Victim tells perp ‘to grow up'

July 18, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

PALMER - A Willow man whose home was burglarized in February 2004 made a surprise offer when he spoke at the perpetrator's sentencing Friday. (See related story, this page.)

&#8220Well, Carlos, we finally get to meet,” said Bud Allen to Carlos Navarro, the man who broke into Allen's home.

Allen was out hunting, he said, and had stopped at a neighbor's for coffee while Navarro was stealing things from Allen's house.

&#8220I want you to know the gravity of the situation,” Allen said. &#8220I was next door with a 12-gauge (shotgun). You had just left. That scared me. It would have been all bad if you'd run into me - for you and me.”

Allen had been following Navarro's case through the courts, and following Navarro when he jumped bail and fled.

&#8220I had bounty hunters on you, Carlos,” Allen said. &#8220We had five men, and we were going to get you.”

Allen told Navarro he deserved prison, to &#8220see lifers,” go to a real prison and wake up. But that wasn't really a solution, he said.

Allen had talked with a Marine Corps recruiter about Navarro. &#8220They used to take guys like you,” Allen said. &#8220They'd give you a real chance to pay people back.”

Before a judge hands down a sentence, victims have a right to speak. Few of them speak directly to the defendant. Fewer still turn into advocates for the person who wronged them. But Allen followed up on his offer, not knowing if the courts, the Marines or Navarro would accept it.

He talked with Navarro's mother, two different Marine Corps recruiters and looked over Navarro's court records. And, Allen said, he wants to get Navarro on a fast-track to earn his GED. He's making an appointment to meet with Navarro at Palmer Correctional Center.

&#8220The worst that can happen is he'll get his GED,” Allen said. &#8220He's pi—ed at everyone right now, but I'm going to go in and talk to him. I'm going to say, ‘I'm giving you an opportunity, and I'll fight for you. But you have to grow up and quit blaming everyone else.”

Allen said he didn't want his advocacy to ruin his reputation.

&#8220I'm known as a harda- -,” he said. &#8220Anyone will tell you.”

But he was also young and wild once, he said, and had a life-changing experience in the Marines during the Vietnam war. &#8220You find your soul on the battlefield,” he said.

But Navarro's crimes pretty much preclude him from joining the Marines, said Staff Sgt. William Kidd, a Marine Corps recruiter in Anchorage.

Acceptance in the Corps is on a case-by-case basis, he said, and some minor criminal history such as DUI, theft of less than $500 and certain assaults wouldn't mean a person could not join.

&#8220He's done with the Marines if he's stolen firearms,” Kidd said. &#8220When it comes down to it, he's saying he can be completely trusted, that ‘Everyone in America can trust me.' The Marine Corps is not a substitute for jail. We're not an answer for that. We are going to put semi-automatic weapons into their hands and have the lives of other Marines in their charge.”

But Kidd said he thinks Allen's backing for Navarro could bear fruit. &#8220It's a good gesture,” Kidd said. &#8220I know people who turned around and were helped, simply by having a mentor. What I've seen is sometimes all they need is a father figure to straighten up.”

While waiting for Navarro's case to work its way through the court system, what Allen feared most was that Navarro would walk away with time served. He wanted Navarro in a prison, he said in January. &#8220One year in a real penitentiary,” he said. &#8220I don't believe in being dramatic, but in this case we shouldn't give time served and walk away.”

Allen didn't walk away. He was adamant about helping the man who violated his home and security. &#8220You always hope for the best,” he said.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.