Do you have the right to stop a thief?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070202/ap_on_re_us/vigilante_farmer;_ylt=AhdGtWIwa1khkj286FXavqRH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-
I was deeply disturbed by the news story posted in the link above.
I find it hard to believe that our justice system has been so perverted by a liberal mentality that a victim can be prosecuted.
This guy may have only been stealing gas, but what happens to the homeowner that shoots someone breaking into his house?
An assualt charge , that's what.
How does this story make you feel about your rights as a homeowner?

Perhaps, Corey
If they were shot, they might not be so prone to do it again, obviously our justice system is failing.
The number of repeat offenders in our penal system is staggering.

Answer 1

In this country the bleeding heart liberals and the politicians who pander for their votes have taken away the right to defend yourself, your family ,or your property, along with being able to correct/teach your children right from wrong by parental discipline. The list of what has been taken reflects itself in the social condition of our present day society.

Answer 2

As as homeowner, you have the right to defend your home, but only with as much force as reasonably necessary.

I read this story and without further facts, the 74 year old guy should be prosecuted for assault and attempted battery.

He was not defending his home nor was his own life in danger. Futhermore, he engaged in reckless behavior which endangered lives of others.

I'm all for defending your property and home, but he was acting as a vigilante. Think...what if everyone reacted in this way? Our society would not be a great place to live. You'd have to be fearful that someone would chase you and assault you because you picked a flower from their lawn, took too many paper towels at the gas station, or used too much washer fluid.

There was a remedy for this guy, he could have called gotten the thiefs license plate and called the police and let them deal with the problem.

Answer 3

For your information the thief is the most afraid person . First: you can put an Ray chip in all your entrance to your house( make it in visible) , so the thief cant see it . make that Ray connected with the TV (before you go sleep put the volume at most!!!). the trick must be like this : the Ray cross the theif`s body the TV turned on , once the theif see that I`m Garnette that he will run away!!!!

Answer 4

I'm sure he'll get off. It does bother me to hear about some nut vigilante recklessly speeding after a petty $5 thief with a three year old in the car with the intention to blow the guy away. What if this old geezer had a wreck and someone was killed? Leave police activity to the trained, legally responsible professionals, not to a bunch of backwoods redneck bubbas with their six packs and their shotguns.

Answer 5

well, any decent lawyer will get the guy off with a slap on the wrist, since its unlikey that much of this could be proven. I guess for one thing if cops have to follow rules that make them ineffective in putting people in jail then regular citizens cant either, and another thing is that if people did start fending for themselves there wouldnt be a whole lot of use for cops. I live in a crime ridden ghetto called longview washington, the cops there are useless and they even admit it. There is a neighborhood watch, and a guy got a 500 reward for catching and beating the crup out of a methfiend car prowler, and no repurcussions from the cops, who look at simple robberies and assaults as nothing to bother with anyway. so there is some hope for america still.

Answer 6

There has just been a similar case in the UK that actually went to court.

A Fish & chip shop owner had his windows smashed, and customers spat on, by a 12 year old.

the kid got away but was spotted next day by the shop owner, and his son (a serving Royal Marine) and they made a, completely legal, citizens arrest.

They took the kid to the shop intending to phone the police, but saw a patrol car, flagged it down, handed the kid over, and agreed to make statements later (they had the kid for less than 6 minutes)

When they went to the station they found they were not the victims of a crime, but the suspects in a KIDNAPPING case(an offence that carries a possible life sentence in the UK).

Luckily the judge saw sense and dismissed the case, but not until is cost tens of thousands of pounds of tax payers money.

What to the law enforcement agencies around the world want, for known criminals to walk the streets, or for publically minded citizens to take action.

Seems to me they want the criminals to walk free as it makes their jobs easier.

This also makes a mockery of the supposed US right to bear arms to protect your own home.

What's the point in being allowed to have them if you can't use them as a deterrent.

Having said that, to go in persuit was reckless in the extreme and should have been left to proper law enforcement agencies.

NB: I talk as someone fully trained in limited force restraint and control techniques, and I wouldn't have chased in a car once my property was safe. You just take the number and call the police

Answer 7

Some states have strange laws on defense. In Texas you can defend your property even with deadly force. The law even states that you can use deadly force even if someone is just vandelizing your vehicle at night. Now that does not mean you wont be prosecuted, it just means the law gives you that defense.

I had a friend that was broke into repeatidly. He set up a make shift crossbow facing the door that was broken into all the time. He came in from work and his trap was sprung and blood on the floor. He was sued by the theif for physical damages and my friend lost. He did not know that booby traps are highly illegal.

Since crime has gone up dramatically in Houston, there are a lot of home invasions now. There was one story of a guy that chased down some people in a vehicle after they shot at him at his house. He chased them down and shot them them to death. I dont think he was prosecuted. However chasing people after the fact is a hard thing to defend.

Answer 8

This makes me mad. People work hard for their things, and gas is too high for people to be stealing it. As a home owner I will do what I have to do no matter the consequences, if someone breaks into my home they had better watch out because I will take the law into my own hands. The laws today are ridiculous that's why there are so many criminals.

Answer 9

I was told once that if an intruder breaks into your house it's OK to shoot, but make sure of three things:

1) Kill the intruder, he can't sue you that way.
2) Do not let any stray shots exit the building. If you do, then you are endangering the public.
3) Pull the trigger as many times as you like, but don't reload. If you reload, you can't claim you acted out of irrational fear.

Answer 10

The fact the farm owner chased the the thieves in a truck takes this out of the self defence range and into criminal misconduct.
You can shoot trespassers on your property who are are threatning but they have to be facing you inside the home and not turned away running, in order for it to be self defence and not murder or assault with a deadly weapon.
PS. Wolf, get educated.

Answer 11

He crossed the line when he got into a vehicle and engaged in a high speed chase while wielding a firearm.

At that point he was not just risking the safely of the man who stole his gas, but everybody who was on the road that day.