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The best example of good training is never having to use it and seasoned fighters – people who have been there – go to extreme lengths to avoid a conflict.
 

Clint Smith

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Cell Phone Guns Surface in France

French police found two lethal mobile phones on a man suspected of armed robberies and drug trafficking.  The devices are capable of shooting four bullets by pushing the touchpads. Police seized the phones, which feature  four separate chambers which fire a .22 caliber bullet each. I've seen officer safety warnings on these devices last year (reports were linking the disguised cell phones to Czech smuggling rings) but didn't take them seriously.  It looks like they will be hitting our shores in the next 6 to 12 months, so don't be surprised if you encounter one.

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Selling cars yourself puts you at risk

Selling your car by yourself -- remember when it was simple?

Now selling your car exposes you to risk of car theft and home invasion.   I've seen several reports of stolen cars and home invasions stemming from people who put an ad in the local newspaper or auto trader magazine. The car theft scam goes something like this:

You get a call from someone who wants to look at your old set of wheels.. A "regular" or "normal" looking man and  woman show up the next day. The woman asks to test drive the car and leaves her male friend as collateral. Usually, you would go along, but seeing as how the guy is staying with you, she can't possibly go far.  The woman is gone a little too long and you start to worry, but she shows up and says she'd gotten lost and needed directions to get back.

The couple leaves promising to call you back.  You wake up the next morning and your car is gone. There is no broken glass, no unusual noises, none of your neighbors noticed anything.

What happened was that the woman had a key made while she was gone, came back at their convenience and -- poof -- your car has disappeared. Motorcycles, ATVs and Jet Skis are also targets of thieves who case your place while you show the vehicles and come back later to steal them.

Worse than losing your car is the home invasion ploy.  Although this seems to be mostly directed at Hispanics and Asians (there are some segments of these communities who do not go to the police) it is happening to other segments of the population more frequently.

Usually a couple of guys respond to your ad.  They check things out under the guise of looking at your car and if the time and situation are right, they either push their way into the house or -- if they are already inside -- they produce weapons, tie everyone up and then ransack the house.  To add insult to injury, they often leave in the very same car that you are trying to sell.

The home invasion scenario is really scary to me because these criminals are particularly bold and once inside your home, they can take all the time they need.  Because they have no fear of you seeing them or of spending an inordinate amount of time with their victims, there are often rapes and beatings that accompany this crime.  If you don't produce what they want, beatings follow.  The term "pistol whipping" is something that seems less brutal than it really is.  It has to be seen to believed.  Serious injury and death can occur from being beaten with a pistol -- it's savage.  Some invaders are as bold as to eat out of the refrigerator or even answer the phone!

Some recommendations:

• Don't show cars by yourself;

• Don't let people into your house;

• Don't give away too much information;

• Try meeting a prospective buyer at your credit union or bank instead of your house;

• Have a backup at home;

• Keep your weapon of choice on your person or readily available.

It's a sad commentary on the state of our community, but remember, you have something that somebody, somewhere wants.

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Key suspect in sex ring is caught

Kidnapping women and girls to press them into prostitution is not a myth.  It's not dead and it's not just something that happens overseas.

In Detroit, a man has been arrested for running a multi-state ring that kidnapped women and girls or lured them with promises of money before forcing them into prostitution.

Authorities say Henry Davis of Chicago used threats of violence to keep the women and girls, many of them runaways, under his control in the ring. Davis, 32, is charged with kidnapping a 17-year-old girl from a Cleveland bus stop. Another woman, this time a 20-year old in Detroit was also forced to become a prostitute. Other potential victims are being interviewed.

Besides outright kidnapping women, Davis also used a ploy which promised the girls that they could make hundreds of dollars selling jewelry on the street. Then when he had them under his control in a private place, he would terrorize them and force them to become prostitutes for him.

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Max Factor Heir Guilty of Rapes
By Tracy Wilson, Times Staff Writer

After two days of deliberations, a jury found cosmetics heir Andrew Luster guilty of raping three women after inviting them to his seaside Ventura County home and knocking them out with a potent anesthetic he slipped into their cocktails.

Luster, 39, a self-employed investor and great-grandson of cosmetics magnate Max Factor, was not present when the verdicts were announced. He fled in the middle of his three-week trial and is believed to have left the country.

His attorney stood alone at the defense counsel table as the seven women and five men on the jury walked into court with a thick envelope containing their verdicts on 87 criminal counts. The jury found Luster guilty on 86 of them.

They included 20 counts of rape by use of drugs, 17 counts of rape of unconscious victims, two counts of poisoning and four counts of drug possession. Luster was also found guilty of oral copulation by use of drugs and sodomy by use of drugs. The jury deadlocked on one count of poisoning.

No rape victims or relatives of Luster were present when the verdicts were read aloud by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ken Riley, who told jurors he was uncertain when or whether the defendant would be sentenced.

Although Luster faces the equivalent of a life sentence, his fugitive status has raised questions. Riley said he needed to research what Luster's rights are.

The judge told jurors it was his decision to ease the terms of Luster's house arrest, which allowed the defendant to move about unmonitored during the day. Luster skipped bail and disappeared on Jan. 3 during a holiday break in the trial.

The judge said he granted a defense request to modify the terms of Luster's $1-million bail release to allow the defendant to prepare for trial.

"At the time I thought it was a legitimate request," Riley said. "As it turns out, I made a mistake."

Riley told jurors that Luster's flight was well-planned, well-financed and involved assistance from other people. Local authorities and the FBI are continuing to search for Luster.

Jurors left the Ventura courthouse under police escort and did not talk to reporters. But they told attorneys on the case that the evidence was overwhelming.

During the trial, prosecutors played two videotapes recorded by Luster that showed him engaging in sex acts with two women who appeared to be unconscious.

On the tapes, which were played in open court, Luster engaged in sexual intercourse with the women several times while manipulating their bodies like dolls. In one tape, he inserts objects, including a lighted marijuana cigarette, inside a woman's vagina.

Prosecutors argued that Luster was a serial rapist who preyed on women and fulfilled his "sick fantasies" by drugging and then raping them. The defense argued that the sex was consensual, and portrayed the videotapes as harmless homemade porn with women who were pretending to be asleep.

Jurors disagreed.

"They felt the tapes were extremely graphic and disturbing evidence, and that they obviously showed Mr. Luster was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," Deputy Dist. Atty. Tony Wold said.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, defense attorney Roger Diamond said he was disappointed but not surprised by the verdicts, given his client's flight, which jurors were allowed to consider during their deliberations.

Diamond said he was put at a disadvantage after Luster ran. "It was basically impossible to try this case without the client," he said. Looking to TV cameras at a news conference, Diamond urged his client to return and said he has a strong case on appeal.

Luster, who lived alone in Mussel Shoals, was arrested outside his home on July 18, 2000, after a UC Santa Barbara student told police he had raped her there.

During a search of the house, Ventura County Sheriff's Department detectives found the videotapes in a locked bedroom closet.

Authorities also seized cocaine and other drugs, as well as weapons. Luster was charged with multiple counts of rape based on the university student's report and the two videotapes. He was initially held on $10-million bail after prosecutors persuaded a judge that he was a flight risk.

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Keep an eye out for the "date rape" drug

Okay, so I've mentioned it before.  But the above story is a graphic example of the threat of the various readily-available drugs out there being used as "date rape" drugs. (Click here for more information on these drugs)

Just this week, I had another report of a woman approximately 20-years old who is unsure if she was raped at a party (at her own home!).

This woman hosted a party where a few uninvited male guests showed up.  They were apparently well-behaved and she was already a little drunk so she didn't ask them to leave.  She woke up the next morning, nude and covered in dried semen.  She has no recollection of what had happened and how she got there.

Women, it happens more than you think.  Educate yourself and your daughters to this phenomenon.  Do not accept drinks from people.  Do not leave your drink unattended.  If you want to get smashed, get a friend to act as a wrangler or bodyguard to keep you from getting into a situation you cannot extricate yourself from.

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The Value of Hazing

It's been my experience that men are not as trusting as women when it comes to accepting drinks or letting valuable equipment and possessions out of their control (see the above story).

Personally, I think it has a lot to do with the kind of hazing that men are exposed to throughout school, fraternities and, in particular, the military.

Watch a guy with his tray in the cafeteria.  If he has to leave the table for any reason, most men will take their tray with them.  Watch a guy refuse to accept an open drink from someone.  Chances are he will either refuse or he'll wipe the top and examine the drink before he takes a swig.

The reason?  Guys routinely haze other men by playing "jokes" like putting foreign substances in food or drinks (if you are a male reading this you know what I mean, if you are a female, use your imagination...this can include anything like cigarette butts, worms, gasoline, and urine).  Men "hide" possessions and equipment to see how panicked their friends become when they realize something's missing. Pretty hilarious, right?

If you were in the military, then you know EXACTLY what I am talking about.  You NEVER leave something lying around.  You ALWAYS control your food, drink and equipment. Recruits end up sleeping with their rifles just so they will not lose them or have them "stolen".  Guys report that they feel they are missing something even years later if they don't have their rifles with them.  

Women, skip the hazing part, but take heed of the lesson.   Don't accept open drinks from others and don't let your food and drink get out of your control.

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The First Rule of a Gunfight

There is a famous story about Col. Jeff Cooper who acknowledged that he was wrong when he said that there were "no rules in a gunfight."

He revised that statement later on to read, "There is only one rule in a gunfight -- have a gun".

It's a cute saying but, the lesson is applicable to the short story on hazing above.  Keep your firearm accessible or under your control at all times.  By "under your control" I'm not saying you have to have it on you at all times.  You can even keep it locked in a cabinet or safe.  But know where it is, know what condition it is in, and be able to bring it to bear in a timely fashion if and when you need it.

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