Self-defence in the News - No. 87

Liquor store worker fights off machete wielding robber

NANCY EL-GAMEL

December 24 2015

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/75433184/liquor-store-worker-fights-off-machete-wielding-robber 

A liquor store worker risked his own life to protect his colleague from a masked man with a machete.

When a would-be robber threatened Arwinder Singh he grabbed the blade of the knife with his bare hands and held on. Blood was dripping down his arms.

"I knew if I held the machete and not let go, he can't touch me," Singh recalled on Christmas Eve. "I was injured but I will not leave the machete."

The offender, whose face was covered, walked into the store on Arapuni St in Putaruru shortly before 10pm on Wednesday night.

He put the blade on Singh's shoulder and demanded money from his colleague, Harsh Gupter, who was standing behind the till.

"He came in with a big machete, as big as my arm. He touched the machete on my shoulder and said to put the money in the bag, or he will cut me. Three times he pushed me onto the counter and scared me, but we were not giving money.

"When I got the opportunity, I suddenly grabbed the machete and would not let go of the machete."

Singh had a stand-off with the offender and refused to let go of the blade.

"He wanted to fight with me but I didn't let go because I didn't know what would happen next."

The offender then gave up and fled the store, leaving the weapon in Singh's hands.

"I had cuts on my thumb, hands, but he ran out of the store. We then called the police."

Police said the offender walked into the store with a machete and demanded money before one of the staff members intervened, grabbing the blade of the weapon.

That prompted the would-be robber to run-off. He was last seen running right onto Glenshea St.

Police are now appealing for witnesses.

The staff member was left with a minor injury to his hand and was treated by St John Ambulance staff.

The offender is believed to be in his teens or early 20s and is described as short and stocky, approximately 165 cms tall.

He was wearing a black jacket with no sleeves, black cap and white shoes.

Police want to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious.

They should contact Putaruru Police on 07 883 8199 or leave information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

  

Self-defence in the News - No. 86

Harvey Whaitiri, age 79, fends off three assailants with a baseball bat

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/74863043/harvey-whaitiri-79-fends-off-three-assailants-with-a-baseball-bat

Harvey Whaitiri, 79, of Hastings fought off three would-be intruders.

Photo: MARTY SHARPE

by MARTY SHARPE 

December 8 2015

 A 79-year-old Hastings man has struck back against three teens trying to break into his house by hitting one of them across the head with a baseball bat.

Harvey Whaitiri was attacked in his council flat in the suburb of Camberley at about 9pm on Monday.

Whaitiri, who lives alone, was watching television when he heard a knock at his ranchslider door. He pulled back curtains of an adjacent window to find three males aged between 18 and 20 wearing bandanas across their faces.

One was carrying a baseball bat and another was carrying a knife.

"These bloody dickheads they walk around with these red scarves thinking they're tough. One of them said 'Give us whatever you've got. Money or alcohol.' I told them to piss off," Whaitiri said.

"Then [one of them] started swearing and came rushing at the window to climb in. So I whacked him across the head," he said.

Whaitiri said he gave the man a decent hit with his baseball bat.

"He didn't like that."

"Then they all started shouting and swearing at me. They threw something through the [ranchslider] window, then they smashed the two kitchen windows," he said

The former despatch manager and rubbish collector, who has lived in the flat for nine years, lifts weights every day in the living room of the small flat.

"There's a lot of young ones around here that I get on with. But not these dickheads with the scarves on their faces. I'm not scared of them. I just can't be bothered with them," he said.

A witness reported that around that time they saw a Blue Honda Civic parked outside the Takapu Rd address with about five males inside.

Detective Glen Yule said Whaitiri, who turned 79 in July, hit the assailant quite hard "so we would like to hear from anyone who might know of a young man who came home with a large bump, or bleeding on his head".

Yule praised Whaitiri for doing the right thing by looking out the window rather than opening the door, and said if he had opened the door he would have been seriously assaulted.

Any information regarding such activities can be reported to police on 06 831 0700, or information can be left anonymously on Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.

Pugilists

Left to right: Brent, Woody, Pete, and Brendan.

(click on pic to enlarge)

Photographer: Anthony

school holidays

Hey kung-fu people,

I will be away for these classes:

Monday 28/9/15
Wednesday 30/9/15
Monday 5/10/15
Wednesday 7/10/15

On these dates Hadrian is in charge, along with Brent and Pete.

You're in good hands.......................

Anthony

Self-defence in the News - No. 85

Dairy owner takes on armed robber

 Wednesday Aug 26, 2015

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11502949 (Video through link.)

by Nikki Papatsoumas

Nikki Papatsoumas is an NZME. News Service reporter based in Wellington. 

 

 

A Hamilton dairy owner is nursing bruises this morning, two days after wrestling a rifle from a man who demanded money from his till.

Rupan Patel is this morning meeting with police again after grabbing the gun off the offender causing him to flee the scene at about 7.15pm on Monday.

"I did get a bit of bruising," he told the New Zealand Herald.

He did not yet know if the man had been caught by police.

When the man walked into the dairy with his face covered, Mr Patel said he thought it was some kind of joke.

"This area I've been told is really safe -- nothing ever really happens.

"He walks in ... he puts the gun up and I thought 'this is for real'."

Mr Patel said the offender passed him a shopping bag and ordered him to fill it with money from the till, while continuing to point a gun at him.

"He said 'no mucking around'. He used the f-word and stuff like that," he said.

Mr Patel said when he tried to open the till it wouldn't open.

"He came to the front of the counter and he tried to make a jump across the counter - that's when I took the chance.

"His hands were free and he wasn't pointing the gun at me.

"He was quite close to me and I tried to push him down on to the ground.

"He was holding on to me, I'm holding on to him, we're on the ground. We have a bit of a wrestle, but my main intention is to get the gun off him."

During the confrontation, Mr Patel managed to grab the gun. He said the offender's balaclava came off, revealing some of his face, but he quickly fled, jumping into his getaway car and speeding off.

"Then he makes a run out the door, I want to hit him with the gun, and tell him 'don't come back'."

"Scary thoughts" ran through Mr Patel's head as the gun was pointing at him, he said.

"He could shoot if it was loaded, if I didn't do anything, or what he wanted, then he would have shot me," Mr Patel said.

"I was trying to follow what he was saying but I couldn't open the till.

"Everything happened so quickly, my mind was pretty much blank."

Mr Patel said he took over the business three months ago, and the incident was like nothing he had experienced before.

Despite Monday night's ordeal, he has remained calm, and was back at work yesterday evening.

"I've got my family now at night time. I'm not by myself any more, just to be on the safe side."

- Additional reporting: Susan Strongman of the New Zealand Herald

- NZME.

Winter training on a snowy Saturday...

Left to right: Pete, Brent, Sohail, Hadrian.

Photographer: Anthony

Self-defence in the News - No. 84

Schoolgirl knees attacker in the genitals

12:03 PM Thursday Jul 30, 2015

 

Police are looking for the man after the attack on Mackay St 

in Thames about 2pm on Tuesday.

A schoolgirl kneed a man in the genitals and fled after he indecently assaulted her.

Police are looking for the man after the attack on Mackay St in Thames about 2pm on Tuesday.

"Our victim, a 16-year-old girl, was walking on the eastern side of Mackay St, towards Sealy St, when a man walking towards her suddenly stopped her and subjected her to an indecent assault," Detective Sergeant Martyn Hughes said.

"Keeping her wits about her, our victim has kneed her attacker in the genitals before fleeing and raising the alarm."

The offender was described as a clean-shaven man in his late 20s with olive skin who was "reasonably tall" and wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans.

Police have asked anyone with information about the suspect or the incident to either call Thames police on 07 867 9600 or anonymously contact the Crimestoppers organisation on 0800 555 111.

Police praised the girl's "presence of mind" in the situation.

Mr Hughes said police were speaking to local schools to discuss safety issues.

Wednesday, 3 June

Reluctantly I am cancelling the class for tonight, due to the road conditions.

Self-defence in the News - No. 83

Knife used in self-defence

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/344550/no-charges-over-self-defence-stabbing

No charges over 'self-defence' stabbing

Wed, 3 Jun 2015

 

Charges have not been laid against a man who stabbed a 40-year-old Mount Manganui man in the chest during a confrontation.

A coroners report has found building contractor, David Cunningham, died after becoming involved in an altercation with another man, David Broiles, who stabbed him in "self-defence".

The incident occurred after Mr Cunningham left the house where he was staying to go and buy cigarettes around 11pm on the night of August 26, 2012. He was then seen on Ararimu road, at around 2am on August 27, where he entered a property.

Mr Cunningham proceeded to a sleep out where a person living on the property was sleeping.

Mr Broiles heard Mr Cunningham's approach, armed himself with a knife and torch believeing the person was an intruder. He confronted Mr Cunningham at the door and a fight ensued.

Mr Cunningham was stabbed several times. He died at the scene.

The report found Mr Cunningham's death was caused by Mr Broiles and no other people were involved in the events of that night. Despite acknowledging this fact, the man said he used the force he did in self-defence.

Police were unable to establish the reason Mr Cunningham was on the property at Ararimu road and no evidence was found to conclude he had gone onto the property with any criminal intent.

A blood test found Mr Cunningham's blood alcohol level was almost three times over the legal driving limit. The limit has since been lowered.

No criminal charges were laid in relation to the death of Mr Cunningham.

- by Regan Schoultz

Self-defence in the News - No. 82

Grandmother plays possum to survive violent home invasion

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/68889043/porirua-grandmother-played-possum-to-survive-violent-home-invasion 

May 29 2015

NEIL RATLEY

KEVIN STENT/Dominion Post

A Porirua grandmother was beaten and throttled in her own home for half a packet of cigarettes and an iPad.

Linda McElwee played possum to survive the attack, which left her with scars and bruises to her face, chest and shoulder.

"He tried to strangle me and then started bashing me with his fists and then an object. I knew I wasn't going to win a fight against him, so I played unconscious," the 63-year-old said this week.

But despite her ordeal, in the early hours of May 21, she says she feels "a bit sorry" for her attacker and wants to see him rehabilitated.

The sanctuary of McElwee's home in a quiet, bushy dead-end street in Ranui Heights was shattered when she awoke to find a stranger in the house.

She thinks the deadbolt from the seldom-used sliding door in the lounge might not have been fully put back the last time it was used.  

"I had fallen asleep on my couch under a big fur blanket. The lights were on, the TV was on."

The invader opened the sliding door and circled the couch, probably not spotting the sleeping McElwee, burrowed into her blanket.

A packet of Winfield Blue 25s, holding 12 cigarettes and a lighter, and an iPad were taken from the coffee table. The burglar then headed for a small table at the foot of the couch, where a laptop was charging.

"I woke facing the window and I noticed the curtain open. I made a slight move and he jumped me," McElwee said.

"He came right down with his hands and then slammed his leg across the top of my shoulder and my chest, trying to pin me down. Then he got his hands around my throat.

"I knew then this was for real. I started trying to protect myself and then he came on with his fists.  

"He must have thought the thumping wasn't doing any damage, so he picked up something solid and started bashing me around the face.

"I realised this is getting serious and went limp."

The invader made a run for it out of the door and into the darkness.

McElwee's 83-year-old mother, who lives with her, slept through the entire episode.

"Thankfully mum is deaf and slept right through it. I can only imagine what could have happened to her if she had wandered in while I was being attacked," McElwee said.

Her mother said it was horrific to be woken by her daughter, her face covered in blood.

"I thought I was dreaming when she woke me up and said, 'Mum, I've attacked.' Part of me feels guilty I slept right through it."

McElwee, with blood pouring from her face and dripping on to the cream carpet, picked up the phone and called the police. Despite a good cleaning, the carpet is still visibly stained.

Police were soon on the scene with the dogs, and McElwee said they tracked down a suspect just a few blocks away, having a smoke.

A 17-year-old is due to appear in court on June 12.

McElwee said: "I realise there are people struggling out there. It's sad to think they believe they have to resort to these kind of things.

"This young person must have no self-worth, no self-respect and no pride. Hopefully the system can help give him these things."
     

 - Stuff