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Linkat
Posts: 8474
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When David Crest heard noise in his dark kitchen area, he suspected he was being burglarized again, and crept toward the noise. He grabbed the Mossberg 500 12-gauge shotgun he had kept by his side.
"Freeze," he screamed. Crest believed he had finally caught the culprit who had taken thousands of dollars in meats, alcohol, and equipment from the shop. But when he flicked on the lights, still aiming his shotgun, and saw the intruder, he felt betrayed like never before: It was, his head chef.
I am not a vigilante type, but being charged because you pull out a gun when some one tries to rob you is a bit much. Shouldn’t you be able to defend your property?
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/05/15/was_it_self_defense_or_firearms_offense/
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roger
Posts: 14487
Location: Farmington, NM, USA
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fishin
Posts: 9179
Location: Boston
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Defending your property is one thing. Firing shots at someone who is running in the other direction is another.
But this is a story from MA where you are expected to run and/or hide before defending yourself so none of it is surprising to me.
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parados
Posts: 8332
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The most important part of the story..
| Quote: |
The man ran out the door, and Crest fired several warning shots. He was determined, he said, to protect his property.
But police say he went too far by trying to take the law into his own hands.
Now there are two defendants. Crest, 39, of Marshfield will be arraigned next week before the same court that arraigned John F. O'Connor, 43, the man accused of stealing from him. Crest is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling. |
The man was outside and running away when Crest fired. There was no danger to him but danger to anyone else that might be out.
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ehBeth
Posts: 45064
Location: I can see the Danforth from here
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shooting at someone who's not physically assaulting/threatening you?
shooting at someone who's running away from you?
doesn't seem like something I'd want to try to defend.
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Mame
Posts: 12506
Location: Whoo hoo... I have a home (after a fashion)
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If the perp was running away, why the warning shots? Sounds to me like the guy was pissed and wanted to scare him.
If it's illegal to do that there, then what he did was stoopid.
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roger
Posts: 14487
Location: Farmington, NM, USA
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I don't think warning shots are legal anywhere, nor shooting at someone who is fleeing. This wasn't quite clear from the original post.
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Linkat
Posts: 8474
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| fishin wrote: |
Defending your property is one thing. Firing shots at someone who is running in the other direction is another.
But this is a story from MA where you are expected to run and/or hide before defending yourself so none of it is surprising to me. |
He wasn't (assuming the guy isn't lying) shooting a warning shot not shooting at him.
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Linkat
Posts: 8474
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| Mame wrote: |
If the perp was running away, why the warning shots? Sounds to me like the guy was pissed and wanted to scare him.
If it's illegal to do that there, then what he did was stoopid. |
He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon - he was trying to scare him, not assault him. I can see the other charge discharging a fire arm within a certain distance of a dwelling.
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Mame
Posts: 12506
Location: Whoo hoo... I have a home (after a fashion)
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It was irresponsible of him to shoot in his direction. He could have killed him. The guy's an idiot.
Wasn't it enough that now he knew who was stealing from him and he could charge him?
No, his emotions got the better of him and people who can't control their emotions shouldn't have guns.
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:53 am 
