Original subtitles

- danger strikes when you least expect it.

- What are you doing? - Get that [bleep]!

- It can happen at any time...

- Ooh.

- Anywhere, to anyone.

[tires screeching]

now survivors will come forward...

- When you have a gun in your face,

your life flashes before your eyes.

- To tell their emotional stories...

- I felt like it was just us three going against...

- Everything. - Yeah.

- Taking us back to the moment of attack

and how they survived.

I'm gio benitez, and this is "I survived a crime."

- I broke down, and I started crying,

and I went...

- Turned upside down... - Beat me and kicked me...

- And my neck was crushed. - Took cabs everywhere.

- He thought I was somebody else.

- They knocked out my front tooth.

- And behind him was another man.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- every driver has experienced at least one bad encounter

with an unruly passenger,

which is why many are installing dashcams

to protect themselves against false accusations.

Our first survivor's dashcam video

helped put his attacker behind bars.

Palm coast, florida.

This driver is on a seemingly normal ride.

In the back seat are three passengers, two men,

one of whom has a seven-year-old son with them.

They are not all visible.

- The driver has placed a plastic partition

to protect everyone from the covid-19 virus.

But his passenger refuses to believe

the driver put up the barrier himself.

- The back door is open and beeping.

- The two men in the back scheme something.

- Then they pounce.

[tires screeching]

- the passenger in the back seat jumps out

with the terrified seven-year-old child.

- Ahh! Stop! Ahh!

- The driver pursues his assailant

but quickly hops back in car when he sees it rolling.

- Continue on [indistinct].

- Hey, police!

- Meanwhile, the other passenger

tries to convince bystanders

that they're the ones being attacked.

But the dashcam reveals the truth.

- The driver suffers minor injuries.

Police arrest 36-year-old travis smith,

who is visibly intoxicated.

He is charged with battery,

contributing to the delinquency of a child,

and burglary of an occupied conveyance.

The charges are pending,

and the suspect was released on bail.

Earning a living as a driver can be dangerous.

The homicide rate for drivers is about 30 times higher

than the national homicide average for all workers,

including police officers and security guards.

Spokane, washington.

Lee allen and his two children are out on an errand.

- I was gonna run to the store and grab a pair of work pants.

Max and lexi said they wanted to ride.

We made a quick stop out of it.

- But as they leave the store,

the allens are confronted by this woman.

- My name is lee allen.

This is my son. - Max.

- This is my daughter. - Lexi.

- And we survived a crime.

My initial thought when I saw her was,

I'm not gonna even pay her any attention.

'cause I know this is our car.

Get your [bleep] ass out my way!

It started to get more serious when my dad told me

to start recording.

- Press 911.

- Max, call.

More people started coming to the car.

We couldn't go anywhere.

- She started yelling, and it kind of seemed like

it woke up the rest of the street people.

It almost was like an invitation

to come join in.

- This man puts a menacing hand in his pocket.

- I thought maybe he had a gun.

I don't know if this guy has a gun,

but I also don't want to make a move

and one of my kids get hurt.

I'm a business owner.

I've got a big family.

I've got a lot to lose

if I make a wrong decision in life,

so I always try to stay on the right side of the law.

- But a new bystander is on the scene.

- Yeah, I'm at the--actually,

I'm at the intersection of sprague and...

[inaudible]. Yeah.

I slammed the door on him

and tried to keep my kids safe and think,

"what's the next-best move?"

listen up. - Dad.

- [bleep]. Get out of the car.

Get out of the [bleep] car.

- This is not her [bleep] car.

- Don't slam my hand in a [bleep] door.

- This is not her [bleep] car.

- Dad. Dad.

- Hold this. - Get out.

- Hello. We need help. - [sobbing]

- the allens' car takes a pummeling.

- [sobbing] oh, dad.

Dad.

Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my...

- I felt it was just us three going against...

- Everything.

Oh, my god.

Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Dad.

Dad. Ohh.

- I can't see anything.

They're using bikes to hit my car.

They're trying to open my doors.

I've got two kids in the car with me.

- [inaudible].

- My name is lee, lee allen.

- Lee, are you still there or did you drive away?

- I drove off, because they're hitting my car,

and I feel threatened for my life.

- As they flee, the allens are being pursued.

I was very scared.

- It's all right, baby. - I don't want to...

[sobbing]

- can we just get a minute?

- Yeah, take all the time you need.

- The local city police

initially started dealing with me.

They immediately wanted proof of the vehicle's registration,

my license.

They're asking me if I have weapons.

I'm trying to let them know we're the victims.

I felt like I was more or less profiled.

Then the sheriffs came

and told us they would investigate it.

I felt...Wasn't justice.

I felt that the magnitude of the situation

wasn't being addressed appropriately.

So I decided to-- to address it and--

and make people aware myself.

- Lee posts the video, and it goes viral.

- Back, daddy. He's behind you.

- People reached out and knew who

a few of the people were that were attacking us.

Whatever information they had

that I later relayed to the police.

- The motorcyclist claims he followed lee

to make sure the man on his hood

didn't fall off.

The police don't charge the motorcyclist.

The woman who started it all

gets a disorderly conduct charge.

They couldn't find anybody else

that caused damage to the vehicle.

And that pretty much was the end of it.

- The allens still struggle to process the attack.

I grew up with no parents,

and so I've always been trying to be

the best dad I could be to my kids.

And it--it's just hard to think about it.

- When I think of everything that happened,

it brings back how scared I was.

- Oh, I think I handled it well.

We held ourselves with a lot of composure

and remained calm.

- The allens all agree that the attack

has brought them even closer.

- I'm truly blessed that he's my father.

I love him.

I love him to the deepest in my heart.

- He's an inspiration to me, actually.

And he keeps the family together.

Than 1 million home invasions

in this country every year.

It is the violation of that very personal space

that can accelerate the survival instinct.

♪ ♪

it's 3:43 in the morning

at this home in gwinnett county, georgia.

Inside a local restaurant manager

is sleeping in one room, her male housemate in another

when three men, guns drawn, bust in

and start casing the place.

The house is stacked to the ceiling

with boxes and restaurant supplies.

♪ ♪

one [inaudible] even turns on a light

making it easier to see the suspects

on the homeowner's high-tech surveillance cameras.

[line trilling]

- the homeowner wakes up and calls 911.

[dial tone droning]

but is disconnected.

The homeowner comes out of the back bedroom

and stares down the barrel of the gun

pointed at her face.

♪ ♪

[gunshots]

one of the suspects escapes

by running through a glass door

at the rear of the house.

The other two scramble to get out the front door.

[gunshots]

as the dust settles, the terrified homeowner

and her guest take stock of what just happened.

She gives her now empty gun to her friend...

[line trilling]

and finally connects with 911.

- In the end, the two survived without injuries,

and nothing was stolen.

Police arrive to find that one of the intruders--

the man in the black wig-- was shot.

He died in the driveway of the home.

Another suspect, bernard little,

was recently arrested.

He was charged with felony murder,

and his trial is pending.

38% of all assaults take place

during home invasion crimes.

[gunshots]

los angeles, california.

- My name's carl swanson, and I survived an assault.

- It's just after 6:00 a.M.

Carl swanson opens his business,

the laundry room.

But his business is plagued by a big problem,

a bar next door,

whose customers invade the laundromat.

I've had to call the police, like,

well over 150 times in the last 5 years.

And they would go to our counter

and want to do lines of coke.

Then if we asked them to leave, then they would want to fight.

Sometimes they would lift their shirt up,

show us a gun or a knife.

- And on this morning carl faces yet another threat,

two customers from the bar next door.

They were actually here for revenge for three weeks prior,

because I had kicked them out of the laundromat.

- Carl steps outside.

I tried to lock the door, and it has an automatic lock.

But the lock wouldn't catch on the door.

♪ ♪

carl swanson's ongoing feud

with the neighboring bar's belligerent patrons

has taken a turn for the worse.

The female assailant unleashes on carl.

She bit my back and took a chunk

out of my back.

♪ ♪

the fight spills outside,

where a male and female bystander

try to figure out what's going on.

Eventually, they realize carl is under attack.

Together they try to help him,

while the female suspect beats carl with a broomstick.

- And they tried to stop it.

I was afraid of-- of what was gonna happen.

- Carl is rushed to the hospital

and is treated for multiple injuries.

All this was broke.

I had a stitch-- a liquid stitch here.

♪ ♪

and my whole face was, like, you couldn't even see my eye.

My eye was just, like, swollen shut.

I had blood everywhere.

- Carl still deals with lingering health issues

from the attack.

I have several back injuries.

I wake up every morning in pain.

♪ ♪

- and his assailants are still on the loose.

- It drives me crazy every day, because I know--

because they haven't been caught.

- Despite everything, carl is staying put.

- I love all of the people that I work with here.

I would never want to move.

It would help if all the businesses

could come together and chip in

and pay for the security here.

Now I keep my doors locked

whenever I go to work and come in early.

Plus, I have a very big dog now.

This is buddy right here.

- Carl says his dog buddy is a silver lining.

It was actually worth that happening

for me to get the dog.

Good boy.

There we go.

- The cranky old man stereotype can often elicit laughs.

But what happened to our next survivor

at the hands of an irate elderly man

is far from funny.

An unexpected encounter almost cost him his life.

Las vegas, nevada.

It's 9:10 a.M.

An elderly man walks into an apartment management office

to complain about his flooded apartment.

A female office worker is behind the desk.

Her supervisor is nearby.

The elderly man is irate and threatens them.

The woman discretely presses a panic button

beneath her desk and dials 911.

- The man fires a round.

It rips through a computer.

[gunshot]

- the woman begs for her life.

♪ ♪

- the man allows her to go

but holds her colleague at gunpoint.

He orders him to stay seated, then he takes aim.

♪ ♪

nigsberg is held at gunpoint

by an irate tenant who is brandishing a gun.

[gunshot]

augh! Ahh!

- Ahh!

- The man doesn't flee.

He takes aim again.

Please. Ohh!

Ow!

[gunshot]

ow!

- Ow!

- Ow! Ow! Ohh!

- Police arrive.

They fire a shot shattering the glass door.

[glass shattering]

- drop the gun! Drop it now!

- Drop it. - Drop it!

- A bullet grazes 93-year-old robert thomas.

He is arrested and charged with attempted murder

with a deadly weapon,

kidnapping with a deadly weapon,

discharge of a firearm within a structure,

burglary with a firearm,

and carrying a concealed weapon.

A little over four months later,

he died of congestive heart failure.

The victim makes a full recovery.

And eric joins us now.

Eric, thank you so much for being here.

- You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

- Eric, this is no doubt a horrifying situation

that you survived.

Tell us what happened off camera with robert thomas.

- He came into my office upset about a situation

in his apartment, confronted me in my office,

which was a small space,

and I wanted to get him out into an open space,

'cause I just-- I just knew he was off.

- You mentioned that you saw a certain look in his eyes.

What was that look?

- It was a look like

he didn't recognize who I was.

He'd come and pay his rent every month for five years.

And he just didn't look the same.

- What was going through your mind that moment

when you saw that gun?

- Everything, like, slowed down a little.

It was a big gun.

Well, it looked big to me.

I just knew I had to take control of the situation

and do what I could.

- And kelly, your assistant manager,

pushed that panic button, and she called 911.

- She saved my life by doing that.

And I tell her that whenever I see her.

She saved my life.

- We saw that right after that gunshot,

that's when police arrived.

Do you feel this could have been worse?

- Yeah, I do.

If kelly didn't push the panic button,

and if she didn't call 911 when he wasn't looking

and put the phone down

so 911 was able to hear everything,

if all those things didn't happen,

I think he would have shot me again.

- Do you forgive him for what happened?

- No, I do not.

- This happened less than a year ago.

How are you doing right now with your recovery?

- I am fine.

I mean, I go out.

I do two-mile walks.

I don't have a limp anymore.

I'm good.

- You know, what I think is fascinating

is that you went right back to work; you didn't hesitate.

- Well, I--I told the owner of the property

that as soon as I could put my socks on by myself,

I'll come back to work.

And it took about two months to get the right sock on.

- You got those socks on.

- Yeah. - [laughs]

your clip went viral.

How do you feel about people

who watch viral videos like that

and don't realize there are real people behind them?

- Reality and fantasy, they--they intertwine a lot.

And so, you know, it was real.

It was real to me, and to tell you the truth,

I haven't seen the video.

I have not looked at it, and I don't want to.

I lived it.

- Eric, thank goodness you're okay.

Thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you for having me.

- So there you have it... [gunshot]

survival and strength caught on camera.

I'm gio benitez, and this is "I survived a crime."

thanks for watching. Stay safe.