Fraters Libertas

Speak Softly And...

...keep a big stick handy:

A hockey player all his life, Jeff Taylor wasn't about to fall back on defense against a three-person advantage Wednesday, especially at home.

Moments earlier, he had been roused from his sleep by pounding on his door. Two men, backed by two women, pushed their way in, punched him and shoved him to the floor of his Fargo apartment at 1412 3rd Ave. N., Taylor said.

A closed fist to Taylor's jaw knocked loose his dentures, enraging the 36-year-old enough that he shook off two of the intruders.

"That kind of gave me the force of God," he said. "I just got my teeth. When they knocked them out I thought they broke them."

Taylor, who lives alone, said three of the intruders ran. He held down the remaining man until two returned and kicked in his front door. The man under Taylor struggled free and locked himself in a bedroom.

Inside the room, he pulled an air conditioner unit from the window to escape.

That's when Taylor armed himself. He grabbed a hockey stick and ran behind the blue two-level house, where the getaway car idled in the alley.

"As they were driving away I smashed out their back window," Taylor said.

The blade on his stick broke off. Taylor figures it must still be in the back seat of the car.