Posted on 11/04/2002 12:01:55 PM PST by hoosierboy
November 4, 2002
Gun-toting citizen halts apparent robbery Police praise effort; suspect in custody
By LINDA MULLEN Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND -- Anyone who has a television should know the proper accent to use when saying "citizen's arrest, citizen's arrest."
But Eric Endres wasn't imitating Barney Fife Saturday night when he stopped a burglar, at gunpoint, from making off with the goods at a local computer store.
Endres does, however, have the attitude that the old Mayberry deputy had in regard to his responsibility as a law-abiding citizen.
"I have a permit to carry a firearm every day, and I carry it as a duty," Endres said. "I never know when I may catch a bad guy or save someone's life. It's a responsibility I take.
"Everywhere I go, I make people safer, and they don't know it. It's the least I can do for my society. As a good citizen, it's a little bit my responsibility to do the best I can and prevent crime. Nobody knows it, because it's always concealed, but I will always risk my life to save others."
Endres sounds like a police officer, but unlike his brother, he's not. This Endres is a self-employed contractor.
His brother is Ben Endres, a former Indiana state trooper and currently an investigator with the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office. Until he was contacted by The Tribune, Ben Endres knew nothing about his brother's actions on Saturday.
At about 10 p.m. Saturday, Eric Endres said, he was walking his dogs in his yard near the intersection of Miami and Ewing streets when he heard three different episodes of breaking glass.
He walked around, then saw a man stumbling out of a computer store, TLF Enterprises at 2303 Miami St., with his arms loaded with goods.
"I went in my house and grabbed my firearm," he said. When he got to the store, the robber was still in the doorway with "lots of stuff in his arms."
"I stopped about 10 feet away from him and ordered him: 'Don't move. Drop everything in your arms.' The man turned and started walking towards me. As loud and clear as I could, I said, 'Don't move. Don't move.' He got to be about four paces from me when he held up a pry bar over his head. He was close enough that he could've hit me with it.
"I was a little scared at this point. I was yelling clear commands. In that instance, I fired a shot over his head and he froze," he said.
"He was still holding the pry bar, but he very slowly and reluctantly started dropping stuff. I told him to get down on the ground. Finally, he got down.
"At that time, I began waving and yelling at passing motorists, hoping someone had a cell phone and would call police," he said.
And then, as if it were scripted for television, a man in full Halloween drag, wearing an all-black nylon suit with a skull and crossbones on the front, sauntered up to the scene and said, "What's going on, dude?"
Endres said he told the masked man to go get help. That man flagged down a Pizza Hut delivery car and the driver called police.
"As soon as police came, and I expected this, they ordered me to drop my gun," Endres said. "They told me to get on the ground. I placed my arms in the air, and they cuffed me, then they put me in the police car."
Endres then told police the whole story about how he was a neighbor and how he caught the man leaving the store. Within five or 10 minutes, he said, police uncuffed him and believed him. He had a gun permit.
"After they sorted it out, police were very appreciative and said every citizen should be like me," he said. "They were totally respectful; they weren't intimidating at all."
"They figured it out pretty quickly and arrested the other man. He had prior arrests," Endres said.
Sgt. Dwayne Hallman said he was impressed with Endres' initiative to get involved.
Hallman said that, initially, police believed they were responding to a shooting because there was a shot heard, and when they arrived, they found Endres holding a man down.
"This is my opinion," Hallman said, "but a citizen has the right, if not the responsibility, to assist" like Endres did. "He did exactly what he should have done. He was able to hold the suspect at bay until police arrived. Without him, we would not have been taking someone into custody; we would have been writing a police report about a burglary."
Hallman said police were able to confirm Endres' story with other witnesses, so he is confident they have an ironclad case.
Endres said he has no desire to be a police officer, even though his brother works for Prosecutor Chris Toth. "There's too much political correctness, so much training," he said.
Ben Endres said, "Eric's my little brother. I think he acted courageously and responsibly to stop a crime in progress. I'm glad it worked out with the bad guy in custody with nobody getting hurt.
"It sounds like he did the right thing. I'm proud of him."
Toth said he, too, respects Eric Endres for his actions.
"I respect Mr. Endres' courage, and I'm glad people like him will stand up and make a difference. We need more people who are willing to get involved instead of looking the other way."
Staff writer Linda Mullen:
lmullen@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6368
'Specially if it happens to be a Glock. You could be singin' soprano, boy!
On the other hand, you can't beat the classic,
"dance for me, boy!"
I'd have no trouble facing down the bad guys, putting my life on the line for the local community (been there, done that), but the prospect of facing California anti-gun law and aggressive, liberal-left prosecutors and judges ... THAT takes courage I just don't have.
It'd be a case of "guilty until proven innocent", and there is no such thing as an "innocent" gun owner in California.
FReegards ... SFS
Only problem is that there is also an explicit duty to retreat unless the act of retreating will place you in more danger than if you had stood your ground in the first place. He allowed him to advance until there was a threat.
I think he should've followed your advice and just been a good witness as you said, there was no danger to life and limb until he got within striking distance with the club.
NEVER FIRE A WARNING SHOT!!!
Note pistol is in a holster although with a hazzardous retention strap. When drawing from this or any other holster, the idea is to not put your finger on the trigger until your muzzle is on the target and you have decided absolutely to shoot.
That's funny, that's what I was thinking too. I wouldn't dare drop my pistolas on concrete! I always cringe when they do it in movies. Hell, you might break a Glock thataway!
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