Shopkeeper charged with assaulting jewelry thief

[alp227]

Security video recorded at Timeco shows owner John Dwyer chasing after a man who had just kicked out a door while attempting to flee with stolen jewelry. (CBC)

The owner of a jewelry store in downtown St. John's has been charged with assault after he chased a man who fled his store with a ring and bracelet.

(...)

Security video recorded by Timeco's surveillance system shows the suspect lingering in the store, glancing at merchandise and letting another customer be served before him.

The video then shows the man asking Dwyer to try on a ring, and then a bracelet to go with it.

As soon as he had the bracelet, the man made a run for the nearby door, but Dwyer had already hit the automatic lock.

In seconds, the man kicked the glass out of the door and made his escape.

Dwyer and two employees gave chase, and stopped the man around the corner on George Street. But while they tried to get the jewelry from him, Dwyer said, the man resisted and won support from people watching the scene from a nearby deck.

Told by bystanders to leave the man alone, Dwyer lost his cool and kicked the man in the face.

full: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/07/31/nl-timeco-owner-assault-731.html

[dballance]

1. I don't really know anything about how the legal system in CA works

But I hope that if they employ some sort of system like ours with a jury the jury will find the charges as ridiculous as I do. Even if it's a panel of magistrates/justices or whatever I just can't feel sorry for the thief and hope they acquit. Sure, maybe anger got the best of the Dwyer for a moment but who among us can say what they'd really do in the same situation?

Besides, stealing from someone has consequences. The thief just happened to realize some of those in advance of being tried for his crime.

[TheMadMonk]

3. And if a cop had done EXACTLY the same thing, it would be a 100 reply...

...epic hatefest before lunchtime.

Satisfying as it might be, NO ONE has a legal right to physically take out their frustrations on another.

[dballance]

5. Okay, I'll Concede. He should not have kicked the guy in the face

So I'm going to seem to be an apologist. But I still have to wonder what I might do in the same situation. I might not have been much better. Who's to say really? Yep, that's a knock on me and my ability to control my anger.

So find him guilty. Just please don't try to make an example of him during sentencing.

[TheMadMonk]

6. I've got a vile temper of my own. The problem with "rough justice"...

...is that most people can't recognise when it's justified, more importantly when it's not and all too often lack the self discipline to stop once they start.

[JI7]

22. because Cops should be held to much higher standards

[Quantess]

2. Sounds like everything was good

until he kicked the thief in the face.

[B Calm]

4. These are the kind of stories the right

wing use to anger their base!

[HopeHoops]

7. Frankly, the guy deserved it. Dwyer was just protecting his interests and WITHOUT a gun.

[Javaman]

8. Kicking a guy in the face after the fact is assault.

I'm hoping your post is sarcasm.

[HopeHoops]

9. Well, I'm not denying that it was assault, I'm just saying the guy deserved it.

On Edit: And he's not dead.

[Javaman]

10. For stealing a ring and a braclet, the guy deserved it?

they had caught the guy already.

And everything is okay, because he's not dead?

wow.

you might want to rethink that stance.

[HopeHoops]

11. You don't steal. Shop keepers have a right to defend their property, but this one didn't use a gun.

Yeah, kicking him in the face might have been extreme, but he'll think twice before trying that again. Since they got the goods back I doubt he'll get more than probation, well, unless he's not white - and you KNOW what I mean by that. A kick in the face is probably more effective than 30 days in jail as far as rehabilitation is concerned.

I'm not an advocate of violence in any way, but if someone fucks with you, the barrier becomes fuzzy.

[Javaman]

13. They caught the guy.

so you think then beating him up is okay as long as it "teaches him and others a lesson"???

how does two wrongs make a right? he stole they beat him up after the caught him.

This is why we have laws or do you instead perfer mafia justice?

wow, again.

you have a very skewed sense of reality.

[HopeHoops]

16. I grew up in an area where most guys had a 5" Buck knife on our belts. We settled things with fists

Pulling a weapon was a sign of weakness. We didn't carry the knives for fighting, we had them for utility purposes. Hand-to-hand was all that was acceptable. Violating that was a way to become an outcast. You can call my sense of reality "skewed" if you want to, but there's a (perhaps primal) edge to protecting yourself and property with your own capabilities. Again, at least he didn't use a gun.

And yes, it will have taught the thief a lesson.

On Edit: I haven't lost a fist fight since second grade when I had three guys gang up on me.

[Javaman]

19. Are you for real?

So every situation looks like a nail to you?

"I haven't lost a fist fight since second grade when I had three guys gang up on me." are you 12 years old and still in grade school?

so you are perfectly okay, with kicking someone after they have been caught and the cops are coming, huh? well, it's quite remarkable that you are still free and not in jail.

grow the hell up.

Wow.

[Romulox]

12. Not sure about how it applies to these facts, but in the US, citizens generally have the right

to use reasonable force to effect a citizen's arrest.

Store security guards detain suspected shoplifters all the time, for example.

[ManiacJoe]

14. After the shoplifter has been officially detained,

kicking him in the head is not a legal option.

[Romulox]

15. Ah, but the devil's always in the details. Whether or not he was "officially detained" is key. nt

[Hell Hath No Fury]

17. Dude lost the righteous edge -

when he kicked the guy in the face. Sorry, he deserves to be charged on that. And the thief needs his ass in jail.

On edit: The shopkeeper also risked screwing up the case against the thief.

I was witness to a girl smashing into a neighbors car and attempting to flee the scene in her vehicle. A neighbor came out with a loaded gun, put it in her face and ordered her out of the car -- when she refused, he grabbed her by the hair and attempted to force her from the vehicle.

Long story short, the defense got the charges entirely dropped because they claimed the girl "feared for her life" and that was why she was trying to flee the scene.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

18. This is why concealed carry kicks ass... you can end the altercation on the spot.

no need to chase them down the street and physically fight them. Shoot them right there while they're still in the store and simply (& truthfully) tell the cops that the guy was robbing the store. It will be called "self defense" and case closed.

[Logical]

20. LOL, funny how citizens cannot kick a suspect but a fucking COP can shoot or beat one with...

no charges. Imagine if a COP did this. You would not even hear about it.

[progressivebydesign]

21. Sounds like he added the kick to the face, AFTER the guy was restrained.

If this was a police officer, everyone here would be marching against him. It's assault.