Peepholes are generally set up so you can only remove them from the inside. They are kind of like slotted screws, and you need either a really, really wide flathead or you can use a dime. In my experience, when peepholes aer removed, it’s from tenants screwing around with them.
Yeah, maintenance guy might be a little off. I’d be surprised if any of this happened without the neighbors telling us.
Well, would it be better to keep the door unlocked in case he got other ideas?
I think s/he must have watched Scream recently.
The way I understand it, she was on her couch and she noticed this guy on her patio wanking off. So instead of moving *away *from him, and out the front door (which is a heavily traveled area according to the OPer), she moved toward him in order to lock the door. That was not a good idea.
Thank goodness he didn’t have a weapon.
You should never confront a criminal if you have an easy escape route. In fact, a Georgia man (Brandon Rhode) was just executed for killing a man and his two kids when the father confronted him as he was robbing the house. The father saw Rhode ransacking his house, and instead of leaving and calling the cops, the father attacked the burglar with a baseball bat. Turns out the criminal had a gun and shot them all dead. Oops.
I stand by my advice. Don’t confront a stranger if you have another option.
Patio door = locked. Front door, away from patio door = not locked, so she ran and locked it.
And I’d still go with stay in the locked house and call the cops.
Ah, I misunderstood. I thought she ran toward the patio door and locked it while he was standing five feet away, albeit between a pane of glass.
I wasn’t suggesting she brandish the weapon at all, just that she might feel more comfortable knowing that if the situation were to escalate to something where she might actually feel her life were in danger she has some recourse beyond hiding in the bath tub, or whatever.
Your girlfriend was a victim of a sexual deviant, and I’m sure the experience was traumatizing, but I would recommend an empowering response, rather than to move right away. Install motion lights (if your complex is against this, spread the word that there’s a sex crazed maniac going door to door and I’m sure other tenants will sign a petition). Hell get an alarm, it will still be cheaper than moving and might lower your insurance. The camera and self defense lessons are all good suggestions too. Also talk to neighbors, get a little informal (or formal if your inclined) neighborhood watch. Post signs. Most important, give your girlfriend a plan to follow if he (or another pervert) comes back. Give her steps to take to feel like she is in control of the situation.
As in:
- Call 911 (give description)
- Yell at creepo, be intimidating. Usually your common deviant is intimidated by strong women. Strong women mean getting caught. Tell her to yell loud enough to get the neighbors coming.
- Call you
This kind of thing can happen anywhere. A few years ago, this very same thing happened in a rather affluent neighborhood where I live and it turned out to be a local school teacher, peeping on his student’s mothers.
Many people support guns for home defense, and I’m one of them BUT guns in the hands of stressed, untrained, panicky people are more dangerous than the original threat. If you and or your girlfriend do not want to spend the considerable time and money to become proficient and comfortable with a firearm, DO NOT GET ONE. Instead get one of these babies:
http://www.itaser.com/product_tour.html
The civilian Taser! This is not a crap stun gun, it disables while it hurts. Comes from the same company that makes Taser’s for police. The civilian model is actually worse, incapacitating for 30 sec a trigger pull (law enforcement is only 5 sec). It’s small, compact, and if she accidently shoots you with it when you come home in the middle of the night, you won’t die…course you’ll wish you would 5 seconds into it! 