Okay SMEs, what should this woman have done?

[BaiHu]

This happened 2 towns east of me in a very upscale neighborhood. The owner of AZ Iced Tea lived nearby this incident (dunno if he's still there) for example.

Police in New Jersey are using nanny cam footage to track down a robbery suspect who punched and choked a suburban mom while her terrified 3-year-old daughter watched.

At 10:30 a.m. Friday, the suspect kicked down the locked door of a Millburn, N.J., house and assaulted an unsuspecting homeowner.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3495317.html

[LittleLebowski]

I am not an SME but if she won't wear a gun (not that I recommend that for the untrained) and doesn't have one within reach, a good dog can change things dramatically. But, don't take my word for it, read this story of an untrained, young German Shepherd saving the day.

[David Armstrong]

No SME here, but it illustrates one of those issues that just drives me crazy. Nobody should be able to kick down an exterior door. It just doesn't cost that much more to buy and install a decent door that is sturdy enough to take a fairly normal attack without giving way.

[Jay Cunningham]

Interesting that it was a lone guy and that he kicked in the door. I wonder how that lines up with "typical" hot home invasion scenarios?

ETA: Also wonder if it was a planned hot home invasion, or a planned cold invasion gone wrong?

[Kyle Reese]

How much trouble would this woman be in today had she employed deadly force against this intruder?

[LittleLebowski]

How much trouble would this woman be in today had she employed deadly force against this intruder?

I doubt much, even in NJ given the camera footage.

[Sadmin]

No SME here, but it illustrates one of those issues that just drives me crazy. Nobody should be able to kick down an exterior door. It just doesn't cost that much more to buy and install a decent door that is sturdy enough to take a fairly normal attack without giving way.

Great place to start. In addition to a heavier, sturdy door, we had our front entry door installed to swing outwards as well to aid in that scenario.

[TCinVA]

Interesting that it was a lone guy and that he kicked in the door. I wonder how that lines up with "typical" hot home invasion scenarios?

ETA: Also wonder if it was a planned hot home invasion, or a planned cold invasion gone wrong?

I'm willing to bet a box of 9mm that he didn't just kick in a door at random. I'm willing to bet he watched the house for at least a little bit before kicking in the door. He went right at her from the getgo.

How much trouble would this woman be in today had she employed deadly force against this intruder?

Even in NJ, not much. I'm sure every police officer who watched that footage had the thought of driving that bastard to the Pine Barrens and digging him a hole.

[jetfire]

It's telling that she said she made the conscious decision to not fight back. There's a bit in the tape where the attacker very calmly closes a cabinet door so he doesn't catch his hand on it during the backswing of kicking her ass.

This is based on nothing more than a hunch, but this doesn't look like a home invasion gone wrong, it looks like an intentional beat-down gone right (for the guy doing the beatdown).

[Ray Keith]

And now that she has been beaten half to death, but survived, how long under New Jersey law will it take her to obtain a handgun in the event he decides to come back and finish the job? I'm sure they have some sort of waiting period and other intentional red tape.