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OT: My car was stolen

J

James06

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Just when you think it couldnt happen to you it does, This sucks cause these are the "nicest" apartments around here. This got me to thinking what if I would have caught the person who did it in the act, what would have been a good course of action? What would some of you guys do if you catch a burglar in the proccess of breaking in to your car?
 
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joeroket

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Breaking into your car does not warrant the use or display of a firearm as it is not a felony. Vehicle theft is however so if you could show that you believed they were stealing the vehicle then displaying a firearm would be within the scope of the law. I however do not feel that my car is worth another persons life.
 
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Kildars

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Unless he threatened you with violence you would have not been justified to shoot him. You can not use deadly force to protect property unless you're physically being threatened or can prove you were in fear for your life.

Sorry to hear about your car, good thing your gun wasn't in the car.
 
Metalhead47

Metalhead47

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Kildars wrote:
Unless he threatened you with violence you would have not been justified to shoot him. You can not use deadly force to protect property unless you're physically being threatened or can prove you were in fear for your life.

Sorry to hear about your car, good thing your gun wasn't in the car.
Click to expand...
In this state you can. The RCW's are pretty clear on using force to prevent a felony.
 
Batousaii

Batousaii

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I am a Honda freak .. I can install, or tell how to install a little switch that makes the car almost impossible to steal. One method that i like, is to cut power (via a switch) to the coil... The thief will kill the battery in an effort to steal the car.. the whirring of the engine is a good indicator that you should check the car, but it just ...wont...start...

- Sorry to hear about your car.. it happened to me once before, thus came the secret switch.

:(Bato
 
J

James06

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That sounds pretty cool Bat. If they ever find my car:shock: ill probablly ask you how to set up that switch
 
9

911Boss

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My professional experience is that every Honda Accord made has been, or will be, stolen at least once. Living south of I-90 in King County seems to greatly increase the odds as well.

I have nothing but anecdotal evidence of this, but they are by large the most popular car amongst thieves.


PS- They may be the "nicest" apartments in Kent, but they are still in Kent. Sorry, but I wouldn't recommend Auburn/Kent/Renton/Tukwila/SeaTac/Burien/Federal Watts to people I dislike, let alone someone I was fond of.
 
TechnoWeenie

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James06 wrote:
That sounds pretty cool Bat. If they ever find my car:shock: ill probablly ask you how to set up that switch
Click to expand...


Shoot me a PM when you get a replacement car. I do bait cars, so I know all the fun tricks to kill a car without being noticed....

I can also install an alarm/remote start/starter kill,etc if you'd like...
 
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jddssc121

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TechnoWeenie wrote:
James06 wrote:
That sounds pretty cool Bat. If they ever find my car:shock: ill probablly ask you how to set up that switch
Click to expand...


Shoot me a PM when you get a replacement car. I do bait cars, so I know all the fun tricks to kill a car without being noticed....

I can also install an alarm/remote start/starter kill,etc if you'd like...
Click to expand...

Kidlars - go read what metalhead said, and then go read RCW. you can defend a felony
 
TechnoWeenie

TechnoWeenie

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jddssc121 wrote:
TechnoWeenie wrote:
James06 wrote:
That sounds pretty cool Bat. If they ever find my car:shock: ill probablly ask you how to set up that switch
Click to expand...


Shoot me a PM when you get a replacement car. I do bait cars, so I know all the fun tricks to kill a car without being noticed....

I can also install an alarm/remote start/starter kill,etc if you'd like...
Click to expand...


Kidlars - go read what metalhead said, and then go read RCW. you can defend a felony
Click to expand...



Can/should are two different things...

I can only see a handful of legitimate 'need' to shoot someone stealing your car. Then you have to deal with insurance that won't pay out (you did the damage) and a car with holes, blood, and the feeling of the car having been violated....


I'd rather them not have a way to move the car, and get alerted on a two-way pager the second someone tries to peek in...
 
K

Kildars

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jddssc121 wrote:
TechnoWeenie wrote:
James06 wrote:
That sounds pretty cool Bat. If they ever find my car:shock: ill probablly ask you how to set up that switch
Click to expand...


Shoot me a PM when you get a replacement car. I do bait cars, so I know all the fun tricks to kill a car without being noticed....

I can also install an alarm/remote start/starter kill,etc if you'd like...
Click to expand...

Kidlars - go read what metalhead said, and then go read RCW. you can defend a felony
Click to expand...
Interesting. I did find the RCW. I'll have to find some case law regarding that, because you never know how courts rule on things.

Thanks!
 
killchain

killchain

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Sucks your car got jacked.

On an interesting note, Acuras and Hondas are the #1 and #2 stolen cars in the United States I believe.

And, my personal opinion, you're damn right the thief would have seen my pistol. I'm fairly sure a DA would look past a "brandishing" charge if you were preventing your car being stolen.

...but I could be wrong.
 
retrodad

retrodad

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James: do you feel comfortable sharing make/model/color/license? If not could you send a PM? If the Adamhenry who stole it brought it up my way, I'd like to know what to notice.
 
HankT

HankT

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James06 wrote:
Just when you think it couldnt happen to you it does, This sucks cause these are the "nicest" apartments around here. This got me to thinking what if I would have caught the person who did it in the act, what would have been a good course of action? What would some of you guys do if you catch a burglar in the proccess of breaking in to your car?
Click to expand...

No, it's not an impromptu execution opportunity (IEO), if that's what you (or others) may be thinking. :(

Of course, if it's Texas and at night, then, uhm, it would be.... ;)



Best thing to doif you catch somebody in the act of stealing your caris shout at the top of your lungs:

"HEY, YOU!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY CAR! I'M CALLING THE COPS RIGHT NOW!"

Then get a good description of the guy and how he gets away.

What kind of car was it, J06?

Oh, oh! I almost forgot.

The one thing you must CERTAINLY do in a situation where you catch someone stealling your car is to......REMEMBER and APPLY the world-famous HankT's Postulate of Citizen Self-Defense (HPCSD). It is as follows:

It is a bad strategy to shoot an unarmed person.

This postulate has always been found to apply. Even in Texas.
 
J

James06

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Jamfish wrote:
James: do you feel comfortable sharing make/model/color/license? If not could you send a PM? If the Adamhenry who stole it brought it up my way, I'd like to know what to notice.
Click to expand...


I don't mind at all its a Burgundy1997 Honda Accord SE License Plate 988-YKQ



Oh and Hank I've read your postings before got to say you seem like quite the cynicist and a presumptuous one at that. I mean really who in their right mind would as you put it, see a chance for an "impromptu execution"??

Edit to add color of car:D
 
Bill Starks

Bill Starks

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Gun is overkill

Baseball bat across the shins while he is trying to hotwire the car is justified. The shinbone has an eerie sound when hit with a aluminum baseball bat.
 
K

Kildars

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jddssc121 wrote:
TechnoWeenie wrote:
James06 wrote:
That sounds pretty cool Bat. If they ever find my car:shock: ill probablly ask you how to set up that switch
Click to expand...


Shoot me a PM when you get a replacement car. I do bait cars, so I know all the fun tricks to kill a car without being noticed....

I can also install an alarm/remote start/starter kill,etc if you'd like...
Click to expand...

Kidlars - go read what metalhead said, and then go read RCW. you can defend a felony
Click to expand...
Metalhead47 wrote:
Kildars wrote:
Unless he threatened you with violence you would have not been justified to shoot him. You can not use deadly force to protect property unless you're physically being threatened or can prove you were in fear for your life.

Sorry to hear about your car, good thing your gun wasn't in the car.
Click to expand...
In this state you can. The RCW's are pretty clear on using force to prevent a felony.
Click to expand...


I have researched this, and I have come to the conclusion that I was correct. I understand what the RCW says but the Supreme Court has constantly ruled the same way. That, "it can never be reasonable to use a deadly weapon in a deadly manner unless the person attacked had reasonable grounds to fear death or great bodily harm"

862 State v. Ferguson Mar. 2006
131 Wn. App. 855

Accordingly, the degree of force used in self-defense is limited to what a reasonably prudent person would find necessary under the conditions as they appeared to the defendant. See State v. Bailey, 22 Wn. App. 646, 650, 591 P.2d 1212 (1979); 13A ROYCE A. FERGUSON, JR. & SETH AARON FINE, WASHINGTON PRACTICE, CRIMINAL LAW § 2604, at 351 (1990). Deadly force may be used only in self-defense if the defendant reasonably believes he or she is threatened with death or "great personal injury."
Click to expand...
Also;

Stave v. Walden:

One has the right to use force only to the extent of what appears to be the apparent imminent danger at the time. However, when there is no reasonable ground for the person attacked or apparently under attack to believe that his person is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, and it appears to him that only an ordinary battery is all that is interred, he has no right to repel a threatened assault by the use of a deadly weapon in a deadly manner.
Click to expand...

This court case says that even if someone only means to assault you, but does not present a weapon you can still not use deadly force.

It seems to contradict what I read in the RCW, which is why I researched it. I would agree with the court, shooting an unarmed, non threatening person is never a good idea.

If you have case law that shows otherwise, please post it!
 
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