Another one for the good guys

[juddling]

Bat-wielding woman fights off intruder

 

Web Posted: 04/07/2006 03:00 PM CDT

By Brian Chasnoff

Express-News Staff Writer

 

 

When a noise awoke Courtney Mann on her living room couch around 2 a.m., the intruder already was inside her home, walking toward the back where her 1-year-old daughter lay sleeping.

 

She instantly recognized his forest green shirt, illuminated by the light of the television set.

 

He was the same man who , every day for the past week , had sauntered past her house near Olmos Park, at one point telling the 30-year-old single mother not to work too hard as she was raking leaves in a bikini, she said . Later that day, Mann saw him peeking into her kitchen window and examining her front door.

 

Now the stranger was inside her home, turning on the air conditioner, ransacking a jewelry box in her bedroom and retrieving a knife from the kitchen, a police report said.

 

Mann didn't know it yet, but according to police, the intruder was Juan Caballero, 37, an ex-convict who had been sentenced to prison in 1994 for sexual assault. Caballero was arrested later today and charged with burglary of a habitation. His bond was set at $20,000.

 

Mann was too frightened to move. Glancing around the living room, she noticed a wooden baseball bat lying near the front door.

 

The stranger re-entered the room and saw her lying on the couch. He reached out and touched her arm.

 

“You want to have a drink?” the intruder proposed, according to Mann and the report.

 

Mann screamed loud, then leaped from the couch and ran toward the front door. Approaching Mann, the burglar advised her not to call police. He then picked up a plastic bag and began wrapping it around his arm, the report said.

 

Finally, Mann unleashed a fury.

 

Still screaming, she punched the intruder in the face five times. He pushed her to the side and made for the front door. She then whacked him across the back of his head with the baseball bat.

 

He flew face-first into a flowerpot and then fled down the street. Police later found Caballero hiding in a metal shed, bleeding from the head.

 

Edited April 8, 2006 by juddling

[Whitewashed in '05]

Bat-wielding woman fights off intruder

 

Web Posted: 04/07/2006 03:00 PM CDT

By Brian Chasnoff

Express-News Staff Writer

When a noise awoke Courtney Mann on her living  room couch around 2 a.m., the  intruder already was inside her home, walking toward the back where her 1-year-old daughter lay sleeping.

 

She instantly recognized his forest green shirt, illuminated by the light of the television set.

 

He was the same man who , every day  for the past week , had  sauntered past her house near Olmos Park, at one point telling the 30-year-old single mother not to work too hard as she was raking leaves in a bikini, she said . Later that day, Mann saw him peeking into her kitchen window and examining her front door.

 

Now the stranger was inside her home, turning on the air conditioner, ransacking a jewelry box in her bedroom and retrieving a knife from the kitchen, a police report said.

 

Mann didn't know it yet, but  according to police, the intruder was Juan Caballero, 37, an ex-convict who had been sentenced to prison in 1994 for sexual assault.  Caballero was arrested later today and charged with burglary of a habitation. His bond was set at $20,000.

 

Mann was too frightened to move. Glancing around the living room, she noticed a wooden baseball bat lying near the front door.

 

The stranger re-entered the room and saw her lying on the couch. He reached out and touched her arm.

 

“You want to have a drink?”  the intruder proposed, according to Mann and the report.

 

Mann screamed loud, then leaped from the couch and ran toward the front door.  Approaching Mann,  the burglar advised her not to call police. He then picked up a plastic bag and began wrapping it around his arm, the report said.

 

Finally, Mann unleashed a fury.

 

Still screaming, she punched  the intruder in the face five times. He pushed her to the side and made for the front door.  She then whacked him across the back of his head with the baseball bat.

 

He flew face-first into a flowerpot and then fled down the street. Police later found Caballero hiding in a metal shed, bleeding from the head.

 

     

 

[Kid Gleason]

Maybe she was wearing shorts with a bikini top. He turned up the A/C in the house, so I am guessing it was hot. Women are allowed to wear bikini tops when it's hot out.

[LosMediasBlancas]

"...He was the same man who , every day for the past week , had sauntered past her house near Olmos Park, at one point telling the 30-year-old single mother not to work too hard as she was raking leaves in a bikini, she said . Later that day, Mann saw him peeking into her kitchen window and examining her front door."

 

 

Let's examine this paragraph a little more closely.

What made her say she was raking leaves wearing a bikini? Why was the bikini an important detail to mention in the story?

What made her not report this guy after one whole week of this behavior?

 

KG, I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Kid Gleason]

I know the article mentions it, but I don't know why any of us (or anybody else for that matter) would care about or question what she was wearing. That's what I was talking about.

 

As for how it got into the article, maybe the police asked her, maybe a neighbor saw her, maybe somebody asked. Maybe the newspaper said "and what were you wearing at the time", who knows. It could come to light in numerous was other than her telling the story to the paper and saying "oh, and I was wearing this cute bikini I got from K-Mart that day...". Heck, maybe the freak made mention to her of her bikini and in relating the story to the paper she said "he also said he loved my bikini". Heck, maybe even "don't rake too hard, a boob might pop out of that bikini". He commented on her "working too hard".

Edited April 9, 2006 by Kid Gleason