Women On Alert After String Of Attacks In Quincy

QUINCY (CBS) - A set of skills they hope they'll never have to use, women in Quincy learned to defend themselves by causing chaos in the midst of an attack.

"When I prep these women to go into this room, I tell them no mercy," said Quincy Lt. Dan Minton. "Go nuts. This is your life. I want you to walk into this room and go crazy."

Quincy Police have offered the self-defense training for years but Wednesday night's class filled up quickly after at least four brazen robberies in just the past two weeks.

"I know there have been a lot of things going on in the city," said resident Pam Dunn. "Even people going into their houses. I read about that on the Quincy Police Department webpage. It's kind of scary."

The mostly female victims have been targeted while getting into or out of their cars -- the suspects, some of them armed with guns, demanding money.

The class gives participants tools to reach for, but police say the most important goal is to get away fast.

"That's the first step, yell," said Lt. Minton. "Hopefully some light is going to come on or someone is going to hear you or a car is going to stop. At the same time you're ready to do what you have to do to protect yourself."

Quincy businesses are pooling together money for a reward for anyone who has information that leads to an arrest.