Fleeing driver shot dead in Avery Ranch (Austin, Plains: homes, fence)

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Only problem is, you are just relying on what the wife told the cops, after her husband shot and killed the guy. No other witnesses say he was under a car, or anything like that. ....

If we knew what make/model car it was, we could know the ground clearance and whether a person the size of the kid could fit under the car. Is it just me, or does "lying underneath the car" sound implausible?

First of all, most modern cars are too low to the ground for an adult to climb under. Once underneath, there would be no way to work or do anything because you'd literally have the bottom of the car at your nose.

Second, if one were to climb under a car, it would be impossible for a home owner to see well enough at night, in the dark, from the window of a home, to be able to clearly state "there is a guy lying underneath the car".

We'd need to know the position of the car relative to the viewing position from inside the home. Avery Ranch has curbed streets, so unless the car was parked across the street from the home, the curb would obscure the view underneath.

I suspect there may be a language/translation barrier or something, and maybe the wife saw a guy "at" the car. That would seem more plausible to me. The kid would have no reason to be hiding if he was knocking on doors for help.

I was listening to the Jeff Ward show on 590 KLBJ one day when a lot of licensed conceal and carry owners were calling in talking about this shooting. All unanimously stated that this seems like a bad shoot. There were no defenders of the shooter from the gun owning community. None of the training or instruction received as part of ones responsibility of owning a gun would have a responsible gun owner blowing away someone as described.

I agree that facts and testimony will answer a lot, but on face, this looks like a trigger-happy nut murdering someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Simple as that.

Steve

[Dr.Mom]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Was Recio talking to himself or was there someone else there? Why was he outside a strangers home at 3 a.m. talking so loud that he attracted the attention of Laleh Yazdi, the wife? Why was he lying under her car? Was he trying to steal something? Was he trying to hotwire the car or steal parts off of it?

At the very minimum this is alarming and suspicious behavior that would concern any homeowner. How would you react if you were woken up at 3 a.m. by someone behaving as strangely as this?

Perhaps the Yazdi thought Recio was trying to steal his car, or steal something from it. Perhaps he thought Recio was trying to run away with stolen property when he told him "If you flee, I'm going to shoot you". Recio fled in spite of these warnings and Yazdi shot him, as he the State law allowed him to do to recover his stolen property.

It is going to take a trial by jury to sort out the facts and determine if a crime was committed.

If someone were outside of my home or trying to steal my car at 3am, I'd call the Police. What a concept! Isn't that what 911 is for? Shooting at people in the middle of the night in a residential area does not generally resolve at lot of problems. In fact, it usually causes more. If Mr. Yazdi had just called the Police, they would have arrived and taken care of the situation. Problem solved and no one died.

[rickc007]

Originally Posted by Dr.Mom

If someone were outside of my home or trying to steal my car at 3am, I'd call the Police. What a concept! Isn't that what 911 is for? Shooting at people in the middle of the night in a residential area does not generally resolve at lot of problems. In fact, it usually causes more. If Mr. Yazdi had just called the Police, they would have arrived and taken care of the situation. Problem solved and no one died.

That's what most people would learn in a CHL class ?

The main thing I got out of mine was "not" to shoot.

Worse case, he steals the whole car, you then file insurance and get another.

WHOLE lot less expensive and troublesome than he, and his family, are dealing with now.

[motherofthree]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Second, if one were to climb under a car, it would be impossible for a home owner to see well enough at night, in the dark, from the window of a home, to be able to clearly state "there is a guy lying underneath the car".

Agree. This is the part of the story that makes no sense to me.

[Paulmmm]

Originally Posted by Dr.Mom

If someone were outside of my home or trying to steal my car at 3am, I'd call the Police. What a concept! Isn't that what 911 is for? Shooting at people in the middle of the night in a residential area does not generally resolve at lot of problems. In fact, it usually causes more. If Mr. Yazdi had just called the Police, they would have arrived and taken care of the situation. Problem solved and no one died.

I completely agree. If I thought that someone was outside my house acting up at 3 o'clock in the morning, the very first thing I would do is call the police. Then I'd check that all the doors and windows were locked and wait inside.

And speaking of calling 911, I haven't heard this point addressed at all. I think some people down the street at the original accident site called 911 when they heard the car accident/flat tire/whatever. And some called after they heard shots fired by Yazdi. But did Yazdi or his wife ever call 911 to say that he thought someone was ouside hiding under their car or whatever his story is? Or did he ignore calling the cops and go right to confronting, then killing, the kid?

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

If we knew what make/model car it was, we could know the ground clearance and whether a person the size of the kid could fit under the car. Is it just me, or does "lying underneath the car" sound implausible?

First of all, most modern cars are too low to the ground for an adult to climb under. Once underneath, there would be no way to work or do anything because you'd literally have the bottom of the car at your nose.

Second, if one were to climb under a car, it would be impossible for a home owner to see well enough at night, in the dark, from the window of a home, to be able to clearly state "there is a guy lying underneath the car".

We'd need to know the position of the car relative to the viewing position from inside the home. Avery Ranch has curbed streets, so unless the car was parked across the street from the home, the curb would obscure the view underneath.

I suspect there may be a language/translation barrier or something, and maybe the wife saw a guy "at" the car. That would seem more plausible to me. The kid would have no reason to be hiding if he was knocking on doors for help.

I was listening to the Jeff Ward show on 590 KLBJ one day when a lot of licensed conceal and carry owners were calling in talking about this shooting. All unanimously stated that this seems like a bad shoot. There were no defenders of the shooter from the gun owning community. None of the training or instruction received as part of ones responsibility of owning a gun would have a responsible gun owner blowing away someone as described.

I agree that facts and testimony will answer a lot, but on face, this looks like a trigger-happy nut murdering someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Simple as that.

Steve

It is not as "simple as that". There is a lot of assumption and pre-judgement in your statements as well as some misinformation*. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

I don't think blowhards spouting off on a Jeff Ward show amount to anything credible.

True, its unlikely that most adults could fit completely under a car, but being partially concealed under a car with an arm and a leg while trying to tamper with it could still be described by many as "lying under the car".

*Take a look at the location, it has an unusual configuration. What curb and gutter? The houses along that section of Staked Plains Drive do not front on a normal street. The street is to the left in this photo below, then a fence and a second private drive/street in front of the houses, with NO curb and gutter or sidewalk running along in front of the houses.

[10scoachrick]

Again, more questions than answers; but, the vehicles at that house are regularly parked at the end of a private drive that serves the 'block' of houses. The home in question has/had planters at the end of the driveway to block others from using the driveway as a turn-around. As such, no actual curb is between the house and parked vehicles. At least one Google view shows at least one SUV in the parking spot, so crawling under/taking refuge/wiring something...all possible IF the SUV was involved.

I absolutely cannot justify this shooting in my mind; however, the sound of a car crashing on the street in the dead of night could sound like a lot of things, including a bomb/car bomb. First thing you see after hearing the crash is someone 'under' your vehicle. Gives you a lot to think about.

It's my understanding that the accused has a significant military background. I have no idea how much of that experience would have been with handguns, bombs or wiring a vehicle to explode. All of this could factor into the shooter's state of mind. Did he see combat? Any PTSD possibilities?

Again, I can't justify this shooting in MY mind. My limited training tells me to STOP the THREAT. For me, that would mean continued fire ONLY IF the threat continued to THREATEN . Can't say what would actually happen if startled from sleep at 2:30 in the morning by a crash outside and someone on my property.

If this shows up...a google view of the area...no secret since the address was given out on the first day...
staked plains and avery ranch blvd austin - Google Maps

Go to the northwest corner of the intersection and put the little Google-man on the street, You will be able to see the orientation of the street, sidewalk, driveway and houses along there.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by atxcio

No other witnesses say he was under a car, or anything like that.

Again, there has been no indication in the news reports that there were any other witnesses.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Again, there has been no indication in the news reports that there were any other witnesses.

Well, certainly there were others who may have heard the whole thing, and there were several 911 calls. Those are witnesses. I believe they must have given statements to the police, which likely contained some incriminating details otherwise police wouldn't have picked the guy up for murder so quickly.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Well, certainly there were others who may have heard the whole thing, and there were several 911 calls. Those are witnesses. I believe they must have given statements to the police, which likely contained some incriminating details otherwise police wouldn't have picked the guy up for murder so quickly.

All suppositions.

Someone who hears a shot and calls 911, isn't a witness to anything except hearing a shot.

The guy admitted shooting the man, who later died. The police had to charge him, its up to a jury to determine if it was justified. At this point he is just accused of a crime, but is innocent until proven guilty.