Posted on 10/29/2013 9:39:21 AM PDT by Eagle Bomba
"No officers were injured during the shooting," Samples said, but "we did have one officer receive a minor injury, not related to the gunfire."
Though police were guarded with details surrounding the case, eyewitnesses claim the shootout was prompted by a code enforcement operation involving an old, rusted and inoperable van owned by Pryor.
Witnesses say a Statesboro Code Compliance officer reported to Pryor's home to seize the van, which has sat idle in the yard for several years.
"He has had the van forever. They have been asking for years for him to move it. He signed some papers, went back into the house, and then all of a sudden everything happened," Roberts said. "The van had a lot of sentimental value for him. He wanted to get it fixed." A tow truck, with the van loaded, was still on the scene hours after the shooting.
The city's Code Compliance department, under the umbrella of Planning and Development, is responsible for "ensuring that the city's physical environment is maintained through the enforcement of codes related to building and property maintenance, sanitation, zoning, etc.," according to the city of Statesboro website. "Code compliance staff is responsible for investigating complaints which may often be categorized as ‘nuisances' including: vacant and dilapidated buildings, overgrown vegetation, front yard parking, abandoned vehicles, litter, etc. The activities of code compliance staff are intended to improve the community's standard of living and enhance property values throughout the city."
Samples said he could neither confirm nor deny the witness accounts, or release the names and job statuses of officers involved in the shooting.
(Excerpt) Read more at statesboroherald.com ...
“They were going to take his junky-ass van he’d been ignoring foreever.”
That’s why he started shooting. An unjustified taking of his property. I didn’t see anything in the ‘code’ referring to ‘rusty, junky-ass vans’. Under the ‘improve property values’ code what’s to stop them from bulldozing homes? Nothing.
IMO, not a spit’s worth of difference between the 2...”enforcement” is enforcement.
Degrees of escalation and all that comes with it.
And if the code “enforcers” weren’t so busy trampling on a
person’s private property rights over something as benign as an inoperable vehicle, we might not have a dead subject.
But I guess that’s ok since they were only “enforcing” the law. A law that pushed a man, who by all accounts, was quite mild mannered and pleasant, minding his own business over the edge.
I’m sorry, that’s not something I could live with...and the price just isn’t worth it.
Actually I was a Tuba player in ‘Southern Pride’. Long story.
“We’re”???
You’re the one who is positing all of the “what ifs” and you’re getting responses to those.
I don’t think anyone here has said shooting is a legitimate response to getting a vehicle towed away...I know I certainly haven’t.
There is a great street view of the van in question...and probably the dead guy on the porch.
Why in the world does the town care about this? That whole street is a dump.
Check out the link to the property.
The question becomes was shooting at police a reasonable response to having personal property towed away after years of neglect/complaints?
Obviously I would say no, but some people here see a much larger issue. And I respect that. If you're willing to die for this type of property dispute, then I respect that decision. And I say that with no sarcasm tag.
It’s mostly hidden behind a fence and a bush.
Just... Damn.
“My home values didn’t crash nearly as much as places where HOA Nazi’s and code enforcement Stasi run rampant.”
In FL many of the HOAs grossly impact the value of properties. Lol, there are many former upscale, gated communities that are at the core of the foreclosure blight. I get a perverse chuckle seeing all the foreclosures listed in these formerly 400K 1/2 acre, caged ‘estate’ HOAs.
Non-HOA properties command a significant premium in central FL. I got a deal on mine. 3.5 acres and a defunct HOA but one had to dig into the details to see the HOA was DOA. I easily paid 35% less than comparable non-HOA properties.
I agree that shooting at the police over an inoperable van being towed was quite extreme, with the ultimate consequence...however, this incident began because of code “enforcement” and his neighbors. Not the now dead subject.
At what point do neighbors get to decide what happens on your property and then have the ability to bring the full weight and measure of the government down upon you? Does an inoperable van meet that threshold?
Yes, that is a good thing!
Looking at the link provided above, there aren’t any neighbors that even have direct line of sight from him.
This seems like something malicious carried out with the thinnest of veils towards “community standards”.
Thanks Malusa!
That picture eliminates much conjecture about the scene of the “crime”
Wow... Skimming down the road looking at some of his neighbors properties, his house was the “nice” one on the block...
The van is practically invisible, covered by vegetation...what a mess over something as trivial as this.
Seriously? He was willing to kill people and/or die over an abandoned van but it was too much trouble to fix it?
I think this prophesy fulfilled itself.
A read through "Unintended Consequences" wouldn't have hurt either.
With what we know so far, agreed.
If it were a neighbor that precipitated this, which stands to reason. I hope they don’t get a night’s sleep for the rest of their miserable lives.
According to the street view, his closest neighbor is a railroad company with apparently an unused line (accross the street from him). Unless the other neighbors had a vendetta against him for some reason, they all appear to have had nothing to complain about, given the conditions of their properties.
Ounce again it’s proven who really owns the property you’ve paid for.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.