Posted on 07/05/2009 7:12:56 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA
BELEN, N.M. -- A Belen man is facing murder charges after deputies said he chased down two burglary suspects and then shot and killed one of them.
The incident happened near Highway 314 and Gabaldon Road at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Authorities said 38-year-old Luke Sanchez somehow knew a business was getting robbed and took matters into his own hands.
"As you can see, they had a good time," said Gerald Schell, manager of Enchanted Propane.
When Schell showed up to his place of business Sunday morning, he said he found the place ransacked.
Sheriff's deputies said two men are responsible for the break-in.
"It's a mess. I mean, look at it; everything's on the floor," said Schell.
He said they stole some cash, along with a water cooler and other supplies. Then they broke down the front door and drove off.
"It's pretty sad the neighborhood's like this, that we have this stuff happening," said neighbor George Chavez.
Chavez said Sanchez, who lives near Enchanted Propane, stopped by his home at the time of the burglary and then drove to the business.
"He says, 'There's some people taking things out of the office,' so I went in and called 911," said Chavez.
Authorities said Sanchez then chased after the robbers trying to get their license plate, but they figured out they were being followed and pulled over a few yards away.
The passenger allegedly got out of the vehicle and punched out Sanchez's car window. That's when deputies said Sanchez shot the man.
(Excerpt) Read more at koat.com ...
He punched out the car window? Sounds much more like he needed to be shot than the headline and lead-in would have one believe.
Shooting a guy who punches out your car window is murder?
I don’t get it either, as punching out a car window is not an easy thing to do, and would be threatening to me!
PCP would be my guess. Not many drugs will let you ignore the pain of breaking your hand punching out a car window.
Why are they charging this guy? Is he not a citizen?
You cannot punch out the window of a car bc you think someone may be following you.
Doesn’t it seem to you that the only guy who should be facing murder charges (or any charges at all other than, maybe, littering) is the other perp?
Having a reeeeally hard mustering up compassion for the criminal here.
From what I can see I,Juror #8,vote “not guilty”.
Not guilty (didn’t even need a pic)
The presstitutes call him “vigilante”????
Liberal school brainwashing at work!
Give Sanchez a freakin’ medal!
I agree! If you punched out the window of the President’s limo, and where then shot by the Secret Service, would THEY be charged with murder? Or is there a double standard here? What’s the difference???
State laws differ. I'm sure this would be a rightous shoot in Texas. Even if the robber had not attacked the shooter. Again, in Texas you can use deadly force to protect or recover property, either to prevent or stop someone fleeing from having committed burglary, robbery and theft during the nighttime, among other offenses.
As I said state laws do differ, however I can't imagine that New Mexico's laws are such that you can't follow a fleeing suspect to help ID him/them. Certainly, when someone attacks you, you can respond with potentially deadly force to protect yourself, except in a few Blue states where you must flee if that is possible.
Vigilante Fatally Shoots Robber In Belen
Has Charles Bronson made another Death Wish film?
If I'm not mistaken it takes a unanimous verdict to convict someone for a capital crime. If all of the other 11 voted guilty, in order to get a unanimous guilty verdict they would have to wait until I died of old age in the jury room.
Not guilty. He shouldn’t even have been charged. Insane.
I don’t see any vigilantism here. Forget about charges give him a medal.
It's possible that they are not " hispanic" enough for the local police and DA. Although the police chief is named Schultz, and likewise doesn't look "Hispanic" (Remember, Bill Richardson, the governor, is a Professional Hispanic, in spite of his name)
BTW, Albuquerque seems to have it's own "Jack The Ripper" type killer, known as the 118th street killer. They recently, beginning February 9th 2009, found the bodies of 11 young women and one unborn child, in a mass grave in a Mesa. They have ID'd only 6 of the women, the others are "unknown".
Seems like a few more "Vigilantes" might be in order. Or at least someone needs to see to it that all the local prostitutes, exotic dancers, etc. get concealed carry permits, or if they are not eligible for those, but have no felony convictions, encourage them to carry openly. Failing that, they should carry stun guns and mace/pepper spray.
Of course the killer is probably well south of New and maybe Old Mexico by now.
(/S)
It is critical that anyone who has a concealed carry license needs to know the specifics of the laws where they will be carrying. Common sense, is not good enough to guide one through the legal use of deadly force. As they say ignorance of the law is no excuse.
While in some circumstances it may be appropriate if one is in fear for his or her life to shoot someone breaking in the window of you vehicle, I wouldn't second guess the police on this one.
Following the car to get a license plat was one “aggressive” choice made that could lead to a confrontation. I am sure that the poor citizen now feels it would have been better to get the license plate number and get the hell away from the bad guys and let the police deal with it, rather than sticking around when they came for him and broke out his window.
This guy was no “vigilante” but rather a good citizen. The criminals stopped their car and confronted him. He was in fear for his life and defended himself. The prosecutor who brings this charge should be run out of office.
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