The Daily Herald reports the men, ages 22 and 23, allegedly took four nail guns, each worth more than $400, from the Coastal Farm & Ranch store Saturday in Marysville.
The men walked out of the store and got into a Honda Civic, only to be surrounded by about six customers with guns raised.
Court documents say the driver pulled forward, causing one man confronting him to land on the hood.
Documents say another customer shot at the driver’s side front tire, while a third fired twice at the rear tire.
Marysville police found the theft suspects’ car unoccupied about three blocks away, with two flat tires and the tools inside. Both men were apprehended after a search.
6 customers draw guns on men attempting to steal tools
It makes you feel good to have good people stand for the “right thing”, but in this case this is not the legal way. I don’t think a prosecuting attorney would be political dumb enough to bring charges against the customers, but let’s not tempt faith, shall we? Just say no to use of deadly force for simple loss of property.
The county prosecutor might not touch this case but a civil suit is sure to follow since I’m sure all the thieves have some type of ‘alphabet disease’ now that they suffered the agony of being threatened with loaded guns and shot at it, evidenced by the tires going flat.
In many cases like this case, the best weapon to employ is a ….cell phone video camera recording, of the thieves and their vehicle license plate as they drive away.
It’s time to fix the broken laws and make it clear that force IS proper in defense of property, as was the case in the past.
Okay. Let’s say that the law changes and you can now shoot someone over a piece of property. Where do we draw the line? Is a car worth a human life? A boat? Is there a monetary figure? If you can shoot someone for stealing a car, how about stealing a computer? A cell phone? A stick of gum?
Have you thought about how taking someone’s life to protect your rims would affect your sleep?
Things can be replaced. It’s why you pay the gecko. Lives can’t.
And this softness on crime and punishment is why this petty crime goes up and all of us pay for it. I’m not saying kill them unless they threaten you like these scum did with the car, but there is no repercussions to crime with todays liberal prosecutors.
You don’t have to shoot someone to scare the hell out of them with a gun, like these guys did.
It would have been wiser to observe and report. However, they did not fire until they were threatened with the car as a weapon. At that point, they had every right to make them DRT. Yet they showed remarkable restraint by shooting the tires.