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Residents kill two in city burglaries NY
Josey1
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Residents kill two in city burglaries
By Alan Morrell, John Kohlstrand and Jeffrey Blackwell
Democrat and Chronicle
BURR LEWIS
Alfred Thompson, 89, talks to police after a break-in at his North Street home early Tuesday. [Day in Photos]
(September 18, 2002) - Rochester police are continuing to investigate two would-be burglaries in which residents -- one, 89 years old -- fatally shot the apparent intruders.
Police were not releasing the names of the dead.
The first happened at 299 Ravine Ave. at 8:22 p.m. Monday. Less than six hours later, a similar shooting occurred at 978 North St. shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday. In each case, a man inside said he shot a man who was breaking into the residence.
Chief Robert Duffy said there were no indications that the cases were related.
"The one on Ravine is not as clear-cut," Duffy said. "The one on North Street was clearly an intruder. The incident on Ravine seems to be a pre-planned robbery of the location ... that incident is a little more complex."
The name of the homeowner was not released.
The homeowner on North Street, who identified himself as Alfred Thompson, 89, apparently surprised a would-be burglar who had broken through three doors to gain access to the home.
The intruder -- identified by the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office as Earnest Woods, 40, of Rochester -- died from a single shot to the chest.
Thompson said he was watching television early Tuesday when he heard an intruder trying to break in through the side door.
Thompson said he found the man in his kitchen and said he fired once, over the intruder's shoulder, in what he described as a warning shot.
"I was trying to scare him off," Thompson said.
A couple of seconds later, Thompson said, he fired again. During a brief interview late Tuesday afternoon, Thompson expressed surprise that the intruder had died. He said he was using a small, .22-caliber gun. Duffy said the handgun was legal.
"It's an awful feeling," Thompson said.
Neither spoke, Thompson said, but he added that the intruder seemed wild, like he was on drugs.
He added that he was fearful for his safety and remained so -- in part because he was worried that the intruder had friends who would seek retribution.
"In the dark, that's all you see is a silhouette," he said.
No charges have been filed in either shooting.
Duffy said police will complete their investigations and turn the information over to the Monroe County District Attorney's Office, where officials will decide whether to present the cases to a grand jury.
"As a police department, we never offer suggestions as to what people should or should not do (to defend themselves)," Duffy said. "However any citizen who lawfully and justifiably defends his or her life will have my support."
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/0918story8_news.shtml
E-mail addresses: amorrell@DemocratandChronicle.com, jkohlstr@DemocratandChronicle.com, jblackwell@DemocratandChronicle.com
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Alan Morrell, John Kohlstrand and Jeffrey Blackwell
Democrat and Chronicle
BURR LEWIS
Alfred Thompson, 89, talks to police after a break-in at his North Street home early Tuesday. [Day in Photos]
(September 18, 2002) - Rochester police are continuing to investigate two would-be burglaries in which residents -- one, 89 years old -- fatally shot the apparent intruders.
Police were not releasing the names of the dead.
The first happened at 299 Ravine Ave. at 8:22 p.m. Monday. Less than six hours later, a similar shooting occurred at 978 North St. shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday. In each case, a man inside said he shot a man who was breaking into the residence.
Chief Robert Duffy said there were no indications that the cases were related.
"The one on Ravine is not as clear-cut," Duffy said. "The one on North Street was clearly an intruder. The incident on Ravine seems to be a pre-planned robbery of the location ... that incident is a little more complex."
The name of the homeowner was not released.
The homeowner on North Street, who identified himself as Alfred Thompson, 89, apparently surprised a would-be burglar who had broken through three doors to gain access to the home.
The intruder -- identified by the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office as Earnest Woods, 40, of Rochester -- died from a single shot to the chest.
Thompson said he was watching television early Tuesday when he heard an intruder trying to break in through the side door.
Thompson said he found the man in his kitchen and said he fired once, over the intruder's shoulder, in what he described as a warning shot.
"I was trying to scare him off," Thompson said.
A couple of seconds later, Thompson said, he fired again. During a brief interview late Tuesday afternoon, Thompson expressed surprise that the intruder had died. He said he was using a small, .22-caliber gun. Duffy said the handgun was legal.
"It's an awful feeling," Thompson said.
Neither spoke, Thompson said, but he added that the intruder seemed wild, like he was on drugs.
He added that he was fearful for his safety and remained so -- in part because he was worried that the intruder had friends who would seek retribution.
"In the dark, that's all you see is a silhouette," he said.
No charges have been filed in either shooting.
Duffy said police will complete their investigations and turn the information over to the Monroe County District Attorney's Office, where officials will decide whether to present the cases to a grand jury.
"As a police department, we never offer suggestions as to what people should or should not do (to defend themselves)," Duffy said. "However any citizen who lawfully and justifiably defends his or her life will have my support."
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/0918story8_news.shtml
E-mail addresses: amorrell@DemocratandChronicle.com, jkohlstr@DemocratandChronicle.com, jblackwell@DemocratandChronicle.com
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
Second suspect in attack gets away
By MIKE GLENN
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
Even though taco stand owner Roberto Quintero was badly beaten by two robbers who thought they had made a clean getaway, he still mustered enough strength to go outside, retrieve a gun from his truck and fatally shoot one of his attackers Monday.
Police said two men pistol-whipped Quintero shortly before 4 p.m., just as he was about to open the mobile stand for the usually brisk afternoon rush-hour business at Irvington and Duff. They then ran outside.
"The owner made it out to his truck, got his pistol and exchanged gunfire with the suspects," said Phillip Guerrero, a Houston police homicide detective.
Seconds later, one of the robbers was dead while the other escaped in what police describe as a "small, dark car."
Quintero was taken to Ben Taub Hospital with severe lacerations to his head, Guerrero said.
His brother-in-law said Quintero offered to hand over his valuables, but the robbers continued the attack.
"He told them they could take anything they want. He gave them the keys, the money and his bracelet," said Ricardo Zuniga, who works in another taco stand. "But they kept on beating him."
Detectives said the two men may have tried to steal Quintero's pickup truck parked next to the stand. Family members said the theft may have been prevented by a security switch on the truck that must be disengaged before the engine will start.
"They do have his car keys out there in the middle of the street," Guerrero said. "Whether they tried to get it started but couldn't ... we don't know."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/1578391
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Associated Press
Sept. 18, 2002 08:09:00
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. - An 85-year-old woman, angered that a would-be robber was scaring a cashier, beat the man with her cane and foiled the robbery, police said.
Police said the woman told them, "that poor child was frightened and I wasn't going to let that happen."
She would not give her name and refused medical treatment, though she was knocked to the ground by the fleeing robber, police said.
"She turned out to be a hero, but she adamantly refused to give her name," Sgt. Bob Laporte said.
Witnesses said a man grabbed the cashier by the wrists at a store in New Kensington on Monday and threatened to cut her with a metal can opener that he then used to attempt to open the cash register.
The elderly woman beat the man in the head with her metal cane and he fled, knocking her down. The woman "had some choice words for him while she was sitting on the floor," Laporte said.
have any criminal intent. Their intentions are good," Rokita said. "Just not this way."
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0918RobberCaned-ON.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
NY: Man who shot in self-defense gets year in jail "for illegally possessing the pistol he used"
By Michael Zeigler
Democrat and Chronicle
(September 18, 2002) - A Rochester man who killed one man and wounded another in self-defense during a drug-related shootout was sentenced to jail Tuesday for illegally possessing the pistol he used.
Acting Monroe County Court Judge Stephen R. Sirkin sentenced Christen Dowdell, 19, to one year in the county jail, the maximum penalty, for fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Dowdell did not have a permit for the gun.
Citing Dowdell's record, which included two years of incarceration before he was 16 and convictions for marijuana possession and disorderly conduct since then, Sirkin said Dowdell deserved the maximum. "It's a pretty serious history in a very short time," Sirkin said.
Dowdell, however, will be freed in two months because he'll be credited for six months he spent in jail while awaiting trial. A one-year jail sentence is automatically reduced to eight months for inmates who receive credit for good behavior.
Jurors acquitted Dowdell of second-degree murder, second-degree assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the Jan. 30 death of Timothy M. Fruster and wounding of Prince Trotter in an alley off Ambrose Street in northwest Rochester.
Dowdell said he and a friend were looking for a place to buy marijuana when Fruster, 36, and Trotter, 18, confronted them and Fruster fired four or five shots from a 9mm pistol.
Dowdell testified that he and his friend, who wasn't charged, returned fire with their own 9mm pistols. Fruster was hit in the chest and Trotter was hit in one knee.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/0918story13_news.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878