According to some, he deserves it because he is a greedy Capitalist and the bad guys were just trying to get along and besides they're downtrodden and somehow it's his fault and the Cops will never catch them and if they do they'll do 30 days in the slammer (an upgrade in their lifestyle) and get full medical care and probably detox and then 6 Months of free Methadone at the Methadone clinic after they're released and nobody really gives a good darn about him because, in Austin, he votes the wrong way anyhow.

I wonder how many people saw it and just didn't bother to call the Cops?

The Cops where I live are pretty tough. Really tough. But not to law-abiding citizens. To criminals? They're more than tough. Kinda mean actually.

In Austin? Criminals run that place. Any surprise they let petty crims run loose on the streets?

Just me ranting. Good luck to him. I mean that.

 

Warning shots are NEVER a good idea. That bullet has to go somewhere, and the safest place for it to go without hitting an innocent person is into the dirtbag. Also, the prosecutor always attempts to convince the jury that if you had REALLY been in fear for your life, you would have been shooting AT the dirtbag.

No, you can't shoot at someone who is retreating, so you need to make sure that you're, incidentally of course, in the way of his retreat, so he was actually attacking you...

 

Reasonable people will never understand unreasonable behavior. It's a real disadvantage to be honest and think reasonably in a world that includes people who are anti-social. Their actions (which include theft and violence) are meted out so cavalierly simply don't occur to most of the population. I'm afraid we will always be vulnerable until we start thinking like them. A thief sees a laptop on your back seat and simply wants it. The glass between him and it presents only a two-second obstacle and he doesn't give a flying flip that it will hurt or inconvenience you. There has been study after study that shows anti-social people actually resent the fact that you have something they don't and feel justified in taking it from you. In their minds they are right and we are undeserving of the fruits of our labors. How can you deal with that kind of thinking?

Fortunately that demographic is lazy and will usually only take advantage of easy opportunities. We all know that the best thing is to not present the opportunity in the first place so the cockroach will move on. This is a never ending battle and one that we must be constantly vigilant or else.

 

Don't be so sure it will be a "him." In my state of NH, we just had a couple of young women needing their heroin fix devise a plan...ordered a Domino's pizza at 1AM, invited to the driver in to their apartment to receive payment...then proceeded to attack him and stabbed him multiple times...then relieved him of $300 personal money in his wallet. Fortunately, none of the stab wounds were life threatening. Police made the arrests the next day thanks to the idiots doing this in their own apartment. Heroin is such a massive problem in NH, it blows my mind. Really, it makes formerly 'normal' citizens quickly become criminals and resort to doing whatever it takes to get money to get their drug.

 

The sad part is the cops don't care and refuse to do their job. I bet they never sent anyone to pull fingerprints off your truck. The only time the police actually do their job is if a VIP is a victim of a crime or there is a death involved. To be honest they don't even do their job when there is a death if the victim is a poor nobody from a crime ridden neighborhood.

I had my truck broken into and about $500 of tools taken out of the back seat. We had the BG (bad guy) on video and told the cops where he lives. Nothing was done, no arrest, no recovery.

Sorry to hear of your troubles, I know that deep down gut wrenching feeling that comes alone with being a victim of this type of petty theft. Sad thing is if you seek justice on your own you become the criminal and then the police will get involved and do their job to protect the real BG.

 

In Florida, if the criminal has taken something from you, you have the right to shoot him in order to recover it.

We had a moron down here that took a small generator out of a guy's garage while he was home. He starts running down the street with it and the homeowner shot him.

No charges were filed. Florida is pretty lenient on good guys and fairly tough on bad guys. Just ask Saint Skittles.

I, personally, wouldn't shoot someone unless I, or someone else, was seriously in fear of loss of life or of great bodily arm. IMHO, a few bucks in property aren't worth a person's life. Even if he's a dirtbag. Never know, he might turn into a decent human being someday.

Plus, the hoops you gotta jump through, the paperwork, you may need to hire a lawyer and bullets ain't cheap anymore.

 

In the part of the US where I have lived, you are always within your right to defend your life or the life of someone else.


Any reasonable Grand Jury would consider bats, shovels and rakes to be deadly weapons in the hands of a single person. More so in the hands of a "mob". The first person to come within 21 feet, a common standard of self defense justification, is fair game. As is the next one and the next one and so on until the threat is eliminated.


I don't believe the truth of the supposed true story above unless it happened outside the US. If it happened in Europe, I have no trouble believing it as their is no right to self defense over here (I'm writing this from Belgium at this very moment.)


Nothing makes you appreciate how great America is until you have lived away from her for a long period of time.


Adam

 

That must have happened in California. In Texas we do things different.

 

Update: I have a new window thanks to Austin Ace Discount Glass. Great group of guys there that are very attentive to detail. They cleaned up the entire mess in the truck, made sure that I saw the additional damage caused by the broken glass (inside door panel is scuffed up pretty good and some scratches in the leather seat).

The additional bad news is I started realizing what was left in my laptop bag (which was a top of the line Samsonite Business backpage):

1. 2 prescription medications
2. Power supply for my personal laptop (which was at home)
3. Dongles for my personal laptop
4. Glasses
5. 2 USB thumb drives
6. Nice ear buds
7. Arm band case for my phone for when I go running

More stuff to go buy and replace...

Thanks for all the words of support guys. Have a great weekend!

 

Right. Ive never had a vehicle broken into but my wife has 3 times. She would NEVER leave anything of value in the car no matter where we are. Kind of annoying at times but I understand why she does it.

 

Are you referencing cops where you live, or are you painting them all with the same brush?

 

That's a sheep mentality.

 

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Don't they have some sort of tracking device to install on these devices so that you can locate the thieves and arrest them?

 

They were able to track and "brick" the stolen laptop to secure it.

 

On my last trip to New Orleans, the hotel chef told me not to even leave a pack of cigarettes in view in the car or I'd come back to a windowless vehicle. This is wide spread. Car smash and grabs are getting attention even in Beverly Hills.