Posted on 11/23/2004 5:04:30 AM PST by new cruelty
TRENTON - Minutes after four young men robbed a Hiltonia resident of $1,500 cash Sunday night and threatened to rape his teenage daughters, one of the suspects lay dead under the victim's sport utility vehicle on nearby Route 29.
The unidentified young man was killed after he jumped from his car and began shooting at the SUV driven by Robert O'Neal, 54, who had given chase.
O'Neal ran him over, police said. "I didn't mean for this to happen," O'Neal said yesterday, fighting back tears. "I'm a single parent with two daughters. They had my credit cards, my wallet. They knew where I lived."
A union iron worker with Local 68, O'Neal has lived in the Hiltonia section of the city almost two decades.
"This (criminal activity) has got to stop," he said. "If we don't stand up for ourselves, it won't stop."
Detectives said yesterday that the four men robbed O'Neal in front of his home about 9 p.m. Sunday.
The dead man's identity had not been disclosed last night.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Remember the maxim: the right tool for the right job. An SUV's good transportation but it's no substitute for a high capacity .45 ACP.
The victim was black and at least one of the robbers was a young white punk. The poor man was so distraught at the thought that these thugs threatened to rape his daughters and had all his information to carry out that threat. These kids put a gun in his face, and then jumped out of the car and fired on him when he gave chase.
If you saw the interview, your heart had to just go out to this man. His life is changed forever and not of his own doing.
I don't care. I think his reasoning is unassailable. They had not only his money but his credit cards and ID. They knew where he lives. They threatened to rape his daughters.
What would it take to motivate you?
I doubt seriously that any jury of his peers will EVER convict him! Even a jury of people in a lower socio economic strata probably wouldn't convict him because they're sick of young thugs acting like this in their neighborhoods, too!
According to lefty rags, it's all the SUVs fault, so the guy shouldn't be held responsible.
Can't say I wouldn't do the same thing if someone threatened my little precious, except my car isn't very big. I'd have to run him over several times.
In this particular case the SUV did the right thing.
It's clear the SUV was only defending itself.
I am an attorney and will tell you that if this happened in NY, where I live, a local DA would charge this guy with a crime.
I agree with what he did, but that does not mean that in the eyes of the law he is not in trouble.
Seems like it worked pretty good for him. He hit his intended target with lethal results. Way better results than real gunfights.
True. That is why it is SOP that Officers involved in a SHOOTING DO NOT give a STATEMENT for the first 24 hours. Therefore, you must TRAIN your brain by THINKING about the situation beforehand, and visualizing how you will react. Believe me, it works.
Well that's the rub, he gave chase, in most places they won't consider that self defense...(in fact they may even consider the criminal punk shooting at the guy self defense?) so I think they're going to crucify this guy. Though I support what he did, he should have just been armed at home and taken care of them there.
I agree.
I knew a man who confronted someone breaking into his home in the wee hours.
He shot and killed the 20 year old in self defense.
He never got over it. No matter how many people assured him he had no choice, he just never got past it. He died about ten years later of cancer, unfortunatley.
I can understand the guy being rattled. If you follow the link in #25, when he ran the punk over the Durango literally tore the punk in half. Literally. Gives a whole new meaning to the saying "if you can't Dodge it, Ram it!"
I really feel for the victim in all this. I hope he doesn't get charged with anything, but this *is* New Jersey, so who knows?
}:-)4
I glad Mr. O'Neal had the SUV on HIS side. If we don't have a sidearm with us, we improvize.
Damn straight Skippy.
Loose lips sink ships and mess up a criminal defense like you would not believe. You cannot now rely on the good sense of prosecuting authorities in many communities in the United States. Often public pressure from minority groups leads good people to be prosecuted for things which should not be prosecuted purely for racial reasons.
It sucks, buts its true none the less.
He knocked the front bumper off his SUV.
I hope his insurance company doesn't try to jack him up over this if he files a damage claim.
I hope he isn't insured by the same company I have,because his rates will go to the moon!
"Temporary insanity"
For a long time I lived in fear in my own home thinking that he would come back to finish what he started. I couldn't eat, sleep and I kept my handgun ON me even in my front yard with the kids playing outside. Because of my fear, I regretted not shooting him. Now, while I am still sometimes hyper vigilant, I rest a bit easier. If it happened again I don't know what I would do. The next time may be different.
I live at peace with myself now for my decision. I do believe that taking a life, accidentally or in self defense, alters a person forever.
"I didn't mean for this to happen,"
Right answer, sir! (wink wink)
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