A trucker sleeping on company property was awakened by an knife-wielding intruder and forced to fight off the attacker to save his own life yesterday.
Sleeping Driver Comes Under Attack
CDLLife reader and truck driver Randy Wayne Kemper was asleep in his truck at 2 a.m. in his company’s rail yard in east Saint Louis, Illinois, when a brick came crashing through his window. Kemper says that he was awakened by the glass breaking and stunned to see a black male in a Carhartt hoodie and cap on the side of his truck lunging into the window.
“It was absolute shock and felt like a nightmare happening. Like time slowed,” he said.
In the nearly pitch darkness, Kemper could see the man pull out a knife and heard him yell, “Give me your money, I’ll cut you!” It was at this point that Kemper knew he was in the fight of his life.
Driver Decides To Fight Back Against Knife-Wielding Intruder
Wearing only his underwear, with broken glass strewn all over his truck, Kemper knew he had to fight back if he wanted to make it out of the situation alive.”The adrenaline was pumping and everything happened so fast it’s hard to really think. You just get into “I’m Not Going Out Like This” mode,” he said.
His desire to fight back and survive was only strengthened by the fact that he is getting married on Saturday and didn’t want to leave his fiancée a widow before their wedding.
Kemper pinned the man’s knife hand against the dash and began throwing punches at him, knocking him back several times, but the man kept coming, desperate to get something of value from the truck. In an act of quick thinking, Kemper finally threw his shower bag at his attacker, who grabbed it and fled into the night.
Police Slow To Respond To Driver’s 911 Calls
Shockingly, Kemper says it took several phone calls to 911 to bring police in for assistance and even then he says that no one showed up to take his statement until 8:30 a.m.
The suspect is described as a black male, around 6’1″, with a deep voice. Kemper says that he had seen the man in the area before.
Kemper said that being on company property gave him a false sense of security. After all, he was in a familiar place and fenced in with razor wire. But he takes responsibility for parking in a dark part of the lot with no cameras, especially in an area with a high rate of crime. He points out that no amount of razor wire can stop a really determined criminal.
Trucker Offers Safety Advice To Other Drivers
Kemper’s advice to other drivers? “Drivers, never let your guard down. Always be aware of your surroundings and try to park in safe well lit areas, though I know that’s hard at times,” he says.
You can take a look at images from the aftermath of the attack below.
A CDLLife exclusive article. May not be rewritten or redistributed.