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Armed Grandmother of 10 Stops Home Invader
gopusa.com ^ | 6 April, 2013 | NA

Posted on 04/11/2013 7:09:52 AM PDT by marktwain

Sandra Mize confronted an intruder breaking into her north Spokane home early Wednesday morning. She fired one shot in his direction and held him at gunpoint until officers arrived. Police arrested the man and said they do not believe it was his first burglary of the night.

Sandra Mize has a motto: "You don't get do-overs."

That's why the 63-year-old grandmother of 10 keeps a gun by her bed, a canister of mace in her living room, and reinforces the doors in her north Spokane home with deadbolt locks and metal jambs before she goes to sleep every night.

Her preparedness may have saved her life just after midnight Wednesday when she held off a burglar - at one point firing a wayward shot at the intruder - until police arrived.

Mize knows gun use and property crime are hotly debated issues. The break-in occurred nine days after a car thief was shot and killed by the car's owner about a mile away from her home.

"I could let my car drive down the block," Mize said. "That doesn't bother me. Someone in my home bothers me."

Mize was asleep in her single-story home along the 2000 block of East Dalton Avenue when she heard someone bust through her back door, bending her door braces and shattering the steel-paneled door's wooden frame.

She grabbed the .22-caliber handgun she keeps by her bed and ran into her dark living room to see the silhouette of a man in her kitchen.

Separated from the man by only a kitchen counter, Mize warned the intruder she was armed.

"He just kept coming," Mize said. "I didn't hesitate to shoot."

(Excerpt) Read more at gopusa.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: armedcitizen; banglist; defense; guncontrol; home; secondamendment; wa
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Much more detail in this article than in previous ones.
1 posted on 04/11/2013 7:09:52 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

A heart warming story...


2 posted on 04/11/2013 7:12:33 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (NRA Life Member)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks; marktwain
Indeed it is. You're right, mt, the details are interesting:

"Within two minutes, police had surrounded her home. The officers on her porch told her to put down her gun, so she set it on top of an antique sewing machine she uses as a TV stand.

That's when the man took off. Rising from the sofa, he tried to flee through the back door, Mize said.

A police dog was there to greet him.

The man ran back into the home and police quickly followed. Mize said she watched as about five officers wrestled the man to the living room floor and the dog bit him on the leg.

"He was very strong," said Mize..."


3 posted on 04/11/2013 7:17:39 AM PDT by cyn (Benghazi.)
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To: marktwain

” reinforces the doors in her north Spokane home with deadbolt locks and metal jambs before she goes to sleep every night.”

Lot of work to do every evening!


4 posted on 04/11/2013 7:18:49 AM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
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To: marktwain

.


5 posted on 04/11/2013 7:25:24 AM PDT by skinkinthegrass (who'll take tomorrow,$pend it all today;who can take your income,tax it all away..0'Blowfly can :-)
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

LOL, yes!


6 posted on 04/11/2013 7:27:46 AM PDT by agere_contra (I once saw a movie where only the police and military had guns. It was called 'Schindler's List'.)
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

Speaking off topic about doors on some other forums people are painting their front doors with a coating of Herculiner, same stuff you line a truck bed with. The lining is almost blastproof and holds up well against a battering ram.


7 posted on 04/11/2013 7:29:32 AM PDT by Eye of Unk
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To: marktwain
he man ran back into the home and police quickly followed. Mize said she watched as about five officers wrestled the man to the living room floor and the dog bit him on the leg./ ******************* The dog did more damage than she did.
8 posted on 04/11/2013 7:30:33 AM PDT by mardi59 (IMPEACH OBAMA NOW!!!!!)
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To: marktwain

The police told her to put down her gun - she put it down on a sewing machine and that is when the robber tried to escape.

What if he had gone for the gun instead?


9 posted on 04/11/2013 7:31:03 AM PDT by heartwood
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To: Eye of Unk
This is pretty good as well. mysafedoor.com
10 posted on 04/11/2013 7:35:11 AM PDT by miliantnutcase
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To: cyn
The officers on her porch told her to put down her gun, ... That's when the man took off.

The police always assume that citizens lack common sense and training with a weapon. In my experience it's the police who could use more range time. More common sense and restraint too.

11 posted on 04/11/2013 7:37:39 AM PDT by ladyjane (For the first time in my life I am not proud of my country.)
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To: heartwood

I doubt the Seattle cops could help her, maybe the dog would save the day.


12 posted on 04/11/2013 7:39:42 AM PDT by tm61 (Election 2012: we find it IS possible, to polish a turd.)
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To: mardi59

Surprised they didn’t shoot the dog.


13 posted on 04/11/2013 7:43:23 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Eye of Unk

Sounds like an interesting idea. Might look kinda funky. Wouldn’t do me much good, as I have 6 huge sling doors on the first floor.


14 posted on 04/11/2013 7:44:00 AM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
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To: marktwain

Good. This is what the libs want to take away from us. They want the criminal to just waltz right in and take what is “rightfully” his.


15 posted on 04/11/2013 7:52:43 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Pi$$ed off yet?)
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To: massgopguy

rprised they didn’t shoot the dog.

*********

I am too. I’m more surprised they didn’t shoot Mrs Mize.


16 posted on 04/11/2013 7:56:02 AM PDT by mardi59 (IMPEACH OBAMA NOW!!!!!)
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To: ladyjane; TigersEye

Exactly. She with her .22, sense of self-preservation, and determination had more control over the situation and on her survival than 5 (five) cops did.

They were more focused on her and the supposed danger she posed than on the dirtball perp than on protecting her.

Great illustration.


17 posted on 04/11/2013 8:05:22 AM PDT by cyn (Benghazi.)
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To: mardi59
The dog did more damage than she did.

??

The police dog was not there in her moment of need. Her .22 and readiness to act, fortunately, were right at hand, and were enough to keep a strong and very determined ("He just kept coming...") home invader down.

Until she was disarmed, that is.

18 posted on 04/11/2013 8:18:54 AM PDT by cyn (Benghazi.)
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To: cyn

She did do a great job, but I just thought it was funny that she didn’t shoot the fool but the dog bit him. :)


19 posted on 04/11/2013 8:29:40 AM PDT by mardi59 (IMPEACH OBAMA NOW!!!!!)
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To: Eye of Unk

The weak point is not the door but the wooden jamb. It is just a two by four with a 1/2 strip of wood nailed to it.

The thing to do is get a thin piece of angle iron and drill and screw it to the jamb to spread the force of the bolt over a much wider area. You can do the same with a 1/8 inch thick plate of sheet metal that is 3 inche wide and 2 foot long. Drill a large hole in the center for the bolt and for the striker to go through and a dozen small holes for drywall screws. Then screw it to the door frame with 3 inch drywall screws.

If you want it to look normal, just put the plate under the 1/2 door frame trim board.

If she had had that modification done with a metal door, all the guy would have done is broken his foot.


20 posted on 04/11/2013 8:39:02 AM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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