[tomakaze]

Give the guy a medal.
Given the location and agenda of the likely prosecutor in this, and the likely witchhunt/lynchmob that's gonna start up over this once king5 or whoever starts flooding the airwaves with video of the poor widdle theif's mamma bawling about "how her innocent baby was done wrong" If I'm a juror, the victim (of the theft) walks.

[Darksheare]

Cripes. Usually, the cops let the car thieves skate.

How many car thefts do you think would happen if it became quite possible to die during the commission of the crime?

[neutrino]

If I'm a juror, the victim (of the theft) walks.

I could not possibly agree more. Well said!

[anobjectivist]

Hmm...

I had an accident one night. Early in the morning about 3am, and someone rearends me at the stop sign. I pull the car over and put on my hazards (I was blocking a small road if I had just sat there) and the car that hit me went around me and took off. I immediately give chase and have my passenger dial 911. The operator told us repeatedly to not chase the car, so I stopped not knowing any better (I could not get close enough to read the license plate) and gave them a description of the car and the direction that they were heading.

The cops that met me at a supermarket said they saw a car fitting the description of the car that hit me on the way to meet me, and didn't stop them! So then I got to pay the deductable, insurance took up the rest, and the person that performed a hit and run gets away free. Never again will I let someone get away from the scene of a crime involving me.

[lelio]

I couldn't believe the man on the street interviews last night on this. Said "Why do this over an old car?" (hey its HIS car) and "They should let the cops find the car." Nevermind that the cops never find the cars and T-town is near #1 in car thefts.
It seems like the only legal recourse for this guy is if the theif had a gun on him.

[-YYZ-]

Hey, I'm generally in favor of self-defense, and the right to bear arms, but I can't personally see that chasing some guy through the streets and then shooting at him in a moving car, from a moving car, is a very advisable course of action. Some of the chases the police get involved in are bad enough, and their trained to do, and paid for doing, this type of stuff.

I mean, it's totally understandable that a guy would be angry and want his car back, and want justice for the thief, but does that give him the right to endanger the lives of others in pursuit of the thief?

[holyscroller]

"Peering into the car, Nordlund saw a young man dressed all in red."..

Of course they charged the shooter. He shot Santa Claus.

[Tom Bombadil]

The owner of the stolen car, a 1985 Pontiac Grand Prix, told police he looked out to see his car being driven away. He grabbed a small handgun and hopped into an Oldsmobile Cutlass to chase after his car and the person taking it.

'85 Grand Prix.....Olds Cutlass......

These are cars coveted by young men who view them as status symbols.............Not much intelligence here.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Tacoma police arrested the owner of the stolen car and booked him into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree assault What a bass akwards state. All the more reason to stay the hell away from the Pacific NutWest.

[cavtrooper21]

Strikes me that this may have more to do with a "gang " than with any sort of car theft. With no more information than what has been posted I'll draw this: both young men are ethinic minorities; both young men are from economicly depressed areas of Tacoma; both young men have criminal records; both young men have been or are currently involved in some sort of gang activity. My regrets if I'm proven wrong, but I've seen alot of gang shootings discribed just like this by police to downplay gang activity. So, yea, give the guy a medal, and he can wear it in prison...

[csvset]

Splintered boards mark the spot where a stolen car plunged through a fence in Tacoma after the car's owner gave chase. The suspect was shot and later died at Tacoma General Hospital. (December 16, 2002)

Photo Credit: Melina Mara/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

[rodeocowboy]

It would have been a lot better if the police would have ensued him in a high speed chase that might have caused the driver to run through an intersection, instead of a fence, and killed some innocent family on their way back from McDonalds. (/sarcasm)

If this is the precedent they set (charging him for endangering the lives of the innocent), then they will never be allowed to chase cars, throw spike strips, or spray Mace in a crowded, public place again.

[rodeocowboy]

I just moved from an extremely rural area (the upper peninsula of Michigan) to metro Detroit, and my insurance rates have doubled. When I asked if the HUGE rate hike was because of the greater danger of being in an accident because of the heavier traffic, every insurance agent I talked to said that it was almost soley because metro Detroit has such a high car theft rate. It's almost worth me getting a security guard to watch my vehical if it would bring my insurance down.