Husson University's Charlie's Angels

Husson University’s Charlie’s Angels….
BDN Staff Write, Dawn Gagnon
Bangor, Maine
May 5, 2010

Seldom do we, personal safety experts/self-defense instructors get the opportunity to blog/report about lives saved due to knowledge of personal safety. We examine many cases and seek to find where things may have gone wrong and strive to give positive input.

So, today I personally want to commend the young ladies, “Husson University’s Charlie’s Angels” for many things that they did correctly in the heat of the moment.

The incident that put assailant, Horst Wolk and Husson University spotlight last week began when Wolk, 45, of Bangor, Maine arrived on campus as his alleged victim, a 34 year-old nursing student, arrived for classes. Wolk who is not a student, reportedly rammed into her vehicle after she pulled into a parking space and then he jumped out of his vehicle with a knife in his hand.

Two Husson students – 21-year-old junior Jesse Hladik and freshman Heather Mann, 18 — said Wednesday that they had heard some shouting as they walked past the parking lot. Both said they kept walking but stopped when they heard someone yell, “Help! Call 911.” Heather told Jesse (“her dispatcher”) to call security; Heather will now have the number in her speed dial on her phone as she had to run to security to get assistance.

Jesse and two other students joined the struggle to subdue Wolk. While holding Wolk down Jesse noticed the knife and instinctively she subdued Wolk with pressure points on the wrist which in turn released the knife. Jesse has been educated by family members that are Military Personnel and Law Enforcement in personal safety/self-defense. And, being a nursing student the added confirmation of pressure points that work assisted her in her quest.

Wolk was arrested, has been charged with attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault, aggravated assault and violating a protection order. Unable to make bail set at $25,000 he remains behind bars.

All four young ladies are to be commended for their courage and the guts to react and come to rescue of another individual. As Heather stated she really wished that she had some self-defense training to better equip her with the knowledge of what do.

As Jesse stated, every female should have the knowledge of how to protect herself or assist another in need of help.

Thank you Jesse and the other students WHO DID NOT tune a deaf ear, stopped and assisted their fellow student. I am sure that Wolk was totally shocked and caught off guard when he realized that four other women were coming at him and nailed him. The Element of Surprise…

I applaud each of these brave young women. Joining forces and working in numbers, team effort has a huge impact. Like Jesse said, “if he was yelling at them they couldn’t hear him because they were yelling louder at him.”

Ladies……stand firm. Encourage your peers to obtain personal safety training for ALL reasons and the education to know what the red flags/warning signs and how one can/will react to a situation. Education is the key.

Thank you all for proving that “knowledge is a powerful tool”.

Take care and STAY SAFE!