On Nov. 4, two men kicked in a door of a residence on Dothan Street in southeast Memphis and began firing shots.
The noise awoke the eight Hispanic men asleep inside.
[B]One man, Guillermo Tovar Sr., was pistol-whipped and left unconscious in a separate room by the robbers.
While the thieves were robbing the seven other men, Tovar regained consciousness and grabbed a long sword.
Tovar then attacked one of the gunmen and managed to sever the tip of an intruder’s trigger finger before the man was able to fire his gun.[/B]
The thieves then ran out of the house with cash and other property.
Tovar had sliced off an important piece of evidence.
The severed fingertip was large enough for its print to be tested against fingerprints already on file.
Tuesday, Memphis police charged Terence Donnell Stewart, 28, with four counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of attempted aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated burglary.
AWE-SOME.
But . . . eight guys were asleep inside the apartment? Whoah.
What do you have against gay polygamous marriage?
Troy
The noise awoke the eight Hispanic men asleep inside.
I dunno what it’s like in DC nowadays, but here in ATL that wouldn’t be unusual.
The article explains that (low-income) Hispanics are a regular target for robbery etc. presumably due to their unwillingess to go to police (or miss work for a trial).
I guess that explains why the article mentioned that they were Hispanic.
Anyway, those are some sweet sword skillz to chop off the guy’s trigger finger. I know it definitely didn’t happen like this, but I have this movie image in my head of the guy trying to shoot, followed by a whoosh of steel and the finger flying through the air.
Right, but that goes out the window when one of them has a sword and can precisely sever another person’s trigger finger!
Jet Li could have taken the gun apart without needing a sword.
Chopping the guy in the hand isn’t hard if you have some idea what you’re doing, especially when you take your target by surprise, and he doesn’t move his hand. In Sabre, Epee, and Kendo it’s not an uncommon target, even though your opponent is aware and savvy enough to defend his hands.
It’s probably a matter of luck that he got the trigger finger, as he more likely was going for the wrist.
The crime has garnered attention for the courage of Tovar and for the use of the unconventional sword, which had previously been used for cutting weeds.
Sounds more like a machete actually.
Good for Zorro, bet nobody tries to rob that apartment ever again…
They said it was a long sword, not a cutlass or a katana. Those are freaking heavy and are really difficult to use with precision. Lucky chop, I say.
Depends. A good long/broad sword can weigh 3 lbs or even less, isn’t as unwieldly as many think, and is plenty precise. I don’t think it was really a long sword though, as that’s not the sort of thing you use to chop weeds, and is more spendy than I’d expect 8 guys packed into one house to be able to afford. I’d bet the person writing the article doesn’t know one “sword” from another, and that it was a machete – cheaper, more practical, useful for weeds, and much more common.
Swordgeeks: ASSEMBLE
Nah, sounds more like it was a laser rapier. They should check to see if the guy has any feet.
You have killed my father, prepare… eh, oh wait.
True, Mexico is known for it’s unsanctioned laser rapier duelling.
This man had 1,000 years of power!
[spot the reference]
Had his name been “El Voltrone” he would have fought the guy, let him beat his ass for 20 minutes, and then at the last moment remember he had a giant sword - whip it out and whack the guy in half in one shot.
A fat D&D kit, just before his tasering?
kancho!