Ofc. Glenn Arnett
Let me say that I and a police officer here in New Mexico with a medium sized department of public safety. I am a firearms instructor, defensive tactics instructor, rifle instructor and trained sniper. I live outside the city in a rural community that has no significant crime history. However, due to property values being much cheaper in the past, than in the city, a certain element has moved into the area.
Well yesterday, 01-11-02, I woke up early to see my wife off to work – I made her breakfast and she went out to warm up the van and clean the snow off of it from the night before. She came back in and ate and we said goodbye. I sat down on the couch to watch the news. I heard what I thought was a yell. But dismissed it as one of our birds making their usual noises – then I heard it again and then a pounding on the window coming from the kids room. I thought my wife was trying to get my attention to let her back into the house. I looked out the window and did not see her, but looked up towards the van and at that moment I saw a male subject in the driver’s seat with the interior light on and heard my wife screaming.
I immediately ran to the back door of the house searching for my Glock 27 which I usually keep in a fanny pack on top of the refrigerator – it is equipped with a laser devises BA-1 laser aiming module – it wasn’t there. I have never really suggested the use of lasers on any type of firearm. However, I got this one really cheap on the internet and thought it may be a good thing for my wife to have around since she doesn’t shoot often. By the time I reached the door leading from the house to the garage, my wife was frantically beating on it and screaming. I got her inside and relocked the door. I gave her the phone and advised her to call 911 and took her into the master bedroom where I retrieved the Glock 27 off the shelf. Not wasting any more time to open my gun safe, I told my wife to do it while she was calling the police and get my Bushmaster M4 and hang onto it until I called her.
By this time the subject was in the garage and was beating very hard on the back door and yelling to let him in. I yelled at the guy through the door that I was a police officer, armed and to back away from the door. It didn’t seem to make any difference to him. I decided to sneak out the patio door and go around behind him and to see if there were any more people with him. I was in my socks and a sweat shirt in 5″ of snow. I made my way to the back of the garage and peeked through a window and saw the subject standing there facing the door with our snow shovel lying on the floor next to him. I also saw that he had a large wrench sticking out of his back pants pocket and he was still yelling at the door. I looked around and did not see any other people with him.
So I made verbal contact and yelled at him to get back away from the door and told him to put his hands up and get on the ground. He seemed intoxicated and laughed. I repeated my commands and told him I had a gun again. He told me to fuck off and that he had been shot at and wanted into the house. He didn’t know where I was and looked around. I repeated my command again but he still stood there not wanting to obey. At that point I flipped on the laser. I placed the red dot on his chest but he did not see it so I brought it up to his nose and danced it around his face and eyes. I gave my commands again and told him to look at his chest where I brought the dot down. His hands went immediately into the air and he dropped to his knees. I then gave him commands, proned him out spread eagle and reaffirmed my point of aim by dancing the dot on the floor in front of his eyes and then moving to the bridge of his nose. He did not move. I ran around and opened the garage door to the garage and contacted my wife who had the sheriff’s dept on the phone. I advised them I had the guy proned out in my garage at gun point and told them that I was a PO. My wife also had my bushy which I transitioned to for extra firepower in case he had any buddies that decided to come to help him.
A state trooper arrived in about 20 minutes and took him into custody. It turned out the guy had been having a party with some local dirt bags and had been using crank all night and had tried to rape his buddy and his buddy’s girl friend. They threw him out of their house and he broke into their vehicles and broke the windows out of their house before his buddy got out a pistol and fired 3 rounds at him through the wall. He got scared and high-tailed it to our place.
He was on probation for minor alcohol related offenses. However, he was driving a stolen van out of Arkansas and was also charged with aggravated assault and battery, criminal trespass and auto burglary – not to mention the case of hypothermia that he was getting laying on my cold concrete floor.
The point here is not that I got this dirt bag before he could do any more harm, but I was totally impressed with the intimidation factor the laser had on the belligerent wasted individual. He was about 6’ 3’’ and 200 lbs. The state trooper had a hard time cuffing this guy. The laser really made the point. I’m a firm believer in them for this purpose now. I still feel that the sights should be the primary instrument to aim a weapon. However, the laser will now have a place on duty with me. I’m going to buy one for my duty weapon as an alternative force option.
Comments, suggestions, contributions? Let me know