Glad your family and you are fine....some people are really brazen and stupid, if it was me he would be dead from lead poisoning, just because it was my most cherish thing in the world that he was messing with.....my wife my kids and my Mother. Im the type of person that would bust a spring first then worry about what happens when the law shows up....good that you could control yourself, couldn't say same for me...he would be pushing up daisies then I know he wouldn't be out prowling anymore....just my opinion.....
Anyone who can recommend some kind of alarm system? I wouldn't mind one where I live, with all the sh*t that goes down here. Would be for an apartment in a 4-plex, one of the top units with stairs down to a front and back door.
A gun of any use in a situation like this is a lifestyle choice. I have a four year old, and I don't have gun locks. I can grab a 30-30 and run down the stairs, lever a round into the rifle while on the way or just pull the hammer back on the 44 and do what needs done. My daughter has seen deer, porcupines and coyotes die, seen dad shoot thousands of times with rifle and pistol, and has a BB gun of her own. She understands guns, what they are and what they do. Guns that sit around and are a mystery are dangerous around kids. My daughter has no interest in checking out the guns. She knows what they are and what they do and understands that they are dangerous in her hands. She will have a 22 when she is old enough to be interested in real guns. I tend to agree that due to life style a gun is not as useful for you, but figure out what is. A dog is a good start. Think Dachshund though. What you want is something that will make noise and prevent a problem. A german shepherd that is trained to eat a man is great, but a dog that barks and wakes everyone up so that the lights come on and the guy runs off is even better. Get pepper spay at the minimum. The kind that's for bears. Tear gas wont stop a determined bad guy. Think about where and when you spray that too. If you spray it in the house you have disabled the people in the house (good guys) also.
Dave,not all of us have the same understanding of guns.Me & you,yeah in a heartbeat i would arm myself in his situation.We,as rednecks,would we have the same control? Probably not,maybe,fodder for when it happens to us.He had the control in the situation,which is # 1...make the maurading intruder panic...then evalulate his next move.....awwww bull****,i would have shot him!
We are wrenchers, mauybe we should have weapons that reflect that. How about a 1/4" drive breaker bar to the bridge of the nose. That might curb his sex drive a bit. I still dont see how you will make it stick unless he admitted to it. He didnt break in, he can argue he was friends with you, nobody saw h im go in, he didnt actually touch her and there is no evidence that he did anything. If he keeps his mouth shut he will probly get off. Have you heard anything back on the case?
Thank God you and the family are OK. You did the right thing by not beating the guy. A person like that can usually accept what you did and realize they shouldn't have been doing what they were. But if you beat the hell out of them then they have a vendetta and may try to even the score and possibly when you are not around. Hopefully he is charged with something other than breaking and entering. Good Luck to you and your family. Bob H.
Glad you and family are OK ... this guy needs to be on a sex offender's list real soon. ... revenge is a dish best served cold
Good news for all you folks who said I should have roughed him up. Guess I broke his ankle when I tackled his ass and must have slammed him to the ground pretty hard, cause he ended up in the hospital and had a badly bruised up face, contusions, etc. I guess that's what happens when you get slammed onto the concrete with a 250 Lb guy on your back. I honestly remember none of it -- I saw him going out the french door, going out the screen door, slipping as he rounded the corner and I was after him at top speed. Next thing I remember I was on top of him at the front of the garage. No idea how I brought him down. Police report confirms his fly was down and he had his junk hanging out. Guess he has a girlfriend on the side -- the girlfriend's sister called my wife wanting to know the scoop, since his story about what went down is obviously a pack of lies. Actually made my wife feel better talking with her. -- Steve
Steve as far as whipping this guy... I might not have been as light on him as you were but since we were not in the situation we cant say really what would happen. My kids also have grown up with guns and they know all the rules of using them. Once we heard some noise outside in the front and the dogs went nuts so I jumped up and went outside with a 22 and right behind me my son 13 yo followed and he was carring his pellett gun. I kinda laughed. What we found was a HUGE rat had gotten into the basement window well and couldnt get out so we ended his carreer of terror in the neighborhood. Its all about what you were brought up in believing and training with. Im glad noone got hurt but the bad guy. More of them need to be hurt more often and there migh be less crime....
what gets me is some of these stories you read whre the guy comes in just like he did, is in the middle of stealing your TV, you chase him outside and he breaks his leg and sues you and wins. Ive read stories like that many times. It just frustrates me so much.
a few years ago my wife was going through her "junk" from moving into the house when we got married. She found her old field hockey stick and was going to throw it out ... I took it in my hand and felt the weight and density, gave it a few good swings, and walked upstairs and replaced my softball bat sitting by the bedroom door with it. That thing is one nasty hunk of wood
Things can happen so fast that you may not remember.. not a bad thing as long as the "job" gets done. I'm sure you will find over time that stuff will all of a sudden come back in bits and pieces.. We all have our own way of doing things, whatever works.. Good job!! Mine is usually the redneck way as well!!
:Comp: Dateline - Lockport, NY - Don Cherry, a mild mannered Vietnam Vet (knows weapons et al) was robbed in early Jan 2009 by his step-daughter and her friend. Cherry, upset that his step daughter and friend were drug users and stealing his electronics stuff, loaded a few AR-15 clips and stayed at home a few nights. Cherry had originally called police, gave them step daughter's name and says "stole my stuff". Police arrested her and charged her with a misdemeanor theft charge. Sure enough, a couple weeks later, the twosome used a garage door opener they stole in the previous burglary, opened the door, drove a Ford Ranger pickup into the garage and started trying to haul the microwave and TV out to the truck. Cherry pops up fom the bedroom, starts hollering at the step daughter - and the dude bolts for the garage. Cherry runs after him, as the Dude spins the tires backing out, makes a quick racetrack move to spin around at the end of the driveway; and Cherry opens fire with the AR-15. . . 15 shots later, Cherry pops the first clip out, and inserts the second clip as the Ranger gets out of range - the truck wounded mortally thru the radiator and block. Cherry calls 911, the twosome are arrested at the scene of the truck - dripping green fluid all over the road. . . Cherry admits he shot at the Dude fleeing; while Cherry was in hot pursuit of the Dude. He also clearly spoke to the police about his "aiming points" - the radiator/motor and the gas tank at knee level. Okay - are you ready for court ? Cherry is charged with two felony counts - one is possession of an unregistered assault rifle, and the second was a count of firing an assault weapon within Lockport City Limits ! The dude ? Misdemeanor snatching of property. Step daughter ? Misdemeanor snatching of property. Neither a habitual criminal, neither charged as a weekly repeat thief at the same location. Both with needle marks and criminal records as long as their respective arms. District Attorney for Lockport ? Duh - Uhhh - "Cherry broke the law".:Smarty: :Smarty: :Smarty: :Smarty: :Smarty: :Smarty: :Smarty: "A Citizen in New York is REQUIRED to RETREAT from CONFRONTATIONS and only use enough force to MATCH that used by a CROOK ! ! !". . .o No: o No: o No: o No: o No: Because the DUDE was FLEEING, :moonu: Cherry had to hang his head and retreat from the Dude. :rant: Cherry's next felony court hearing (arraignment sort of - this time with an attorney) is next week. I'm going. Don't know if I will be able to hold my tongue at this injustice, but I want to "SEE" justice in New York. Will keep you informed (they allow pisoners to use library internet computers). . . Rip Rohring (Used my AR-15 in SEA). PS: As you all know - a famous criminal suit was dismissed in Missouri because a homeowner shot the bastar. . .on the front porch. The judge would NOT allow the prosecutor to hypothesize that the criminal "might have" been shot on the driveway and dragged back onto the porch ? Anyone remember that case ? Probably 30 years ago. NOW you MUST shoot them IN THE FACE to PROVE they were not fleeing and were THREATENING :bla: :bla: :bla:
Wow, scary thread. I probably would have had a Jeckyl and Hyde moment, dragging him into the house, playing some baseball, then put one of my kitchen knives in his hand. "Yes officer, I came out and saw him swinging the knife at my wife."
Steve, you are my hero - kept your cool, protected your family and are not out for blood, revenge or a million-dollar settlement. Not sure how you could have handled it any better, especially having no time to think, just act. Your family should be very proud of how you handled the situation!
You might be surprised at the control you have when you have the gun and are in control. A few years back someone was breaking into my grandparents old house. I went back to board up the back door with a buddy (and my 44). I heard someone upstairs and it turns out the scum was back, I got him to come down stairs. Then when the situation was under control, I called the cops and had my buddy put my 44 in my rig before the cops showed up and then I bounced his head off the wall a few times! Without the gun I may have ended up tackling him going down the concrete steps and that wouldn't have been good for either of us. But he wouldn't have gotten away from me. Turns out he had one of those realistic looking airsoft guns up stairs. He has no idea how lucky he is that he didn't bring it down stairs with him. 44 vs. airsoft. Predictable ending. Dang thing looked real too. As for control in Steve's situation...... I have great control when someone messes with my family. Breath, relax, aim, squeeze the trigger. Like I said though. Guns for defense are not for everyone. It is a lifestyle choice. You have to be comfortable enough with a gun that you don't even need to think about the gun in a situation, and if you have kids the guns have to be every day normal things so that they are not something to be curious about. Hell at my house guns are part of the art on the walls (at least the cool looking ones).
In Florida, lethal force can be used anywhere if your life is threated. Places like New York where a pair of thieves gets misdomeanor charges and the property owner gets a felony for protecting his place by using a gun is assinine,as described in Rip's post. I guess the New York legislature has been ripping people off for so long that they feel compelled to give special rights to the criminals. You guys can keep NY.
