Posted on 06/27/2005 10:19:12 AM PDT by Nachum
LAKELAND, Fla. - A sheriff's deputy trying to stop an erratic driver fired at the car when it lurched toward him, not realizing a 12-year-old girl was behind the wheel, officials said. Neither she nor her 6-year-old brother were hit.
Deputy Chris Hillsgrove and a colleague pursued the car Sunday, eventually blocking it between their two patrol cars. When the deputies exited their vehicles, the car lurched forward and backward into the two cars, then drove toward Hillsgrove, Polk County Sheriff's spokeswoman Michal Shanley said.
"He, fearing for his life, fired several shots at the oncoming vehicle and managed to jump out of the way as the vehicle sped by him," Shanley said. The car then crashed into a nearby parked car.
The officers couldn't see the driver because the car's window's were tinted, she said.
The deputies discovered the driver was a 12-year-old girl when they broke a passenger-side window to get in, Shanley said. Her 6-year-old brother was also inside.
The girl suffered cuts and bruises, but neither child had been shot, Shanley said. The shots had passed over her head.
The girl was charged with attempted murder, auto theft, driving without a license and other counts. Hillsgrove was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
The girl had asked for and received the keys to the car, which belonged to a family friend, Shanley said.
My favorite line from a western was I think Joe Kidd,...when he was aiming for the desparado escaping in the distance, pulled out the rifle for a long shot,...seconds later the rider falls off the horse,....bystander remarks, 'That was a helluva shot!',...The shooter drowls,,...'not really, I was aiming for the horse...'
It's a wonder the sheriff's deputy didn't have a heart attack when he learned who was behind the wheel.
Why not? It wasn't her car, she obviously wouldn't have a driver's license or insurance. The owner could not have legally given her permission to drive their car. also, almost running someone down sounds like attempted murder to me.
Why not? Because she is 12? If so, then it is the owner who should somehow be arrested for stealing the car. If the girl didn't steal the car, then she shouldn't be charged with stealing it.
also, almost running someone down sounds like attempted murder to me.
She's 12. I doubt she has/had any ability to understand that what she was doing was life threatening. Therfore, it would be manslaughter at worst.
It's always been my understanding that if you are driving another person's car without their permission that's stealing. Isn't it?
Yeah, but I thought the girl had the permission? I think we are just reading the story differently.
At the ripe, old age of 12, almost running someone down sounds like total lack of skill behind the wheel and probable absence of malice. If she really had the skill required to run the cop down and the malicious intent to do it, she'd have been able to keep him lined up with the hood ornament in spite of all his dancing around and he wouldn't have had a prayer.
Wow, I can't count how many times over the years I have had to dodge cars flying through parking lots. I guess they all could have been changed with attempted murder. And, yes, there were times I feared for my life as well!
You don't? Why not? Saves a bundle of money in the long run.
Cuts down on global warming, too. Fewer perps = fewer emissions.
Worked while I was growing up; then the 60s came along, and everybody got touchy-feeling, namby-pamby, thanks to all the bitching over killing S.E. Asian commie murderers, and just look at us now....
Because you have to be at a certain angle to have a chance of hitting the tires; the target is very difficult to hit; meaning that bullets will go flying around in a varying background (which may include people); if you do hit the tires and they are certain types of steel radials, they may simply bounce; and if you do manage to overcome all of that and puncture the tire, it may not stop the car.
Shooting at tires is really bad judgment.
Why is it cops are shooting their guns, but not hitting anything, except each other? Meanwhile, an ordinary citizen fires 6 shots at a car theif, while running after him, and hits him in the head.
Now I know why the libs want to take away our guns. We'll actually hit what we're shooting at.
"killing the car"
Remember the movie Fritz the Cat and his triumphant "I killed a john" after he shot a toilet bowl. Both are movie scenes.
Mainly, though to get some range time.
I imagine the fit will be hitting the shan over this, but who in their right mind would be handing a 12 year old the keys?
Take your foot off of the gas, put the vehicle in a lower gear, shut off the engine, and duck.
When my kids were young teens, they would frequently ask for & receive the keys to my car. The purpose was always to retrieve some item from the locked car, or to put some treasured posession away so it would not be left behind. Adult supervision was not necesary for this errand.
We would frequently go on day trips and multi-family outings. Cars were used as mobile storage lockers as well as for basic transportation.
Never once did a child attempt to drive a car.
That was my first thought as well.
The article relates that after the officers pinned the car with their police cars, and got out to make the arrest (or investigation...), the car lurched forward and BACKWARD, breaking loose from the pin and heading for the officer.
The ramming and backing to ram again or break free is a fully intentional act, as well as being a highly dangerous one. The officer found himself in the path of an escaping vehicle being driven by a desperate driver with no regard for lives or property, just escape from the police.
Given that the officer couldn't see who was driving, there were no constraints on his duty to protect his own life by shooting. Even if he had seen that the driver was a small person, he certainly couldn't have determined how old the driver was in that split life-or-death second.
Young offenders are often highly dangerous to law enforcement, because they do not have the common sense or experience to know how to rationally react to a stressful situation. Kids with real guns often shoot first, just like on TV, or like this girl, turn a car into a deadly weapon when the cops come to arrest, cite, etc.
No policeman can predict how anyone will act in those circumstances, which is why they treat everyone with suspicion. Kids are the worst.
It's clear the officer did the right thing then.
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