Fleeing Paintball Vandals Cause 4-vehicle Pileup which sends two Bystanders to the Hospital

[scuba steve]

Originally Posted by The Man in SATX

I am going to take the other side of the coin on this one.. I think she did what she thought was right and protecting herself from hoodlums.. something most of us will not do.. that is why the criminals win most of the time. It is sad to see that some people got hurt as a result but what she did was noble..

Those kids are the ones that crashed the car.. not the homeowner (according to the news). They should be laying in the morgue somewhere.. thats my opinion..

Yeah, that's about the way I see this one. Even with a description and plate number I doubt the police would have done a lot.

[badhornet]

Why blame the homeowner? You have the most inept police department that is more worried about pulling you over for going 5 mph past the speed limit, then handling the out of control crime in the city. Then you have a 20 year old participating in paintballing a house......kid grow up.... (because you are obviously not an adult). It's sad the number of morons in this city

[The Man in SATX]

Originally Posted by scuba steve

Yeah, that's about the way I see this one. Even with a description and plate number I doubt the police would have done a lot.

Although some people will think that I constantly slam our men in blue.. its because they deserve it. They do what they have to do.. and it isnt their fault that some of em are butt munches.. but if they would attempt to do more then what they do.. maybe we wouldnt have to resort to protecting ourselves, basically.. if you dont protect yourself.. you wont have protection.. I have pretty much written off the police department.. the only enforcement you have pretty much right now.. is the protection that you afford for yourself. If the police have time to come to your aid.. and the key word is if, then maybe they might help you out.. but I can almost guarantee.. with what they do.. they wont have the time to do anything for you.. so pretty much .. we are on our own.

This woman did what she had to .. to protect herself.. I am sorry that some people got injured in the process (which wasnt her fault.. but the fault was due to those jerks who paint balled the houses). People are persecuting the lady for doing what she needed to do.. what about the little kids who were paint balling the houses? Yeah sure.. you can paint over it.. but why should you have to? Because some dumb butt kids are deciding that they want to go have fun at your expense? What scares the crap out of me.. is the thought process that some of you show on here and for that matter in this world. Its almost like.. uhmm lets look the other way and pretend it didnt happen.. we will just have to fix the crap they broke and act like it didnt happen. Lets blame the people this stuff it is happening to instead of the people who are doing it... wtf kind of thought process is that?

If more people had guns and took out these SOBs one at a time.. and people knew.. that the likelihood of someone breaking into a house and getting holes shot in their ass.. crime would drop WAY DOWN.. not to say you will still have people with guns that shouldnt have it.. but hey.. these little snot nose kids wouldnt go out and try to do stupid things with out knowing full well .. what the consequences are.. crime wouldnt disappear.. but you can rest assured .. crime would be only committed with a wary eye of knowing.. the criminal could be eating dirt... and maybe its about high time.. that the criminals are scared and not us hard working people..

[CelesteDF]

Originally Posted by The Man in SATX

This woman did what she had to .. to protect herself.. I am sorry that some people got injured in the process (which wasnt her fault.. but the fault was due to those jerks who paint balled the houses). People are persecuting the lady for doing what she needed to do.. what about the little kids who were paint balling the houses?

This woman was never in mortal danger. The Castle Doctrine exists to protect your home and your life/family from intruders who are directly attacking you. These paintballers were running away from her. Are they criminals? Yes, of course. Do I think that SAPD should be more responsive to non-emergency crimes? Yes, of course. But the serious accident that occurred when she gave chase is the very reason that vigilante justice is frowned upon. What exactly did you think would happen when you combine stupid, immature, fearful kids with an angry homeowner and a car chase through public neighborhoods?

Originally Posted by The Man in SATX

If more people had guns and took out these SOBs one at a time.. and people knew.. that the likelihood of someone breaking into a house and getting holes shot in their ass.. crime would drop WAY DOWN.. not to say you will still have people with guns that shouldnt have it.. but hey.. these little snot nose kids wouldnt go out and try to do stupid things with out knowing full well .. what the consequences are.. crime wouldnt disappear.. but you can rest assured .. crime would be only committed with a wary eye of knowing.. the criminal could be eating dirt... and maybe its about high time.. that the criminals are scared and not us hard working people..

To this asinine comment, I can only say that you would probably have liked living in Spain when I was born. There was virtually no crime because fascist dictator Francisco Franco's regime had soldiers stationed on every street corner armed with machine guns. Of course, people lived in constant fear of persecution without due process every moment of their lives, but hey, what's a little thing like that in exchange for the reassuring peace of knowing that no one is going to paintball your house?

To suggest that indiscriminately shooting and killing people is an appropriate preemptive measure to prevent petty crime makes me wonder if you even understand the principles on which this country was founded.

[OA 5599]

Originally Posted by scuba steve

Yeah, that's about the way I see this one. Even with a description and plate number I doubt the police would have done a lot.

Agreed. Ever had something stolen from you, or had to report a minor crime? The police would have given her the "we'll look into it, ma'am", and then nothing would have happened. Meanwhile, these kids would have continued their reckless driving and paintballing rampage around San Antonio. Even if the police did do something about it, it would get tied up in court proceedings and turn into a "her-word-against-their-word" sort of things, and the paintballers would likely just get a slap in the wrist.

Also, the article does not say there was any kind of "high speed chase" involved...it does say that the woman followed them in her pickup. The paintballers were the ones that paintballed her house, they were the ones that ran a red light, and they were the ones that caused the three injuries. The woman was protecting her person and property, which is something the police in this country are incapable of doing more often than not.

While it is unfortunate that three people are injured, you have to really look at who is to blame. The paintballers are the ones who broke multiple laws and recklessly endangered the public for an adrenaline rush...not the woman.

[catriona]

The article I read said that the vandals kept driving faster until they ran the light. The homeowner estimated they were going 60-70 mph at that time without any regard. If they were going 60-70 mph, how fast was she going?

I understand wanting to protect your property, I understand that the police may not do anything about this paintball incident had she not followed through in some way, but what did she hope to accomplish by just following them? Was she going the speed limit through the neightborhood streets? Or was she exceeding her speed to catch up with them? That is never reported. Did she have regard for others in the area or was she too busy watching the thugs and trying to avoid being hit by the debris they were throwing at her? What if the debris had crashed through her windshield and caused her to wreck?

Is it really worth it to take these kind of chances just to nab the vandals? Sorry, but I think she should have just got the description and made the call. Chasing them was stupid.

[OA 5599]

Originally Posted by catriona

I understand wanting to protect your property, I understand that the police may not do anything about this paintball incident had she not followed through in some way, but what did she hope to accomplish by just following them? Was she going the speed limit through the neightborhood streets? Or was she exceeding her speed to catch up with them? That is never reported. Did she have regard for others in the area or was she too busy watching the thugs and trying to avoid being hit by the debris they were throwing at her? What if the debris had crashed through her windshield and caused her to wreck?

Is it really worth it to take these kind of chances just to nab the vandals? Sorry, but I think she should have just got the description and made the call. Chasing them was stupid.

If she was indeed following them at a high rate of speed though residential neighborhoods, then yes, I agree she too was breaking the law and being just as reckless as the paintballers were. If she was not, and she was legally following them with the intent of getting more information (or possibly confronting their parents), then I believe she was trying to protect her own life and property and should not be considered responsible for the auto accident that followed (although with such reckless driving, can you really consider it an "accident"?)

However, from my experiences in dealing with law enforcement, I fully believe that if she had just made a call, even with a plate number and vehicle description in-hand, the police would have done nothing unless they had also had a dozen other people call in.

[sapphire]

I bet these paintballers are just lazy taggers. Now they don't even get out of their cars to mess up your stuff.

[majormadmax]

Castle Doctrine does not apply here, they were not on her property and there was never a lethal threat or property being stolen. I don't condone what the kids were doing but she had no right to chase them. However, they were still fleeing and caused the accident, for which they and their parents should be held accountable. But to condone shooting at them is ridiculous.

And despite what some people think of the SAPD, the right thing to do was get their license plate and description of the vehicle and report it to the police. She had no right or need to chase them, and for that she should be held liable.

[Kerowyn]

not knowing the whole truth how can anyone make a complete choice as to whether the homeowner was in the wrong or not. For me it is all hearsay as to whether or not she "chased" as in speeding to follow the kids. that will take additional witness testimony that is not available.

If it was my house and I need a better vehicle discription I would follow the kids maybe even to get a chance photo of the license plate. I would not speed but depending on the distance traveled ( also not known ) you can follow for quite some time without speeding. Being a single female I have had enough creeps follow me in cars. It can be scary and if that person is a disgruntal home owner and you are a group of teens? well who knows what those kids were thinking.

should she have continued to follow? hindsight is an easy prospect to determine.

could it be possible that they (the kids) drove normal enough and then just sped up to run the lights trying to cut her off from following? I think this is more plausable.

still to many questions to point a finger at and say, You are also at fault.