What would I do? " We immediately exited my driveway, called the cops and drove to my friend’s house." This is what I would do. She did the right thing.
You win the fight that you’re not in. Even if I had been carrying, why confront them if you don’t have to?
Another Boston Legal fan, yay! Seriously, I’d rather be represented by Alan Shore… 
Represented by and in a mad affair with Lorraine Weller (Ms. Saffron Burrows), and Alan Shore coming in during the third episode of the show dealing with my case - which of course I am totally innocent of the charges… but it’s questionable about some side contingency which Alan and Denny come to speak about the last of the day while smoking their cigars on the balcony.
I bet the camera was wireless and the battery was dead. I found the batteries always die when the camera is needed. That is why I don’t use wireless.
Dawn, I won’t play mighta, shoulda, woulda, coulda. Two old saws to come into play. Run, Hide, Fight from active threats, and from aviation, Aviate, Navigate, Communicate. In this case your friend recognized a potential threat, withdrew (run) to a safe place (hide), and called police. Ditto for the aviation saying, she left by car (aviated), went to safe place (navigated), and called the police (communicated). As another commenter said, the best fight to have is the one you can avoid. That said, let me describe what I have done to harden the target vis a vis my home.
Dusk to dawn perimeter lighting in the soffets along the entire front of the house. Three type of cameras with infrared capability. 1) Radio Frequency cameras powered by house current via outside outlets. This system does not rely on the internet/wi fi router, but transmit directly to a DVR. Weaknesses are poor night time resolution and are inoperable inthe absence of power. 2) A nest cam positioned inside shooting through a window that has motion alerts by e mail and direct to phone. The normal IR illumination reflection that would occur at night is overcome by the dusk to dawn lighting, so the camera functions well at night. 3) Battery powered Blink cameras front, sides, and rear of the home. Front and rear cameras are paired with overlapping fields of view, so when Mr Murphy raises his ugly head and batteries die, odds are the paired camera still operates. The Blink cameras are phone based only, and provide alerts if motion is detected. Weaknesses of the nest and blink cameras include power interrupts and internet/wi fi router malfunctions.
Monitored intrusion alarm system provided by Guardian in Pittsburgh PA, which include contact alarms on all windows and doors as well as glass break detectors. Reinforced (long screw) door striker plates and a positive reinforced hinged block secured to the door frame with 4 3" screws for the front door. I usually leave it engaged and come and go through garage.
Not fool proof. But, does help to deny access and gives me notice that something or someone is creeping about the home in my absence.
In the instant case, a door contact alarm would have alerted the homeowner/monitoring company of a breech before she arrived home, allowing her to stand off and avoid contact/confrontation. Motion detecting cameras with a phone notification would also give the homeowner a heads up and allow options to avoid contact. All of this presumes that Mr. Murphy took a vacation and the various systems were activated and operating normally.
I’m glad your friend is safe and all in the forum are reflecting and can learn from her experience. USCCA is so good at sharing real life experiences to the benefit of its membership.
Hi, Dawn
Thank your friend for being brave enough to share her story with us.
One thing that always amazes me, as a former LEO and USAF S/Sgt, is why people don’t use their heads more, and just avoid alcoholic beverages. I can’t remember the last time I had a drink, and don’t miss it in the least. I have a great time when with family and friends, even though all I may be drinking is root beer or tea.
I never have to worry about ‘being under the influence’ and my head is clear if the stuff hits the fan suddenly. Come on folks, you’re adults…so choose to protect rather than drink. I’d be willing to bet you’ll have a much better time knowing you are up to the situation if it suddenly becomes necessary.
Remember, bad folks love the holidays…because they know so many people will be hitting the bottle and making themselves easy targets. All LEO’s will tell you the predators single out the impaired whenever possible.
So thankful it turned out well for your friend!!
don
Your friend handled that situation perfectly. I come home late at night all the time (about 12:30 am) on my work days and I live in the outskirts of Greenville, SC, just outside the city limits. There is always potential, especially in the summertime, for someone to be walking up my street at any time of the night, so I always try to be conscious of what’s going on around me. My family is usually home and asleep at that time of night but the porch light is usually on. The back of my house is dark. To answer the question, I would confront them by politely asking them if I could help them with something, to see what state of mind they are in (i.e., possibly high on drugs or drunk). If anything escalates from there, I would quickly be getting the Sheriff on the phone to be on the way.