A Dallas-area woman who was attacked while running in a suburban park cleverly caused the attacker to suddenly break off by telling him people were coming to get her.
The defender jogging in Little Elm Park was approached by the attacker who acted like he was also running. This news story does not detail exactly how the attack was initiated, but includes the women's description of how resisted and fought back against the large man.
She’s a U.S. Army veteran with combat training and fought off the man who pretended to be jogging toward her. She thought of a quick way to startle him.
“I remember trying to scratch. I remember trying to elbow. I remember trying to reach behind me, like if I could get his eyes or whatever,” the woman recalled. “Once I got his hand away from my mouth I said, ‘I pushed the button! They know where I’m at! They’re coming!’ I think I only got those words out two or three times. Really just suddenly, he stopped, got up and ran.”
The bolded part of the above paragraph shows the words she used to the attacker. It's important to note because criminals generally have two fears:
Fear of getting hurt
Fear of getting caught
In this case, she appealed to his fear of getting caught because she put the thought in his mind that someone might be coming to help her. We will be seeing and discussing this concept frequently.
Congratulations to the defender here -- though bruised and shaken up -- who remembered her training and survived the attack to go home tonight to her family.