Don't mess with my Harley: Theft victim accused of assault
2006-04-13
by Jessica Stith
of The Daily Times Staff

A Maryville man is accused of assaulting two subcontractors who were working on his home after they allegedly attempted to steal his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

A 24-year-old Maryville man told Blount County Sheriff's deputies that as he was passing a pickup Monday morning in Monroe County, he noticed his motorcycle in the back of the truck.

He said he realized the driver and passenger in the black Ford F-150 pickup were two subcontractors who had been working on his house, a sheriff's office report said.

The Maryville man said he pulled over and confronted a 42-year-old man and a 23-year-old man, who are both self-employed subcontractors from Madisonville. The two Madisonville men told him they stole the motorcycle from the Maryville man's house and they would take it back if he would not call the police, the report said.

The Maryville man said he followed the two men and upon arrival at his house, he got a gun from a neighbor and shot at the Monroe County vehicle several times, flattening its tires. According to the report, he then assaulted the Madisonville men by hitting them with the gun and punching them several times.

The neighbor, in order to get the three men to stop fighting, fired another gun into the air.

According to the report, both men who took the motorcycle were bleeding about the face and head but refused any medical treatment. The 42-year-old man who admitted to taking the motorcycle said he opened the unlocked garage door at the Maryville man's residence, then he and his fellow subcontractor took the Harley. They said they were taking it to Monroe County where they live.

The 23-year-old Maryville man retrieved his motorcycle from the back of the truck, and both guns were taken by officers around 7:30 a.m. Monday for processing, according to the report.

Blount County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Marian O'Briant said the incident is being investigated by detectives and that charges are pending and will likely be taken to a grand jury.

 

the owner messed up, he may get a longer sentence than the crooks.

 

simple... move to a state like TX, where 'defense of property' is just cause for lethal force. the homeowner would have been in the clear if he caught them on his property. the fact that a criminal can have more rights than their victim is absurd.

but of course in this case, where the crime had already taken place before the guy got home, i think calling the police while chasing them down might have been a better idea than going vigaliante

 

Wow thats crazy. Sucks that he has to pay for that but he probably should have known better the way the justice system works.

 

He should have called the police as he followed the crooks back to his house but I can see why he did what he did. After dealing with contractors for a year I'm surprized the guys even showed up to steal the bike!

 

I would've done the same thing.

 

 

i would have done the same thing, or worse! dont **** with my ****!!

 

holy **** aint that the truth,love it tom

 

im all for defending your property, at least they prolly learned a leason from getting the **** kicked outta them.

if he did call the cops all they would have down is sent them to jail for nite.

there was a similar sistuation here in south jersey, but the guy shot and killed one of the theives trying to steal his 4wheeler.
not sure what ever happened to him but i know the NRA backed him 100%

-brandon

 

He lost his temper acted out foolishly, but he was defending his bike. Key word is HIS, no one has the right to take your car bike house son etc and its crap that they get any rights to protect them.

He took some big risks by firing but I probbly would have too and most anyone would have in that situation.

Sucky deal anything happened to him.

 

My sister-in-law and her husband are putting a second level on their house. The contractor was supposed to start for the last three months. He told her husband that he will be there today so the husband had a $100.00 bet going with his wife on if the guy would show up. I should have got in on it because I knew he wouldn't show. Sure enough, no contractor today.

I told him "now you know what I went through".

I think the motorcycle owner might get the short end of the stick because he had time to think about what was going on and didn't walk in on them stealing the bike.

 

Once the bike owner got the 2 crooks and their pick-up back on his property, he should've shot them both dead. You cannot be charged for shooting someone that's on your property, trying to steal your property, or trying to do you bodily harm, if I'm not mistaken. He had them dead nuts--they had already stolen his motorcycle from his garage, and it was already in the back of their pick-up. Bang. Bang. They're dead. WJ

 

sure about that?


I'm not saying a person dosn't have a right to defend their stuff but you can't shoot someone in Mass or RI for steeling from you, even if it's on your property.

The only time you can use deadly force in RI, in your home is if you feel threatend. Not if someone is steeling your bike. Especialy not if you see them on a highway then make a deal with them to return it and have pleanty of time to report them.
Also, firing a gun in the air is for stupid *** Hamas ********* because when the round comes back down who gives a **** who it hits. Doing so in your own neighborhood is one of the worst things you could do with a gun period.

 

In today's day and age, who can be sure about anything regarding the law, correct? OJ's case proved that... I do know, that if I shot them both dead, I would say they threatened my life, and it would be my word against theirs, ha ha.... WJ

 

That's all you need.................. Officer I felt threatend.

 

100% wrong. in MA, there is no such concept of 'defense of property', only 'defense of life'. in MA, 4 conditions must exist before you are legally allowed to use 'deadly force' to defend yourself:

1) the assaliant must have the 'means' to kill you: knife, gun, etc (only exception is that a smaller female or elderly person could be killed by an unarmed male)
2) the assaliant must have the 'motive' to kill you: must make his intent clear that he/she intends on taking your life, either by saying it, or by pointing the weapon in your direction with threatening gestures
3) your life must be in immediate danger: someone standing across the street, waving a knife, saying 'i'm going to kill you', does not mean that your life is in immediate danger. the officially recognized distance for an attacker with a knife to make your life 'in immediate danger' is 21 feet. not sure about guns or other weapons.
4) you must have exhausted all options of your 'duty to retreat': you must run if an exit is available.

after all 4 conditions exist, you may now use lethal force to defend you life.

example: a real court case in MA: an unarmed guy was robbing a house, homeowner shot the criminal and crippled him. criminal sued the homeowner and won. his reason was that 'burgular' was his occupation, had no intent to do bodily harm, and the homeowner unjustly incapacitated him from working.

 

I definitely don't blame him for being pissed, but should have known theres a better way to handle it than that.

 

That guys from my local...he killed both guys. the jury granted him not guilty..it was great..i heard the story from my journeyman during break..Thats how the system should work..people would think twice before taking something from someone..If only we would adopt texas rules...philly wouldnt be on the map at the time!!

 

With the truck back on the property, insist on a serious discussion about the situation in the house. Shoot them both dead while they are facing me and standing up, bust up a lot of things in the house to make it look like a struggle, wound myself with a knife or cord around the neck, then call the police. If using the cord wounding, make sure I cough and have trouble speaking occasionally while on the phone with them. Take the bike out for a ride a few days after they are buried. Make sure to stop by cemetery where they are buried after drinking a bottle of water, and help them grow flowers by giving those shitbags a good watering. Case closed.