Posted on 03/20/2004 12:20:50 PM PST by JackelopeBreeder
Douglas-area shooter takes on smugglers, nearly pays with life
DOUGLAS - Richard Kozak had enough.
After two years of drug smugglers running their loads across his 40-acre property, tearing down fences and at times taking wild shots at him, Kozak on Wednesday fired back with more than his usual warning shots.
Authorities say the suspected smugglers reacted with a full attack on Kozak's cabin, in a sparsely populated area some four miles east of Douglas.
The smugglers' attack resulted in his home being struck with more than 30 shots from an AK-47 and a handgun.
His 24-foot trailer was set ablaze and Kozak said he's now wondering just how far he's willing to take this personal drug war.
Some Douglas residents - and soon-to-be illegal entrants in Agua Prieta - say they worry Wednesday's incident is indicative of the biggest fear of vigilantism are coming true - shootouts between Americans and illegal border crossers.
Others in the community say Kozak did nothing but defend his property, faulting instead an uncontrolled border.
Kozak, a 58-year-old Oregon native who moved to his 40-acre "slice of the American pie" two years ago from Huachuca City, says he will defend his home.
"What am I supposed to do? Wrap a fence around my cabin and hide in there?" he asked.
Kozak said he does not blame the illegal entrants who frequently walk through the gullies around his cabin, leaving him alone on their journey north.
His concern is the trucks racing across his land, their loads covered in tarps and the tail lights disconnected to avoid the attention of federal agents.
First he put up gates to try to stop the smugglers. After three $200 gates and spending hundreds more for fences and posts, Kozak gave up because they were simply knocked over by the trespassers.
Kozak moved on to other barricades, made of wood and barbed wire with danger signs.
That's when the shots started. The shooting then was random, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents told him they were happening because he was trying to stop drug loads.
Kozak responded with his own warning shots.
But Wednesday, when a maroon truck drove across his property, something in Kozak snapped.
He opened fire on the truck with his rifle, placing three rounds in the hood.
The truck raced away.
Meanwhile, Kozak parked his own truck sideways on the road to block their return path and went inside to fix himself a pot of coffee.
That's when the shooting started.
The first bullet hit the wall, destroyed the kettle on the stove. The next bullet went into the water heater, followed by three more shots that ripped into the house. One bullet hit a photo album, passing through 20 pictures before stopping.
Kozak took cover, grabbed his rifle and went out the front door. The shooters were gone.
His travel trailer, set up sideways on the smuggler's route, was on fire. It's now a melted ruin of ash.
"That's the first time they ever unloaded that many rounds," he says. "They gave me a message and said, 'Don't shoot at us any more.'"
Officials agree.
"We kind of suspect that their reaction is to his firing on them," said Rod Rothrock, a commander with the Cochise County Sheriff's Department. "You could always expect violence to instigate violence."
He said his deputies have increased their patrols nearby. "We will do the best we can, but we're obviously not in a position to post a guard there," he said.
Ranch Rescue, the private militia that offers patrol services to ranchers along the border, wants to help to Kozak, said militia leader Jack Foote.
"This is the point that we reached, they're going to continue to attack American citizens and burn our homes down," he said.
Kozak has said he doesn't want it.
Douglas Mayor Ray Borane groaned when he heard of the shooting and that militia groups were eager to help.
"Ranch Rescue's been wanting this to happen and unfortunately, I don't believe they know the depth or magnitude of what could happen to them or the relations between both countries," he said.
"This is the beginning of what could become a series of confrontations," he said.
Jose Perez, a 36-year-old Mexican waiting to cross illegally from Agua Prieta Friday night, said the rumors that illegal entrants are targets reach all the way to Mexico City. "I hope nobody shoots at me," he said.
Dave Stoddard, a retired Border Patrol agent living in Douglas, looked at the shooting as an inevitable clash.
While he said Kozak shouldn't have fired first, smugglers shouldn't be running loads through his property, Stoddard said.
The Border Patrol's job was made more difficult by Kozak's forbidding them to enter his land, said Tucson Sector spokesman Andy Adame.
Kozak says he threatened the agency with an injunction because, like the smugglers, the agents kept cutting down his fences.
In the meantime, Kozak has loaded his important papers and bundles of clothes into his truck - just in case the smugglers torch his home next.
He said agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement have stopped by twice a day to check on him, but he knows they can't keep coming out.
Kozak said he plans to stick it out.
"Where should I go? A trailer court in Tucson?" he asked.
"I don't want to hurt anyone. But if someone shoots at me, I will defend myself."
Empty the first mag right through the glass.
L
Hey it ain't the wide open west.
The man can fence his property and the federals have to deal with it.
They can't whine about a citizen exercising his property rights.
Are you scared enough that you'll stop breaking the law?
Jose Perez, a 36-year-old Mexican waiting to cross illegally from Agua Prieta Friday night, said the rumors that illegal entrants are targets reach all the way to Mexico City. "I hope nobody shoots at me," he said.
Stay on your own side of the border, Jose, and you'll have nothing to worry about.
He is getting ready to break OUR immigration laws and I'm supposed to have sympathy for him? Not.
sw
Really? I heard it was in this order: radiator, tires, engine and then glass.
mexicans started the shootings eh? Been shooting for two years. Ok.
He opened fire on the truck with his rifle, placing three rounds in the hood.
Should have been 3 rounds through the windshield. Truck hoods do not shoot back. Drug smugglers behind windshields are another story.
After three $200 gates and spending hundreds more for fences and posts, Kozak gave up because they were simply knocked over by the trespassers.
$600 plus "hundreds more" and he could have had a nice M-14. .308 punch and plenty of range....
Kozak moved on to other barricades, made of wood and barbed wire with danger signs.
A backhoe to trench or a tracked blade to push a mound over the road... much better.
"They gave me a message and said, 'Don't shoot at us any more.'"
Well I read that as "Don't shoot any less" either. And "my message" would have been more "on target" as well. But that is just `lil `ol me.
A commander with the Cochise County Sheriff's Department. "You could always expect violence to instigate violence."
Yep, mexicans starting shooting first by two years if the begining of the artical is accurate. I am totally in awe of Mr. Kozak's huge amount of patence in not zotting the border bunnies on night one.
"Ranch Rescue's been wanting this to happen and unfortunately, I don't believe they know the depth or magnitude of what could happen to them or the relations between both countries," he said.
Ok Mr. county commander, the folks at RR have not been "waiting for this to happen," they have been WARNING everyone that this would happen and know EXACTLY what is at stake here.
Dave Stoddard, a retired Border Patrol agent living in Douglas, looked at the shooting as an inevitable clash.
While he said Kozak shouldn't have fired first, smugglers shouldn't be running loads through his property, Stoddard said.
OK. I am not going to pretend there is not media bias in most of these stories but that is the third time it has been claimed that Kozak fired first and acording to the first paragraph of this little bit of apparent propaganda that is totally false.
Why is it always the LEO's that spread such falsehoods, yet refuse to engage the armed criminals that are already shooting at American land owners?
oh... already shooting... right, never mind.
T L I
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