quote:

Funny thing about these "yeehaw, hell yeah, sic him boys" threads is that the vigilantes, for lack of a better term,

I prefer undocumented police officers.

The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

quote:

swallow 100 percent of the liability for their actions. They get into a car chase at 100 MPH, they're going to jail. They try to wedge SYG into something that doesn't fit, they're going to jail.

That is the one major difference. Sworn officers are shielded in several ways that a general member of the public is not. This is why it's imperative that you use your head prior to engaging in these acts.

Painting with a broad brush, most everything that a police officer can do to detain a known criminal, effect an arrest, and prevent an escape, so can the average Joe. Not a bad idea to check your state laws just in case.

Am I missing something here or did the victim and his friends just assume the police wouldn't act on the information they had about the stolen car being offered for sale?

"When the victim noticed his car for sale on OfferUp, he asked to meet with the seller."

As a LEO, I worked vehicle thefts for more than five years and during that time had a lot of these types of cases where stolen vehicles were offered for sale to innocent third parties through classified advertisements. When we were contacted by the advertisers, suspicious potential purchasers, or the victims themselves, we responded immediately as these are really quite simple investigations to conduct if you do it right. Getting the seller locked into (recorded) statements about how and when he'd come to possess the car, who else might have an interest in it, and having the necessary details so a search warrant for additional evidence (and stolen cars/components) could be recovered elsewhere did a lot towards insuring those involved in professional (as in for profit!) vehicle theft activity got maximum prison time for their efforts.

I see nothing to indicate the owner even made an attempt to involve the police until he and his buddies had already made (what appears to be) a private person's arrest. While they certainly could have done this lawfully on their own, there was really no need to do so, possibly exposing themselves and others to unnecessary risks. Enough has been said already about the risks of "friendly fire" these guys took, but it needs to be said that they also could have harmed the chances that all involved in the theft of this car and possibly others were held accountable. Virtually any police officers with basic training could have handled this right and denying them the opportunity to do so seems to have been a conscious decision on the part of the car's owner, rather than something this guy and his friends were compelled to do. This doesn't mean he didn't have the right to act, only that doing so wasn't very smart.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

quote:

Funny thing about these "yeehaw, hell yeah, sic him boys" threads is that the vigilantes, for lack of a better term,

I prefer undocumented police officers.

The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

quote:

swallow 100 percent of the liability for their actions. They get into a car chase at 100 MPH, they're going to jail. They try to wedge SYG into something that doesn't fit, they're going to jail.

That is the one major difference. Sworn officers are shielded in several ways that a general member of the public is not. This is why it's imperative that you use your head prior to engaging in these acts.

Painting with a broad brush, most everything that a police officer can do to detain a known criminal, effect an arrest, and prevent an escape, so can the average Joe. Not a bad idea to check your state laws just in case.

"Undocumented police officers" is AWESOME!!!!!

I'm still not sure what state in particular allows "Average Joes" to engage in a lawful vehicle pursuit with no consequences. I am almost sure to say it legal exactly nowhere.

quote:

assume the police wouldn't act

Probably assumed there's nothing the police could or would do- Tacoma, Wa (6) and Kent, Wa (9) are in the top 10 on this 2018 list-
20 metro cities with the most car thefts

https://www.asecurelife.com/to...ities-for-car-theft/

As I get older I'm glad it worked out but have to wonder if the other guy was a criminal and shot back dead's dead.

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I'm still not sure what state in particular allows "Average Joes" to engage in a lawful vehicle pursuit with no consequences. I am almost sure to say it legal exactly nowhere.

Maybe not legal in the strictest sense, but there have been plenty of examples of regular people following, chasing, forcing others to stop when a criminal act has been involved and faced zero repercussions.

Let me be clear. There are plenty of things that are legal that may not be smart. Lots of ways to get yourself in trouble and/or incur liability, so you better be sure it's worth it prior to engaging.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:

quote:

assume the police wouldn't act

Probably assumed there's nothing the police could or would do- Tacoma, Wa (6) and Kent, Wa (9) are in the top 10 on this 2018 list-
20 metro cities with the most car thefts

https://www.asecurelife.com/to...ities-for-car-theft/

As I get older I'm glad it worked out but have to wonder if the other guy was a criminal and shot back dead's dead.

That's the nice thing about handling these correctly: If the police identify and arrest the participants of a chop-shop or other professional car theft ring, the numbers of thefts that can be cleared and others which will be prevented is awesome. Just a few guys can steal $$$$$$$ worth of cars, VIN switch, and sell them over a year. With them out of commission, the numbers of thefts reduced is usually significant.