Teresa Mendez no doubt looked like an easy mark as she stepped to the front door of her Jefferson Boulevard apartment Sunday night. Shouldn't be any trouble to sneak up behind her, flash a knife and make off with her purse.
But Mendez's would-be robber never quite made it to step three. In response to his brandished knife, the 42-year-old Oak Cliff woman unsheathed a pair of scissors. When he ignored them and grabbed her purse, she threw scalding hair-removal wax on his face.
The police report describing the incident doesn't say why Mendez was carrying a container of hot wax. Presumably she finds it a satisfying alternative to the more traditional can of Mace.
Whatever the reason, the tactic worked. Mendez escaped unharmed and with all her belongings when her attacker abruptly turned and ran from her apartment, jumping into a waiting black sedan and driving off.
The man got away, but he can't be too hard to find. The uncannily smooth eyebrows should be a dead giveaway.
Send your story tips to the author, Eric Nicholson.
