AZ Resident faces intruders with rifle, cell phone

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Echo Tango

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I get the feeling theres gonna be a riot.
Found this story in the news, amazingly it doesnt have any kind of anti-gun/pro-gun sentiments at all I could see.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/0710ar-invasion0711.html


Resident faces intruders with rifle, cell phone
Weldon Johnson and Colleen Sparks
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 10, 2007 02:37 PM


When Ahwatukee Ryan Altieri heard knocking at the door of his quiet townhouse Monday evening he thought it might be a salesman.

Turns out it wasn't anything nearly as innocent.

At about 6:45, two men kicked in the door at Altieri's townhouse on Piedmont Road, near Guadalupe and 48th Street. Instead of an empty home, however, the intruders came face to face with Altieri - holding a cellphone and a rifle.

"I was in the bathroom when I thought I heard a knock," Altieri said. "They knocked for about three minutes, I guess trying to make sure nobody was home, then they started kicking the door in. So I got my cellphone and went into my bedroom and loaded my rifle."

Altieri, 27, said he was on the phone with the 911 operator when two intruders burst through the door. The intruders walked in on Altieri kneeling with his rifle trained on them and the cellphone at his ear.

"They saw me and started stuttering," Altieri said. "I said, 'One more step and you're done.'"

The men ran away, leaving their car behind. One suspect, a 17-year-old, was caught soon afterward. Police are still looking for the second intruder, a man believed to be in his 30s, according to Phoenix police Sgt. Leonard Pinuelas. Nothing was taken from the home.

Altieri said he has lived in the condo for about a year. He lives toward the rear of the complex, near Guadalupe Road and 48th Street, and described it as quiet.

He said he was surprised that anyone would try to break in at that time of day.

Altieri said that while he was glad he had his rifle to protect himself, he had hoped he didn't have to shoot the intruders.

"But you don't know what the hell is behind that door," he said.
 
Truly terrifying. Glad he is O.K.

Something like this happened to me on Christmas Day 1996. Three guys with a pickup truck in my university student-heavy apartment complex knocking on doors to see who was how and who was not.

Oddly, they left when I asked if I could help them.:D
 
Altieri, 27, said he was on the phone with the 911 operator when two intruders burst through the door. The intruders walked in on Altieri kneeling with his rifle trained on them and the cellphone at his ear.

"They saw me and started stuttering," Altieri said.

That actually made me laugh... classic.

Kudos to this dude for being prepared and I am thankful that he came out of it OK without getting hurt or having to hurt someone.
 
Wow, that was awesome.

He did exactly what you should do in that situation. Imagine how scary that would be to open a door and be staring down the barrel of a hunting rifle...
 
Wonder what caliber it was...
Wonder if they also needed a change of drawers...
 
Did he use a high-capacity assault-type armor-piercing sniper rifle? Did it have a barrel shroud - you know - shoulder thingy that goes up?
 
Glad he ended up ok on this one. I don't know if I could have kept from firing if they were in my home.
 
A good example for a defensive use of a gun without anyone even injured. This is the sort of incidents the Antis never take into account when comparing deaths through firearms.
 
Hmmm what I got out of it was, he was lucky. In the sense that:

* They knocked for 3 minutes while he was in the bathroom
/ Sometimes you don't get a three minute warning to raise the senses, he was in the bathroom, as we all are at times, in this case unarmed, if he didn't have the three minute warning, what if they thought they *knew* no one was home and just came in while he was in the bathroom? Different story perhaps...

* According to the story, when he thought they were kicking in the door, that's when he grabbed the cell phone and "went into the bedroom and loaded the rifle"
/Again, going back to the amount of warning, and having to go get and then load the weapon, glad he didn't have any obstacles preventing him from obtaining and loading the ammo


I'm w/ everyone else, great reaction and procedure. I'm not cracking on the guy, I'm just thinking about his situation in relation to my own situation out loud for the sake of everyone else as well...

Things I've been thinking about include keeping at least a pocket pistol on me all the time, once I get one, to give me more time to get to something else, if need be. I already keep things loaded, but secured in their respective locations.

Regards,

Karz
 
troubling thing is....

one got away to try his hand at the same stunt again.....

next time he'll probably be better prepared, and the home owner in greater jeopordy.
 
Good story. Considering the level of preparedness he had going on, he made out really well, and didn't have to shoot as well. It's classic that they ran and left the car...

If you don't want to get shot, don't break into folks' houses...
 
Only bad thing I could think of was, what if it was the cops with a wrong address? It happens, but I don't think they ever knock first, rather they just break the door down right away. For the cops here, is there any time when you knock first and then break in?

God, what a scene if the cops come in and he's kneeling and pointing a rifle at them. Scary

Other than that, nice job of being cool and collected.
 
In the scenario of officers "hitting" the wrong house. I would hope that they would very clearly announce themselves during the entry. If not, and they burst through the door, it could be a very unfortunate experience for all concerned. I cannot believe that the resident in such a situation would be charged with any crime - assuming the weapon is legal.

Regarding this story, that man was very fortunate that he had the time and ability to handle the situation as well as he did.

regards,
 
I live and work in that neighborhood. . . . . .

It's amazing how brazen and opportunistic the home invasion crowd has gotten to be. Used to be a quiet little bedroom community where nothing much happened that required lights and sirens but forget all that now. I'm glad it turned out well for Mr. Altieri.
 
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