Long story short(ish)... roommate and I recently bought RC cars. Googling for tracks shows me a website for a legit backyard track that actually has races and stuff - and it's like 1/4 mile away from my house. Drive by yesterday, think we see the house, decide to park the car and cut through like 2 backyards to peer over a privacy fence to see it was really there (no opening gates, no hopping fences - just straight clear walking through 2 yards). D
Still daylight/mid-evening. No dice, track is gone now but that was indeed the place with the website still up. Oh well... proceed to friends' house in same neighborhood for a few beers.
Half hour later doorbell rings and it's a guy looking for me because he recognized the car from back yard deal. Says he's the neighbor next to the house we looked at and is a cop and saw us. Didn't ask him for a badge or anything and just explained the deal to him and the actual homeowner, showing him the dude's f*ing active website using my phone with the track notice and the full address and google maps pic he still has posted and explained that we were just looking for this track to see if it really existed. Homeowner was super cool - he used to run the track - we talked rc cars for a sec an that was that. They told me there's been some break-ins recently and that explains the concern... but then the cop says to me, "You're lucky I didn't shoot you."
WTF man!? I let it go and just went on my way, but since when is it Ok/legal for an off duty cop to shoot someone for being in a yard 100 feet away from anyone or any doors/windows/houses/people? Jerk off comment for sure. I wanted to argue but it didn't seem worth it but today I'm getting mad (haha) and wish I would have discussed it with him ala, "so you're saying that I can shoot people I don't recognize that I happen to see in my neighbors' backyard? That's OK with the law? Cool man, i'll keep that in mind for future use since I also own firearms, thanks for the info. oh wait... now you're telling me that's illegal and is probably a murder charge?"
Still daylight/mid-evening. No dice, track is gone now but that was indeed the place with the website still up. Oh well... proceed to friends' house in same neighborhood for a few beers.
Half hour later doorbell rings and it's a guy looking for me because he recognized the car from back yard deal. Says he's the neighbor next to the house we looked at and is a cop and saw us. Didn't ask him for a badge or anything and just explained the deal to him and the actual homeowner, showing him the dude's f*ing active website using my phone with the track notice and the full address and google maps pic he still has posted and explained that we were just looking for this track to see if it really existed. Homeowner was super cool - he used to run the track - we talked rc cars for a sec an that was that. They told me there's been some break-ins recently and that explains the concern... but then the cop says to me, "You're lucky I didn't shoot you."
WTF man!? I let it go and just went on my way, but since when is it Ok/legal for an off duty cop to shoot someone for being in a yard 100 feet away from anyone or any doors/windows/houses/people? Jerk off comment for sure. I wanted to argue but it didn't seem worth it but today I'm getting mad (haha) and wish I would have discussed it with him ala, "so you're saying that I can shoot people I don't recognize that I happen to see in my neighbors' backyard? That's OK with the law? Cool man, i'll keep that in mind for future use since I also own firearms, thanks for the info. oh wait... now you're telling me that's illegal and is probably a murder charge?"