The dude in my stairwell echoes Pava LaPere

By now, you've heard of the Pava LaPere murder in Baltimore. This article is not intended to blame the victim, as something similar happened to me last week. Obviously, I didn't get murdered, but a sex offender was masturbating in the stairwell of my condo unit, and I was the one to make this discovery. He had been hanging around inside our building for the month of September. I escorted him out twice. The first time, I walked past him and had him step out in front of me through the garage and out of the exit. The second time I exited the building and entered the garage - he left the stairwell, and I saw him trying to hide behind my car when I found him at 6 a.m. sleeping off whatever he was on in what was clearly his favorite stairwell - the one in between my unit and my car. The third time he was pleasuring himself - I immediately returned to my condo and called the police. After five years in the Prosecuting Attorney's office, my initial reaction wasn't and isn't fear - I knew I had to get him out of the building. Most of our residents are older and retired; my mother has dementia. I cannot have him knocking on our door and interacting with her. I later discovered he was a sex offender. And he was escalating. I left out the two times my neighbor caught him, and one of those times, he was urinating in our elevator.

Here's the point: never assume that someone is harmless. Serial predators have developed a multitude of ways to trick their victims into thinking they intend no harm. Listening to your instincts for personal safety is extremely important. Instincts, often called gut feelings or intuition, are your brain's way of processing information and assessing potential threats or dangers. Don't be afraid to offend someone or turn and look directly in someone's face if they walk up behind you. Trust your gut; don't type in your PIN if someone is lurking near the ATM. Don't let someone enter behind you in a secure building without asking if they live there or the purpose of their visit. While they may not always be accurate, your gut instincts are essential to your survival mechanism and can help keep you safe in many situations. Here's why it's important:

1. Quick Decision-Making: Instincts often work faster than conscious thought. When you feel a sudden sense of danger or unease, your instincts can prompt you to react swiftly, potentially avoiding harm. Don't ignore that feeling.
2. Subconscious Awareness: Your brain is constantly processing information from your surroundings, even when you're not consciously aware of it. Your instincts can pick up on subtle environmental cues or changes that may signal danger.
3. Situational Assessment: Instincts can help you assess a situation rapidly and decide whether it's safe or potentially risky. This can be especially important in unfamiliar or unpredictable environments. And a woman has to be extra cautious. This is not a time to worry about insulting someone or offending them because you don't trust them.
4. Personal Boundaries: Instincts can also guide you in setting and maintaining personal boundaries. If something or someone makes you uncomfortable, it's essential to trust your instincts and take appropriate action to protect yourself. Don't hesitate. I asked this man if he needed help the first time I ran into him. I was considerably more aggressive after it became clear he was a serial trespasser.
5. Self-Preservation: Instincts are fundamental to your body's natural self-preservation mechanism. Ignoring them can lead to unnecessary risks and potentially dangerous situations. You have to protect yourself at all costs. Anyone who gets offended by that has bigger problems they need to process.
6. Risk Management: While instincts aren't infallible, they can serve as an additional layer of risk assessment. When combined with critical thinking and situational awareness, they can help you make more informed decisions about your safety.

It's important to note that while instincts are valuable, they are not always accurate, and they can be influenced by biases or past experiences. And let's be clear - my job has taught me one thing for sure: a person's race isn't nearly as important as the kind of person who commits a crime. There is a sex offender of every race and background who will assault women or children. Let that sink in. Therefore, it's essential to balance trusting your instincts and using critical thinking to assess situations objectively. But it's always smart to err on the side of your safety. Let someone call you racist; at least you can LIVE with that. Additionally, if you have a strong gut feeling that something is wrong, put your safety first, even if you can't pinpoint the exact source of your unease.

I don't know if the guy is coming back to my stairwell, but I'm prepared to protect myself and my neighbors from him or anyone else who decides to camp out. This incident convinced the owner of the building that it was time to secure all entries from the garage. I'm not sure why he didn't take my suggestion two years ago, but better late than never. You cannot underestimate what dangers lurk in our communities. No neighborhood is beyond worrying about personal safety.

I podcasted about my incident: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6UdtReakx3OAbyu7PfMPZ6?si=91aecb9c615d4dd0