Posted on 04/04/2007 6:13:11 PM PDT by PeterFinn
Man Accused Of Shooting Alleged Sacramento Car Thief Injured Teen Expected To Survive
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A south Sacramento man who told police he was defending his property was arrested early Wednesday after shooting a teenager who was allegedly trying to steal his car, authorities said.
Police said 42-year-old Sou Saechin told them he accidentally shot the teen at about 3 a.m. on Rock Creek Way.
But officials said Saechin went too far in trying to protect his red Honda.
"What we try to stress to people is that deadly force, the use of a firearm, is never justified under any circumstances to protect property," said Sgt. Matt Young of the Sacramento Police Department.
Police said Saechin came outside of his home armed with a .22-caliber rifle and confronted three alleged burglars.
Saechin fired one shot, hitting one of the alleged burglars in the chest. The three fled the scene, police said.
Saechin's wife said her husband was not trying to kill anyone but only wanted to warn the robbers.
Saechin was taken to jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Bail was set at $30,000.
The injured teenager was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center for treatment and is expected to survive.
Police said they are looking for two other people who were involved in the attempted theft. The men were described as Asian and between 18 and 20 years old.
(Excerpt) Read more at kcra.com ...
"Do you think a Sacramento man should be charged for shooting at the young men who were trying to steal his car?"
So far:
Yes 26 votes 5% No 523 votes 94% Not Sure 9 votes 2%
“What we try to stress to people is that deadly force, the use of a firearm, is never justified under any circumstances to protect property,”
/S
Soon enough it’ll be like England where self-defense *of any kind* is illegal.
So. Nothing happened at all?
And the police know what the intentions of these burglars were? How? Were they there?
http://www.sacpd.org/complaint_online.asp
I had an incident once where I came back to my car in the mall parking lot and found somone trying to break in. He took off when I confronted him, but car thieves can (and have) attacked the owner in this kind of situation. If that happens and the criminal is shot, isn’t the whole incident the criminal’s fault? Would the potential victim be charged with “escalating” the situation (for confronting the criminal instead of running away) by a politically correct wusses’ court?
I fear for the future of justice.
‘Course, if you’re a Sacramento Sheriff’s deputy you can use deadly force to protect your property in the middle of the night if, for instance, a car thief tries to steal your car. A sheriff’s deputy did just that last year a couple of miles from where this latest incident occurred. IIRC, the deputy left a gun in the glove box and when the car thief picked it up, deputy dawg opened fire, killing him. Would this trick work for your average Joe Blow citizen? I doubt it.
Now, if you interrupt a thief stealing and he turns on you and you feel your life threatened, then you can use deadly force.
I believe the only crime you can shoot someone without a direct threat is arson, at least here in NM.
Vote needed...
Nope. If more people defended their property this way, there wouldn't be so many thefts.
This was a four on one situation. The guy had every excuse to use his shotgun. The other three left, didn't they? See, it worked.
Gotta love the poll results.
considering the car probably cost upwards of 20,000 and represents 6 years of 350 a month, the guy was fighting for not having to spend a good part of his life to finance this scums habit of swiping things...
plus, didn’t i hear the thug say, “i’m gonna run you over with your own car, you no good gay #$@%^&(!...”
that’s my story. or would be.
teeman
right on the money. most of the firearm course and personal defense course instructors spend quite a bit of class time teaching when you can/when you can’t under the current laws. in most states this case would fall under can’t if all the facts of the story are accurate. do I agree with these laws as written as personal property theft is a can’t? HELL NO!!!!!!
If Sgt Matt Young worked for our local police dept., I would do all I could to encourage him to seek employment elsewhere.
East LA or Hunters Point sounds about right.
It's amazing how police departments decided, somewhere along the line that hiring them meant we gave up the right to defend ourselves and our property, and need to be meek victims and die quietly until they have time to answer the 911 call.
I went to the page and found no poll.
It’s under the photo to the right. Says web poll...
Thanks- I was lazy and used a page search to find the word poll and it didn’t show up because it was in a graphic.
In the good ‘ol days, horse thieves were hanged.
Do you think a Sacramento man should be charged for shooting
at the young men who were trying to steal his car?
Choice Votes Percentage of 1087 Votes Yes 51 5% No 1024 94% Not Sure 12 1%
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