Thief Attempts to Steal Xbox 360, Instigates Knife Fight, Loses

[The Wooster]

Thief Attempts to Steal Xbox 360, Instigates Knife Fight, Loses

A thief caught red handed with a stolen Xbox 360 and TV pulled a knife, only to end up being stabbed multiple times by his intended victim.

They say crime doesn't pay, which it doesn't, unless you count being stabbed in the thorax as currency.

According to police statements: a Chicago resident was returning to his apartment complex at around 11:40am when he noticed the thief - a man in his late 20's - exiting the building with a suitcase. The suitcase, it turned out, contained the resident's Xbox 360 and flat-screen television, freshly nicked from his apartment.

When confronted in the building's foyer, the thief pulled a knife. Unfortunately for him, he turned out to be even worse at dueling than he was at thievery, as by the time police officers spotted the two men brawling in the street, the resident had drawn his own knife and shanked his would-be-attacker multiple times. The thief ended up in critical care and, after explaining the situation to the police, the resident was released without charge.

Now normally I'd be a little hesitant to applaud someone for running the risk of injury over something as trivial as an Xbox 360, but providing "multiple" isn't police-speak for "a thousand," this sounds like a fairly clear-cut case of perfectly justifiable self defense.

Chicago Tribune [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-cops-burglar-who-loses-knife-fight-after-taking-residents-tv-xbox-20111205,0,3379435.story] Via Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5865388/burglar-tries-to-steal-xbox-360-pulls-knife-gets-stabbed-a-shitload]

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[Kopikatsu]

Had this been in Sweden. The man who defended himself and his belongings would've been jailed, forced to pay a huge fine to the thief. And the thief would've gotten little to no punishment.

Hope the thief dies or becomes crippled for life. Scumbag.

Same thing in America, actually.

I've been told by a police officer that if someone breaks into your house and you shoot them, empty the entire clip into them to make sure they die. If they survive, they can sue you for everything you own. If they break into your house.

 

[Ruwrak]

Had this been in Sweden. The man who defended himself and his belongings would've been jailed, forced to pay a huge fine to the thief. And the thief would've gotten little to no punishment.

Hope the thief dies or becomes crippled for life. Scumbag.

Same thing in America, actually.

I've been told by a police officer that if someone breaks into your house and you shoot them, empty the entire clip into them to make sure they die. If they survive, they can sue you for everything you own. If they break into your house.

In holland we're not even allowed to touch the thief by law =/
Was on the news recently, man beats burglar into submission (only bruises and no other sustained damage) and tied him up with a rope. Burglar goes free with a 'don't do it again'
Man gets what a month for violence.

So.. Lemme get this straight. We're nto allowed to defend our stuff?
For more lols, the burglars even have privacy rights. We're also not allowed to hang up camera's in our home. Last time a burglar got taped and somehow the court agreed that his face should never had been on tape (even though he was in the residence unauthorized) and the resident lost the case.


We're so weird..

 

[CD-R]

Had this been in Sweden. The man who defended himself and his belongings would've been jailed, forced to pay a huge fine to the thief. And the thief would've gotten little to no punishment.

Hope the thief dies or becomes crippled for life. Scumbag.

Same thing in America, actually.

I've been told by a police officer that if someone breaks into your house and you shoot them, empty the entire clip into them to make sure they die. If they survive, they can sue you for everything you own. If they break into your house.

Any judge that has at least 2 functioning brain cells will throw those cases out. Anyone in this country can file a lawsuit for any reason. Not everyone can win one.

 

[Dagnius]

Chicago, huh? I guess we should be glad there were no firearms involved. But more importantly: Who attempts to rob a home during LUNCH BREAK hours?... But then again he almost got away with it XD

 

[mysecondlife]

What's wrong with thieves these days? They can't even steal things properly. Especially when it comes to videogames. Americans are actually being out done by the French at something...

In all seriousness, I hope there's no future scenario where I end up having to own a gun just for owning a gaming console.

 

[Susurrus]

In UK I think it's different - reasonable force to defend person and property, but if, for example, you obstruct someone who is fleeing, then you can get in a lot of trouble. The definition of reasonable gives some problems as well.

Although of course it also depends on the jury. There was a case of a man recently, can't find the exact case because I can't remember the relevant details quite clearly enough, but effectively, family and himself tied up, brother or uncle or someone came home and released man, and they pursued attacker with cricket bats and beat him to a bloody, brain-damaged pulp.

Ah, found it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/8469850.stm

 

[ShindoL Shill]

Chicago, huh? I guess we should be glad there were no firearms involved. But more importantly: Who attempts to rob a home during LUNCH BREAK hours?

question: when are the majority of people going to be at home?
answer: at night.

it actually makes more sense during the day. for some reason.

OT:

Had this been in Sweden. The man who defended himself and his belongings would've been jailed, forced to pay a huge fine to the thief. And the thief would've gotten little to no punishment.

Hope the thief dies or becomes crippled for life. Scumbag.

Same thing in America, actually.

I've been told by a police officer that if someone breaks into your house and you shoot them, empty the entire clip into them to make sure they die. If they survive, they can sue you for everything you own. If they break into your house.

well to be fair, its justifiable homicide, not justifiable turning someone into a massive burden for the hospitals, possibly insurance companies.
still, you shouldnt have to kill a robber just so you don't get arrested.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Am I the only one who thinks anybody stabbing a thief multiple times rather than just letting him go, over a tiny ass tv (Fits in a suitcase afterall) and a 200 dollar gaming console is perhaps a sign that the owner of said equoipment should be psychologically examined? The guy walks around with a knife as a matter of course, and is willing to kill a guy to protect negligible assets. And they just let him go about his business ...?

Ehhhh ... stop the world, I want to get off. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks the resident is batshit insane and should be examined -multiple times- for possible violent malignancies. If only to know whether this guy is the type of person who will slit the throats of any coworker that steals his sandwich.... please~ tell me this guy is now seeing a psychiatrist for evaluation...

 

[Mayamellissa]

Had this been in Sweden. The man who defended himself and his belongings would've been jailed, forced to pay a huge fine to the thief. And the thief would've gotten little to no punishment.

Hope the thief dies or becomes crippled for life. Scumbag.

Same thing in America, actually.

I've been told by a police officer that if someone breaks into your house and you shoot them, empty the entire clip into them to make sure they die. If they survive, they can sue you for everything you own. If they break into your house.

Yeah... As much as I love my country, this kind of thing where the victim ends up being further victimized while the criminal smugly double screws them over pisses me off.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

This whole thing put a funny image in my head. Just imagine *this* thief merrily strolling out of this guy's apartment with his tv and xbox, whistling to himself. And because you apparently can't physically harm a burgler (in most cases) the guy whose stuff is being stolen goes to the thief's apartment and takes his widescreen and ps3; walks out of the thief's place whistling. Then they pass each other on the street

"Morning."

"Morning."

 

[Raziel Evernight]

Am I the only one who thinks anybody stabbing a thief multiple times rather than just letting him go, over a tiny ass tv (Fits in a suitcase afterall) and a 200 dollar gaming console is perhaps a sign that the owner of said equoipment should be psychologically examined? The guy walks around with a knife as a matter of course, and is willing to kill a guy to protect negligible assets. And they just let him go about his business ...?

Ehhhh ... stop the world, I want to get off. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks the resident is batshit insane and should be examined -multiple times- for possible violent malignancies. If only to know whether this guy is the type of person who will slit the throats of any coworker that steals his sandwich.... please~ tell me this guy is now seeing a psychiatrist for evaluation...

Not sure if you read carefully, but it states, that the thief took out a knife first when confronted. So it was self defense, and the fact that the said thief sucked at knife-fighting doesn't make someone a murderous bastard who will kill someone over a sandwich. And yes, I believe that the law is fucked up, as in Poland, an old granny was assaulted in her home and stabbed the thief in the hand with a knife (she was doin something in the kitchen), and she's supposed to pay him for permanent inability to continue his trade (burglary). That's something that makes no sense. The other part, that it's a "tiny ass tv (...) and a 200 dolar gaming console", doesn't add up, cause he had to work in one way or another to obtain those, so none has the right to take it away from him...blah, I'm talking too much again...in short, they should rethink the law, so that the criminals are afraid of the victims, thus reducing crime rate, instead of people not being even able to defend themselves.

 

[Treblaine]

Had this been in Sweden. The man who defended himself and his belongings would've been jailed, forced to pay a huge fine to the thief. And the thief would've gotten little to no punishment.

Hope the thief dies or becomes crippled for life. Scumbag.

Same thing in America, actually.

I've been told by a police officer that if someone breaks into your house and you shoot them, empty the entire clip into them to make sure they die. If they survive, they can sue you for everything you own. If they break into your house.

Except, it seems, in Chicago.


Oh boy I've been waiting to use that youtube clip for so long.

(PS: you can start a lawsuit with anyone over almost anything. You can sue McDonalds because you are diabetic! Actually winning the lawsuit though, THAT is another thing)

 

[skorpion352]

sometihng similar happened to me last year here in new zealand, iwas comign home in the afternoon and found someone in my driveway with my ps3 and laptop, attempting to leave with them. i gabbed him and got my stuff back. he got away but was later arrested and got to server 12 months for a bunch of stuff. hes lucky a neighbour came out and broke up the scuffle or the bastard still would have been in a headlock when the cops arrived. also, he was there with 5-6 other people, the cowards all ran when i got there. and hes lucky that he wasnt still inside, or he would have had some serious injuries
the cops didnt even think of arresting me, despite what i did was technically assult, as because i was defending myself and my property, it was self defence.

moral of the story is dont fuck with gamers or steal out shit, we'll fuck you up good if we get half a chance

 

[Sylvine]

Am I the only one who thinks anybody stabbing a thief multiple times, rather than just lettin g him go, over a tiny ass tv (Fits in a suitcase afterall) and a 200 dollar gaming console is perhaps a sign that the owner of said equoipment should be psychologically examined?

The guy walks around with a knife as a matter of course, and is willing to kill a guy to protect negligible assets. And they just let him go about his business ...?

Ehhhh ... stop the world, I want to get off. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks the resident is batshit insane and should be examined -multiple times- for possible violent malignancies.

Right. Guy breaks into his house, steals his stuff and draws a knife on him, and it's the resident who's batshit insane?

It's not like - apparently, at least - the person who defended himself managed to disarm or incapacitate the thief, then continued to slash away. "by the time police officers spotted the two men brawling in the street,", it says, so they were still at it.

Besides, the "tiny ass tv" and "a 200 dollar console", what? I dunno 'bout You, but if the tv cost as much as the console - and it probably cost more, they usually do - that's almost enough money for me to get by for a month. It's nice that You're apparently wealthy enough to brush that kind of thing off, but I definitely wouldn't be willing to let the thief go with a month's living's worth of money he stole from me just like that.

~Sylv

 

[Treblaine]

Am I the only one who thinks anybody stabbing a thief multiple times rather than just letting him go, over a tiny ass tv (Fits in a suitcase afterall) and a 200 dollar gaming console is perhaps a sign that the owner of said equoipment should be psychologically examined? The guy walks around with a knife as a matter of course, and is willing to kill a guy to protect negligible assets. And they just let him go about his business ...?

Ehhhh ... stop the world, I want to get off. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks the resident is batshit insane and should be examined -multiple times- for possible violent malignancies. If only to know whether this guy is the type of person who will slit the throats of any coworker that steals his sandwich.... please~ tell me this guy is now seeing a psychiatrist for evaluation...

Hey, are you saying you have no right to even try to stop a thief just because he is (or even might be) armed?

That would just encourages thieves to arm themselves and threaten with their weapons as the law would prevent intervening if it is dangerous.

If he was armed or unarmed the resident had a right to grab the collar of the blaggard. Remember, under both the US constitution and English Common Law it is recognised the right to temporarily detain people who have broken the law (this is NOT exclusively reserved for police, just their explicit authority to use it). As is OF COURSE it necessary or else how could you ever get accused to court to actually have justice be served?

But the accused had NO RIGHT to fight back against restraint as he was clearly suspected of the crime of theft. The resident did not mean unjust intention: he meant to seize him for justice and recover his rightful property.

Remember: he didn't "stab him for a $200 console"

What he DID do was simply GRAB him for:
-taking hundreds of dollars worth of valuable property
-to apprehend a thief. For justice.

He stabbed him because:
-the criminal drew a knife
-The criminal tried to use it

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Not sure if you read carefully, but it states, that the thief took out a knife first when confronted. So it was self defense, and the fact that the said thief sucked at knife-fighting doesn't make someone a murderous bastard who will kill someone over a sandwich. And yes, I believe that the law is fucked up, as in Poland, an old granny was assaulted in her home and stabbed the thief in the hand with a knife (she was doin something in the kitchen), and she's supposed to pay him for permanent inability to continue his trade (burglary). That's something that makes no sense. The other part, that it's a "tiny ass tv (...) and a 200 dolar gaming console", doesn't add up, cause he had to work in one way or another to obtain those, so none has the right to take it away from him...blah, I'm talking too much again...in short, they should rethink the law, so that the criminals are afraid of the victims, thus reducing crime rate, instead of people not being even able to defend themselves.

I would have shot the guy, then reloaded and shot again.

A lot of people carry guns/knives/what have you as a matter of course. Thats not that odd in america.

If he comes into my home and try to steal my shit then draw a weapon on me he deserves to die.

And really? a 200 dollar gaming system AND a TV are negligible assets to you? That shit is expensive! Especially with how the economy is right now, damn right someone should defend themselves and whats theirs.

Its really not him that needs to be examined, anyone who would let someone like this threaten their life and steal their shit while just rolling over and taking it are the ones that need to be examined.

I can understand confronting a person, I really do. If I saw someone stealing myself I would confront them, if only to get a better look at the criminal. But you don't at all feel as if when a knife is drawn that's when you back away? As funny as the whole 'you call that a knife?' routine, you're actively going to gamble your -life- for your tv and xbox?

The resident had drawn his knife ... -his knife-, so one can only presume thats when the violent exchange occured.

The Man also, presumably, chased the thief (as the fight was intercepted by police when both men were outside the foyer) where the thief was stabbed, multiple times and evidently the resident was not seriously injured at all.

Sure the thief is an arsehole, but this whole picture paints a fairly violent indivdual. And yes, it's negligible assets ... unless it's a family member, or someone about to torch your home or your car, it's a negligible asset. Losing your xbox and tv isn't exactly going to scar you as, say, a knife wound ... nor is it going to impede upon your quality of life.

It's a negligible asset ... if someone 'borrowed' my t-shirt and after repeated requests to have it returned, I chased the guy with a knife the next time I saw him you'd say I was batshit insane. You would say the same thing of a person who stole a hotel pillow because they wanted something to sit on for the long trip to the airport .... etc etc.

Be honest with yourselves, it's an overetly violent act ... one that has more than enough proof that it was not simply a matter of self-defence either, but pure vengeance for someone taking something of negligible worth. Question remains how stable the individual is, and wohether he can be trusted not to do something like this o0ver a sandwich, or because someone double parked him.