The way it should have played out.
Posted on 11/24/2009 9:29:36 AM PST by DCBryan1
Police beat
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Two gunmen rob Razorback Pizza
Two men armed with handguns robbed Razorback Pizza in southwest Little Rock late Sunday, forcing people to the floor before taking money from the register, safe, employees and customers and firing shots randomly as they ran away. No one was injured.
The men walked into the restaurant at 10900 Stagecoach Road not long after 9:30 p.m. showing their weapons, police said. They ordered customers and employees to put their personal belongings — wallets, cell phones and other items — into bags.
The gunmen then forced the customers from the bar into the dining room, telling them and the employees to lie on the floor. The gunmen took money from the register and the safe, police said.
One of the men fired several shots inside the restaurant and outside in the parking lot as they fled, police said. Police had made no arrests as of Monday night.
Among the restaurant’s customers was Seth Thomas, an off-duty Little Rock police officer. Assigned to the southwest patrol division, Thomas is a four-year veteran of the force.
Department spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings said it would have been unsafe for Thomas to confront the robbers. Thomas’ job in that situation was to keep everyone safe, including himself, and provide officers with a detailed suspect description.
“He’s going to be a great witness for us when we get these people into a courtroom,” Hastings said.
Police described one of the gunmen as black, in his mid-20s, 6 feet tall and weighing about 180 pounds, wearing jeans and a dark top with a white shirt covering his face. The second robber was black, 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighed about 180 pounds and wore dark clothes, police said.
LRPD policy is to be armed off duty for situations like this.
I'm going to have to change my tagline to: "When your life is on the line, and seconds count,the police are minutes away won't do shit".
“LRPD policy is to be armed off duty for situations like this. “
I bet the cop would have acted if he had to. Otherwise, playing John Wayne could have gotten someone killed.
“Thomas’ job in that situation was to ...”
...double tap both of those scumbags, preferably in the head.
“I bet the cop would have acted if he had to. Otherwise, playing John Wayne could have gotten someone killed.”
We’re so afraid to die that we will let criminals do whatever they like.
Great policy.
I suppose he's the witness who provided the sort of "average height, average weight, dark clothing" description? Good job!!
I’d rather not risk life for the evenings take at a pizza parlor.
I bet the robbers get caught anyway.
“He’s going to be a great witness for us when we get these people into a courtroom,” Hastings said, “he accurately described half the population in record time.”
You weren't there, neither was I.
It's easy to TALK about going John Wayne from a keyboard. It's very different in reality.
Goes to show you what the police view their duty as.
It’s more about processing the crime scene than preventing or stopping crime.
“I’d rather not risk life for the evenings take at a pizza parlor.”
Are you a depraved, murdering, raping gang-banger? If not, what does your thought process have to do with what such a dirtball would do?
That aside, we are all a lot safer if criminals know that they risk death whenever they set out to commit a crime. The higher that risk, the less crime.
“I bet the robbers get caught anyway.
Based on what?
Nobody got hurt right? The way I look at it is, if my wife and kids were in that pizza parlor, I’d be glad the cop let the perps get out the door without firing a shot.
Sounds great. I suppose off-duty LR cops are unarmed. Great witness just as soon as they pin down Mr. "black, in his mid-20s, 6 feet tall" and Mr. "black, 5 feet 9 inches tall,"
They will probably get convicted for stupidly using a credit card, NOT for the "great witness" testimony from Officer C. Feathers.
You're being sarcastic, right?
Because the article states: "... men fired several shots inside the restaurant..."
So, that's where passivity gets him - people were shot at anyway.
The way it should have played out.
“You’re being sarcastic, right?”
No I’m not being sarcastic. Given a shop full of people, I think the cop analyzed the threat and showed proper restraint.
I think the article said the shots were fired outside.
“It’s easy to TALK ...”
That is *so* tiresome. You have no idea who I am or what I’ve seen.
And what I see regularly, from the Columbine atrocity to the pass that meth labs get in my town, is arrant cowardice. They could bust those meth labs if they weren’t afraid, just like the Chicago cops were afraid of Capone.
I think you are right and you have to pick your battles. Dying to save pizza money isn’t one of mine.
Now if they started to - or looked like they were going to - start executing people in addition to robbing the store, I think that’s a totally different thing. I am sure the cop was looking to see if he even had a chance to stop them but it probably happened relatively fast and neither of their guards were down. Last thing you want is them taking hostages and using people as shields.
But unless we are paid law-enforcement officers, we may not be trained for that.
Those people in the restaurant who were shot at are paying (tax money) for that guy to be prepared for that situation - they paid for his training and his time at the pistol range.
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