Posted on 04/29/2006 3:37:39 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The owner of an Andrews-area convenience store, accused of taking the law into his own hands after he witnessed an alleged gas drive off Wednesday, is charged with two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill. Dennis Cooper, 52, the owner of Cooper’s Six Mile Crossing Convenience Store allegedly chased and then fired shots at a vehicle after the driver reportedly drove off without paying for $28 worth of gas.
According to an incident report, the ordeal began about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday when 18-year-old Joshua Jennings, of Gray Court, S.C., and 18-year-old Jacob Skelly, of Fountain Inn stopped and pumped gas into the truck they were driving.
Cooper, who was inside the store, saw them start to drive away before they walked inside to pay, so he allegedly jumped in his SUV and gave chase.
The suspects drove down Highway 521 and onto Kent Road headed toward Highway 17A. When they got close to that intersection, Jennings and Skelly saw Cooper coming up behind them.
“This is when Cooper began firing shots at them as they turned left on US 17A and then right on Highway 521 trying to avoid the gunshots,” Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Neil Johnson said. “Cooper continued to chase and fire shots striking the vehicle in the back glass.”
When Skelly, the passenger, began screaming he had been shot, Jennings pulled over.
Deputy Kevin Holt was the first officer on the scene. When he arrived he saw Cooper holding the two men on the ground at gunpoint. Skelly, who was bleeding from his head, “was begging to get treatment from EMS,” Holt reported. When the medical team arrived, it was determined Skelly had not been hit by a bullet but by glass from the broken truck window. He was transported to the hospital for treatment. Jennings was uninjured. There was one bullet hole in Jennings’ truck, according to Johnson.
Jennings said when he stopped his truck, he tried to check on Skelly but Cooper “slapped him in the head, so he got down on the ground,” Holt’s report states. All three men were arrested. Jennings and Skelly were charged with for failure to pay for gasoline. Cooper’s .45 automatic was placed into evidence. He was released from jail Thursday under a $40,000 bond.
$28 worth of gas.
Cooper messed up big time. He should have NEVER left his own property for any armed apprehension attempt on the state's right-of-way.
Sounds like a fellow has had enough of the thieves and con artists ripping him and his store off. Don't know about chasing them, but I will wager a bet the sherffs' department had not done anything before to help him out, and he snapped. Even though it was only $28.00 worth of gas, I'll bet those guys now wish they had paid for it.
Bet Cooper wishes he'd stayed put. Firing those bullets is going to be a most expensive expenditure.
What a dummy. Cooper, that is.
I'll tell you what I will bet on. I will bet both these kids have previous criminal records for misdemeanors they have carried on for years.
The guy was stupid for chasing them with a gun , all he needed was their tag number, but I wouldnt bet on the innocence of these two sneak thieves.
Thanks for posting. I'm sorry the station owner was arrested...if more station owners did this, people wouldn't try to steal so often. It's a very common crime.
The kids were fortunate they weren't hit by the .45 round. Probably would have died from loss of fluids before they reached the hospital.
Considering most people now have $60-$125 worth of fuel in the vehicles when unattended, I suspect there is going to be a increase in theft of fuel from parked cars/trucks in the next year.
IMHO, I wish the state would back up the shop owner. Had he not pursued them, there probably would have been no recourse for the owner. With increasing fuel prices, I suspect misdemeanor fuel thefts will skyrocket.
He should of done like our local gas fellow did two years ago. He should of ran out unarmed and grabbed of the offenders car and held on while screaming for them to stop and pay !!!
Oh yeah, that poor gas station fellow got ran over and died.
Nevermind... I am rooting for the gas station owner in this case. I have seen too many honest gas owners killed just trying to be honest shopkeepers. Eat two or three of these driveoffs a week, on a tight shoestring budget, and you will see 28 dollars adds up. Remember to some people, 28 dollars is not a tip, it is often the different between food on the table for the end of the week.
I do understand we are not to take the law into our own hands, just saying I don't know if I would find this person guilty in some circimstances if I was a jury person.
In terms of who is going to be sorriest, I would say it will be the guy facing two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill.
Anybody ever hear of PREPAY ONLY?!
That stops most drive-offs.
Simple.
Stupid all around.
Every place around here is "Pay then Pump" or use a credit card.
Expensive? Won't that be the least of his worries? What is the typical jail time for assault and battery with intent to kill? Plus if convicted he will lose the right to own any firearm for a long time, will he not? And anyone who owns a .45 has got to be a real gun nut (in the good sense!).
Intent to Kill? If his intent was to kill, don't you think he would of shot them in the back of the head while they were laying on the ground if his intent was to kill. His intent was to apprehend, not kill. Again I would find not guilty just as the jury did with the Rodney King verdict (the first go around before the riots). Intent to kill would be very hard to prove in my opinion.
While it doesn't really matter what I think, I'll tell you anyway. Proving that firing a .45 at someone is anything other than an intent to kill will not be easy. The fact that he didn't shoot them when they were on the ground does not speak to his intention when he fired at the car.
Unfortunately it is coming to that, but to be honest I usually skip those places and perfer the normal pay places. Still about 80% of places are not prepay around here. Economically if you have 20% of the people like me that will pick and choose to go only to non-prepay places, then small business gas stations will often opt to the most economic feasible alternative.
Perhaps one day walmarts will have products behind glass view displays. Prepay only to stop shoplifting. Effective, but is it economicalable feasible in a real world environment. Perhaps stealing should not be judged on dollar amounts, if the perves had robbed a bank, people would be cheering this fellow IMHO. Just my two cents.
I respectfully disagree, I think it speaks volumes of his intentions, before, during and after.
What I think he intended is not the issue. Same goes for what you think.
This is a forum last time I checked. This is the place for discussion. I agree that final decission will be made in a court room, but if I was this fellow, I would run with what they charged me knowing that it probable can not be proved in a court of law. They will be begging to plea this charge down probable, knowing that they can not prove it and not wanting to let him get away scot free because they over charged.
Jury nullification?
Boy, you should'a heard Mount Pleasant (south of G'town) howl about pre-pay! You gotta know what somebody was plannin'.
Thankfully were not allowed to kill people for stealing. The man is a loose cannon and part of the reason they want to take away guns from the public. You can't just whip em out and shoot whenever you want.
Thankfully were not allowed to kill people for stealing...............Depends on what state you live in.
We have no idea how many times Mr. Cooper faced same problem over and over again. Everyone have different melting point.
No, if more station owners did this then perhaps some innocent individual or individuals may have been shot. It is like crossing the no passing line and colliding with a car in the other lane. It was just plain STUPID of this gas station owner chase down these me. Get the tag # of the vehicle. Better yet, have the pumps set up so you have to go inside, pay for what you pump and the owner can set the dollar value. The pump stops, dealer gets paid and all is well and good. Now, if it was an attempted robbery in his store and he pulled his gun and shot the culprits, so be it. This guy should lose his gun license and I am sure it is no longer in his possession already.
Maybe we have to adopt muslim laws?? ;-)
Then he's an idiot for not having prepay.Heck we've had it here ever since the hurricanes jacked up prices.
Either or... you still don't get to go running down the road shooting at people for 28 bucks.
If he didn't know that the cops were hanging out at the Dunkin Donuts looking buff after their workouts at the health club, he might have taken a tag number. As it is, however, what would he do with it?
In Texas you have the right to persue the thief to recover property. The use of deadly force can be used if any other force or action would put the victim in danger. Since these kide were being chased by the victim and they refused to stop, the car chase was puting both parties plus the public in danger. It could be argued the victim had no other recourse, tht is, here in Texas. Hell, the store owner would not even had been arrested down here.
you still don't get to go running down the road shooting at people for 28 bucks...........So, when does the monetary value exeed a certain landmark when deadly force can be used. What if they steal your $10,000 Rolex and run, is it OK then?
With the stupidity of teenagers,I'm glad I don't live in Texas. I'd be dodging bullets all the day long.
It's ridiculous to be chasing people with guns blasting over small stolen goods. Most people have insurance to cover their losses.
Last I checked, when a customer drives away from the gasoline pump but declines to pay for the gasoline, the next customer to use that pump must pay on behalf of the thief. It's not fair, but life isn't fair. When caught, the thief goes to jail at hard labor for a term of years and loses his license to drive for the remainder of his life. If the thief dies before he can be apprehended or fails to serve his term, the entire remainder of the punishment passes to his heirs according to the inheritance laws of the state.
Firing those bullets is going to be a most expensive expenditure.
Expensive? Won't that be the least of his worries?
Easy to tell how you measure expense. :-)
Your list only makes it halfway through just how expensive this is likely to be for the dimwitted Cooper.
Real simple, don't steal and you don't get shot at, what is so hard to understand about that.
Then, of course, you get to do it all over again to get your change.
Any idiot who doesn't have 10,000 insured insured deserves to loose it.
But no I don't think you should be able to shoot and kill people over stolen merchandise. You put too many innocent people in danger.
No innocent people hurt in this incident, just the perps. Just keep rolling over for the thugs in this world. Today it's $28 in gas, what will it be next week or next year? How much you wanna bet they never drive off without paying again.
Pump pirating used to be a big concern in my town. At least 10% of the crime listed in the local police blotter was drive offs. Then when gas got over $2 a gallon I noticed more stores switching to pre-pay. Now I never see it listed.
This reminds me of my parents adventure as a couple of pump thieves. They filled up their motorhome while on a trip through NM. My mom got out to stretch her legs. My step-dad thought she went inside to pay for the fuel. She thought he paid at the pump because that's the way most pumps in CA (their home) are. They ended up getting pulled over by a couple of troopers about 30 miles down the road because neither of them paid for the gas. They made them drive back to the station and pay for the gas, but at least they didn't get shot for it.
Because it was an honest mistake and they didn't lead them on a car chase. They did not intend to steal, these boys did.
The article says he fired "shots" at them, but only one bullet hole was found in the truck. I'm glad some innocent bystander wasn't hurt by his reckless shooting.
I'm sure they did, but if somebody came up behind me and started shooting, I'd probably run too. The thieves are in the wrong for stealing the gas, the shooter is wrong for trying to kill somebody for $28 worth of gas. I don't know about their state, but in Oklahoma, you just right down the tag number and the cops pick them up. I hate thieves, but what next? Will we condone shooting shoplifters running down the sidewalk too?
I was back in CA on vacation a couple years back and some of the stations had a pay cash at the pump device. You feed paper money into it like you would a change machine. It took bills up to $20, but you'd have to go inside for your change.
Oh, I doubt he'd get a slap on the back for attempted murder. In what part of Texas do you think the cops would give him a pass?
The best this fool might hope for is a no bill.
Will we condone shooting shoplifters running down the sidewalk too?............ I have no problem with that if that is the only way to stop them without puting the victim in jail. Why is it so many people here think it is OK for LEO's to use deadly force but not for a citizen trying to recover personal property. And there is no monetary value put on property in the Texas statute. Just the word property.
I'm not so sure that it will remain a misdemeanor. That designation -felony or misdemeanor, is usually based on the value of what was stolen.
Most I would hope. As I stated earlier if this had happened in Texas the victim would have been well within his rights. He was in active, not passive, persuit.Passive persuit would be if one of his clerks told him and he went hunting them down, not chasing. The thieves would not stop, They had his property.
victim in jail. =victim in harms way.
I think there is a law against discharging a gun on or over a road.
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