Bystander helped foil armored car heist, but at what risk?

[Trooper]

A 37-year-old Indianapolis father with a .22-caliber handgun chased down an already-wounded suspect, slammed him to the ground and stuck a gun to his head until police arrived.

Bystander helped foil armored car heist, but at what risk?

 

[9mmfan]

I think I may have followed at a distance while on the phone with 911, buy I sure wouldn't tackle the fool.

 

[Bunnykid68]

Maybe the bad guys should try wearing cop uniforms then

 

[indyjohn]

More often than not people don't know what they'll do until they're in the situation. After the fact people often say they didn't think, just acted. I just watched on the news a couple that sprung into action and stopped a school bus from crashing after the driver somehow fell out of the driver's seat. And after the fact, the woman (who jumped into the seat and stomped on the brake) said "I was not fearful".

 

[88GT]

I quit reading at "highly trained."

 

[loony1]

I hope "Jeff" learns to train more with his .22, the safety might just get him hurt in the future.

 

[dwh79]

Have to love how the Star turns this into you bad citizen with a gun how dare you help. I don't believe he should have shot the guy. Luckily for him his safety was on or he might be having some real legal problems if the guy was running away from him. I do agree we all need training but the way the Star and the Chief put it I just don't like. I can understand the tough situation the Police would be in pulling up on this scene and one guy holding a gun to another. What we need is a understood way for the Police to be able to discern in this robbery situation who is good and who is bad. May not be possible but be nice to have something. Also be nice for this to be covered in training and I would love to get the same training as the officers for my own protection but I doubt that will be offered to us.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

What we need is a understood way for the Police to be able to discern in this robbery situation who is good and who is bad.

We do. Its called detain everyone involved and investigate. We train that if you are in plain clothes, expect to be treated like a suspect until the uniformed guys figure out who you are. Expect the same if you intervene, because there are no secret good guy handshakes.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I hope "Jeff" learns to train more with his .22, the safety might just get him hurt in the future.

Yup. This is why I hate to see the "its better than nothing" crowd pipe up. Pulling a gun escalates the situation. Compliance may be the better option than pulling a non-functioning handgun.

 

[Trigger Time]

^ agreed loony1!

the so called experts and the chief need to stfu in my opinion. If I or anyone else wants to risk my life to help someone or to stop a crime or a fellon from getting away then it's our choice. I don't need your permission thank you very much. Obviously this "Jeff" has no training or **** for brains but at least he stepped up and acted which was obviously more than the other sheep did.
and to the idiot who said the police were so "restrained" for not shooting Jeff ...... Shut the **** up you idiot. Trained police 9times out of 10 don't shoot people without a good reason. Jeff wasn't a good reason. I could see him possibly getting tased but they didn't even do that. Good job by Impd. And the guard for backing his partner up. At least Jeff tried.

i do believe shooting the fleeing scum bag would have been too much. Maybe legal. But the tackle ... That's epic.

 

[chuckp]

Sounds like Jeff was going to shoot someone in the back. He just about intercoursed up.

Nice that he caught the guy but I wonder if the perp got hurt from him being tackled? Maybe Jeff will be sued by the criminal for hurting him. Sometimes it gets expensive helping out.



Chuck

 

[Trigger Time]

I have to ask ... What's with the drop leg holster? Is that officer part of a unit where he possibly has to put on a chest rig? That's really the only reason for a drop leg is to clear your ****.

 

[GunSlinger]

I just wonder if Jeff is an INGO member.

 

[Trigger Time]

I just wonder if Jeff is an INGO member.

Carrying a .22 for a self defense pistol. Yep id put money on it.

 

[netsecurity]

Uh oh, see, this was a true citizens arrest after all. (I had posted in another thread that the security guard had made a citizens arrest because he is not a cop). You are allowed to use force to restrain someone committing a felony, even if he does not threaten you. However, was he justified to pull a gun on a presumably unarmed suspect? Will he face charges? Will he get sued by the family? These are things I want to understand better for my own sake.

I keep pressing the issue because I'm really not much of a fighter. Most guys are tougher than me (hey, at least I'm tougher than most girls, and old people lol), so a gun would be one of the few ways for me to subdue them until police arrived. If I ever do have to subdue someone at gunpoint, I don't want to go to jail obviously, and at the same time I might not want them to get away.

 

[churchmouse]

Jeff might have had a Barney fife moment when he was going to shoot the "Suspect. That is way over the top and Jeff would not have had a good Christmas this year.

As to detaining the would be robber....no issue with that. He was apparently not armed with anything lethal and Jeff did get the take down. No need for the gun. A well applied arm bar and knee to the kneck will subdue most anyone especially if they have been shot.

Getting on a cell and following is not a bad idea for most people. My fear would be the idiot would grab someone as a hostage.

IMHO...Jeff just missed being the bad guy in all of his good guy intentions.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I quit reading at "highly trained."

I almost stopped reading when I saw that Tuohy was the author of the article. I had no doubt about the spin that would be applied.

 

[hoosierdoc]

No, he shouldn't have tried to shoot he guy. But if criminals knew they were surrounded by guys who weren't going to take it anymore and we're going to fight back and win, there would be a lot less crime.

The chase-ending tackle needs to be on a security camera somewhere. I see an animated gif in his future.

 

[adws943]

Could have ended very badly. I am glad the good citizen was not harmed. It will not suprise me if the bad guy sues the good guy. After all the criminal has all the rights and we have none.

 

[Birds Away]

So much for muscle memory. I am very curious what brand and model of .22 that was.