It is 10:05 at night and you just got off work. It is dark and you are all alone. As you reach your car you, notice that there is another car parked a few spots down. Believing the other car is abandoned; you unlock your door and get into your car. As you drive away, you notice the "abandoned" car start up and start to follow you. You quickly make a left turn only to see the other do the same. As you speed up the other car also speeds up. You swerve to the right and are quickly followed. What should you do?

This scenario is a reality for many of the students here at Pinellas Park High School. (PPHS). Many high school students are targets of unknown prowlers searching for a victim.

Yes girls, it sounds ridiculous, like it will never happen to you, but in reality, "In every single day, in every single hour, in every single minute women are victims of attack," says Corporal Brian R. Fey Sr. of the Kenneth City Police Department. "Any woman is subject to attack, including the common ordinary woman, and attack can occur anywhere…. Normally when a woman is attacked the perpetrator is someone she knows, usually a family member or [as the result of] some sort of domestic fight in a familiar surrounding. However, attack can occur wherever and whenever danger presents itself."

This scenario became a reality to senior Holly Donovan on October 18, 2004 when she was followed from work. "It was about 10:05 PM and I was leaving work with my windows down when a car pulled up next to me with two guys in it. They rolled their windows down, started talking to me, and were saying stuff in Spanish, so I couldn’t understand what they were saying. They started asking me my name and how old I was and telling me, I was beautiful. I got kind of freaked out so I rolled up my windows…[but] they kept up with me the whole time…so I called my friend," Donovan recalls about her experience. The strange men followed Donovan into a turn lane; her window was still rolled down about three to four inches. The driver then exited his car and approached her window. He started talking to her and said, "Come on just give me one kiss." A frightened Donovan tried to roll up her window only to find that the man put his hands into the window and attempt to push I back down. "I was stuck; there were cars coming in the other direction and the arrow was still red. Finally, he just let go and I rolled my window up….I just pretended like I didn’t hear them anymore and eventually they just turned off."

CPL. Fey explains that women should always drive at night with their windows up so that this type of event will be less likely to occur. You should "always be alert. First, [if you think you are being followed,] seek out shelter and look for help or assistance. You should leave if you have the opportunity to.…If you are aware [that you are] being followed, do not go home; you may be leading them back to your home where they could attack later.…Don’t stay put, find help," he instructs.

"I think that it might not have escalated so much if I hadn’t rolled my windows down at all. I maybe should have called 9-1-1," Donovan says.

Women should learn how to prepare themselves for situations like Donovan’s. CPL. Fey says that all people should "fight back; fight back as though your life depended on it. You should do what is necessary to survive, using whatever means necessary. You should remain confident [and] stay calm and focused. Look for any opportunities to exploit a weakness. If you can hurt someone and it presents a means of escape then do it." CPL. Fey (aka: Sensei Fey) has developed his own safety classes at his Japanese Karate Dojo - The ShotoJukuKai. In his classes, he teaches his students to stay A.L.E.R.T. ™. "In essence, the A.L.E.R.T. acronym is the 5 step key in the prevention of abuse and abduction….Although victims should not be discouraged from attempting escape, the extreme possibility of success after being physically and psychologically beaten and traumatized certainly does not look promising. It should be stressed that victims should look for and exploit any opportunity to escape no matter what the cost….[A.L.E.R.T. stands for] (A): Aware and avoid. If one is ever aware of a danger then avoid the danger.

(L): Leave-loudly. If unable to avoid the danger by conventional means, it now has become quite necessary that you leave the area quickly. In doing so, a growing area of space or distance between you and the danger should increase. As you leave, be sure that the danger is not closing in on you. If so, then you must be prepared to leave loudly. Usually, screaming, yelling ‘help,’ calling ‘mommy/daddy’ or even the more ridiculous notion of yelling out ‘fire’ will do you no good. What's needed is a way to convey a message of distress and imminent danger.

(E): Escape or engage to escape to an emergency exit…Escape by whatever means required. Break a window, set off a car alarm, pull a fire alarm, wrap yourself around another person and have them call 9-1-1. If alone and cornered then engage, [meaning] fight for your life, in any combat technique that will allow you to escape. Do whatever possible to convert anything into an emergency exit.

(R): Run-retreat-return-reverse-rapidly. At this point, you now have to run further from the danger, possibly by retreating-returning-reversing to a presumed place of safety, usually where you just came from. Of course, you will do this rapidly.

(T): Tell someone you trust. After finally making your way to a place of safety you must immediately tell someone you trust about the incident and provide as much information as possible so that the police will be able to locate and identify any potential suspects. If you keep your mouth shut, someone else may become the next victim."

Women, don’t depend on others to save you. You need to be able to defend yourself. "You don’t need to be an expert or a black belt; you just need to be able to distract your opponent to get away. Remember, you are not trying to beat your opponent, just [to] escape from being attacked," Sensei Fey says.

"I wish I had known what to do. I was lucky this time," Donovan says.

If you are interested in taking a safety defense course Sensei Fey offers a variety of classes. To learn more about these classes and how to protect yourself visit www.SKJF.com .