But to answer your question: Easy. There ain't no "stuff" on earth that's worth getting into a situation like these guys did that has the potential to blow up in one's face the way this one did.
It doesn't matter if he's got a big screen TV on his shoulder and a pillowcase full of jewelry, gold, and cash in the other hand.
If I know who he is, as these guys did, if I have incriminating video, as these guys claim to have, if I have neighbors who are willing to provide sworn testimony, I've got everything I need to go down to the police station that afternoon so they can get a warrant and go pick him up at mama's house. Next thing, I would call the insurance company, if he had actually stolen from me.
That is, unless I have an insatiable grudge against him and just totally hate his guts for stealing a revolver out of my truck. In that case I might be just itching for an excuse to go deal with him personally. /s
Claiming he lost his life because of a $25 clawhammer is misdirection. He lost his life because he violently attacked a man holding a shotgun. He might have been annoyed and questioned over a $25 clawhammer, possibly arrested, but that is all he was going to get in consequence of the $25 claw hammer.
That is, unless I have an insatiable grudge against him and just totally hate his guts for stealing a revolver out of my truck. In that case I might be just itching for an excuse to go deal with him personally.
And there might be some truth in that, though I think you go over the top with "insatiable grudge."
I know I would very much like to see someone who stole a gun from me go to jail, but I wouldn't kill him over it unless I thought he was going to try to kill me.
The ‘grudge’ part may be true if they believe Arbery stole their handgun, but to a former lifelong cop, making a citizen’s arrest isn’t outside the pale.