Man Stops Car Jacking and Apprehends Thief

A man from Santa Rosa, CA chased and caught a car thief who had just stolen his wife’s car on December 17, 2011.

This is an amazing story of taking the law into your own hands and succeeding, but I also think it is an example which we can all learn a little something from.

To check out the full story click here.

Chasing down your stolen vehicle in another vehicle is not a bad idea, and it’s relatively safe. Cornering that vehicle and forcing the thief to get out and abandon the stolen vehicle is a little riskier, but not foolish or crazy (unless the thief has a gun).

Up until this part of the story the guys seems pretty smart. He just got his car back with no physical altercation…pretty impressive.

He had not risked his life or put others into danger or anything like that. He didn’t even have to use any self defense skills.

At this point the guy who just got his car back had a big decision to make. Do I call the police and take my vehicles home, or do I go after this car thief?

This is a tough question. It would be pretty nice to catch the dirt bag who stole your vehicle, and you’d be doing society a favor by keeping him from steeling any other vehicle or committing a violent crime and really hurting someone.

On the other hand chasing down a guy puts you at risk. You are now putting yourself into a self defense confrontation with a known criminal. You are taking a big gamble. You could be getting yourself into a street fight when you could be avoiding a physical conflict entirely.

Now I’m not judging this man’s actions. I wasn’t there, I’m getting the story from a news article. The guy could have information I don’t, or be making a decision to chase the man based on a very good reason.

That set aside I don’t think it is a wise decision to chase down a man who is fleeing from a crime. This is where self defense and defense of your own property ends and vigilante work begins.

I have no problem with citizens taking matters into their own hands so long as they are not risking too much.

This man had just stopped a crime, saved his vehicle, and done it all without any real fight. A true win win. He gets his car and his safety.

Chasing the man puts his own life at great risk. What if the criminal was armed and didn’t like the idea of spending more time in prison. He could turn around a shoot you dead.

In this story the hero had a gun, the thief did not. But the hero may not have known that. This man could have been shot and lost his life in order to apprehend a criminal who was running away.

Again I’m not judging this man’s decision. But if I were hypothetically in a similar position I would have let him run, knowing that I was guaranteed to see my wife and kids again. It just wouldn’t be worth it to me.

This is why it is so important to know what you are willing to fight for. Are you willing to fight and possibly die to defend your family (you bet)? Are you willing to fight to protect your home (absolutely)? Are you willing to fight to keep your wallet (probably not)? Are you willing to risk your life to apprehend a thief (not sure)?

Knowing the answer to these questions ahead of time keeps you from getting swept up in the emotion and adrenaline of the moment. So think about it. What would you do.

All that aside, this guy has some major cojones. I’d shake his hand and say well done. I’m just not sure if it would be worth it to me.

There are a lot of criminal who wouldn’t think twice about killing you to stay out of jail. What if he had two strikes and was looking at doing some serious time if he got caught.