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Carry in your own home... in the middle of the day?

TFred

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I hate reading stories like this. I don't usually carry at home in the daytime, but you never know what might happen.

TFred

http://www2.starexponent.com/cse/news/local/crime/article/hunt_continues_for_man_wanted_in_connection_with_home_invasion/41994/

Hunt continues for man wanted in connection with home invasion

Nate Delesline III, ndelesline@starexponent.com , (540) 825-0771 ext. 110
Published: August 25, 2009

BRANDY STATION — One man is in custody, and the hunt continues for a second suspect after a violent home invasion Monday afternoon in the 21000 block of Mount Pony Road.

Authorities are seeking Gregory Lee Wallace, 27, whose last known address is in the 7000 block of Third Street in Remington. He is described as a black male, 6 feet, 3 inches tall and about 215 pounds.

Sgt. Jim Fox of the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office said Wallace, who also goes by the name Michael Lee Ketterman, may be armed. Fox advised area residents to “use normal precautions and make sure their houses are locked.”

Wallace was last seen wearing a dark jacket or tan shirt, blue jeans and white shoes.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Monday’s home invasion occurred around 1:40 p.m.; an unidentified male victim was treated and released at an area hospital for unspecified injuries.

About 10 minutes later, the two suspects were involved in a car crash with a Culpeper sheriff’s deputy on Brandy Road, just east of the U.S. 29 intersection with Alanthus Road.

Fox said Darryl Wallace, 18, of Washington, D.C., was detained at the scene and taken to headquarters for questioning; charges are pending against him. Police and witnesses say Gregory Wallace fled on foot across the highway.

Fox said the suspects are related but was unsure of their exact relationship.

Around the time of the crash, emergency dispatches indicated “shots fired” in the area of Bentley Lane off Auburn Road in Brandy Station. However, Fox clarified earlier news reports by saying the shots were not connected to this incident and were not of a criminal nature.

Meanwhile, northbound traffic on U.S. 29 near Brandy Station was at a standstill for several miles as Culpeper and Fauquier county sheriff’s deputies, along with state troopers, tracking dogs, a Fairfax police helicopter and a police airplane circled overhead.

By Monday night, authorities were still searching west of U.S. 29 in fields surrounding the Brandy Station carnival area.

“They have shut down the perimeter search, but we are continuing to do saturation patrols,” Fox said, adding that the search would likely continue overnight and into today.

Fox said the motive for the home invasion is still under investigation.

Witness reaction
Jimmy Howell, owner of Jimmy’s Auto Repair & Trailer supply, and employee Charlie Gochenour were working when they saw the crash, just down the street on Brandy Road.

“I was in the trailer welding and I saw them,” Gochenour said. “Cop cars were everywhere.”

The men said none of the vehicles appeared to be travelling faster than 25 mph before the crash occurred.

Daryl Wallace was taken into custody after the white Cadillac sedan he was in collided with a Dodge Magnum driven by Culpeper Deputy Christopher Tash.

After the crash, as both men watched, Gochenour said it appeared one of the suspects pulled a television and a sawed-off shotgun from the sedan. He said one of the men fled just a few feet from the shop, running between the business and a home.

“We had an eye on him the whole time,” Howell said, adding that he grabbed two large wrenches from the shop for protection in case the suspect approached.

The home invasion, chase, traffic backup, aerial search and investigation on the ground caused at least two other traffic accidents.

Star-Exponent correspondent Greg VanNostrand reports that a state trooper was involved in a three-vehicle crash while investigating the incident. The trooper’s unmarked sedan was rear-ended on U.S. 29, causing his vehicle to hit a third car.

And a Dominion Virginia bucket truck had to be pulled out of the median on U.S. 29 after the vehicle left the road for unknown reasons.

Criminal record
Records show Monday was not Gregory Wallace’s first run-in with law. Last month, town police charged him with burglary and malicious wounding following an incident in the 300 block of Duke Street. He was also charged in a 2008 incident where police say he fired a gun near Culpeper Head Start school.
 

user

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That's good reporting, thanks. I gave a copy to my wife, who wonders why I normally have a gun with me even in the house. There've been a number of such events in Pr. Wm., too, recently, just East of where we are.
 

Grapeshot

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I had to laugh when I read that the employee of the auto repair facility armed himself with two large wrenches. Good tools for close quarter drills but he might have been more suitably prepared.

Yata hey
 

dng

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I don't always have a gun on my waist, but I always have one I can have my hands on in 5 seconds or less.
 

nova

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I carry 24/7, including at home. My father finally warmed up to the idea a week ago, after a few years of talking with him. Much nicer now not having to CC whenever he's home :p
 

Grapeshot

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nova wrote:
I carry 24/7, including at home. My father finally warmed up to the idea a week ago, after a few years of talking with him. Much nicer now not having to CC whenever he's home :p
I remember the earlier reports. Time and familiarity are great educators.

Yata hey
 

ClumsyCandy

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Grapeshot wrote:
nova wrote:
I carry 24/7, including at home. My father finally warmed up to the idea a week ago, after a few years of talking with him. Much nicer now not having to CC whenever he's home :p
I remember the earlier reports.  Time and familiarity are great educators.

            Yata hey

So true! When my traveling companion and I first started traveling together over two years ago I couldn't even stand to look at a pistol (check some of my earliest posts for info) and now i have my very own! He and I are ALWAYS armed in the house, at my home in the sticks I keep my rifle under the bed and sleep with my .40. When I am alone at his house in the West End I sleep with the .40 and shotty by the bed. When I'm awake the shotty is usually handy. When he is here the shotty usually stays by the bed and he has his .45 and I have my .40.
 

ProShooter

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ClumsyCandy wrote:
So true! When my traveling companion and I first started traveling together over two years ago I couldn't even stand to look at a pistol (check some of my earliest posts for info) and now i have my very own! He and I are ALWAYS armed in the house, at my home in the sticks I keep my rifle under the bed and sleep with my .40. When I am alone at his house in the West End I sleep with the .40 and shotty by the bed. When I'm awake the shotty is usually handy. When he is here the shotty usually stays by the bed and he has his .45 and I have my .40.
geez I hope the Avon lady doesn't make the mistake of coming to your door!
 

ClumsyCandy

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ProShooter wrote:
ClumsyCandy wrote:
So true! When my traveling companion and I first started traveling together over two years ago I couldn't even stand to look at a pistol (check some of my earliest posts for info) and now i have my very own! He and I are ALWAYS armed in the house, at my home in the sticks I keep my rifle under the bed and sleep with my .40. When I am alone at his house in the West End I sleep with the .40 and shotty by the bed. When I'm awake the shotty is usually handy. When he is here the shotty usually stays by the bed and he has his .45 and I have my .40.
geez I hope the Avon lady doesn't make the mistake of coming to your door!

Luckily my Avon lady is my favorite MotherInLaw! But I was lookin forward to the Mormons the other day...I guess luckily they never showed...
 

Grapeshot

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ClumsyCandy wrote:
snip.......... But I was lookin forward to the Mormons the other day...I guess luckily they never showed...
They don't seem to come to my door - me must be luckily too. :lol:

Yata hey
 

Neplusultra

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virginiatuck wrote:
When I am at home, there's a firearm handy.
Mine is never more than 10-15 feet from me if it's not on my hip. I consider it like car keys or a wallet.... The reason is not paranoia, but as this article points out, you never know.
 

Skeptic

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Neplusultra wrote:
virginiatuck wrote:
When I am at home, there's a firearm handy.
Mine is never more than 10-15 feet from me if it's not on my hip. I consider it like car keys or a wallet.... The reason is not paranoia, but as this article points out, you never know.
Yes - just like I always take my keys with me even if it is just to take out the garbage. Only had to get locked out of houses/apartments twice to learn that one.

With the gun, I figured it was best to learn it before I found out I needed it ;)
 

45acpForMe

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TFred wrote:
Criminal record
Records show Monday was not Gregory Wallace’s first run-in with law. Last month, town police charged him with burglary and malicious wounding following an incident in the 300 block of Duke Street. He was also charged in a 2008 incident where police say he fired a gun near Culpeper Head Start school.
What the heck was this guy doing on the streets in the first place. Do you think I would be walking the streets if I fired a gun near my daughters school or "maliciously" wounded someone during a burglary?

It affirms my beliefs on jails. They don't rehabilitate. They should only be holding cells until atrial. They are a waste of money and drain on the economy. Violent animals need to be put down. Non violent ones simply punished to the point they won't make that bad choice again. (30 lashes)

Anyway, I feel naked if I don't have a gun on me. When I get ready for the day I do the "keys,wallet,gun" check before leaving the bedroom.
 

TFred

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45acpForMe wrote:
"...he was freed on $10,000 bond within hours of his arrest"

Go figure?
I should paste the article... that release was on other charges, unrelated to the home invasion. He has not been charged at all for that now.

Here's the full text:

Wanted in home invasion, or not?

Culpeper sheriff changes description of man in home invasion from suspect to 'person of interest'

Date published: 8/29/2009

BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

The Culpeper County Sheriff's Office now appears uncertain that a man named in an alleged home-invasion robbery, abduction and police chase earlier this week was actually a suspect in the case.

Yesterday, Sheriff Jim Branch issued a statement that identifies 27-year-old Gregory L. Wallace only as a "person of interest" and not a suspect.

Branch added that Wallace contends he was somewhere else when the alleged incident in which one man was assaulted took place Monday afternoon on Mount Pony Road.

At this point, Wallace, who was arrested Tuesday morning while eating at the IHOP restaurant in Culpeper, has not been charged in a case that is becoming more bizarre and controversial by the day.

Still, the sheriff is standing by his decision earlier to publicly name Wallace as a suspect.

"Given the serious, life-threatening nature of a home invasion and abduction involving a high-speed chase and guns, the safety of the citizens of Culpeper was my primary concern as sheriff, as was the decision to release information of a suspect to inform and enlist the help of citizens," Branch said in his statement.

"Information during the event gave the identity of a suspect and was acted upon to begin a multi-jurisdictional search." Branch said as the investigation continued, "issues arose as to the information concerning the identity given."

"The active law enforcement investigation continues with goals of extensively covering all aspects of this event, interviewing all those involved in any way, with the ultimate goal being to exonerate the innocent and provide the commonwealth with the proper information to proceed with a prosecution of criminal laws violated." Branch said in the statement.

The incident began around 1:30 p.m. Monday, when authorities received a report that two men had forced their way into a home on Mount Pony Road, pistol-whipped one resident and forced him to drive them away at gunpoint. Sheriff's deputies eventually forced the car to a stop in Brandy and arrested Gerald Wallace's cousin, 18-year-old Darryl Wallace of Washington.

A second man fled on foot. The Sheriff's Office on Monday identified him as Gerald Wallace.

According to town police, Gerald Wallace willingly told an investigator he was at the IHOP before he was arrested the next morning. He was charged by the Culpeper town police with obstruction of justice on an outstanding warrant and possession of illegal drugs police said they found on him at the time, according to Capt. Ricky Pinksaw.

But no charges were filed against him in connection with the robbery and chase, and he was freed on $10,000 bond within hours of his arrest.

Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com
 

Citizen

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I wonder if they discovered some flaw in the story of the person/witness/evidence that initially pegged Wallace as a suspect.

Just one more example or lesson of why we shouldn't accept too literally what the police or media tell us.
 
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