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When I was attending UT, Austin, about to go into the Army, my roomate and I went out for ice cream.

Brad had a REAL NICE restored Camaro and like to tool around Sorority Row to show it off.

After the obligatory cruise around 3-letter lane we pulled into 7-eleven.

Some GB were hanging out in front giving us the stink-eye while ogling the Camaro.

When we came out one was sitting in the drivers seat acting like he was crossing the finish line at Daytona while his buddies laughed.

Brad was not a big guy, but he paid for the Camaro in cash earned from picking up square bales all summer. Back then it was a nickel a bale and it took 16 hour days all summer long to get that car. Brad was honed.

And Brad was a Redneck Hick from far East Texas whose mom was issued a chip for his shoulder when the ultrasound tech said "Boy".

When he saw the GB in his car he just exploded in rage, ran to the car, slammed them out of the way, and reached his whole body into the driver's side window.

Brad was underwater for a second, his butt wiggling, struggling like a noodler with a 300 pound catfish, then he emerged with Mario Andretti lifted over his head like a bale of hay.

Whom he promptly slammed into the pavement. He then picked Mario up again and slammed him to the ground. And again.

All the air went out of the GBers.

The police showed up.

And we never saw them again.

I want to Thank all of you for your stories. I am happy to see so far nobody has been hurt. Also I look forward to more stories. I do believe that (an it works for me) reading different stories like this helps to give everyone that much more to think about if they end up in a bad situation. And it could also give more perspective and even save someones life good or bad guys.
Thaks again and keep'em coming

I havnt seen one yet,(if there is please tell me)
Would someone be willing to open a new area in this forum for Self Defence stories??

Cleveland Ohio:
Clutch broke in my car while traveling out of state. I was stuck on the interstate, and a towtruck driver was called. The towtruck driver said he knew of some good autoshops in the area. He towed my car over to the "autoshop" which turned out to be someones house. The next day I decided to have my car towed to a Nissan Dealership as this guy looked pretty shady tree to be working on my car. The "autoshop" owner refused to allow my car to be released. He said I owed a 200.00 storage fee for the night. We argued, I threatned to call the police, and he pulled out a revolver, and said he was going to shoot me. At this time I had no weapons and being his 3 other friends were there the odds were not in my favor for any type of wrestling the gun from him. It would have been good to just give him the money, except I didn't have it. So instead I laughed at him and called him names. Instead of shooting me he hit me in the head with the gun HARD, it really hurt. I kept laughing, and I guess the situation had diffused somewhat, because all he could say was "you crazy white boy".. he then let me and my car go.

WOW.......
I do believe that I would have told him I was going to the ATM and returned with the Cops in my back poaket

Glad you are ok....other than the bump on your head

Gosh I was just telling the story like it happened, I was glad the guy made at least once good choice in his life and left instead of dying. He did not have a weapon that I could see and I did. Once that message was conveyed the problem evaporated.

We told everyone on the ranch about my incident and I am sorry the lady lost her truck (never recovered) and got herself full of prickly pear thorns, but, I still think I made the right decision. I thought about it for a long time after it happened.

You did what you thought best at the moment. If you had shot the guy, you might have been prosecuted as a vigilante who shot a poor, innocent migrant worker (like Messrs. Ramos and Campion).

Nobody knows it was the same guy who later stole a truck.

- Jim

I don't know if this qualifies as "self defense" but here's my story anyway. A couple of years ago I bought a house in old East Dallas. This is in the area right around lowest Greenville avenue, known as a party spot by people in big D. The area is pretty sketchy, but I liked it. The bar patrons never really bothered me. What DID bother me was the illegal aliens from El Salvador living next door. Before I bought the house I had checked it out (for a month) and saw no problems. It was after a couple of months that they started partying in the backyard all the time. These old houses are really close to each other and you can hear everything in your house. So at about 5pm on Friday evening, the tejano music would be cranked up from a pickup truck in the backyard as loud as it could possibly go. These animals would sit around, get drunk and scream at the top of their lungs in Spanish until sometimes 5am. Then it would start back up on Saturday at 9am and go again until late in the night. Sunday too. Every week. I can hear this in EVERY room of my home.

Now, I said all that to let you know that after months of this, I REALLY hated these people with all of my heart. I wanted to kill them. After calling the cops numerous times, they saw me out in the yard walking my dog, a german shephard. We had been on partially friendly terms when I first moved in, so the owner of the house said "HEY! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU." I assumed this wouldn't be a friendly discussion. To make a long story short, they (by they I mean the guy and his thug brother in law that speaky no English) threatened to kill me if I called the cops on them again. The thug was an obvious psycho, and I knew he had pulled a bowie knife on one of the other guys that hung out there. He wanted me to fight him in the street. I'm thinking "you gotta be kiddin'" These people brought all of this on themselves, and they want to fight me. I had a Taurus .38 snubby tucked in my jeans the whole time. Between me and them was a small chain link fence. If they had jumped over I would have shot them. I was able to diffuse the situation a little, but it was pretty scary. Scary because a couple of times I thought about pulling the gun anyway since I was amped up and hated these people. I didn't see a weapon, but if they came over the fence, I can only assume they meant to hurt me. Those are grounds for being shot...especially on my own property. If I hadn't had the dog there, I'm pretty sure they would have tried something.

Even though this isn't a CHL story, it's still a story about self control. In the back of my mind, I still wish they would have come onto my property. I know that's not the best solution, but I held my cool. I soon after sold the house because I knew if I stayed there someone was going to be killed. I certainly didn't want it to be me or my fiance, so we left. It could have just as easily been one of them too, and I didn't want to end up in court as the racist white guy that decided to defend himself. There was another story about one of them trying to open my front door at about 1am one night and me bringing out a .12 gauge, but I'll leave that one for another time.

At any rate, it was very comforting to have the gun on me at that time. Did I need it? Not necessarily, but it helped me mentally knowing that I could have killed them and they were lucky I didn't. I still carry at home all the time and have for years. I carry when mowing the lawn, walking around the house, etc. I've already had a run in with my new hip hop blasting neighbors over here in the nice suburbs where I live now. It's not as bad, but I must have the worst luck in the world having to put up with these ghetto people all the time.

Tell the one about when he opened your door.
The only way i see you getting away from the neighbors is to get out in the country a lil more

...threatened to kill me if I called the cops on them again.

I would have said hold on a second and would have called the police right then and there.

I'm curious, did the police ever issue them a "loud music warning"? Once they issue them a loud music warning, the next time they come back they can arrest them for violating the Dallas Municipal Code regarding loud music. The area of Dallas where you live probably has more loud music calls for service than anywhere else in the city so any officer responding to your complaints should be very well aware of how to handle them.

To CHL/LEO

Yes, they did give them a citation once. You have to realize though, the Dallas police are understaffed and have better things to worry about than a regular citizen's quality of life. Not that they don't care...they just simply don't have time. There are so many other fish to fry in Dallas. That's one reason why you never see a cop on the side of the highway giving tickets. They don't have time for that kind of thing in Dallas.

You would think that when they walk up and hear tejano music blasting, that they'd be itching to take someone in. Especially since it seems that when a cop gets killed, it's almost always at the hands of an illegal. That happened in my very neighborhood when I was living there. Dallas officer shot and killed by an illegal alien who had recently been released from jail. That happened down the street from my house. I was outside at 3am that night watching the helicopter circle and wondering what was going on.

I think LEO's miss the point on a lot of this stuff and I'll tell you why. For one thing, a friend of mine's dad who is a LEO said the same thing about calling the cops right then and there. Here's why this doesn't work. You have to live next door to these idiots day in and day out. I have a very pretty and young fiance living with me. They might go after her if I'm not there. The police can't always be there to protect you. For a while I had her carrying a gun even without a CHL. It was that serious and I'd rather see her alive and in jail than dead and raped. I did call the police and met them down the street to make a report, but there were too many factors keeping me from calling them right there. The police also told me they couldn't do anything anyway unless they actually killed me (or tried to). Gee, thanks.

Our laws do NOT apply to these people. They can kill me, jump the border and never even face prosecution. You're not dealing with normal people. Not to mention that they were always drunk and extremely violent. The police would sometimes take them to jail for what they were doing to each other. I watched them bash out their own car's windows when they got angry. Seriously...their own car! Also...I can deal with one guy bothering me, but there was always between three to ten illegal guys over there all the time. These type of people will never approach you one on one. I doubt you've lived in a situation like this, but I'm sure you've seen plenty of them. The way it looks from the outside may be different from what the situation actually is. Regardless, the solution is not usually a simple one.

govnor - I am a Dallas Police officer that is very familiar with the area where you live. I used to patrol your neighborhood and am aware of how much it has changed over the last 10 to 15 years. I have had fellow officers live there but who have now chosen to move away because of the changes - primarily the increased bar traffic on lower Greenville and the type and size of crowds they attract. Many Dallas neighborhoods are in some type of "transition". Some getting better - some getting worse. The ones that are getting worse today will be just the opposite 10 - 15 years from now. It's all about timing.

With that being said let me address some of the points that you made in your previous post:

the Dallas police are understaffed

I agree with you on this point. There are currently about 3100 sworn officers at DPD and our goal is to increase that to around 3600 officers in a few more years. By that time we will probably be short another couple of hundred officers based upon the growth we're experiencing.

...and have better things to worry about than a regular citizen's quality of life.

Don't agree with you at all and wonder why you feel this way?

That's one reason why you never see a cop on the side of the highway giving tickets.

Dallas has a fairly good sized Traffic Enforcement Unit. They do work the freeways sometimes but by an inter-local agreement freeway enforcement is now being conducted by the Dallas County Sheriffs Department. Primary traffic enforcement by DPD officers is being conducted in school zones and areas which receive a lot of citizen complaints, ie: speeding and running stop signs.

You would think that when they walk up and hear tejano music blasting, that they'd be itching to take someone in.

I'm sure that you didn't mean for it to be, but this statement comes across as a racist comment. I really don't care what kind of music they're playing when I arrive. If it's Frank Sinatra or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and it's too loud, they need to turn it down and not disturb others.

Especially since it seems that when a cop gets killed, it's almost always at the hands of an illegal.

The majority of the Dallas officer's funerals that I have attended (way too many) have not been at the hands of illegal aliens. The specific incident that you are referring to was probably officer Brian Jackson who was killed by an illegal alien. While the last Dallas officer that was killed on duty (Mark Nix) was murdered by a Hispanic male, he was not an illegal alien.

You have to live next door to these idiots day in and day out.

I work with them day in and day out so I choose to live as far from them as possible.

The police can't always be there to protect you.

I agree 100% and wish that everyone realized that. Probably most people on this forum do and that's why they have a CHL.

It was that serious and I'd rather see her alive and in jail than dead and raped.

Good for you - I applaud your stance.

Our laws do NOT apply to these people.

Not true other than the laws dealing with them being here illegally - and the Dallas PD can not enforce these Federal laws. In most cases they have to be arrested and charged for a felony before they can be deported. The Dallas PD does not make any exceptions for arrest based upon someone's residency status.

Also...I can deal with one guy bothering me, but there was always between three to ten illegal guys over there all the time. These type of people will never approach you one on one. I doubt you've lived in a situation like this, but I'm sure you've seen plenty of them.

Your previous post stated that the psycho with the bowie knife threatened to kill you. If after he threatened to kill you, he and his buddies jumped your fence because you were attempting to call the police, you should have had no problem in articulating how you were in fear of your life based upon the threat they just made and their actions. No doubt this would have been a traumatic experience and one that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

I'm hoping that either you have moved, or that your neighbors have moved out, and you have much better ones. Are you a member of your neighborhood crime watch group. Each crime watch group is assigned a police officer to act as their liaison with the department. The ICP officer that is assigned to your local group would be more than glad to meet with you and discuss your options.

The police also told me they couldn't do anything anyway unless they actually killed me (or tried to).

If someone threatened to kill you they could have been arrested for Assault or a Terroristic Threat. Most people wrongly believe that to be arrested for assault that there has to be some type of physical disturbance. Not so - intentional verbal threats meet the elements of the offense.

HAH! The police won't even live in that neighborhood...man. I knew it was bad, but not that bad. Actually, the weird thing is they are building new $500k houses all over that area. Doesn't seem like they are getting snapped up off the market that fast though.

I have moved, btw. I left Dallas for good last year after living there for several years. I only lived in that particular house for about a year and a half though. Much longer and I would have been popping people through the fence with my SKS. I now live in Bedford, but I want to move out into the country where I can have some land eventually.

I thought you might be a Dallas officer.

...and have better things to worry about than a regular citizen's quality of life.

Don't agree with you at all and wonder why you feel this way?

Let me put it this way. I don't think that statement applies to the regular officer on the street. In fact for the most part, the police were very courteous and helpful. I did feel like they had my best interest at heart. What it DOES mean, however, is that after getting your fifth shooting/stabbing/domestic disturbance call for the day, the noise call kind of goes on the backburner. In fact it would take an hour or so for them to respond usually. Is this the officer's fault? Of course not. Dallas just not have the boots on the ground and will to deal with this type of thing. Until they do, those horrible neighborhoods will stay that way. That, or enough yuppies will move in to change it. That is happening over there, but it takes a long time. If I call the police over here (Bedford) it takes less than five minutes. That's because it's a much smaller town with very little crime.

As far as you saying they could be thrown in jail after a few times...yes, they can, but after calling at least 30 times over less than a year, I knew it would never happen. I even had sheetrock up on my windows that faced their house. That's how loud it was.

You would think that when they walk up and hear tejano music blasting, that they'd be itching to take someone in.

I'm sure that you didn't mean for it to be, but this statement comes across as a racist comment. I really don't care what kind of music they're playing when I arrive. If it's Frank Sinatra or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and it's too loud, they need to turn it down and not disturb others.

Well, racist or not, when I hear music cranked up, 99% of the time it is two kinds of music: tejano or rap. Besides, I never even said what color the people are doing it. Generally though, the people cranking tejano are illegal aliens from south of the border. I'm not trying to be racist, I'm just stating the truth. My real estate agent, and friend is hispanic. He grew up here in the US and believe me...you will never see him next to a pickup with the doors open blasting tejano and drinking beer. He drives an Infiniti anyway, so it just wouldn't look right! I told him my whole scenario and since he sold me the house, he felt bad and got me another one. Yes, I had to pay of course, but he made me money on the Dallas house. I think you know the point I'm making. It's a cultural issue. It's also not something that happens every once in a while. The people that do it, do it all the time. I'm sure the police don't appreciate it.

As far as an illegal being deported because of a felony charge. Don't believe that. The guy that killed Officer Jackson had committed felonies and been in and out of jail. And yes, that is the specific incident I'm referring to. For some reason I thought the other guy was an illegal too, my bad.

Also, when I say our laws do not apply to them, I mean it this way: If you or I murder somebody, then yes, we could flee to Mexico. It is possible, but I don't speak the language, know anyone there, etc. These guys have everything already in place to jump right back home. In the case of my wonderful neighbors, the owner of the house even owned stores back in El Salvador where the psycho brother in law could go back to work. When they're ready to come back then they get another illegal identity and guess what? They're back. That's why I say our laws do not apply to them. If you caught them right away, sure...I'm talking about what usually seems to happen. Besides, those people were so crazy they wouldn't even think about the consequences like you and I, the law abiding citizen would. That's the only reason I didn't shoot them the day they threatened me, consequences. If it was like the old west, then you can bet that I would have right then.

If someone threatened to kill you they could have been arrested for Assault or a Terroristic Threat. Most people wrongly believe that to be arrested for assault that there has to be some type of physical disturbance. Not so - intentional verbal threats meet the elements of the offense.

Yeah, I've heard of that, but the police pretty much have to be in the mood to do something about it, which they obviously weren't that day. The problem as I see it is...if something like this happens, and the police have been to this specific house numerous times and even arrested people there, then I would assume they would want to put an end to it. The truth is that they either didn't care, didn't have time to deal with it or had better things to do. Either way, I'm sure the problem continues now with someone else dealing with it.

I will admit that this experience has changed me in many ways. I was already a gun totin' redneck before, but now it's much more pronounced. I won't even say some of the other ways I've changed on this message board. It wouldn't be appropriate. I still have a lot of respect for the police. I seriously don't blame them for this (even though I did a little at first), I blame the city for it's lack of leadership and non-committal attitude when dealing with criminals. As you stated, you wouldn't live around these people either. That's why I moved away from Dallas because unless you're a millionaire it seems like you have to live around them.

I wish you luck and safety in your career. Dallas is a rough town. I've known plenty of Dallas officers since I used to work in high rise security downtown years ago. I've heard tons of stories that the normal person wouldn't believe. I'm sure you have a few.

Based on my past experiences, if an illegal is sentenced for a felony, the US will make his serve his sentence, THEN throw him back across the border.

As far as an illegal being deported because of a felony charge. Don't believe that. The guy that killed Officer Jackson had committed felonies and been in and out of jail. And yes, that is the specific incident I'm referring to. For some reason I thought the other guy was an illegal too, my bad.

Besides, I never even said what color the people are doing it.

Perhaps I misunderstood your previous post:

What DID bother me was the illegal aliens from El Salvador living next door. ...scream at the top of their lungs in Spanish

Bedford is a nice town (several of our officers live there) and good luck also in regards to getting a place in the country. Hopefully you can get enough land to have your own practice range.

The reason most officers move from the town that they work in is that they don't want to have to run into and deal with the idiots they arrest during the day. Not the most pleasant of experiences when you're out with your family.

Most every officer I know (federal, state, and local) believes fervently that our borders need to be closed until we get the illegal alien problem solved. When we arrest anyone we suspect of being here illegally we have the jail intake personnel stamp "Hold for INS" on their book in sheet.

Technically that means that an agent from ICE will interview them to determine if they are here legally. If not, you would think that they would be deported right? Doesn't work that way. They issue them a summons to appear for an immigration hearing. I'm guessing that about 99.999% of them never show up for those hearings.

Now if they have committed a felony, ICE might decide to hold them until their trial. Lots of times they will voluntarily return (not fight deportation) to their country (at our government's expense) just to avoid a criminal trial. If they have killed, Agg Assaulted or raped someone then yes the county will try them first and they will serve their sentence. Once they serve their sentence then they are deported.