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.
Well, the thing is, I did read it. And the sentence you were referring to as “perhaps being about the cop” was this...
“I’d rather not risk life for the evenings take at a pizza parlor.
I bet the robbers get caught anyway.”
And he quite clearly says I. I like how instead of admitting your error, you just pretend it was too clever and we didn’t understand it. A brilliant dodge.
You know what the real question is? Who the hell was making the bet? I mean, he says “I bet,” but you and I(who?) both know that word is meaningless.
“Recently in NYC, there have been several incidents of deadly DUI accidents involving off duty cops. Can you imagine the repercussions of shooting while intoxicated?”
All I’m saying is that cops aren’t immune from the legal repercussions of what the do while on duty.
Don’t even try to sit there with your OWN straw man about me (your oh crap diatribe) and try to make that my thought process. Nice try. That’s all your imagination, pal.
You said you wished he went “Dirt Harry” on them. You can’t be clearer than that. You have no idea if he was armed or not. You’re armchair quarterbacking YOUR wishes onto this guy and this situation as much as anyone else on this thread.
My main point in this whole thing is that I don’t consider this story, from how it has been written, evidence of police cowardice - as some have said it is. You however are clearly unhappy about the cops’ performance here, and wish he went “Dirty Harry” on the scumballs. Whether or not knowing if he had a firearm on him or not. Whether he was in a position to do so or not. Not knowing the layout of the store, or where other people were, or any of the other details we don’t know about because they aren’t in the story.
If you don’t think he’s a coward, as you claimed, then you agree with my main point.
Right, and since you know only the facts, the factual gunfire into the ceiling which factually happened because you saw it with your factual eyes didn’t go into the second floor of the building because you know for a fact it is a one story building.
It’s really silly to keep randomly creating scenarios.
Fact: For all you know, there is a Ballet school above the pizza parlor.
Fact: Randomly firing projectiles into uncontrolled space hurts no one because the projectile has enough energy to escape Earth’s gravity, no matter its initial trajectory.
Fact: If you walk out into the street, and begin random firing into the air, no cop will bother you nor should they. You’re hurting no one, no one owns the air.
No. I missed that the perps fired shots inside the restaurant.
No one got killed. Good enough for me.
Our business is concluded.
The drinking issue is a good one as we don’t know if he had been or if he had, how much did he have.
I know as a rule, in my concealed carry course the instructor does not drink while carrying, ever. He recommends to people not to drink when you are carrying. No matter if you’ve carried for 20 years, are very proficient, etc. For us it’s a liability thing, an insurance thing, a legal thing. Prosecuting attorneys will use that to establish DOUBT you had to do what you did, how many shots you HAD to fire, etc. Would you have acted differently if you weren’t drinking? Best not to go down that road in the first place and remain sober.
Being off-duty he’s legally not covered as a police officer (unless their department’s an exception) if he accidentally kills an innocent person while shooting at criminals. He’d be personally liable and if he had been drinking and this happened, he’d be toast.
“I’d rather not risk life for the evenings take at a pizza parlor.”
Leaving aside what the cop did or didn’t do, robbery, theft, etc. are seldom just about the “take” and the individual victims. Such “takings” are crimes against civilized society as a whole.
“[b]You said you wished he went “Dirt Harry” on them. You can’t be clearer than that.[/b] You have no idea if he was armed or not. You’re armchair quarterbacking YOUR wishes onto this guy and this situation as much as anyone else on this thread.”
Do you have a reading problem? Here are my exact words.
“What I have a problem with isn’t that he didn’t leap into Dirty Harry style action.”
Said here...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2393569/posts?page=45#45
So quite clearly you are wrong about me saying that “I wished that he went Dirty Harry on them.” In fact, I said the opposite, that I didn’t think he should have tried to do that. I have a suspicion that if you read a little closer, you’d have less to argue about.
“Don’t even try to sit there with your OWN straw man about me (your oh crap diatribe) and try to make that my thought process. Nice try. That’s all your imagination, pal.”
My OWN strawman? So then, a tacit admittance of the existence of yours? Thanks.
I was quite clearly responding to the method you advocated. Anyone reading it will see it is true. I think you’ve already proven how closely you read things, now haven’t you?
I’ve never said he was a coward. I’ve never implied he was a coward. What I do KNOW, unlike all the things you just think, is that he HEARD SHOTS BEING FIRED AND DID NOT PURSUE. Is that or is that not true? The store layout, how many babies the robbers were hiding behind...none of that matters a whit. What does matter is that he heard gunfire and didn’t pursue, leaving armed robbers who had shown a willful disregard for the lives of anyone within range of their weapons to roam free with no action by him.
Don’t put words in my mouth. You’re the first one to even bring up the word coward on this thread. You’re trying to stick it in someone’s mouth but I’m having none of it. You brought it up, you own it, no matter how many scenarios you can imagine that make you correct.
I’m in the business of giving you the business. Too bad you closed shop without ever answering a single question.
Business is good.
Oops, used the wrong brackets. Oh well, you’ll just have to bold it in your imagination.
Amish robbers, again?
Should have stopped after the word quarterback. Two guys with guns and lots of civilians in a confined space, and you think the cop should have played Dirty Harry. Not a smart move, IMHO. This was real life, not a damn movie.
40 years ago, a neighbor of mine died in a stupid hold up of a corner grocery store when the owner came out firing away at a couple of punks sticking the place up. She left a husband and three young daughters. Her life was worth a lot more than the $30 bucks in that cash register.
Ok, so when he said...
“I’d rather not risk life for the evening take at the pizza parlor” h
He was referring to the cop, despite using the word “I.”
When he said...
“I bet they get caught anyway.”
Who was placing the bet? Was it him or the cop? Do YOU see it yet?
None of that matters a damn bit anyway, because the ROBBERS WERE SHOOTING. Do you or do you not understand that?
You sound like a guy at Pearl Harbor who doesn’t want to shoot at the Jap planes because they might bomb something...while the Arizona burns in the harbor. Seriously, what you’re saying is just retarded. What part of armed robbers firing shots in and into the restaurant don’t you get?
Just admit you’re wrong, you’re just digging a deeper hole.
No, he stated his though, not what he thought the cop may have though. “I’d rather not risk life for the evening take at a pizza parlor”. That is his comment and his personal take on what to do in a robbery. He would rather just do what the robber wants.
Two different sentances. Two different thoughts. I know that must be difficult for you. As far as Pearl Harbor, digging deeper, etc. No one got injured. Given that, and without being there, I wouldn’t question what the cop did. I know you, John Wayne and Harry Callahan would have handled it differently but I don’t know how many innocent people would have been shot or killed as a result.
Ummm, no, they aren't, even if they are on duty. So sayeth the Supreme Court.
HOWEVER, you weren't there, you don't know the lay of the restaurant, or the circumstances other than what you've read.
Pretty simple.
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