This came to Your1Voice through an email from a friend on May 22, 2002, the day that the remains of former government intern, Chandra Levy, were found in a Washington D.C. park, one year after she disappeared.

Last night I attended a personal safety workshop, and it jolted me. It was given by an amazing man, Pat Malone, who has been a body guard for famous figures like Farrah Fawcett and Sylvester Stallone. He works for the FBI and teaches police officers and Navy SEALS hand-to-hand combat. Pat Malone has seen it all, and knows a lot. He focused his teachings to us on HOW TO AVOID BEING THE VICTIM OF A VIOLENT CRIME.

Here are some of the most important points that I got out of his presentation:

(1.) The three reasons women are easy targets for

random acts of violence are:

(a.) Lack of Awareness You MUST know where you are & what's going on around you.

(b.) Body Language Keep your head up, swing your arms, stand straight up.

(c.) Wrong Place, Wrong Time DON'T walk alone in an alley, or drive in a bad neighborhood at night.

Many women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON'T DO THIS!  A predator may be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

(2.) A few notes about getting into your car

(a.) in a parking lot, or parking garage: Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. 

(b.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars. 

(c.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better a little paranoid than dead.)

(3.) ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs.

(Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the

perfect crime spot).

(4.) If the predator has a gun and you are not under

his control, ALWAYS RUN!

The predator will only hit a running target 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!

(5.) As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic:

BE CAREFUL! Your sympathy may get you raped, or killed. Consider your circumstances, and don't compromise your safety. 

(a.) Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked "for help" into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

(b.) Pat Malone told us the story of his daughter, who came out of the mall and was walking to her car when she noticed 2 older ladies in front of her. Then she saw a police car come towards her with cops who said hello. She also noticed that all 8 handicap spots in the area were empty. As she neared her car she saw a man a few rows over calling to her for help. He wanted her to close his passenger side door. He was sitting in the back on the driver's side, and said he was handicapped. He continued calling, until she turned and headed back to the mall, and then he began cursing at her. In the meantime, she wondered why he didn't ask the 2 older ladies, or the policeman for help, and why he was not parked in any of the empty handicap spots. As she got back to the mall, two male friends of hers were exiting, and as she told them the story and turned to point at the car, the man was getting out of the back seat into the front and the car sped away.

DON'T GET CAUGHT IN THIS TRAP.

Please share this information with the women you know. It may save a life.  I was going to send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them, as well. Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it....better safe than sorry.

PLEASE BE SAFE AND NOT SORRY! JUST A WARNING TO ALWAYS BE ALERT AND USE YOUR HEAD!!!

Within a week after these guidelines on staying safe were posted on Your1Voice.com, a 24-year-old Providence, RI woman was reportedly kidnapped, threatened with rape and murder, and robbed at knifepoint after she tried to help a couple who told her they were having car trouble.

Providence police arrested Oscar Toliver, 36, and Teresa Howell, 30, both of Providence, on May 30th. They were charged with kidnapping and first-degree robbery with a knife. Toliver also was charged with second-degree sexual assault and other counts.  Both were ordered held without bail.

The victim was approached after she was observed by her attackers, making a night deposit at an ATM on Atwells Avenue in Providence.  She was going home when she heard Toliver trying to start an old car.  The perpetrator reportedly asked the victim, "Hey, can you give my girl a ride to a gas station?"   When the victim agreed, and allowed Teresa Howell into her car, Oscar Toliver is reported to have jumped into the back seat where he held a knife to her throat and told her to drive.  The victim was  pulled into the back seat of the car while Howell continued to drive. The couple demanded the victim's bank card and pin number.  The attackers then drove to an ATM and withdrew money from her account.

The couple discussed killing their victim, and Oscar Toliver threatened to rape her, but they ransacked her vehicle and left her keys outside.
  
Providence police located the suspect's vehicle, and arrested them, several hours later.  The suspects had the victim's driver's license, ATM card, a large amount of cash and a kitchen knife at the time of their arrest.

Based on reports in the Providence Journal, May 31, 2002, and WPRI Eyewitness News, Providence.

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