There's one thing similar about the evil-minded people, they always prefer to target the weaker or innocent section of the society. Kids and elderly people are always soft targets for thieves, snatchers, pocket pickers, and even worse, burglars. No wonder why people worry for kids as well as elderly people going out late and that too alone. One can still take care of kids, the people who live under extreme danger are of older age.
Most of the elderly people prefer to live alone in their own comfort zone, a peaceful life. And this story is about one such old lady who lived alone and some wrongdoers spotted her as their next target. Why this incident is different from all the rest is because neither was this lady ready to give up so easily nor were the burglars. So, what exactly happened that day was everything but ordinary.
Ideal old age is spent in peace with satisfaction, and Ethel Mills, a 60-year-old resident of Lynwood, California resident was living the ideal. At this age, she molded her life in a manner that she could plan every day beforehand. Be it an afternoon lunch out with friends or a weekend night with her grandkids she had it all mentioned on her fridge.
Ethel lived a pretty ordinary life. And her old days were going exactly as she wanted it to be. So that Thursday morning Ethel was supposed to do some grocery shopping, as well as get some dining essentials, for a get together she was organizing for her school friends. However, she had an even more important thing to do for which she was heading out of the home.
Also, earlier that day, she called at a nearby eye clinic to make an appointment with the doctor. It wasn't a routine checkup but an issue that has become a concern from quite a while now and it wasn't just deteriorating eyesight. Little did she know her journey will never end up as it was supposed to be.
Ethel was suffering from a high rate of blurry vision. From the past week, she was only able to see the things right in front of her. Her left sides looked cloudy to her. Yes, it wasn't an obstacle in her day to day routine but she knew this problem will only become severe with time. Hence, consulting an eye specialist was the best thing she could have done.
The parking lot was fully pact. She wondered what so many cars were doing in that parking lot on a Thursday afternoon. After spending almost half an hour Ethel eventually found a place to park her car. Although it was in the farthest of the corner, something was better than nothing. Well, the strange thing being, she didn't figure out the parking space herself rather a man who stood there suggested her the place in the corner. Ethel thanked him and waved at the young man while she headed towards space... She thought of him to be a nice man but he had a dangerous plan going on his mind.
The mall was overcrowded and the Ethel wanted to finish her shopping quickly so that she could reach the eye clinic on time. Stores were displaying huge discount offers but Ethel had no time to get attracted to all these sparkling offers in the mall. She tried to make her way out of it as soon as possible.
Surprisingly, the mall was overcrowded on that weekday. Ethel made her way through the crowd and made her way to the backside of the mall where the eye clinic was. Ethel was too busy to notice anyone but people did notice this one confused old lady struggling to find someplace, what they didn't know. So far, it was fine because only the regular crowd noticed her but soon some mean people with nasty intentions made her the point of their attention.
Ethel didn't notice but these young men were keeping an eye on her from the moment she entered the mall. But what did they even wanted from her? Unaware of the danger Ethel was getting into, she noticed the clinic logo in front of her and entered. As expected, these men waited outside at some distance for her return patiently.
Before any of them started to follow Ethel, one of the weirdos noticed her while she was looking for a parking spot. You won't be surprised at all if we tell you that the man who showed her space was one of them. So, things were going to turn serious soon for Ethel and she had no hints of what was coming for her.
Ethel finally got inside and waited for her turn. When she was allowed inside the doctor's cabin she told all the issues she has been facing with her vision. The ophthalmologist conducted several tests while she was on that high-backed chair and an auto refractor's cool metal was kept on her forehead. At last, he told Ethel that they will be discussing the final reports with her the next day. The old woman agreed and left.
As Ethel walked out of the eye clinic, she was lost in her own thoughts worrying about what it might be with her eyes. She was wondering how miserable life can be if she loses her sight. Not even in her worst thoughts, she imagined that three or four people were keeping an eye on her every move.
As they saw Ethel walking out of the clinic, this group of people made a plan. They decided everything, how they'll distract her, who'll wait outside and see if anyone's coming and how they'll snatch all her belongings and into which direction it'll be easiest for them to run away.
Unfortunately, elderly people suffer a lot because of such criminal minded people. Was Ethel going to become another victim? The two thugs who were going to conduct the thievery were suspecting her to be an easy target. And knowing how far her car was parked they knew chances were almost none that anyone else would be present there at the moment.
Ethel took the back door exit from where the parking area was a little closer. It was still a long way as her car was parked in the corner. She was tired and thought that never again she will be parking her car at so much distance. As expected, the parking lot was still empty as it was already dusk.
They knew the old lady will take some time with her small steps and slow walk to make it till the car. So, when these men saw Ethel taking the exit, they ran outside and stood at their predecided locations.
Ethel walked straight to her car and sat inside without noticing the two men staring at her. She just caught her breath before closing the door. She was about to put the seat belt on when the men ran into action. They forced the door open and Ethel was shocked to see the same man at whom she waved in the morning to be one of the thieves.
The men were carrying weapons with them. One of them had a sharp knife while another one carrying a revolver under his T-shirt. Ethel couldn't just fight back but she needed her bag. But how could she possibly fight two young men?
The same man snatched her handbag and pushed her back in the car. Her handbag had all her IDs, benefit cards, and credit card. More importantly, she kept her grandkids notes inside her bag. Her remaining cash was also inside her bag and in no case, could she afford to lose the bag.
Ethel, a retired police officer was aware of the seriousness of this situation and she knew it is suggested to not fight back in these scenarios. However, she didn't take her own advice that evening. Also, she was well aware of the fact that once she fights back, there will be no turning back.
The only weak point of these people was that they underestimated the strength of this old woman. She gathered all her strength and hit the man on his nose and gripped her bag around her fist and hit the other one with it. In a blink of the eyes, she was able to shut the door. The thugs, however, were not going to give up so easily. They warned her to not move the car and banged on the window with their hands.
It was now a do or die situation as Ethel just did the unexpected and these men were going to take the revenge from her. As two other men who were waiting for their partners outside also gathered around the car.
She put the car into reverse gear and tried to get out of the parking area. But that didn't work either as one of her car's tire was punctured. She drove the car anyway but the men surrounded her from all the directions. One man stood in front of the car and another one was trying to open the back door.
The moment one of the men looked at Ethel, he understood this old lady wasn't going to give up easily. Ethel slammed her hand on the horn in the hopes of getting help. Although there was no person in the parking area other than these men, Ethel gave it a shot anyway as this was the only way left with her.
When the thugs thought this woman was not going anywhere with that bag of hers, they saw two huge figure entering the parking area. The face turned pale when they saw a car rushing into their direction.
The thugs who were trying to rob Ethel never expected anyone to listen to the horns. Luckily, they miscalculated the crowd. Inside the car, were the men in uniform who ran out. Trying to rob Ethel proved to be a bigtime mistake. And now there was only one option left for these guys, ie, to run.
Sgt. Ricardo Schebesta, Staff Sgt. Bryson Twigg, and Sgt. Ben Shoemaker heard the loud honking of Ethel's cars, from their office, the Armed Forces Career Center which was behind the parking area. They ran behind the thugs on the main roads.
Ethel already warned the Marines that these thugs were armed but the warning didn't stop the marines from chasing them. “No, that kid was never going to outrun me,” one of the officers said later. “Marines run towards the sound of chaos,” they quickly caught them.
He instinctively grabbed the man’s wrist, and by using the Marine Corps Martial Arts wristlock technique, he took him down. “My first thought was, we’re on the grass I’m just going to [tackle] him,” he added. “I didn’t think about it until it was done.”
Sadly, one of the suspects ran away. Told the officer, “At the time, no, I didn’t think about it. Once I sat down, it was like ‘holy crap.’ It’s different because I have a kid. That’s all I kept thinking about. Going into combat I didn’t have one…That’s the first time I’ve actually felt the whole, ‘What if something happened?'”
Even though the officers were aware that the thugs were armed, they didn't stop chasing them. rather they understood that people like them can cause serious trouble to the civilians in the future. Thanks to their high-level military training they were able to catch them too.
The press people have titled the officers as heroes. Their commanding officer, Maj. Sung Kim said their heroic men’s actions were “reflective of the courage and commitment they embody.” The officers still are humble and think that they just followed their instincts and did what they are trained for.
“What are you supposed to do? That’s what we’re trained to do. I can’t sit here and let it happen,” claimed the officer. However, their commanding officer gave them enough credit: “[They] set a great example for their fellow Marines, and especially for the young poolees who are studying to learn what it means to be a Marine. Their response reminds all Marines that we have a responsibility to always do the right thing, regardless of whether or not anyone is watching.”
“It’s what we do. From the beginning, what we’re taught in boot camp, it’s a part of us,” the officer said in an interview. Their partner agreed and said, “It’s really what I’m trained to do, be it recruiting, be it that; my job is to protect the United States public.” We just hope that people like these officers pop up every time on the crime scene to save innocent people like Ethel and be their real-life heroes.