A little excitement in the middle of the night
2:30 a.m. Sunday morning, our doorbell rings. We have one of those doorbells that go DING…dong (this becomes important later in the story).
My partner, who is often still awake and puttering around the house at that hour (while I had long been in bed), stuck her head out the window to see what was the matter. A drunk said his van was missing and wanted to know if we had had it towed. Cris said no. He insisted he had parked it in front of our house. They went back and forth a while like this, as I lay in bed with one eye open, listening to the palaver.
Finally the guy went away, but ten minutes later he was back, ringing the doorbell. Cris said, “I’m calling the police.”
This time, the guy was holding his finger down on the doorbell. Fortunately, since we have a DING… dong doorbell, and not a bell or a buzzer, it wasn’t nearly as annoying as it could have been. It kind of went DINGggggg… gggg……. …. … … … for the longest time, then finally about a minute later when his finger got tired: dong.
Now I was up and out of bed. Cris spent three or four minutes on the phone with 911 telling them the situation. I’m sort of standing around butt naked in the cool night air, still really drowsy. The guy was still jamming on the doorbell, to little effect. Cris hung up with 911.
After a couple more minutes, we started to hear banging and thumping. “My God,” Cris said. “He’s climbing over the gate!” Her voice rose an octave as she called 911 back, and I figured I better get some clothes on. But all I had at hand were some jeans, so I pulled them on and picked up the Little League baseball bat we keep next to the door.
Because the guy was really drunk, it took him about a minute and half to climb over the gate, which was a good thing, since I was still waking up. I stood with the bat near the door, waiting for him to appear at the top of the stairs. “Never mind that, get the fucking gun!” Cris said. “I’ve got a gun here and if he breaks in I swear to God I’ll shoot him!” she said excitedly to 911.
You’d think that would have speeded up the police response, but it still took them several minutes. Meanwhile the guy managed to stagger to the top of the stairs. We retreated into the bedroom so he couldn’t see us, because we figured it would be less provocative. She kept her eye on the guy and handled the phone in one hand and the gun with the other. I stood by totally uselessly.
The guy banged on the door a little, then maybe he realized he was going to be up the stairs without a paddle if this went on any longer, so he decided to retreat. Then, because we don’t have a latch on the inside of the gate, he had to climb back over the gate again to reach the sidewalk. Some how he managed this without breaking an ankle. Then he staggered off up the street.
Cris narrated all this to 911. Still no cops — it had now been over 10 minutes elapsed time. Finally the guy disappeared up the street and we went outside to the sidewalk with the phone (but not the gun) and the cops pulled up about three minutes after that. Given the police response, I’m kind of glad we had the gun, though later as we sat at the kitchen table trying to calm down, she said, “Oh yeah… I forgot — guns are illegal in San Francisco now!”
Any chance of getting that handgun ban repealed?
You could get a .22.
Man, what a story! You really kept it together.
i’m more afraid of the gubment than i am some drunk, but in both cases, i want the right to keep that gun.
speaking of drunkenness, anyone know of a good ‘drunkometer’? something to like, wear like a watch so you know how wacked you’re getting? a breathalyzer of sorts, but less dorky?
Without taking a position on the handgun ban, let me ask this. Are you prepared to kill someone? Ever talked to a person who has killed someone, either accidentally or in self defense?
Point being it’s pretty easy to stop a drunk with a bat. As a matter of fact, bats can be quite deadly (I’ve witnessed a killing . And really, really easy to kill someone with a gun. And I’m imagining your intent was not to kill this fool, so why the gun?
Btw, the drunks in this city are out of hand, the police know it. I almost came to blows with one, in the middle of the day after he drunkenly slurred he was going to “kick the shit” out of me because he “thought I was a cop”. Lol…
Also, I have it first hand that the DA rarely prosecutes what are called “quality of life” crimes. Including things like, public defecation, public nuisance, public drunkeness, etc. etc. We all know how quickly these can turn into crimes again person.
Long story short, that asshole would have probably spent the night in the tank, and that’s about it.
Without taking a position on the handgun ban, let me ask this. Are you prepared to kill someone? … Point being it’s pretty easy to stop a drunk with a bat.
I agree, but in close quarters (i.e. our foyer) I might not have been able to stop a charging 25-year-old drunk with a bat. That’s why I said I was glad we had the gun there.
As it happened, we helped to defuse the situation not by brandishing weapons, but by withdrawing to another room where the drunk could not see us (though we kept our eye on him through a crack in the door. Then all he did was bang on the door a little; he made no attempt to break the glass portion of the door. After a while he just left, however awkwardly.
So the best defense turned out to be simply withdrawing from the situation, with the result that no one was hurt. Not even any property was damaged. All we lost was a little sleep.
As for being prepared to kill someone, I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but you’re probably referring to the adage that you never point a gun at someone without being prepared to kill them. I have no doubt that my wife would be prepared to shoot someone if she felt my or her life was in danger. Fortunately things never got to that point.
Yes, that was the adage I was thinking of. Thanks Mark. And sorry you guys had to endure that episode in your home. Nothing quite like a home invasion (attempted) to shake you up.
I’m hoping that the cities increased staffing of beat (walking/biking) officers will help out in situations like this. I hear there are programs afoot (pun intended) to add more to the foot force.
i’m a little confused. did this guy actually enter your house or apt?
i’m a little confused. did this guy actually enter your house or apt?
No, he didn’t. Let me explain what I mean when I say he climbed the front gate and came up the steps.
Between the actual door to our house and the sidewalk is an exterior staircase, about 14 steps. At the bottom of the staircase there is an iron gate about 8 feet high.
A reasonably fit person can climb over this gate, but since there are spikes on top of it and the top is 8 feet off the ground, one must exercise a certain degree of care when doing so. Therefore it takes even a 25-year-old at least 30 or 40 seconds to surmount the gate and come up the stairs to the front door. (I know because I did this once when I locked myself out of the house.) Since this guy was drunk it took him somewhat longer, maybe a minute and a half.
I realize, of course, that it is not appropriate to shoot anybody who merely climbs over your gate and bangs on your door. We removed the gun from storage in case he was violent. If someone goes so far as to climb over an 8 foot iron gate with spikes on top, then it’s reasonable to assume he might also have it in him to do something more aggressive. I’m glad he didn’t.
Wow.
(By the way, those who are unfamiliar with San Francisco — the “gate to the stairs” is fairly common architecture there.)
A bat is a lethal weapon? Heck, yeah. I used to do emergency admitting many many years ago and I remember a guy who came in with a severe head injury (he was unconscious, and quite critically injured) from a pool cue.
That must have been frightening experience. Anyway an SF judge ruled that the handgun ban was illegal.
I used to be a strong proponent of gun control till it slowly dawned on me that cops usually show up after the crime has been committed and that there are more guns than people in this country. Its going to be very difficult, probably impossible to get everyone to disarm. I may not buy a hand gun but a shotgun is on the list of things to buy when I have money. Meanwhile I’ll look in my basement for the old baseball bat…
Hmmm… I suggest that those of you who are pro-gun join the CRPA (California Rifle and Pistol Association).
You all might be amused to investigate the trouble that you can get into with a baseball bat. It is considered a deadly weapon. You CAN get a felony rap for it.