-in, said that I'm
legal to use whatever force once they open the door or come inside,
even if the fight and deaths occur outside. I specifically asked about
what if one or more get killed and they said not a problem.

So there you have it my friend.

As I said, it ain't a great plan, but in lieu of a shotgun, it's the
best plan I can up with.

XXX wants to move. You know I can't do that. You know I can't run. As
I told her, where does the running stop?

I may be 70, but I'm still mean when I have to be. I have the edge on
them, I'm fighting to protect my wife and fighting for my life. They
just want to steal.

Wish me luck Marine.

Later,
XXXXXXXXX

 

Sorry to hear about your friend Pat. there was no mention of a dog or did i miss that. If i lived like that and got burgled, sure i would have at least one dog, then put grills on the doors too, all pad locked, even doubled locked, put some glass where they might enter, have a very powerful torch to blind the thieves, it works for a short time for him to stun at least one.

 

Quite a frightening experience for anybody Pat.
However I will just mention that last friday we had a small bedroom fire which could of become nasty had I not been around while my wife slept ( after her night duty).
If you have to put bars on your windows and doors,sleep with one eye open, buy a dog and a gun, maybe paradise is not for the faint hearted and certainly it's not advisable to live in a prison type house, with the thought of the risk of fire........JB

 

That's a good point John, no good if your going to get cremated in the home. Always have an escape route.

Hope the fire did not do any damage, more so your both not hurt, good job your alert and you managed to put the fire out.

Jim

 

Your friend has quite some guts, Pato.
I wonder if it is legally correct what the police men told him that you can even kill outside the house when they had opened your door.
I rather believe you will encounter big problems to explain/proof.
I admire he is not giving up. Hope for him he can go to sleep soon at normal sleeping time. Dog(s) outside (and temporary inside) the room maybe a solution ?

 

Your friend's got guts PatO, but in my opinion, without even a dog, he was leaving himself open for what happened to him...and I strongly suspect that it was an inside job.

Whoever opened his front door had to have known it was possible to do so.
And the part about his Wife not waking him up sets off the alarm bells, how old is this guys Wife anyway? How long they been married? Does she play Majong?

 

Buy one or more of those motion sensor alarms. They are portable so you can out them anywhere in the house, and even outside if you want.

 

Sorry to hear about this. I carry and have in the house "capsican spray" or "tear gas spray". Can be easily purchased and when sprayed in a persons face generally makes them incapable of doing anything. Comes in two sizes. Not sure I like the idea about being in a locked bedroom in a locked house with screens on the windows. Sure people can not get in easliy but also not easy to get out if there is a problem.

Good luck

 

Pat,
I'm glad no one was injured. Please forward some of these posts to your friend. He at least needs a dog, maybe a motion detector, and definitely needs a firearm and to become proficient with it's use.
May I suggest a Sig Sauer P220!

 

JB, I think you are right. I am one of those with bars on all windows, dog, gun, heavy duty locked screen doors, sensor lights and probably still have one eye open all night. Some of us are potential targets, and that is the way it is. Nevertheless, I think it is a small sacrifice for this level of paradise. Still, people should be aware and properly prepared, IMHO.
My friend near CDO who sent me that email was apparently more trustworthy than I am. Btw, he is a DI forum member.