TexasCHLforum.com

HankB wrote:Texas law explicitly prohibits setting "mechanisms" that might injure someone, and some slick DA may try to extend the definition of "mechanism" to include a rattlesnake,...

If you want to get pedantic about it, guard dogs aren't illegal, so why would snakes be?

Especially if you had window stickers that said, "This vehicle protected by sidewinders," with an appropriate graphic.


The stickers might do the job without bothering with a real snake.

- Jim

CHL/LEO wrote:There are plenty of criminals doing exactly this. In fact, we're currently looking for one that has BMVd over 60 vehicles in the same neighborhood within the past month. I don't know whether that meets your definition of experienced or not but it does ours.

I'll bet when you catch the thief, it will turn out to be one or two teenagers, or a junkie.

What I mean by "experienced criminal" is a gang member or member of a family of habitual criminals, who learns to open cars without breaking glass, and steals more valuable items than the front panel of a stereo (worthless) or sunglasses.

- Jim

Van Don,

Here is what I would do in this kind of scenario. (I didn't need to think about what I would do, just how to put it into words in a public forum.)

We are talking about someone breaking into my garage, or my parked car, or stealing from the yard -- not a threat to life.

Someone breaking into cars and stealing loose items is not an experienced criminal. An experienced criminal would be stealing entire cars or valuable parts like the steering column.

Someone breaking into cars most likely does not have a weapon. If he had a weapon, he would be committing armed robberies or carjackings.

Therefore, it is likely to be a kid or a desperate junkie.

A kid does not want to go to juvenile detention because he will be brutalized. A junkie does not want to go to jail because he will be cut off from his drugs.

The first move in this scenario is to put the other people in my house into the safest place with a cell phone, and have them call 911. (I want my family members as far as possible from a potentially violent situation.)

I have a burglar alarm system. It has a panic button near each door. When I hit that button, a loud siren goes off and the monitoring company calls the police are called within a minute.

The kid or the desparate person will run. If the thief does not run, that means either he doesn't care whether he is caught, or is armed and thinks he can overcome anyone who interferes with him.

In that case, I am not going outside to risk my life in a situation with unknown threats. Our cars are not worth that much. They will be in the junk yard in five or ten years.

Are there things that I would risk my life for? Yes, but the cars are not among them.

As always, you have to make your own decision based on your situation and your values.

- Jim

NguyenVanDon wrote:The LEO here just warn the entire neighborhood about this. I think if someone tries to do this again, no matter if its a 16 yrs old kid, do what you think its right on your property. Especially when it's a night and someone is burglarizing your property. This is not coming from the word of my mouth, but the words from the Arlington Police Officers.

That's fine, but those police officers are not going to have to deal with the consequences.

Another thing to think about: If you shoot someone who is in your car, you need to replace your windshield, $350-500. The thief may have HIV or another contagious disease (many criminals do), so you need a biohazard cleanup. You may need a new front seat, $1,000 or so. And your insurance company might not pay for it because you did the damage intentionally (you need to read the fine print).

I need to do some thinking while I cook dinner, which I have to do now. I'll get back to you.

- Jim

NguyenVanDon wrote:If I saw someone at night broken into my car and trying to steal my stuff, I would have unloaded my entire mag through my windshield....

Please think about this: You can be legally in the right and still get into a lot of trouble.

Until September 1, the thief or his relatives can sue you.

Imagine if the thief is a young kid and unarmed. The newspapers and TV can make you look like a bloodthirsty killer. You could have people marching outside your house or vandalizing it.

Just something to think about.

He wouldn't think they will break in again because they don't see the stuff laying around, but I guess he was wrong.

They know that you will replace the things they stole, so they come back after a few months. I lost two batteries in a few weeks that way.

- Jim

BTW, criminal mischief has a specific definition:

PC § 28.03. CRIMINAL MISCHIEF. (a) A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner:
(1) he intentionally or knowingly damages or destroys the tangible property of the owner;
(2) he intentionally or knowingly tampers with the tangible property of the owner and causes pecuniary loss or substantial inconvenience to the owner or a third person; or
(3) he intentionally or knowingly makes markings, including inscriptions, slogans, drawings, or paintings, on the tangible property of the owner.

It includes other offenses that involve public property, farm land, and livestock.

- Jim

PC §9.42. DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY. A person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect land or tangible, movable property:
(1) if he would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.41; and
(2) when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:
(A) to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime;

That said, I would hesitate to go outdoors to confront a criminal when I didn't know whether he was armed or had accomplices. Your decision.

[Later] When I lived in a neighborhood in Chicago where car break-ins were rampant, many people put external locks on the hood and left the doors open, with nothing worth stealing in the car. The downside of this approach is that a bum may go to sleep in your car.

- Jim