Quote:
Three guys saw someone with a bicycle that had been stolen some time before, pointed a gun at the person when they were not immediately threatened, put cuffs on him, and roughed him up
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If I read the article correctly, these are the allegations of the plaintiff. I have seen a longer version of this (can't find it at the moment) that said that police reports had a rather different version, which did not include handcuffs or a physical assault, but did include a naked man trying to hide a bicycle.
The part that is troublesome (and consistent in the different versions of the story that I have seen) is that the private citizens actually did engage in a pursuit of the BG. I personally wouldn't do so, not knowing if the person was armed (although at the end of the chase he seemed to lack cover garments) or had one or more pals in the neighborhood. It would be real easy to go around a corner and come face to face with a ball bat, a knife, or a gun in the hand of someone who does not practice good safety habits.
My reason for carrying a pistol is to protect the lives of myself, my family, and other innocents in my immediate vicinity. That's all - I am not committed to using it to protect property in the absence of a mortal threat, nor to using it to see criminals brought to trial. I can understand being hacked off at seeing your property taken, but being hacked off is not a good reason to use a gun or to put yourself in danger by pursuing a criminal. The police are trained and equipped for that - I am not.
We have been advised many times by LEOs on this forum that what they most want from us is good witness information. I will let them work as a team, using body armor and, when necessary, long guns, to apprehend BGs. They have my deep and everlasting gratitude for the work they do. A chubby old guy in a shirt and tie and bifocals does not have a place in any dustups that he can avoid.