ASU student pummels would-be robber
November 7th, 2008 @ 9:42am
by KPHO.com
Arizona State University student Alex Botsios said he had no problem giving a nighttime intruder his wallet and guitars.
When the man asked for Botsios' laptop, however, the first-year law student drew the line.
"I was like, 'Dude, no -- please, no!" Botsios said. "I have all my case notes…that's four months of work!"
Police said Gabriel Saucedo entered Botsios' apartment through an open window early Thursday morning. When Botsios woke up, Saucedo threatened him with a baseball bat, police said.
He was just like, 'I'm going to smash your head in,'" Botsios said.
At that point, the law student wrestled the bat away and began punching Saucedo, Botsios said.
"I basically grabbed him and threw him this way, and he held onto the bat so it threw him to the ground," he said.
Police said they took Saucedo to the hospital for stitches before they arrested him on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping. Other than a bruised knuckle and a few scratches, Botsios was unharmed.
Janet Botsios, Botsios' mother, said she took the first flight from Texas as soon as she heard what happened.
"I'm like putting my face in my hands, and I just couldn't believe it," she said. "I was like, 'Oh my God.' I'm so glad he watched all those police shows his whole life … He knew how to take care of himself … I'm very, very, very proud of him."
Alex Botsios said he learned one lesson from the incident: don't leave windows open.
Otherwise, he said he is happy that his laptop is unharmed.
"It's my baby," he said. "Don't mess with my computer."
1 comment:
Initially, I wondered whether the student was a day student or an evening student. That he gave up his wallet and guitar, and that he slept through the initial stages of the break-in indicated he was an evening student with a more realistic take on life and a greater need for sleep. That he used the word “dude” and substituted “like” for “said” when talking to reporters, that it never occurred to him that fellow law students would help him replace his notes, that he attacked the bat-wielding thief indicated he was a day student fresh out of an undergraduate program, surrounded by ranking-conscious bastards, and that he even possessed the energy to duke it out for his class standing.
After reading the article a second time, however, I realized that the question of day-program/night-program was moot. It didn’t matter: this guy is a natural lawyer: He suckered his opponent in with a false impression of his own position by allowing apparently important arguments without rigorous cross examination (i.e. giving up his wallet and guitars without a struggle), then he moved without warning to assert his key argument (i.e. assaulting the perp to protect his class notes), turned his opponent’s strongest argument against him with such brutal effect (i.e. beat him to the ground with his own baseball bat) that he won a unanimous verdict (i.e. retaining all of his possessions, hospitalizing the perp, and having the him arrested).
Upon further contemplation, I divined this lesson (or ruling, if you will) from the episode: Work hard on your marriage, my friend, because if your spouse has this guy as her divorce attorney, he’ll eat your shorts.
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