Thieves and why you should always be armed.

[bortle]

Sometimes you don't have time to go get a weapon. You need some thing right this instant.
I live in rural west Pa. low crime, pretty safe or so I thought.
Couple of nights ago 11:30 at night I'm watching TV no lights on in the house. I hear a truck come down the road pretty slow and go past the house. I'm watching TV and I can still hear that truck running so I peek out the front door. It's backed up in a gas well road a couple hundred yard away. I think thats a little strange and I step outside. It turns its lights out and pulls up by my garage. WTF. Someone gets out and goes into my garage.
This is the part where you don't have time to go get something, you only have whats on your person right now.
I run out to the garage and yelled "Who wants to be a dead motherfucker?
Out comes a kid with a case of beer running like a rabbit. He gets about 4 steps and the beer box rips and cans fall everywhere.
He runs past the truck and across the road up thru the woods, truck takes off and I'm standing there going WTF. I can hear the kid going up thru some nasty brush, blackberry bushes, treetops stuff I wouldn't want to go thru in the daylite.
I go call the police they show up 30 min. later. Take my name and info and say it was probably kids (no shit). They'll check the local hangouts and see if they can spot anything.
In hindsight I would have done a few things different. But hind sight is always 20/20. I shoulda this and shoulda that. It all happens so fast you don't have time to think.
And yes I was armed but you can't shoot a kid over a case of beer.
Hopefully it will scare him straight. Getting caught red handed by the home owner with a gun pointed in your face from 5 feet away may teach you a lesson, running up hill in the dark thru blackberry bushes will give you another clue.
I got my beer back, didn't have to shoot anyone so I guess it ended up OK.

[YllwFvr]

I cant seem to figure out if Im amused or concerned.
How old at a guess was the kid with your beer?
Could you see if it was an adult behind the wheel?
Who leaves a kid at a strangers house?!
You handled it well IMO; no shots fired, police were called. Kid may have to go to the hospital. I cant imagine running through brambles in the dark. Imagine catching some in the face. It makes me cringe! If they were very young that would all be at head height.
I would have handled it pretty much the same way. Subtract dead, add a hey you, keep the parental unit expletive.

[HiredGoon]

To clarify....

it's 11:30 at night and your garage was not closed or locked up?


Sounds like they might have known you had the beer in there?

Also, did you tell the cops that you drew on this bastard? If so, what did they say about that?

I'd install motion detector flood lights around the house and garage in case you can't get out fast enough if there is a "next time".

They probably thought you were sleeping or not at home, being that the lights were off, so you probably would have startled him even if you weren't armed, but good thing you were.

[bortle]

To clarify, by kid I mean a teenager. The garage door was up and I didn't mention the weapon to the police.

[MostlyHarmless]

To clarify, by kid I mean a teenager. The garage door was up and I didn't mention the weapon to the police.

Kids stealing beer from an open garage. There you have one reason why the drinking age of 21 makes just as much sense as gun laws. It only keeps those from having a glass of wine for dinner, who would not cause any trouble doing so anyway.


Jan

[dc dalton]

I'm still confused, did you draw your gun or not?

[TXDMERC73]

wonder what kind of beer it was ,had to be some good stuff to be worth stealing!

[mojo]

wonder what kind of beer it was ,had to be some good stuff to be worth stealing!

If your under 21, any beer is good beer.

But, seeing that he said cans, it's most likely not that great.

[thisissublime]

If your under 21, any beer is good beer.

But, seeing that he said cans, it's most likely not that great.

not always true:


is better than

[Willie D]

Always be armed in case local youths try to steal your beer?