[Shotimes] Caught a Thief in Action

[Leslie Nielsen]

I'm unfamiliar with the law in his area, but it's generally not illegal to
detain a person until the police arrive.  BUT, "I started to lay the beats
on him" would be a surefire way to lose the case.  Generally he should be
able to defend himself "with reasonable and equal force".  If he can just
bring up the fact it was dark and he "thought" he saw something in the hand
of the thief, a screwdriver/slim-jim/whatever, then he can say he believed
his life was at risk, thus the lacrosse stick.  Otherwise, it would be
considered excessive force, which is what they are charging him with.  It's
BS, but it's on most law books.  I would probably have done the same thing
in his shoes, but the smartest would have been to phone the cops and watch
the guy, making sure he didn't get away, possibly using a cell phone to
follow him.  At least most police suggest that.

My $0.02 disclaimer:  This is just what I've learned from being friends with
a lawyer and having a sister that prefers to date cops.  I'm not a lawyer
and he should speak to one that's not court appointed.  :)

Les

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Al Fitz" <alfitz@alfitz.com>
To: "_SHOtimes" <Shotimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, March 01, 2004 12:05 PM
Subject: [Shotimes] Caught a Thief in Action


> I read this on the SHO forum today....
>
>
> I was spending the night at my cousins place on Saturday night after
> celebrating his birthday. He put me in a room that was directly in front
of
> the driveway where my SHO was parked. The window in the room faced the
front
> of the SHO.
>
> I was awoken around 4 am by a noise outside. I looked out the window and I
> noticed a figure by the drivers side door on my SHO.
>
> I grabbed a lacrosse stick and snuck out the back door of the house and
crept
> up right behind the figure.
>
> He was definatly trying to steal the car, so I tapped him on the shoulder
and
> told him to stop what hes doing. He spun around and swung at me, totally
> missing.
>
> I whacked him on the knee and then cross checked him in the face area with
the
> stick. He fell down like a tonne of bricks. I then pinned this theif on
the
> ground while my cousin ran outside. I told him to call the cops.
>
> During this time I was talking to my cousin, the thief punched me in the
> stomach so I got off of him and I started to lay the beats on him. The
next
> door neighbor came outside and asked whats going on, and I told him about
this
> guy trying to steal my car. The neighbor (around 30 years old) wanted in
on
> beating the theif up, but I wouldnt let him.
>
> The cops showed up and took him away, and another set of cops arrived and
told
> me that im getting charged for excessive force. (as long as my SHO was
stolen,
> Im all good tho).
>
> Should I fight this charge tho? What do you guys think?
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