By: Karl Spaulding

Karl Spaulding
Mon, 10 Nov 2014 17:31:58 +0000

I could rag on these guys about the unlocked door, enabling an easy burglary attempt.
I could point out the danger they ran into when they left their place and began searching for the suspects instead of immediately calling the cops.
I could warn them that not all burglars are passive, unarmed teenaged squirts.
I could warn them about the difference between felony and misdemeanor crimes and that “citizens’ arrest” (applicable in Ohio only for felonies) can turn into a legal issue if you don’t know what you’re doing or use excessive force.
I could tell them that if they’re running around in the dark with tire irons and bats, and someone calls the police about a “disturbance,” they might just end up staring down the gun barrels of responding police officers in a high stress, low light situation.
I could do all that and more.

But I won’t. Instead I’ll say this:

GOOD JOB GUYS!!

What they did beats doing nothing, which is too often what we read about in the news. So let’s have some appreciation here. Also for Ms. Spears’ nonjudgemental article, good show!

In this case, all’s well that ends well (as long as there are no legal repercussions).

I hope that they get a good “after action review” and consider all that could have gone tactically and legally wrong.

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Helen Keller

Karl