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BWSC scammers strike again, this time in Charlestown
By adamg on Wed, 06/24/2009 - 9:55am
Boston Police report a resident of St. Martin Street was robbed on Tuesday afternoon by guy claiming to be a Boston Water and Sewer Commission worker and an accomplice who rifled through his stuff while the faux worker "tested" whether the man's water was working.
The duo got off with gold coins. Police add:
Victim stated to officers that the suspect was trying to block his view from looking in the other room. At this point victim stated he heard a loud noise come from upstairs at which point he told the suspect to leave. Suspect continued to block the victim's way and the victim pushed the suspect towards the door and told him to leave multiple times.
Police say the "worker" is a white male, about 30, 6'1" and weighing about 180 lbs, with an earring in his left ear. He had an accent, possibly Greek.
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Comments
Question
If the owner shot one of these guys dead in his house, would he get in trouble or would it be dismissed as self defense?
Trouble
I believe you're in trouble in MA, even if it appeared to be self-defense and you could not run away.
An investigation and/or charge can be devastating, even if it's ultimately dropped/dismissed. Just the legal cloud, the cost of a good criminal lawyer, and (worst) the stress of that hanging over you can really screw up your life, especially if the stress or the legal cloud/mark costs you your job.
Self defense?
the suspect would need to be physically attacking the victim, or at least threatening to do so, for self-defense to even come up as an issue here.
Okay, these replies make
Okay, these replies make sense but the inability (without significant risk after the fact) for a homeowner to defend his/her property while it's being robbed does not.
Like being accused of anything that makes headlines, even if you're innocent the headline barks it on page 1 but the fact that you were found innocent is later on page 7.
If your house is being robbed...
...you get your family and yourself to safety if possible, and you call 911.
If you want to defend *property* with lethal force, move to Texas. :) I'm pretty sure that is not kosher in Mass.
I respectfully disagree that
I respectfully disagree that this is the one and only thing you should do. I should be allowed to defend my home using any available means, lethal or not. Shooting people for driving on your lawn is overstating things, but if you're standing in my kitchen and preventing me from doing something, that is unacceptable.
Of course it is, but you
Of course it is, but you have many tools to use in that situation.
In the extremely rare situation that this event does happen, being able to shoot an unarmed man that wasn't physically threatening your being or you family should be murder, if we believe against unusual crime or punishment, and we do.
That's not saying I don't think you shouldn't be able to detain him at gun point, nor defend yourself in a situation when attacked.
That's how the law is applied in MA. The court is tasked with making the decision that it was unavoidable, lawful, and just.
You don't go from A to Z
You don't go from A to Z right away. You have other options for defending property, besides murder in cold blood over consumables and material possessions.
It isn't self defense unless you're attacked with no way of avoidance. You have the right to use deadly force in such a situation to protect yourself.
mixy
There is this thing called 'castle law' which basically says a person does not have a duty to retreat from someone if they are in danger in their house. Shooting someone in your own home is going to have about 100 other variables, but its going to be a messy case either way.
On the street, people have a 'duty to retreat' which basically means you cant just shoot someone if there was another way for you to get away from the violent situation.
Like someone said, guns are sometime more harm than good, even if you do end up in a justified shooting.
Just lock up your gold coins.
Not in Texas; where you can
Not in Texas; where you can shoot two unarmed thiefs in the back and be hailed a hero because they ran over you lawn after getting spooked.
Personally, I'd call that a cowardly act and murder. But we all know Texas knows best.
I was wrong about this
I'd heard over 15 years ago that MA didn't have castle law, and I never looked it up:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/278-8a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Doctrine#State...
What I really learn from
What I really learn from these articles is how many people have gold coins laying around their homes. Maybe I should be scamming people, too.
also....
Some of these criminals that pose as water department workers, actually were water department workers at one time, and were fired for stealing things from homes when they actually did do the job. They might still have their old ID, they know the lingo, they know where the water meter is, etc etc.
If you have a question about a shady man at the door (indcluding police officers because they do it too) tell them to wait while you call the agency themselves.
Ditto. If they don't have an
Ditto.
If they don't have an appointment, tell them they need one. Simple as that.
When they got fired
They weren't forced to return their uniforms and city identification? And if not, isn't that grounds for an arrest?
probably not.
Im sure the department asked for their IDs but some of these guys can collect more than one over time. Same with the uniform. I assume most of those guys have a few shirts and stuff that they could use.