CRIME Amateur Crime Fighter Could Get 4 Years In Prison for Firing Shots

Mark Armstrong

Mark Armstrong

Veteran Member
Video report at link:

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/59233567.html

Woman says man who fired at purse thief is a hero
by David Catanese and Chad Plein, KY3 News

Story Published: Sep 14, 2009 at 11:16 AM CDT
Story Updated: Sep 15, 2009 at 11:21 AM CDT

SPRINGFIELD -- A man from Greene County is charged with unlawful use of a weapon after police said he chased and fired five shots at a purse thief. Springfield police arrested Charles Webb shortly after the chase on Friday night.

Police say a young man stole a purse from a 75-year-old woman in the parking lot of the Price Cutter grocery store on Battlefield Road near U.S. 65 about 9:15. Webb, 61, saw the theft, which happened as the woman was walking to her car. The thief ran by her, grabbed her purse and got into an SUV that had at least one other person inside.

Police say Webb got in his car and tried to box in the thief's vehicle in a motel parking lot on the south side of Battlefield on Moulder Avenue. A witness told police that Webb was in his vehicle and fired three shots at the SUV as it drove around his vehicle and got away.

Police say the chase went east on Battlefield out of the city, reached speeds up to 80mph, then doubled back and ended at a motel's lot on the north side of Battlefield on Moulder. Webb told police that he got out of his vehicle and ordered the people in the SUV to turn off the ignition and throw out their keys, which the driver of the SUV did. Then, Webb told police, he told them to throw out the purse, which they also did.

The driver of the SUV then started his vehicle and fled. Webb told an officer that he tried to shoot out the thief's tires.

"He shouldn't have done that," police quote Webb as saying. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't let this go."

Police confiscated Webb's 9mm semi-automatic handgun, for which he has a conceal and carry permit. They found evidence of three shots fired in the first motel parking lot and two shots fired in the second motel parking lot. They say they found no evidence that any of the five shots hit the purse snatcher's vehicle.

In an interview after his arrest, a detective said in the probable cause statement, Webb said he fired the first time "because he was in fear for his well being. Webb was unable to state what specific actions taken by the driver of the other vehicle had placed him in fear for his well being. Webb simply stated that he felt the driver of the other vehicle was attempting to his his vehicle with the vehicle he was driving."

Police have only a vague descriptioin: white, 18-20 years old, black hair, driving a gray 1980s SUV. Police say Webb said he didn't see the people in the purse snatcher's vehicle display a weapon.

Webb posted a $2,500 bond after his arrest. He could get up to a four-year prison sentence if he's convicted of unlawful use of a weapon.
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Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
You can't shoot at a fleeing criminal who presents no threat. Even the cops can't unless it's a felony crime, and they believe that the public might be in imminent harm. A purse snatching wouldn't allow even the cops to shoot. They'd have to run him down.
 
L

Lost Patriot

Inactive
Typical senseless wanna be jackboot. Hell the I am surprised the police there didn't use this as a prelude to hiring the man.

I am not defending the purse snatcher in this at all... But there is a time and a place to use lethal force, and this definitely was not the time, nor the place.
 
D

Dozdoats

Deceased
I harp constantly that people who decide to own/carry firearms for self defense get training. No, it isn't mandatory. No, I'm not some kind of training nazi. But carrying a gun, or owning a gun for self defense, means that you might be placed into one of the most stressful situations of your life. You can't afford for your brain to melt down in a puddle if that happens to you when you have a firearm in hand.

Training helps by teaching you what you should do, and even more by putting you under stress in an environment where you can afford to fail miserably. Charles Webb failed on the street. Look at what it's costing him. And consider how much worse it would be had one of his bullets killed an innocent person a block away.

Anyone who can learn to drive a car can learn everything they need to know to be able to effectively, legally and skillfully employ their firearm in self defense. It isn't difficult. It isn't expensive or time consuming.

dd
 
S

Seabear

Inactive
I won't defend bad behavior.

But the cops get to tazer, beat or kill people regularily who have no weapons and it's okay cause they did it.

These days they don't want you using deadly force as deterrent and really not to defend yourself unless you are half dead to begin with.

The days of being leery of being confronted by an armed citizen for trespassing, breaking and entry etc. are pretty much gone.

You joe citizen are expected to become a victim and if live through that then you might have recourse but if you stop or interrupt crime then you are lawless vigilante and are to be punished and made an example.:dstrs:
 
B

BoatGuy

Inactive
I can't deny that the guy thought he was doing the right thing, by going after the criminals, and that is to be applauded. But, one of the number one rules for pulling the trigger is that you have to know you're own limitations. In a video game, a missed shot only costs you ammo. In real life, a missed shot may do property damage or take another person's life. You gotta be as sure as you can possibly be.
 
Mark Armstrong

Mark Armstrong

Veteran Member
The reason I posted this story was because it is a local story that most would otherwise not see, and I thought it might be of interest.

Most of the reports I have seen have referred to Webb as a Good Samaritan (although there was one that called him a vigilante).

I used the term "amateur crime fighter" in the title of the thread because he did pursue the criminals at speeds over 80 mph on city streets where the limit is 40 mph, I believe. He shot at the criminals in two different locations, at the beginning of the high speed chase and at the end of it. There is no evidence of the criminals having a weapon or trying to use their vehicle as a weapon.
 
William

William

Veteran Member
Dennis Olson said:
You can't shoot at a fleeing criminal who presents no threat. Even the cops can't unless it's a felony crime, and they believe that the public might be in imminent harm. A purse snatching wouldn't allow even the cops to shoot. They'd have to run him down.
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Yes, the anti-gun crowd will just love this one, one dumb shit sure can screw everything thing for everyone else.
 
Hfcomms

Hfcomms

EN66iq
Agreed with the majority of the comments above. I have carried for years and I will only use the weapon if my life or someone else's is in a direct and immediate threat. If I was at a purse snatching I would probably draw down on the guy and hold him until the police arrived but I wouldn't discharge the weapon or chase him if he ran.
 
Mark Armstrong

Mark Armstrong

Veteran Member
UPDATE: Webb was arraigned today for unlawful use of a weapon.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/...cused+of+shooting+at+purse+snatcher+arraigned

Man accused of shooting at purse snatcher arraigned

BY DIRK VANDERHART • DVANDERHART@NEWS-LEADER.COM • SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

The case of a Springfield man who allegedly fired several shots at a fleeing purse thief’s vehicle has generated no shortage of discussion, but Charles R. Webb isn’t saying anything.

Following his arraignment this morning on a charge of unlawful use of a weapon, Webb told a reporter to “beat it” when asked for comment.

He’s next scheduled to appear in court for an October 16 preliminary hearing.

Prosecutors say Webb crossed the line between concerned citizen and vigilante on Sept. 11, after he witnessed a man snatch an elderly woman’s purse outside of an East Battlefield Road Price Cutter store.

The 61-year-old allegedly followed the purse thief’s sport utility vehicle out of the supermarket parking lot. When he cornered the SUV outside a nearby motel, Webb is accused of firing three shots at the vehicle with his 9mm handgun, an apparent attempt to disable its tires.

But the SUV remained mobile, and police say Webb engaged the purse thief in a high-speed chase that led outside city limits, but ended back near the Price Cutter.

After apparently firing two more shots at the vehicle, police say Webb forced the thief to toss the purse out the SUV window. The thief then fled, and has not been apprehended.

New details on the altercation emerged Thursday, when police confirmed that Webb had called 911 at some point.

Springfield police Lt. David Millsap declined to offer any details about the call, citing an ongoing investigation.

But police radio traffic from the time of the chase suggests Webb’s call came late in the altercation, perhaps after the thief had tossed the purse and sped off.

The first mention of a 911 call on the incident came at roughly 9:06 p.m., after a Comfort Inn employee reported there had been gunfire in the motel’s parking lot.

Dispatchers’ first apparent mention of Webb’s call came at 9:10. By that point, radio traffic indicates the chase was over.

“The caller that was following suspects is at the Steak ‘n Shake parking lot at Battlefield and Moulder,” a dispatcher told officers. “Advises the subjects threw the purse and the keys out the window, and then pulled off.”

Webb’s brother, J.R. Webb, is assistant director of 911 Emergency Communications.

Arraignments like the one Webb faced this morning are typically brief and uneventful, with defendants generally pleading not guilty, then being sent away with a new court date.

But there were indications the prosecutor handling the matter had more in store for the hearing.

Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Todd Myers specifically asked his co-workers to inform him when Associate Circuit Judge Dan Imhof called the case, apparently to take up some issue. But Myers was busy in another courtroom when the judge pulled Webb’s file, and couldn’t make the hearing.

Myers declined to say afterward what he’d planned to take up at the arraignment.

Since Webb was charged, supporters have begun a “Charles Webb Legal Defense Fund” through Bank of America.

The man was represented Friday by local attorney Shane Cantin.
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