Posted on 04/29/2006 3:37:39 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The owner of an Andrews-area convenience store, accused of taking the law into his own hands after he witnessed an alleged gas drive off Wednesday, is charged with two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill. Dennis Cooper, 52, the owner of Cooper’s Six Mile Crossing Convenience Store allegedly chased and then fired shots at a vehicle after the driver reportedly drove off without paying for $28 worth of gas.
According to an incident report, the ordeal began about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday when 18-year-old Joshua Jennings, of Gray Court, S.C., and 18-year-old Jacob Skelly, of Fountain Inn stopped and pumped gas into the truck they were driving.
Cooper, who was inside the store, saw them start to drive away before they walked inside to pay, so he allegedly jumped in his SUV and gave chase.
The suspects drove down Highway 521 and onto Kent Road headed toward Highway 17A. When they got close to that intersection, Jennings and Skelly saw Cooper coming up behind them.
“This is when Cooper began firing shots at them as they turned left on US 17A and then right on Highway 521 trying to avoid the gunshots,” Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Neil Johnson said. “Cooper continued to chase and fire shots striking the vehicle in the back glass.”
When Skelly, the passenger, began screaming he had been shot, Jennings pulled over.
Deputy Kevin Holt was the first officer on the scene. When he arrived he saw Cooper holding the two men on the ground at gunpoint. Skelly, who was bleeding from his head, “was begging to get treatment from EMS,” Holt reported. When the medical team arrived, it was determined Skelly had not been hit by a bullet but by glass from the broken truck window. He was transported to the hospital for treatment. Jennings was uninjured. There was one bullet hole in Jennings’ truck, according to Johnson.
Jennings said when he stopped his truck, he tried to check on Skelly but Cooper “slapped him in the head, so he got down on the ground,” Holt’s report states. All three men were arrested. Jennings and Skelly were charged with for failure to pay for gasoline. Cooper’s .45 automatic was placed into evidence. He was released from jail Thursday under a $40,000 bond.
$28 worth of gas.
Cooper messed up big time. He should have NEVER left his own property for any armed apprehension attempt on the state's right-of-way.
Sounds like a fellow has had enough of the thieves and con artists ripping him and his store off. Don't know about chasing them, but I will wager a bet the sherffs' department had not done anything before to help him out, and he snapped. Even though it was only $28.00 worth of gas, I'll bet those guys now wish they had paid for it.
Bet Cooper wishes he'd stayed put. Firing those bullets is going to be a most expensive expenditure.
What a dummy. Cooper, that is.
I'll tell you what I will bet on. I will bet both these kids have previous criminal records for misdemeanors they have carried on for years.
The guy was stupid for chasing them with a gun , all he needed was their tag number, but I wouldnt bet on the innocence of these two sneak thieves.
Thanks for posting. I'm sorry the station owner was arrested...if more station owners did this, people wouldn't try to steal so often. It's a very common crime.
The kids were fortunate they weren't hit by the .45 round. Probably would have died from loss of fluids before they reached the hospital.
Considering most people now have $60-$125 worth of fuel in the vehicles when unattended, I suspect there is going to be a increase in theft of fuel from parked cars/trucks in the next year.
IMHO, I wish the state would back up the shop owner. Had he not pursued them, there probably would have been no recourse for the owner. With increasing fuel prices, I suspect misdemeanor fuel thefts will skyrocket.
He should of done like our local gas fellow did two years ago. He should of ran out unarmed and grabbed of the offenders car and held on while screaming for them to stop and pay !!!
Oh yeah, that poor gas station fellow got ran over and died.
Nevermind... I am rooting for the gas station owner in this case. I have seen too many honest gas owners killed just trying to be honest shopkeepers. Eat two or three of these driveoffs a week, on a tight shoestring budget, and you will see 28 dollars adds up. Remember to some people, 28 dollars is not a tip, it is often the different between food on the table for the end of the week.
I do understand we are not to take the law into our own hands, just saying I don't know if I would find this person guilty in some circimstances if I was a jury person.
In terms of who is going to be sorriest, I would say it will be the guy facing two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill.
Anybody ever hear of PREPAY ONLY?!
That stops most drive-offs.
Simple.
Stupid all around.
Every place around here is "Pay then Pump" or use a credit card.
Expensive? Won't that be the least of his worries? What is the typical jail time for assault and battery with intent to kill? Plus if convicted he will lose the right to own any firearm for a long time, will he not? And anyone who owns a .45 has got to be a real gun nut (in the good sense!).
Intent to Kill? If his intent was to kill, don't you think he would of shot them in the back of the head while they were laying on the ground if his intent was to kill. His intent was to apprehend, not kill. Again I would find not guilty just as the jury did with the Rodney King verdict (the first go around before the riots). Intent to kill would be very hard to prove in my opinion.
While it doesn't really matter what I think, I'll tell you anyway. Proving that firing a .45 at someone is anything other than an intent to kill will not be easy. The fact that he didn't shoot them when they were on the ground does not speak to his intention when he fired at the car.
Unfortunately it is coming to that, but to be honest I usually skip those places and perfer the normal pay places. Still about 80% of places are not prepay around here. Economically if you have 20% of the people like me that will pick and choose to go only to non-prepay places, then small business gas stations will often opt to the most economic feasible alternative.
Perhaps one day walmarts will have products behind glass view displays. Prepay only to stop shoplifting. Effective, but is it economicalable feasible in a real world environment. Perhaps stealing should not be judged on dollar amounts, if the perves had robbed a bank, people would be cheering this fellow IMHO. Just my two cents.
I respectfully disagree, I think it speaks volumes of his intentions, before, during and after.
What I think he intended is not the issue. Same goes for what you think.
This is a forum last time I checked. This is the place for discussion. I agree that final decission will be made in a court room, but if I was this fellow, I would run with what they charged me knowing that it probable can not be proved in a court of law. They will be begging to plea this charge down probable, knowing that they can not prove it and not wanting to let him get away scot free because they over charged.
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