Oops Wrong Apartment? Yeah Right.

by Alan Kandel

Imagine breaking into one’s own residence. Doing just that could have consequences to say the least. But breaking into someone else’s residence and believing the residence being broken into is actually theirs to break into, well, if this sounds “unbelievable,” believe it. If this scenario sounds extraordinary, it is that too! And, as for consequences, there is some that too?

What am I talking about?

According to a Fresno Bee account (you can read all about it right here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/11/03/3053987/catching-up-for-week-of-oct-29.html), under the subheading: “Intruder alert.”

Here’s what went down:

“Jannine Ramirez had just won a Fresno karate competition when she arrived at her east-central Fresno apartment early Sunday and found an intruder inside. She kicked down her bathroom door, then kicked the intruder through a shower door. She continued with an onslaught of kicks and punches until he was outside her apartment on the 2500 block of Maple Avenue.”

Of course, there was going to be reader reaction. Of course!

One commenter wrote: “Bravo to you, young lady!! You have just showed that idiot that it might not be safe to go where you don’t belong. i don’t believe for a minute the story about this guy not knowing he was in the wrong apt. Just know that what you did should be commended, not chastised!”

And, a second commenter wrote: “This woman is classically paranoid and decides the guy is harmful while he states, he lives there. Has he tried to lay a finger on mother or daughter? Has she tried anything but the power monger of many men that are equally domestically violent and abusive in our society?”

Differing reactionary perspectives, to be sure!

The Bee offered some additional explanation: “Detectives determined that Wilberto Zapata, 18, was drunk and really thought he had broken into his own apartment. He was cited for unlawful entry into a home and later released.”

Did the woman over-react or just do what was instinctive and probably what was most logical to her at the time? It was an interesting set of circumstances to say the least. What do you say?

Copyright Alan Kandel. November 4, 2012.