Constructive Criticism Welcomed

[Cheeseball]

So my goal of this post is to get your opinion on how I did overall to this situation that came up last week. Maybe by sharing this we can all learn something that may help ourselves and or our loved ones in the future.

Lay of the land - I live in a single family home alone with my 2 dogs - Labs
12,000 sq/ft lot most of which is backyard 8,000 sq/ft of so - neighbors on 2 sides - tree farm on the long back wall and a power line field on the short back wall - housing track on the short side wall with a 70 yard field separating the 2 housing tracks. House is small, but has a nice 300 sq/ft screened in room that i have a poker table and a couple tv's for sports and a fridge well stocked. This is were i spend most of my time in the evenings having a cold one and watching sports, working on the laptop for work, etc.,,,,anyways

Thursday night around 9 pm in the housing track that commons the 70 yard field I hear a car chase, tires screeching,, the real deal,,,then i see police lights and hear a BIG car crash. I'm like holy F - I have my EDC on my hip, but no light/laser ( my backyard is very dark ) so i run inside and grab my nightstand weapon ( light and laser ) and run back outside. As I come out of the door from the screen room to the backyard I turn and see a man running my way from the back of my yard. I light him up with the light and laser and YELL for him to stop ( at the same time in my head I take a mental snapshot of this guy, especially his hands - they are both empty - NO weapon )

He tries to stop in his tracks, but as he is running full speed it takes him a good 20/30 feet to stop as I'm tracking him with the light/laser. He complies with ALL my orders - first one was slowly lift your shirt up high and slowly turn around - HE complies - No visible weapons - NOW get the F on the ground, hands palms up and cross your legs,,,HE complies with NO aggression towards me,,

I'm yelling warnings and asking for help ( call 911 ) to my neighbor but he's snoozing through this whole ordeal - i really don't know how, but he did sleep through it. The PD has there hands full with the guy that was driving so NO pursuit of the guy in my yard - or the other guy that ran in a different direction as well. The area of my yard that i had him on the ground is about 12 feet wide and 30 feet deep with a gate to the front of the house and my neighbors fence ( the one i was yelling too ). After what seemed like 5 minutes the guy catches his breath and stands up NOT obeying my orders to stay down. I tell him if he comes towards me,,,its over for him,,,,so he jumps the fence into my neighbors yard,,,,F - and runs around the backyard and out the front gate,,,poof he's gone. I retreated to my phone and called 911 - gave all the details and secured myself in my home until PD arrived.

I never once felt that my life was threatened - hence no discharge of weapon and dead, from what i found out from PD, shoplifter kid. Albeit the kid was 6' 220+

The mistakes I know I made - NO cell phone in my pocket while caring in the first place - regardless if it was at home. Never thought to get his wallet as I didn't want him reaching in any pocket to begin with and i wasn't about to take it from him and get into fist to cuffs and have my weapon taken from me. I did my best under the circumstances and just wish PD was on his tail as this story would have turned out different with the kid in cuffs.

FYI I spoke with PD this evening, I've been out of town since Friday am, and the kid did get away to date along with the other runner. There is obviously an ongoing investigation.

Once again, I just hope we can all learn something from my experience.

Be safe,,and I welcome your thoughts

[Steve_In_29]

You should have stayed INSIDE your house.

You aren't the police and it's not your job to apprehend people who pose no immediate threat to you. This could have ended VERY badly for you.

If he wasn't trying to get in your house you should have simply called 911 and reported what you saw and which way he went.

[Cheeseball]

You should have stayed INSIDE your house.

You aren't the police and it's not your job to apprehend people who pose no immediate threat to you. This could have ended VERY badly for you.

If he wasn't trying to get in your house you should have simply called 911 and reported what you saw and which way he went.

Thank you for reply, your advise is noted and appreciated. I have run a number of scenarios in my head, and yes,,you are very correct that it could have very well ended bad for me,,

thanks again,,

[GtRacerH]

You should have stayed INSIDE your house.

You aren't the police and it's not your job to apprehend people who pose no immediate threat to you. This could have ended VERY badly for you.

If he wasn't trying to get in your house you should have simply called 911 and reported what you saw and which way he went.

This +1 exactly. You put yourself in a far more precarious position by going outside. It could have ended with you being in some major legal woes.

[SonofWWIIDI]

Stay inside, observe and report.

If the perp attempts to break into your home...well that's a different scenario altogether.

[caliberetta]

I try to imagine what I would do if I were in your place.

Since there was enough warning that there is a car chase nearby, and I hear a crash, I know these are bad guys and there is a realistic chance that the car chase turns into a foot chase, and situations can end up in my property.

My first instinct would be to get inside, lock all the doors, herd everyone to a safe room, turn off all the lights inside, turn on all the lights outside, and STAND BY, armed to the teeth. Keep checking outside, listen for noises, report anything I see. I would also release my dogs, who are inside my home a lot, to the outside.

I try to put myself in your place, would I go outside with my weapon? Every instinct of mine says bunker up and take cover in such a situation, as running into the bad guy outside could get ugly. I could also be mistaken by the cops to be the bad guy. So as I imagine this situation, my every instinct says to get inside where its safer, less risk, and have the element of surprise on my side, rather than the other way around.
.
Thanks for sharing what happened to you, glad things didn't turn out so bad, some lessons learned for sure.
.

[colossians323]

I think you should move

[cudakidd]

Stay inside, call 911 to confirm. Keep Dogs INSIDE with me, why get my dogs injured or killed for no reason? What if Perp DID have a Gun or knife and used it on my Dogs?

Not your job to apprehend...

[REDdawn6]

Gotta agree. Stay the **** inside. Let the police to their job.

[CAguy]

I think you should of stayed inside but ONLY because CA has turned us into a vaginafied society. We should be able to take care of ourselves, neighbors, and community without worrying about getting shot by the police or sued by some POS but unfortunately we can not.

They have done a great job at neutering the public and teaching people to be victims and cowards ("just give it up") that depend on a system that is not set up to protect them but merely to show up after you've been victimized. The sheep have been conditioned to think "powerless" vs. "powerful".

So the correct answer is to not do anything and kowtow to the criminals but the right answer is to protect yourself, neighbors, and community and make a difference when you can. Better to be correct (PC) in CA than right. (Insert upside down CA state flag )

[epilepticninja]

^^What CAguy said. Me, I think you did right. However this state has conditioned us to be a bunch of b*tches when it comes to taking care of whats ours, and our neighborhoods. Most of the posters in this thread reflect that. Then people wonder why criminals run around this state with pretty much impunity. They know the public won't f*ck with them since they are mostly unarmed and/or don't want to get sued. The cops might arrest them, but the courts just spit them back out, and prison is nothing more than a free vacation with their homies. This is the greatest state in the union to be in, if you want to rape and pillage.

[bigbully]

I think I have to agree with leaving well enough alone. The first thing I thought while reading this is that you were going to get shot by police chasing the suspect. They see the gun and think you are the suspect holding up some poor kid in his backyard. Even if cops weren't already on his tail and you were able to call 911 there have been many instances of police showing up and shooting the innocent.

[Dano3467]

Yep...stay inside, turn on all outside lights, and watch the situation from safely inside. The no phone on your person is a bummer but you can't have everything all the time w/you.

Just thinking how that all would of turned out, if you had to discharge, that's what of gone through my head................maybe...

[qdx450]

would you have done the same with out your weapon?

[mr2ndamendment]

I'll join with the majority opinion here in saying it's always a better idea to stay inside. I respect your desire to keep our organized society running and want the bad guys to get apprehended, but that could have gone wrong in just about a million ways.

Ultimately you're not a cop, your "authority" only covers you protecting your own life and your family in your own home. Yes, the dude was on your property but I think after you heard the chase/crash you should have locked all doors, secured all family members, get the dogs in the house if possible, but mainly lock all doors, obtain firepower, and secure family in one room.

If the dude makes the mistake of trying to enter into your home, then your "authority" is now active but unless the dude enters your home and actively comes after you, it's not your job.

Yes, it's frustrating that there's a bad guy on the run, but it's not your job and there are some very serious consequences if you had to shoot that guy in your backyard, the first question the prosecutor would ask is "why did you go outside and play cop?" You just dropped a guy in your backyard when you could have hunkered down in your home and been safer. Next thing you know you've got Eric Holder coming to town as the family sues you and cries on TV wondering why this "racist" vigilante decided to "murder" their son.

Secondly, what if the dude DID have a gun? He could have killed you, and then what? You could have gotten into a mini firefight with the dude in your backyard, with bullets from both guns flying all over the neighborhood, then what?

Bottom line, you should stay inside and prepare to defend your family, but unless the dude enters the house, he's not your problem and he's certainly not covered under your "authority." I know it sucks so much because you've got the gun and feel like you can be a public asset in that moment, but it's not your fight, their are people paid and sworn into duty to handle these people.

Glad you made it out OK but that was not the best course of action.