Home Invasion narrowly averted.

[havegunjoe]

This was a close one for a MN couple. Due to some good luck a home invasion that might have ended in several deaths was averted. The owner plans to "get a lot more guns". Seems you can't even trust your close friends sometimes.

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmana...p?a=299303&z=2


Threat of home invasion in rural Stewartville spreads fear
7/2/2007 8:52:33 AM
By Janice Gregorson

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

STEWARTVILLE -- Jon and Gloria Nelson have lived quietly in rural High Forest Township for nearly 25 years.

They have hardly ever locked the door to their wood-frame home, frequently even leaving the keys in the unlocked cars in the driveway.

"Now we are going to be getting a lot more guns," said the 69-year-old owner of Nelson Auto Sales.

So are some of his neighbors as word spreads about how the family allegedly was targeted for a home invasion that was thwarted by law-enforcement agents just minutes before it was about to happen Tuesday night.

Two men are in custody facing felony-level charges.

Nelson said his wife now lives in fear and won't stay home alone.

They learned about the planned incident about 11 p.m. Tuesday when deputies knocked on their door.

Nelson said he learned that it all started when a trusted friend is believed to have told others that he suspected the Nelsons had a lot of cash stashed in a safe.

Deputies told the family how the suspects talked of beating them up, even killing them if necessary.

"At first, it made me very angry," Nelson said Friday afternoon. "The next night when it got dark, I was scared stiff."

The daughter Shannon was raised in the quiet countryside. Back home on vacation from Colorado, she had just put her small children to bed when deputies came.

"You just don't expect something like this in High Forest," she said Friday.

On Wednesday, Nelson was at the Olmsted County courthouse getting an harassment restraining order against the man he thought was a friend; the man "we would trust our lives with," the man who played with his grandchildren.

Nelson said he has been told that the man could also face criminal charges for aiding the others. No charges have been filed against him to date.

Family members weren't injured; they credit this to an informant who tipped off police.

"Thank God for great police work," Nelson said. "We are so lucky to have great policemen to do the great work they do. They do not get enough credit it seems to me."

He told his sister in an e-mail that he shudders to think that he and his wife could have been killed; even worse, that Shannon and his grandchildren could have been killed.

He also told her to stop and thank a veteran or soldier when she sees one; the same with a policeman.

"You might not even know what he has done for you or your neighbor, but he is always there," he wrote. "Then thank God we live in the greatest country in the world."

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[MD_Willington]

"You just don't expect something like this in High Forest," she said Friday.

Evil knows no boundary... can happen anywhere & anytime...

[OPFOR]

Sounds like the Clutter family murders depicted in "In Cold Blood." These can truly be nighmare scenarios...

[BruceGibson]

Modern-day horror story. And the Rochester area consistently ranks high in various polls about best places to live in America.

I'm glad it was averted. Job well done to local law enforcement.

[falcon1]

I'm glad it was averted. Job well done to local law enforcement.

+1. And hat's off to the informant who gave them the tip.

[mr.stuart]

Not that it would have stopped this,but I have realized that it is best to never let anyone know that you have a lot of money.What is a friend anyway?

[Bark'n]

Sounds like the Clutter family murders depicted in "In Cold Blood." These can truly be nighmare scenarios...

Exactly like the Clutter family.... Richard Hickok had a cell mate who worked for the Clutters and was running his mouth about them having a safe and had tons of money (all B.S.), When Hickok got out of the the pen, he hooked up with Perry Smith and hatched the plot.

When found out there was no safe and no money, they felt trapped and committed, so they slaughtered the whole family.

These things can go bad at any time for any number of reasons. The fact that someone knowing Invades an occupied dwelling are about as dangerous as it gets. Extreme caution must be taken when dealing with a Home Invasion!
JMO, YMMV

[ccw9mm]

They have hardly ever locked the door to their wood-frame home, frequently even leaving the keys in the unlocked cars in the driveway.

Nelson said he learned that it all started when a trusted friend is believed to have told others that he suspected the Nelsons had a lot of cash stashed in a safe. Deputies told the family how the suspects talked of beating them up, even killing them if necessary.

"At first, it made me very angry," Nelson said Friday afternoon. "The next night when it got dark, I was scared stiff."

Nelson said his wife now lives in fear and won't stay home alone.

Now that they've heard something specifically targeted them, they're concerned? I wonder if they left their keys outside. The full set, including the key to the house, the cars, the safe. Might be safer, that way. At least that would be something.

Ignorance is bliss, I suppose. There's a reason that lambs get slaughtered.

"Now we are going to be getting a lot more guns," said the 69-year-old owner of Nelson Auto Sales.

Ten to one, improved mindset would help them far more than one more gun. Without that, they're like as not simply going to be arming their intruders.

They should realize that, specifically targeted or not, the risks are out there. That they are completely clueless only serves, of course, to raise the likelihood they'll be able to do zip, if attacked. There are criminals in their midst ... and those fools watch television, listen to their other criminal friends, see what money there is to be made off people whose heads are in the clouds, understand what "juice" is to be gained from exerting power over others when there's little risk of being stopped, caught or retribution.

In such a small town, I'd like to think that they have some good friends in law enforcement who could rearrange their synapses for them, to help them understand it's not all sweetness and light, out there.

"Thank God for great police work," Nelson said. "We are so lucky to have great policemen to do the great work they do. They do not get enough credit it seems to me."

Yeah, well, the credit really goes to the criminal with a conscience about his neighbors and what constitutes right and wrong. The LEO's/detectives should be lauded for following through on the tip, but without the tip everyone would have simply been playing cleanup in the bloody tracks of another crime scene.

Modern-day horror story. And the Rochester area consistently ranks high in various polls about best places to live in America.

A criminal with a choice of targets gets to decide between the decrepit mobile home park and the nicer homes on the hills. Any criminal with a car can get to the hills. And risk management being what it is, a smart criminal's going to want high bang-for-buck, with reduced risks. Point is: ain't nothin' for certain, when it comes to predicting what criminals will and won't do. Many are just as mobile and capable as we are, with less concern over what people think about it.

[downrange]

i would lock my front door and my car if i lived on mars. glad they're o.k. but that's just stupid to me.

[Colin]

Nice to hear about the good police work, plus another convert to CCW.

[TN_Mike]

"You just don't expect something like this in High Forest," she said Friday.

That was his first mistake.

I expect this kind of thing to happen anywhere, anytime and by anyone. Even my close friends are under constant scrutiny by me.

In fact, I just dropped a friend day before yesterday because of something he did. I am not willing to go into it but suffice it to say, some may consider it a small thing but to me, it was a big enough safety concern that I explained to him that I could no longer continue to view him as a friend after what he did.

To his credit, he said he understood and apologized.

[Sonic Misfit]

i would lock my front door and my car if i lived on mars. glad they're o.k. but that's just stupid to me.

I lived on Mars for a while and you're right! You need to lock your doors because the illegal aliens from Jupiter will rob you blind!

Anyway, good job by the LEOs who handled the situation.

[Cactus Jack Garner]

This is another reason why even when I am just walking around the house I have a Keltec in my pocket.

[downrange]

I lived on Mars for a while and you're right! You need to lock your doors because the illegal aliens from Jupiter will rob you blind!

Anyway, good job by the LEOs who handled the situation.

just make sure you use windshield covers. solar flares ruins the dash beyond what armor-all can fix, ...are jupiter-ians taking martian jobs?!

[Gun Loving Liveral]

This shows statistics, while useful, prove nothing in an individual case. Rural homes, with stable family residing therin and not engaged in any questionable activity themselves are the LOWEST likely to suffer a home invasion. Statistics are very useful, but do not help if you are the lone exception. I lived in the country growing up and now for the past20 years. We always locked our doors and kept a loaded gun (which my mother would not touch). I have done the same thing, and our bedroom door upstairs is an all metal exterior door on reinforced hinges which would take a good, hard whack to open. Make them work to get into the house, then into the bedroom. Then the his and her shotguns can come into play. I will probably never need this level of security, but so said the Minnesotans in this case.