Algoa: Man arrested after shooting at fleeing robber

[seamusTX]

In Algoa, Thursday, around 7:30 p.m., a man forced his way into a game room and took an undetermined amount of money from a woman worker. No weapon was displayed. The robber fled in a vehicle on Route 6 (which is a four-lane highway).

A patron of the game room went out, produced a pistol, and shot at the fleeing robber. Apparently the shooter missed, and nothing valuable was damaged.

The shooter was charged with deadly conduct, a felony, and released on $5,000 bond.

“We don’t shoot at a fleeing felon. There’s well-established case law on that. It’s considered deadly conduct because the threat is stopped and the guy is fleeing the scene.”

This story is reported in today's Galveston County Daily News. Unfortunately, it is subscription-only:
http://www.galvestondailynews.com/news/ ... 0f31a.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Algoa is a wide spot on the road south of Houston.

The game room no doubt was an illegal gambling establishment.

What can we learn from this?

- Jim

[philip964]

It was at night, but the shooter was not trying to retrieve his own property.

[WildBill]

Man arrested after police say he shot at fleeing game room robber.
You can read the whole article in the Galveston Daily News.
I don't know all the facts but it's not what I understand the law to be.

How do you understand the law?

I understand that the CHL holder can shoot at a person to stop them from using deadly force or to stop certain crimes. Once the BG is fleeing, he was no longer a threat. Of course, it is more complicated than my short statement.

It may be that the DA eventually will not charge the man who was arrested. We will have to wait and see.

[Beiruty]

No case law will support the arrest. There was case in Dallas, that Father and son pursed and fatally shot 2 "threats" who were throwing bricks at the shooters house. Both were acquitted.

Story:
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/communit ... s-2976.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[seamusTX]

It may be that the DA eventually will not charge the man who was arrested.

The Galveston County Sheriff's department does not arrest people on felony charges unless a prosecutor approves it.

The problem here is not the use of deadly force against the robber; it's shooting on a public highway, possible with other vehicular traffic and buildings along the roadside.

IMO, the shooter was imprudent. His chances of hitting the robber were small, and if he had hit the driver there would have been an uncontrolled moving car on the road.

Also it can't help that the shooter was in an illegal gambling den and most likely did not have a CHL. (At least I hope no one who qualifies for a CHL would be in a place like that.)

- Jim

[WildBill]

It may be that the DA eventually will not charge the man who was arrested.

The Galveston County Sheriff's department does not arrest people on felony charges unless a prosecutor approves it.- Jim

You may still disagree, but what I meant was that the DA may eventually decide to drop or reduce the charges.

[texanjoker]

From what I read in the 2 paragraphs I could view on that article, and the one below, the CHL holder was in a video slot machine game room which would mean he was potentially carrying a CHL in the commission of a crime itself, illegal gaming. Now we don't have the facts on the actual shooting portion, but his defense could be that he was trying to stop an armed aggravated robbery suspect. There is case law that you can shoot a dangerous fleeing armed felon. CHL instructors (at least the one when I attended) taught us that you could pretty much shoot anybody at night over a criminal action, including graffiti (I don't agree). However in this case, with the criminal activity he may have been participating in (illegal gaming), his arrest could be because he probably should not have been carrying during the commission of a crime, hence the charge, and may have gone out there shooting in an unsafe manner, ect. More to come I am sure on this as the facts get out. The arrest affidavit would be a good read.

Another story on it>

Galveston County Sheriff's detectives are investigating a game room robbery and have arrested an Alvin man after he reportedly fired shots at a fleeing suspect.

Thrusday evening, Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to Bombay Game Room in the 19600 block of Highway 6 in Algoa to reports of a robbery.

Witnesses at the scene told deputies a man approached the door of the business, which had been opened by a clerk to allow another person inside. The robber forced his way through the door, pushing the clerk and grabbing an undetermined amount of money from an apron she was wearing before running from the scene. Witnesses said the robber got into a white 4-door car and sped away east on Highway 6 toward Santa Fe.

The clerk was not injured during the robbery.

Another employee present chased after the robber but was unable to find him.

Witnesses described the bandit as being in his mid-20's, approximately 5'8 tall and thinly built. He has black hair, and was wearing a "hoodie" jacket.

Deputies also learned a patron at the business produced a handgun and started firing shots at the robber's vehicle as it left the scene. He was identified by investigators as Christopher Albert Arguijo, 34, of Alvin. Arguijo was ultimately taken into custody, charged with Deadly Conduct with a Firearm. He was taken to the Galveston County Jail and later released after posting a $5,000 bond.

Sheriff's detectives are continuing their investigation of the robbery.

[seamusTX]

You may still disagree, but what I meant was that the DA may eventually decide to drop or reduce the charges.

They can always do that. It will depend upon other circumstances such as the shooter's criminal history and how much defiance or deferrence he shows.

In any case, it's going to cost the guy big-time for trying to shoot a robber that stole a game room's filthy lucre.

- Jim

[sjfcontrol]

Witnesses described the bandit as being in his mid-20's, approximately 5'8 tall and thinly built. He has black hair, and was wearing a "hoodie" jacket.

I thought it was now law that you always arrest someone who shoots at somebody wearing a hoodie.

[Heartland Patriot]

So, is someone going to follow this case and let everyone know if the man who fired the shots is a CHL holder? My guess would be "No". And if he ISN'T a CHLer, we'll probably hear either nothing, or very little, more about it from the press, either.

[Jumping Frog]

However in this case, with the criminal activity he may have been participating in (illegal gaming), his arrest could be because he probably should not have been carrying during the commission of a crime, hence the charge,

Astute point. At minimum, if the actor was engaged in criminal activity, they forfeited the right to have their use of force "presumed to be reasonable". Now they are faced with all the disadvantages of having to present an affirmative defense, and the police were obviously justified in the arrest since the actions are presumed to be illegal and it is now up to the defendant to prove otherwise.

Sec. 9.31. SELF-DEFENSE. (a) Except as provided in Subsection (b), a person is justified in using force against another . . . The actor's belief that the force was immediately necessary as described by this subsection is presumed to be reasonable if the actor:
(3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used.

Sec. 9.32. DEADLY FORCE IN DEFENSE OF PERSON. . . .
(b) The actor's belief under Subsection (a)(2) that the deadly force was immediately necessary as described by that subdivision is presumed to be reasonable if the actor:

(3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used.

[seamusTX]

So, is someone going to follow this case ...

I will. I doubt we will ever hear anything. Like 90% of state cases it will be plea-bargained without a trial.

- Jim

[Heartland Patriot]

So, is someone going to follow this case ...

I will. I doubt we will ever hear anything. Like 90% of state cases it will be plea-bargained without a trial.

- Jim

Thank you, seamusTX. And I only said that because it just seems that the question almost always gets asked if the person is a CHLer...when there are so many people carrying illegally. There are obviously a LOT of people carrying in Chicago, for instance, and the State of Illinois doesn't even have a way to carry legally. The stats show that CHLers are pretty law-abiding, arguments of the exact percentage of crimes committed by CHLers aside.

[seamusTX]

As I said, I doubt the guy has a CHL. They probably would have mentioned it right away.

I suspect there are more people carrying weapons illegally than legally. I remember a while back they raided a bar in Galveston, and there were maybe two people in it who weren't (a) carrying drugs, (b) carrying weapons illegally, or (c) wanted on warrants.

- Jim

[57Coastie]

No case law will support the arrest. There was case in Dallas, that Father and son pursed and fatally shot 2 "threats" who were throwing bricks at the shooters house. Both were acquitted.

Story:
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/communit ... s-2976.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Grand juries do not "acquit" people, nor do prosecutors, nor does a grand jury's bringing in a nobill forever foreclose prosecution for the act which was nobilled. The Dallas News article you cite itself demonstrates both these points.

Would you care to demonstrate to your readers your categorical statement that "no case law will support the arrest?"

The loose use of legal language by nonlawyers and their bad legal advice endanger both the person using the language and others reading it.

The loose use of legal language and bad legal advice by lawyers are even more dangerous.

Jim