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Self Defense in the news Part 5
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Glendale man 'was just protecting my family'
By CHRIS POLLOCK
GLENDALE -- Everyone knows you don't mess with Texas. But as one man learned Sunday morning, you don't mess with Gerald Heggstrom of Glendale, either.
Heggstrom, 52, captured an intruder in his garage early Sunday morning and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office arrested Keith W. Newman, 39, and charged him with burglary and criminal trespassing. He posted 10 percent of his $7,500 bail and left the jail Wednesday.
Described on a police report as a "transient from New York via Eugene," Newman had walked up to the Reuben Road house Gerald Heggstrom shares with his wife, Audrey, and banged on the door at about 2 a.m. Audrey Heggstrom, a millworker who said she is a night owl because she works a late shift, had dozed off in the living room.
"There was a loud enough noise that it startled me," she said. "I looked out the window and he was standing by the front door."
She then woke her husband. Because his wife seemed concerned, Gerald Heggstrom retrieved his Glock .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol and gave it to her to hold before answering the door. He remembers being in a foul mood over a stranger disturbing his household at such an hour. Like Audrey, Gerald Heggstrom is a millworker but works the day shift.
"I came to the door and asked what he wanted," he recalled. "I was pissed off. Nobody should be up at two in the morning, banging on peoples' doors."
Newman asked for a woman named "Katy" and walked away toward the road after he was told no such person lived there. Gerald then went back to bed, but his wife was wide awake.
"The adrenaline was still pumping from being startled like that," Audrey said. "I was sitting watching TV and the security light on the front porch came on 15 minutes later. I went into the kitchen and looked out the window, and just then I saw him go into the garage."
Audrey saw Newman enter a side door on the garage and turn on the lights before shutting the door. Gerald was rousted from bed a second time and left the house gun-in-hand to confront Newman.
"I walked over to him with the gun pointed right at him and asked him what the hell he was doing," Heggstrom said. "It got his attention. He said he heard voices in the garage and he was going to check them out."
Audrey called the sheriff's office, and deputies arrived about 20 minutes later to take Newman into custody. Looking back, she said it taught her a lesson in safety awareness.
"It scared me pretty good, the whole incident did," she said. "I was up until after daylight that morning. Before then, we didn't even keep our car doors locked. We had gotten very comfortable. Now we keep our cars and garage locked all the time."
Gerald said he was prepared to do the same thing if anyone else ever trespassed.
"I was just protecting my family and my property, as far as I was concerned," he said. "He would've been all right if he'd left the first time."
http://www.oregonnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=NR&Date=20020419&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=204190105&Ref=AR
-- You can reach reporter Chris Pollock at 957-4213 or by e-mail at cpollock@oregonnews.com.
DEADLY CHASE: Suspect in theft shot, killed by businessman
Police say carjacking attempt makes charges unlikely against restaurant owner
By RYAN OLIVER
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A man who stole money from a restaurant was shot and killed by the restaurant owner as he attempted to carjack a vehicle to flee the scene, police said Wednesday night.
Police filed no charges against the restaurant owner. Homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said prosecutors ultimately will determine whether charges should be filed.
But Monahan said that based on witness statements, investigators believe the man probably was justified when he shot the suspect.
"At this point, it would appear there's no criminal act," Monahan said.
At about 5 p.m., patrol officers responded to a report that the owner of Rosarito's Restaurant was chasing a theft suspect near the intersection of Mojave Road and Charleston Boulevard.
Officers arrived to find a dead body in front of Weber Baking, on the corner of Charleston and 30th Street. The restaurant owner, whom police would not identify because he has not been charged with any crime, was standing nearby.
Monahan said witnesses told police that a man entered the restaurant, located at 11 N. Mojave Road, and ordered some food. An employee then went into the kitchen to prepare the order. The employee told police she then heard the cash register open. She looked toward the cash register, and saw the man reaching into the drawer and taking money.
The man then ran down Mojave toward Charleston, and the restaurant owner, who has a concealed weapon permit, gave chase, Monahan said.
Monahan said the restaurant owner and the man engaged in a slight physical confrontation, and then the suspect ran west on Charleston. The entire chase lasted several hundred yards.
When the suspect reached the parking lot of the bakery, he opened the door to a small pickup and attempted to pull a female driver out of the vehicle, Monahan said. The restaurant owner called for the man to stop, but he did not comply, he said.
"The proprietor of the restaurant, fearing for her (the driver's) life and safety, fired a shot," Monahan said.
The single shot from a handgun proved fatal. The suspect's identity was unavailable Wednesday.
At no point did the suspect brandish a weapon and none was seen around his body, police said. Investigators had not searched the body for any weapons or other items by early Wednesday evening, Monahan said.
A Nevada Supreme Court ruling, handed down two weeks ago, states citizens do not have the right to use deadly force to arrest or prevent the escape of a fleeing felon.
The court wrote that "deadly force is, as a matter of law, unreasonable, unless the deadly force is used in defense of self or others against a threat of serious * injury."
Monahan said the carjacker was in the process of committing a felony and could have seriously injured the driver of the pickup. Investigators, therefore, concluded the restaurant owner was acting within his rights.
"One potential scenario that we're looking at is that he could have pulled her out of the vehicle and then backed over her," he said.
The case is similar to an officer-involved shooting that occurred Tuesday.
A Las Vegas search and rescue officer fired a shot in attempt to stop an unarmed man from pulling a woman from her car in a carjacking. The officer missed. An internal review board will determine if his actions were justified.
Monahan said the law allows a citizen to shoot a person in the process of committing a felony as long as the threat of death or serious injury is "reasonable and perceived."
"If the carjacking hadn't happened and the owner shot him, then you have a whole different set of circumstances," he said.
Police will submit their investigative reports to the Clark County district attorney's office for a final review
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Apr-25-Thu-2002/news/18606226.html
Woman shoots, kills armed intruder in West Seattle
By Dave Birkland
Seattle Times staff reporter
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An armed intruder was shot and killed this morning while scuffling with a resident in a home in West Seattle.
While fighting with a male resident, the intruder was shot by a woman who had armed herself with a gun, said Seattle police spokesman Scott Moss.
The intruder, in his 20s, who also had a gun, collapsed and died while still inside the home in the 5200 block of 35th Avenue Southwest, Moss said. The home borders the south end of the West Seattle Golf Course.
The male resident suffered head cuts during the fight. He was in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Center, where he refused press interviews.
Moss said the intruder, a white male, forced his way into the home shortly after 6 a.m. It is uncertain if he knew the residents, police said.
Police homicide Sgt. Ed Striedinger said the home was divided into two apartments, with a shared main area. The man occupied the lower floor and the woman lived upstairs. The two levels are joined by a stairway, he said.
It was the man's door at the side of the house that the intruder kicked in, Striedinger said. The woman responded after hearing the struggle, he added.
One neighbor said the man and woman are renters who have not lived there long.
Other neighbors gathered to determine what happened.
"What you want to know is if he (the intruder) knew them. if he was a stranger," one neighbor said, asking that her name not be used. It also illustrates that "if you didn't have a gun they could have been killed," she said.
Copyright c 2002 The Seattle Times Company
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134442857_webinvade25.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
By CHRIS POLLOCK
GLENDALE -- Everyone knows you don't mess with Texas. But as one man learned Sunday morning, you don't mess with Gerald Heggstrom of Glendale, either.
Heggstrom, 52, captured an intruder in his garage early Sunday morning and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office arrested Keith W. Newman, 39, and charged him with burglary and criminal trespassing. He posted 10 percent of his $7,500 bail and left the jail Wednesday.
Described on a police report as a "transient from New York via Eugene," Newman had walked up to the Reuben Road house Gerald Heggstrom shares with his wife, Audrey, and banged on the door at about 2 a.m. Audrey Heggstrom, a millworker who said she is a night owl because she works a late shift, had dozed off in the living room.
"There was a loud enough noise that it startled me," she said. "I looked out the window and he was standing by the front door."
She then woke her husband. Because his wife seemed concerned, Gerald Heggstrom retrieved his Glock .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol and gave it to her to hold before answering the door. He remembers being in a foul mood over a stranger disturbing his household at such an hour. Like Audrey, Gerald Heggstrom is a millworker but works the day shift.
"I came to the door and asked what he wanted," he recalled. "I was pissed off. Nobody should be up at two in the morning, banging on peoples' doors."
Newman asked for a woman named "Katy" and walked away toward the road after he was told no such person lived there. Gerald then went back to bed, but his wife was wide awake.
"The adrenaline was still pumping from being startled like that," Audrey said. "I was sitting watching TV and the security light on the front porch came on 15 minutes later. I went into the kitchen and looked out the window, and just then I saw him go into the garage."
Audrey saw Newman enter a side door on the garage and turn on the lights before shutting the door. Gerald was rousted from bed a second time and left the house gun-in-hand to confront Newman.
"I walked over to him with the gun pointed right at him and asked him what the hell he was doing," Heggstrom said. "It got his attention. He said he heard voices in the garage and he was going to check them out."
Audrey called the sheriff's office, and deputies arrived about 20 minutes later to take Newman into custody. Looking back, she said it taught her a lesson in safety awareness.
"It scared me pretty good, the whole incident did," she said. "I was up until after daylight that morning. Before then, we didn't even keep our car doors locked. We had gotten very comfortable. Now we keep our cars and garage locked all the time."
Gerald said he was prepared to do the same thing if anyone else ever trespassed.
"I was just protecting my family and my property, as far as I was concerned," he said. "He would've been all right if he'd left the first time."
http://www.oregonnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=NR&Date=20020419&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=204190105&Ref=AR
-- You can reach reporter Chris Pollock at 957-4213 or by e-mail at cpollock@oregonnews.com.
DEADLY CHASE: Suspect in theft shot, killed by businessman
Police say carjacking attempt makes charges unlikely against restaurant owner
By RYAN OLIVER
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A man who stole money from a restaurant was shot and killed by the restaurant owner as he attempted to carjack a vehicle to flee the scene, police said Wednesday night.
Police filed no charges against the restaurant owner. Homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said prosecutors ultimately will determine whether charges should be filed.
But Monahan said that based on witness statements, investigators believe the man probably was justified when he shot the suspect.
"At this point, it would appear there's no criminal act," Monahan said.
At about 5 p.m., patrol officers responded to a report that the owner of Rosarito's Restaurant was chasing a theft suspect near the intersection of Mojave Road and Charleston Boulevard.
Officers arrived to find a dead body in front of Weber Baking, on the corner of Charleston and 30th Street. The restaurant owner, whom police would not identify because he has not been charged with any crime, was standing nearby.
Monahan said witnesses told police that a man entered the restaurant, located at 11 N. Mojave Road, and ordered some food. An employee then went into the kitchen to prepare the order. The employee told police she then heard the cash register open. She looked toward the cash register, and saw the man reaching into the drawer and taking money.
The man then ran down Mojave toward Charleston, and the restaurant owner, who has a concealed weapon permit, gave chase, Monahan said.
Monahan said the restaurant owner and the man engaged in a slight physical confrontation, and then the suspect ran west on Charleston. The entire chase lasted several hundred yards.
When the suspect reached the parking lot of the bakery, he opened the door to a small pickup and attempted to pull a female driver out of the vehicle, Monahan said. The restaurant owner called for the man to stop, but he did not comply, he said.
"The proprietor of the restaurant, fearing for her (the driver's) life and safety, fired a shot," Monahan said.
The single shot from a handgun proved fatal. The suspect's identity was unavailable Wednesday.
At no point did the suspect brandish a weapon and none was seen around his body, police said. Investigators had not searched the body for any weapons or other items by early Wednesday evening, Monahan said.
A Nevada Supreme Court ruling, handed down two weeks ago, states citizens do not have the right to use deadly force to arrest or prevent the escape of a fleeing felon.
The court wrote that "deadly force is, as a matter of law, unreasonable, unless the deadly force is used in defense of self or others against a threat of serious * injury."
Monahan said the carjacker was in the process of committing a felony and could have seriously injured the driver of the pickup. Investigators, therefore, concluded the restaurant owner was acting within his rights.
"One potential scenario that we're looking at is that he could have pulled her out of the vehicle and then backed over her," he said.
The case is similar to an officer-involved shooting that occurred Tuesday.
A Las Vegas search and rescue officer fired a shot in attempt to stop an unarmed man from pulling a woman from her car in a carjacking. The officer missed. An internal review board will determine if his actions were justified.
Monahan said the law allows a citizen to shoot a person in the process of committing a felony as long as the threat of death or serious injury is "reasonable and perceived."
"If the carjacking hadn't happened and the owner shot him, then you have a whole different set of circumstances," he said.
Police will submit their investigative reports to the Clark County district attorney's office for a final review
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Apr-25-Thu-2002/news/18606226.html
Woman shoots, kills armed intruder in West Seattle
By Dave Birkland
Seattle Times staff reporter
E-mail this article
Print this article
Search web archive
An armed intruder was shot and killed this morning while scuffling with a resident in a home in West Seattle.
While fighting with a male resident, the intruder was shot by a woman who had armed herself with a gun, said Seattle police spokesman Scott Moss.
The intruder, in his 20s, who also had a gun, collapsed and died while still inside the home in the 5200 block of 35th Avenue Southwest, Moss said. The home borders the south end of the West Seattle Golf Course.
The male resident suffered head cuts during the fight. He was in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Center, where he refused press interviews.
Moss said the intruder, a white male, forced his way into the home shortly after 6 a.m. It is uncertain if he knew the residents, police said.
Police homicide Sgt. Ed Striedinger said the home was divided into two apartments, with a shared main area. The man occupied the lower floor and the woman lived upstairs. The two levels are joined by a stairway, he said.
It was the man's door at the side of the house that the intruder kicked in, Striedinger said. The woman responded after hearing the struggle, he added.
One neighbor said the man and woman are renters who have not lived there long.
Other neighbors gathered to determine what happened.
"What you want to know is if he (the intruder) knew them. if he was a stranger," one neighbor said, asking that her name not be used. It also illustrates that "if you didn't have a gun they could have been killed," she said.
Copyright c 2002 The Seattle Times Company
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134442857_webinvade25.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