Grandma is the last person you would expect to be involved in any kind of on-the-street scuffle and be cited as the “hero” in a police report.

She avoided confrontations like the plague. She was concerned about crime, but she was not the person you would expect to be on the front lines waging her own personal war on it. Grandma was independent and fair-minded, tried to live by the Golden Rule and was disappointed when others did not. She kept up on what was happening in her community and often commented on police reports, particularly those that happened close to home.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the family, a friend of hers gave grandma a present for her to carry on her person when she was out shopping or anytime she was amongst the general population. Little did we know that it would help her make the evening news.

It seems that grandma was shopping downtown recently and walking from one store to another when a young man came flying past her and tried to make a running snatch of her purse, which she was holding on her left arm. The would-be purse-snatcher underestimated the strength of grandma’s hold on the purse and was empty-handed after his attempt.

This angered him, and he demanded of grandma, “give me your purse or you’ll regret it.” Well, grandma was angered too, and answered, “run along, young man and you’ll be glad you did.” At the same time she was reaching into her purse with her right hand for her “gift”.

The attacker couldn’t believe his ears. He thought grandma was going to be an easy target. To convince her of his seriousness, he pulled out a switchblade knife and pointed the blade at her. “I don’t want to do it, old lady,” he warned, “but I will if you don’t hand over the purse now.”

Things then happened quickly. When she didn’t comply, the man started towards her with the knife at the end of his extended arm. When he got fairly close, in one swift move, grandma whipped out her “present” – a telescopic stun baton – points it at the onrushing would-be thief, and pulls the trigger. The result was immediate – and the street thug dropped his knife and hit the ground.

Grandma didn’t wait around to find out what happened next, but onlookers provided the fill-in information. While she ducked into the nearest store for assistance, a number of people dialed 911. The man was on the ground for several minutes, after which he got to his feet, obviously very disoriented, and started staggering away.

The police caught up with him a few blocks away and he is under arrest.

Meanwhile, grandma demonstrated her telescopic stun baton for police. She showed them how it fit into her rather large purse when it was in a closed position. When she pressed a trigger, it immediately expanded to 21.5 inches long and it begins shocking.

We were shocked as well, along with the public. Of course, the local news shows couldn’t get enough of grandma and her telescopic stun baton. She was on every channel and featured in the next day’s newspapers.

We had to ask her friend who gave her the gift where she found it. The answer: www.yoursecurityandsafety.com/telescopicstunbaton.htm