Widow pulls pink pistol on handyman she believes was trying to steal her jewelry

RYAN MILLS
8:32 p.m., Tuesday, June 16, 2009

 

 

NAPLES — With her pacemaker and frail body, few would describe Christa Taft-Mueller as an intimidating woman.

But the 69-year-old widow is no pushover when she’s packing her pink-handled Walther P22 semi-automatic handgun. Just ask a local handyman.

On Monday afternoon, Taft-Mueller pulled the gun on a handyman who was supposed to be repairing the pocket door leading to her bedroom, but who she says she found arched over her jewelry box.

“My hands were shaking so much,” Taft-Mueller said in her German accent. “And the guy said, ‘Is that pistol loaded?’ I said, ‘Of course it is. It’s ready for you. It’s ready for you, honey.’”

The handyman, whose name is not being released by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, said he was only looking for an outlet to plug in a tool. He was not charged with a crime because the Sheriff’s Office said nothing was missing from Taft-Mueller’s jewelry box.

“There was no evidence that a crime occurred,” Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Michelle Batten said.

Rob Gardner, vice president of Orlando-based Handyman Connection, said he trusts the handyman wasn’t attempting to steal anything. Gardner’s company has employed the handyman since 2006 without incident, he said.

“I think it was just an honest mistake on her part,” Gardner said.

Taft-Mueller couldn’t disagree more.

Since her husband died of cancer last September, Taft-Mueller has relied on hired handymen to fix things around her East Naples home on Moon Lake Drive. After the sliding door to her bedroom fell off the track recently, she called Handyman Connection, a company she’s hired maybe a half-dozen times before.

When the handyman arrived around 1 p.m. on Monday, Taft-Mueller said he went right to work on the door. She grew suspicious, however, when she said he closed the door and was alone in her bedroom for about five minutes.

Taft-Mueller said that when she opened the door to check on the handyman, he was bent over the jewelry box on top of her night stand. The handyman said it was all a mistake, and that he was only looking for an outlet to plug in a light inside her dark bedroom, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

If that was the case, Taft-Mueller questioned why he didn’t use the outlet on the side wall next to the night stand, or one of the three outlets within a few feet of the door he was repairing.

“He said, ‘I’m looking for an outlet.’ I said, ‘In my jewelry box?’” Taft-Mueller said. “I started trembling and I got real scared that he was a thief.”

When the handyman went out to his truck, Taft-Mueller called the Sheriff’s Office and found her loaded pink pistol in her bedroom.

“It’s kind of like a lady’s gun,” Taft-Mueller said. “A guy wouldn’t want to own a gun that is pink. He would want something that’s blue and black and brown. Not a pink one. That would be sissy.”

When the handyman came back inside, she held him at gunpoint.

“I said, ‘You (expletive), you’re not going anyplace,’” Taft-Mueller said.

The Sheriff’s Office dispatcher told Taft-Mueller to put the gun down, and told both her and the handyman to go outside to wait for responding deputies. She was hospitalized briefly because her chest was tight and she was having a hard time breathing after the encounter.

“We’re not anticipating charges in this incident,” Batten said.

Gardner said this is the first time that anything like this has occurred to one of his franchise employees since he went into business in 2001. He said he wishes the best for Taft-Mueller, and is sorry for any confusion.

“I’m just happy our guy got out of there safely, to be honest,” Gardner said.

When told that the Sheriff’s Office didn’t expect to charge the handyman with a crime, Taft-Mueller said, “You’re kidding.” If she would have known that, she said, she would have handled things a bit differently.

“I would have shot him,” Taft-Mueller said. “I definitely would have shot him. Definitely

 

LINK TO VIDEO:

 

 http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/jun/16/widow-pulls-pink-pistol-handyman-she-believes-was-/

 

 

Safety tips for hiring a handyman:

* Decide what specifically needs to be done and make a detailed list.

* Make sure your handyman is licensed and insured.

* Ask detailed questions about their skills and experience.

* Get references from previous customers.

* Get a written estimate of their work.

* Get a contract for services they will perform, payment schedule and completion date.

* Contact your Better Business Bureau to verify their history of complaints.