Posted: 11/5/2007 7:59:03 AM EDT
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Theres a building across the street from me that houses a fast food Gyro shack, a little general store and a realator office. This building has big heavy picture windows and windowed doors-lots of windows. Last night while they were all closed at aprox. 9pm I'm sitting here checking out the 882 rounds of 5.56 NATO I just picked up for .31 per round and I hear a loud SMASH! I look out my front window and theres a 1997ish Ford F150 parked there and long haired left over hippie type white male with a tire iron calmly smashing out every window. Before he was done I was already talking to 911. Then with headlights off he calmly drove away headed eastbound. Within 2 minutes a Will county PD unit was there. I gave a description then about 15 mins later New Lenox PD called to ask me if I would come to a location to ID a guy they had that fit the description. I did but it was not the guy. They did find a crack pipe and some crack on the guy so thats good. I don't know if they ever got the guy or not. I've been living here since 2002. Then, it was a nice neighborhood. In 2005 that all changed. Since then my neighbore walked in on a burgler and took a shot at the guy with is .25acp (those are loud!). Last winter there was an altercation involving opposing gangbangers that led to a home being fire bombed-burned the house to the ground! While Will co. PD was searching for the perp he ran into my yard and got trapped in my back yard because its fenced in but the government cheese eatin fat fuck broke the fence down  . I had the guy in my sights just 12 yards away while he was doing it. PD didn't find him til the next morning.Last night like every night I was well armed. I could have went out there, taken cover and concealment behind an adequet tree and confronted the guy. I even had enuff time to put on my body armor then confront him and maybe hold him at gun point for the PD but there were many reasons why I did not, like he could have been armed then we would of had a gun fight in an area with lots of homes with lots people in them or not likely but I could of lost the gun fight  The main reason I did not move on last nights perp nor the guy who broke down my fence after I yelled for him to FREEZE is because no people (or my dogs) were immediatly threatened. Heres a question: Lets say i did confront the guy last night and was able to hold him at gunpoint while my neighbors called the PD and told them the perp was proned out being held at gun point and a LEO didn't shoot me for having a gun on the guy and the perp is taken into custody without further incident. 'What happens to me the law abiding Illinois resident civilan non-LEO who posseses only a valid FOID? Do I get charged for one thing or another? Thanks Edit for spelling. |
I feel for u bro...... even i would'nt know what to do but being a non-LEO, you did the right thing....gather all the info that u can get and pass it on to PD.... as long as no life is in danger, do not get involved....now if it were u and your property, i would think that it is considered " protection of oneself ".... in other words, self-defense, IMO.....
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When I was living in Harwood Heights a few years ago, the guy accross the street from my house attacked a cop with a fence picket. The cop didn't shoot him. He just ran away from the guy until help arrived. I went out right away and tried to get involved and the cop ordered me off and told me to get back in the house. I went and got my Glock and waited right at the front door. When help came they sprayed the guy, then he came over and thanked me, but said it wasn't a good idea unless he was down. We talked about guns and he said one thing that really stuck. If you brandish a firearm in public, you should expect to be charged regardless of the circumstances. If you're on your own property, or on private property with permision, they will usually drop the charges as the judge will dismiss it. The idea being you probably did not break the law if you were acting defensively. If you cross over the easement or go into the street, you are breaking the law even if it's in self defense or the defense of another. I never looked it up, but that's what he said. |
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You did the right thing. Legally and prudentially, it is too much of a risk to confront them if you are not on your property. But it is a pisser to see shitheads like that get away with it when you could do something about it. I had a similar thing happen the other day. In Bensenville, east of York, all the houses are abandoned because of O'Hare expansion. As a result, it is becoming a crime magnet. Parenthetical: Our industrial shop property has been burglarized twice already, and I caught 7 pre-teen boys inside the building and held them at gunpoint (didn't know who was inside until they came out) until the cops showed up, so I've been on that side too. So, the other day when another group of teen youth were acting up on the next street (across a vacant lot), like grabbing a big stick and going around the vacant houses either vandalizing or trying to break in, I called the Bensenville P.D. I had my G19 on me as I was on my own property but I wasn't going to go across the street and onto public way. So, I figured I did what I could by calling the authorities. A black and white did a drive-by about 5 minutes later, but by then the teens had already moved down the corner to the next street. I think they did see the car though, b/c they hightailed it through the railroad fence and across the tracks. |
I work right down the street from this area.  I sometimes eat lunch there since no one is around to bug you and its nice and quiet! 
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Thanks Everyone for your replies. I figure LIFE, even the BGs is far more valuable than stuff. Far as following the BG then calling in his lic. plate # I don't have a cell phone and I wasn't all that willing to let him know where I live because I work away from home and that leaves my dogs home alone. Again, it was just stuff. My dogs, not really puppies... both are full grown... 
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Oh, so that's you parking on the dead end. Red Explorer?
Huh? Abbco? Do you mean the industrial building on the west side of Garden Ave.? Nah, I don't work there. My father owns two small (40 ft.) light industrial shops and a vacant residential lot. They were rented out for many years until the tenants became deadbeats and we had to evict them. Now, it's being taken by O'Hare via eminent domain, and we've got to clear everything off the property to get federal relocation benefits. Should be done in a couple more weeks. |
Sorry that is not me. I would be in a Ford F-150 that is Yellow with a Black hood. This one is not mine but you get the idea:  Sorry charliemopic I did not mean to hijack your thread.  |
I did say UNLESS someone's life was in immediate danger.
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I'm sure everyone here would call 911, but can we cross the street with our guns in plain sight and take care of business or are we going to be arrested? |
Raped, I'd definitely cross the street. Attacked it would depend. 5 guys beating on a guy with a bat, yeah. 1 guy smacking another guy and it doesn't look life threatening, call 911, but maybe not intervene, depends.
Well, I took a shot. Haven't seen your truck on my block, but it's a frequent hangout for the lunch hour crowd. |
Property Damage? I'll call the cops and let them handle it 90% of the time. Rape / Battery / Murder? It's time to man up. Screw the legal consequences and do the right thing. I'm not going to let some innocent person get raped because I was worried about getting arrested for Unlawful Use of a Weapon. We all know that Illinois sucks for gun laws and self-defense in general but being a good person means doing the right thing - regardless of Illinois' stupid laws. In this state, saving someone might result in doing jail time but at least I'll be able to look myself in the mirror every morning of my sentence and know I did what needed to be done. Mike |