...there is a man in the yard sitting in the gazebo and drinking beer'. Well anyway, that is as close as I can remember as to what my wife excitedly and nervously told me about 20 or 30 or so minutes. I was about to go out to confront the guy and then had the prudent idea to ask my wife if our son was home. She said yes and I told her to go get him. When Brendan came to our side door, I had another wise thought, I told him to get his shotgun to back me up just in case.
While Brendan went back upstairs, my wife explained that she had gone out to close he gate and then saw this guy in our yard. She went over to him thinking it must be one of my son's friends and she saw it was an unknown drunk having a beer or whatever (can in a bag sort of a thing) in our gazebo in the back of our yard. I told her she was nuts to have gone out there and to standby in the kitchen ready to call 911 just in case. As I was waiting for Brendan and his Mossberg 500, Linda said 'the guy is leaving'. Brendan showed up just then and I told him to back me up but to stay inside the house with the firepower.
I went out, carrying concealed, and confronted the guy who was apparently quite drunk. It was the "I've been that drunk before" kind of a drunk, the kind that Wirecutter often posts about. The guy spoke little English so, I spoke mostly Spanish since he was obviously Hispanic. His only explanation as to why he was in my backyard was that he was very drunk and had been looking for the bus or train. He was not apologetic but was seemingly very willing to leave as far as I could make out. Maybe he saw my son or maybe an angry old man of a homeowner was enough, I do not know. I escorted him through our back gate. Yes, he had to open the gate to get back there and then left it wide open which is why my wife went out in the first place, she saw the gate open when she let one of the dogs out and yes Pepe, one of our Chihuahuas, started barking like crazy at the guy. Anyway, as the drunk departed he asked how to get to either a bus or train station. I told him and he headed that way more or less in a drunken sort of waltz down our street.
I should note that all the while he had his hands in plain view and he made no sudden moves, like going for his pockets or striking at me, that almost certainly would have at least had me pouncing on him or maybe even shooting him depending on the circumstances at the moment. When I first approached we wound up face to face, chest to chest, or in other words squared off to one another but I quickly turned to blade myself in a fighting stance to avoid a kick to the nuts or whatever and I backed off a bit. Besides that, I had competent backup just inside the doroway. Anyway, no violence was needed just some loud and authoritative talking to in order to get him to leave and hopefully never come back. I will admit, he had good taste, our gazebo may be small but it has some comfortable chairs in it. Makes me wonder if he has been here before. The only other thing I maybe should have done was checked his ID and then have my wife take a photo of it and of him.
After he was gone, I immediately called 911. I declined having an officer come to my house to fill out a report, it would be a waste of their time and mine since it would be unlikely to go anywhere. However, I figured the police ought to have his description, his apparent drunken condition and know he had been trespassing and scared the heck out of my wife. I wanted to assure - that if he wound up in another backyard in the neighborhood (or even back in ours) and fell down and got hurt or maybe got shot (more likely beaten up since this is anti-gun NY) by a homeowner - that the police would know he had already been trespassing somewhere else and scaring the shit of the lady of the house. Thus, should some other homeowner, renter, resident or whoever actually had to take some sort of action against the guy, they would have a little more credibility as to why whatever they might have done to the guy whatever got done. You know, anything legal to help a neighbor defend himself and his loved ones as the suspect lay in a hospital bed recuperating or on a morgue slab cooling.
All the best,
Glenn B
While Brendan went back upstairs, my wife explained that she had gone out to close he gate and then saw this guy in our yard. She went over to him thinking it must be one of my son's friends and she saw it was an unknown drunk having a beer or whatever (can in a bag sort of a thing) in our gazebo in the back of our yard. I told her she was nuts to have gone out there and to standby in the kitchen ready to call 911 just in case. As I was waiting for Brendan and his Mossberg 500, Linda said 'the guy is leaving'. Brendan showed up just then and I told him to back me up but to stay inside the house with the firepower.
I went out, carrying concealed, and confronted the guy who was apparently quite drunk. It was the "I've been that drunk before" kind of a drunk, the kind that Wirecutter often posts about. The guy spoke little English so, I spoke mostly Spanish since he was obviously Hispanic. His only explanation as to why he was in my backyard was that he was very drunk and had been looking for the bus or train. He was not apologetic but was seemingly very willing to leave as far as I could make out. Maybe he saw my son or maybe an angry old man of a homeowner was enough, I do not know. I escorted him through our back gate. Yes, he had to open the gate to get back there and then left it wide open which is why my wife went out in the first place, she saw the gate open when she let one of the dogs out and yes Pepe, one of our Chihuahuas, started barking like crazy at the guy. Anyway, as the drunk departed he asked how to get to either a bus or train station. I told him and he headed that way more or less in a drunken sort of waltz down our street.
I should note that all the while he had his hands in plain view and he made no sudden moves, like going for his pockets or striking at me, that almost certainly would have at least had me pouncing on him or maybe even shooting him depending on the circumstances at the moment. When I first approached we wound up face to face, chest to chest, or in other words squared off to one another but I quickly turned to blade myself in a fighting stance to avoid a kick to the nuts or whatever and I backed off a bit. Besides that, I had competent backup just inside the doroway. Anyway, no violence was needed just some loud and authoritative talking to in order to get him to leave and hopefully never come back. I will admit, he had good taste, our gazebo may be small but it has some comfortable chairs in it. Makes me wonder if he has been here before. The only other thing I maybe should have done was checked his ID and then have my wife take a photo of it and of him.
After he was gone, I immediately called 911. I declined having an officer come to my house to fill out a report, it would be a waste of their time and mine since it would be unlikely to go anywhere. However, I figured the police ought to have his description, his apparent drunken condition and know he had been trespassing and scared the heck out of my wife. I wanted to assure - that if he wound up in another backyard in the neighborhood (or even back in ours) and fell down and got hurt or maybe got shot (more likely beaten up since this is anti-gun NY) by a homeowner - that the police would know he had already been trespassing somewhere else and scaring the shit of the lady of the house. Thus, should some other homeowner, renter, resident or whoever actually had to take some sort of action against the guy, they would have a little more credibility as to why whatever they might have done to the guy whatever got done. You know, anything legal to help a neighbor defend himself and his loved ones as the suspect lay in a hospital bed recuperating or on a morgue slab cooling.
All the best,
Glenn B
