Perth Amboy has been good to me. I grew up here, I have my home here, I send my children to school here and I work here. I have always been proud about my town, always defending the town from all the criticism people talk about. I walk the street and feel very comfortable with the people I meet and greet. If I work late, I never had any worries about walking to my car or home after dark. People talk so much about the gangs and the unreported crimes that I truly believe they were a mountain out of a mole hill.
On the 19th day of September 2013, I going about my business, doing my casual routine, and heading for work early to turn on my computers and check my e-mail. At 9:31 my colleague Maria walked in, as I looked at the clock I noticed a hooded man standing in front of the office. He came in, turned around and locked the door. I was thinking what the HECK …in my mind it was a joke. As he turned to us he pulled out a silver gun; I found it amusing thinking it wasn’t real. He then walked over to Maria and demanded her phone, which she gave him.
He told us to get to the back office…and to open the safe.
As he pulled and struggled with me trying to drag me to the back, as I approached the safe, I locked it.
He did not realize I locked it; I figured if he is going to kill me, he will do it anyway, especially after he finds there was no money in the safe. In our office we only accept credit cards, checks or money orders. The man demanded I open the safe, I told him I can’t see to open it, I need my glasses, he pistol whipped me a few times with his gun, making me more determined and not to cooperate with anything he said.
In my mind I just wanted him to focus on me so that Maria would not be hurt. It worked, because he never hurt her. He punched, scratched and pistol whipped me on the head a few times and finally tried to suffocate me, with no luck. I just didn’t care and he was now aware he was wasting his time. Finally after telling him what I thought of him … I opened the safe. As I had told him, nothing was in it but paper, and that he was wasting his time.
When I finally opened it all he saw was paper, now he realized he had risked himself for nothing. He then demanded my watch, which he ripped off me, my necklace and my rings, and the $20 I had in my front pocket. Still not satisfied, he asked for our purses. Maria gave hers to him and he allowed her to take some paperwork out. He told her to get my bag. I asked him if I could just keep my DL, he stated NO WAY, I need it, I’m going to your house to KILL you.
I looked at him and said GOOD LUCK!!!!
As he finally gave up, he made us lay on our bellies and count to 30 …this was the longest 40 minutes of my life. He wanted us to count so it would give him time to scurry out the door like the coward that he is.
I counted to 10 and got up to see if he really had left, and if he did, which way he had gone ….as he dashed out the door, one of my clients was coming in, and saw him run with a white garbage bag across the street.
That was the end of him.
The Truth of the story is: Perth Amboy is in bad shape, every day many incidents happens, in which we are kept from knowing, just like in the old VAS days.
What happened to me can happen to anyone or anywhere, it could have been a Taco Bell, Bank, Bodega or any other place. And so life goes on. SO why do the detectives in this town tell our employees and coworkers not to return to work? Why do they tell them it’s not safe for them to go back to their jobs???
My father opened this office in 1971, and in all the years I have worked here this was my very first incident, and hopefully my last.
I want to thank all those officers that decided that my office is not a safe place to work, and to all the employees that listen to them, Because it makes no difference to me: I AM WOMAN, I AM STRONG and NO ONE WILL EVER STOP ME FROM DOING WHAT I BELIEVE IS RIGHT.
And if you allow your life to be dictated by life’s ups and downs, I feel bad for you, because life does go on, people do forget, and if you decided that by living in fear is the way to go, well most definitely you will miss out on all of the beauty that life has to offer while you are here. So, no matter what happens: LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH, and Enjoy, for we only pass this way once. But remember, never ever do harm intentionally to others or for sure you will pay the price.
–Wilma R. Matey
