The Best Mugging Defense of All: Avoid Being Mugged in the First Place
Stay in populated areas. While pickpockets like crowded areas, muggers prefer to attack individuals when they’re by themselves. It reduces the chances of witnesses.
So rule number one of avoiding being mugged: stay in populated areas, and don’t go out alone.
Stay in well-lit areas. Again, muggers like to do their work where they can’t be seen, so if you’re out and about at night, stay in well-lit areas. When you park your car at a store, park it underneath a light. Avoid dark alleys and the like. If you are out at night, keep a tactical flashlight on you. It allows you to identify potential threats and the bright light can momentarily disorient attackers.
Stay discreet. “Gray man” is a phrase you hear a lot in the tactical world. It means dressing and acting in a way that doesn’t bring much attention to yourself. To avoid being mugged, be the gray man. Don’t wear anything that would make you an attractive target to would-be muggers. If you’re going to be in an unsafe part of town, keep the expensive jewelry and watches at home. Dress discretely and in a way that doesn’t suggest you’ve got a lot of money.
Maintain situational awareness. Stay in condition yellow. Know what’s going on in your surroundings. Look for anomalies. This requires you to take off your headphones, keep your nose out of your phone, and regularly study up on and test your situational awareness.
In my case, my situational awareness was pretty good leading up to the mugging. I recognized that the cholo walking towards me was going to be trouble. The tactical error I made was I didn’t take action based on my observation. Which brings me to my next point…
If you see a potential threat, move to safety. If you recognize a possible threat, move to safety immediately. And safety usually means well-lit and populated areas.
Also maintain distance between you and your potential attacker. Many muggers will approach you to ask the time. If a shady-looking character approaches you with that kind of question, keep walking while you answer.
When I got mugged, I stood next to my would-be attacker for like five minutes while he smoked. I guess I thought it would have been rude to leave? I don’t know. Whatever the reason, it was dumb. I should have left as soon as I sensed trouble.
What to Do If You Get Mugged
You’ve taken all the precautionary steps, but you’re still getting mugged. What do you do then?
Give the mugger what he wants. If you can’t run, just give the mugger what he wants. Your life is worth much more than your wallet or watch. Don’t fight back. Every self-defense expert I’ve talked to recommends this, and these are some tough mofos who could take on, and take down, most anyone they wanted — and yet they still say it’s not worth escalating the altercation into violence unless absolutely necessary.
Most muggers just want money from you. If you give them what they want, they’ll leave you alone. The majority of armed robberies end without injury.
When you give the wallet to your attacker, do so in a way that maintains distance between you and him. This may mean throwing it to him.
In some instances, muggers will stand near ATMs, point a weapon at you, and demand that you withdraw money for them. Co-cooperate knowing the confrontation will be over soon.
Consider a dummy wallet. If you live and work in an area with a high number of muggings, you might consider carrying a “dummy wallet.” It’s a cheap wallet that you fill with a few dollar bills and those promotional cards that credit card companies send you. Keep it in your other back pocket and give it to him when he asks for your wallet.
Maintain situational awareness. You’re going to be spooked during your mugging, but do your best to maintain situational awareness. Remember important details about your mugger’s appearance for the police report: height, clothing, hair color, race, tattoos, etc.
Make noise. Again, muggers want to do their work with as little attention as possible drawn to them. Being extra loud while you interact can scare them off.
Fight back only as a last resort. The basic guideline is to cooperate with your attacker and give him what he wants. There are situations when you should consider fighting back though.
If your attacker is getting extremely close to you and throwing punches or jabbing a knife towards you, you need to defend yourself. Control whatever weapon your attacker is using and unleash violence on them. Use improvised weapons. Gouge eyes, stomp feet, knee nuts.
If your attacker is demanding that you get into a car, do whatever you have to do to not get in the car. Your attacker is likely taking you to a “second crime scene.” You don’t want to go to a second crime scene. These are places that are completely hidden from public view where violent criminals kill/rape/beat their victims. Crime studies show that a victim’s chances of survival go down once they get to a second crime scene. So if you’re told to get into a vehicle, fight like your life depends on it — because it probably does. (Even if you end up in the trunk, you can still escape.)
If you play your cards right, you’ll avoid getting mugged in the first place. But if you do get mugged, you’ll know how to handle it. And if all else fails, you can always tell your attacker you represent Jesus, and hope for some divine intervention.
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