Relentless Thief Problem

Oooof. I was once cornered during a home invasion..easily the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced. Ironically I think I forgot to lock the door that night, but it's hard to say. They didn't know I was home and scattered when the mostly naked knife-wielding bearded man exploded out of the door; no confrontation, but I had to hype myself up to do whatever I may need to do to attempt to survive the situation.

The gift that keeps on giving is that I don't think I've had a good night's sleep since then; not even after leaving the city and moving to Mayberry, BFE (thanks guys!). I can't even imagine what it's like for service members with legitimate PTSD..

 

But do you speak jive?

 

HAHA! God Bless, you, and him, and all, that have to deal with that sh&t.

 

I am sorry you had to go thru all of that!
I still think it is crazy that you can be civilly sued when there was no criminal prosecution or you were found not guilty by a jury of your peers

In NC if they decline to criminally charge you [for a self defense situation] then you are immune from civil litigation
The castle doctrine here also applies to ones curtilage - my home has a very clearly defined curtilage that is separated from the street/adjacent properties by a good bit of woods

I think it is valuable to understand the local laws for these kinds of things - hopefully I never have to actually find out

 

you have no idea how hard it is for some to comprehend that my username is not my real name!!
hence: not amy

 

Can we just call you "Suckitup McButtercup?

 

omg head/gutter

you can call me whatever you want
whether i respond or not is a different matter!

 

Years ago I was hired by a lawyer to pattern 12 gauge Remington 27 pellet #4 buckshot fired from an 18 inch barrel Mossberg shotgun at various distances. The lawyer's client was up against some substantial felony charges. He was sitting at home in his front room watching TV in the late evening. He hears something outside. A thief was inside his parked in the street car stealing his radio. The guy grabs his pistol grip Mossberg pump shotgun and runs outside. He gets to about three feet from the passenger side of his car. The thief has the radio partially removed. The thief gets out of the car on the driver's side and starts around the front of the car. The thief has a long screwdriver in his hand. The guy said he fired over the hood of the car about three feet away from the side of the car. Only one of the 27 #4 buckshot pellets hits the thief. The pellet hit the thief in the head and lodged in his brain leaving him in a permanent vegetated state. The guy claims self defense because the thief was coming right at him with a big screwdriver. The police claim he could not have been that close because at that range the buckshot pattern would be tight and thief should have had more pellets in him. The police claim the guy fired at the thief from his front porch and therefore not in self defense. My patterns showed that 27 pellet #4 buckshot spreads fast but is still fairly tight from an across a car hood distance. However and very critically, it tends to have one or two flyers that stray wide from the pattern.

On another occasion, I was the jury foreman on a self defense trial. The old feeble fella on trial was tossed into a bazar situation in a high-rise public housing apartment hallway involving a literal NAZI skinhead who was just out of prison and a runt mini NAZI buddy (can't make this up). The old feeble fella grabbed his M1 Carbine loaded with ammo coved in green corrosion. The skinhead and his lil' buddy turned and ran down the apartment hallway. The skinhead stops at the end of the hall way at a stairway entrance and turns towards the old fella. The old fella fumbles about chambering the carbine (can hear the fumbling on his wife's 911 call recording). The old fella fires a fmj bullet down the long hallway which hits the wall just before the skinheads face. The hard concrete like plaster of the old building blast into the skinheads face with great effect. Lots of blood and lots of squealing (on the 911 tape). The bullet just missing by maybe an inch from the skinhead's head.

Here is the thing guys; the jury wanted to hang this old fella. The jury was mostly a mix of virtue signaling affluent suburbanite women along with urban hipster types. The skinhead was this nice young man who was turning his life around. He was just helping out his apartment manager girlfriend by delivering flyers to the tenants. Then this old guy with an ASSUALT RIFLE decided to mess around. Had this old guy not brought an ASSUALT RIFLE into the situation then everything would have blown over and been fine. In the jury room two of the women were quoting from Oprah. This prison physique muscular skinhead just out of 15 years in state prison was all cleaned up and had a nice haircut for the jury. He reminded one jury woman of her son. One woman said the old guy should have known better to live in such a crime ridden apartment. The old fella is not in prison today because he had the dumb luck of having me and an elderly Mexican guy (who had seen a lot of shit in his life) on his jury. Without the two of us on the jury this old fella would have had the maximum charges ruled against him. The big issue was the old fella stepped out of his apartment door into the communal hallway after the skinhead had broke contact and was leaving.

Anyway guys, I am typing this with a Glock 357 Sig on my belt, but don't go thinking you will be judged by a jury of your peers. You wont be, so avoid, avoid.

 

They make dashcams that are hardwired into the vehicle, and are capable of running all the time or only when an impact is detected (like some punk opening a door to steal shit). These dashcams are designed to not drain the battery and can face inward, outward, or both. You also do motion activated alarms in your property.

On another note, you’re sure it’s actually the same guy?!?!

 

No doubt the thief would also rip off the dashcam

 

”Play stupid games, win stupid prizes” is all I’ve got to say about that…

Horse theft was punishable by death less than a century and a half ago, yet hard working vehicle owners aren’t allowed to beat the shit out of people who break into and/or steal their vehicles…

I have fired numerous guns before and am VERY pro-2A, but I do not own a gun (yet; this will probably change if society keeps going the way it’s going).

If I had a gun and caught someone simply breaking into my truck or attempting to stealing, I would not immediately resort to shooting them. If they had a weapon, then I would shoot in self-defense. I would, however, not hesitate to beat the shit out of somebody stealing from my truck. My truck was a present from my parents 15 years ago when I got my learner’s permit, I have been through a lot with my truck, I have put a ton of money into my truck (stereo, lift kit, and a few other things), and even though I have full coverage my truck has a great deal of sentimental value to me!

 

Not to mention the insurance premium increase because, you made a claim.

 

There are ways to hide them. Mine is not visible to a thief sitting in either seat rummaging through my truck, and I doubt a thief looking over their shoulder to make sure a 250-pound Tacoma owner with a Louisville Slugger (me) doesn’t come out of the house will have the presence of mind to look closely enough at the outside of the truck to spot the dashcam.

 

I do have coverage for the modifications on my truck, but I would rather use that if my truck was involved in a flash flood, so I could get compensated for the custom stereo and not just the truck. I probably would not be above beating the shit out of somebody breaking into and/or attempting to steal from my truck if I caught them…

My truck was vandalized in a parking lot in June 2023 because somebody didn’t agree with a bumper sticker in my back window. The bumper sticker had a statement on it that cannot be discussed publicly on TW, but I think you can probably figure out what it said…

Luckily, there was no actual damage on to my truck, and the “vandalism” amounted to someone placing an industrial-strength sticker on my bull bar that was an absolute bitch to get off.

Not agreeing on certain issues doesn’t give anybody the right to touch somebody else’s property!

 

What I did for raccoons and may work for thieves is put a motion activated box that has a light sensor so it only works after dark that makes very loud gunshot noises when it’s tripped. Also helps that shortly after it gets tripped if that hasn’t scared them off the gunshots are real haha

 

Thanks for sharing, and excellent advice.