Lafayette Man Arrested for Firing AK-47

[jakemccoy]

^ ...It's interesting you put buy a shotgun third. I get it.

 

[jaholder1971]

Anyway, this is Lousiana with some of the strangest laws in the country. Applying logic won't always get you there. The law in that strange state is what I want to know.

That's probably why the state had about half a million fewer people there now. They got a free ride out courtesy of Katrina, they're not looking back.

 

[mp510]

Looking at the statuatory language, I wonder if he will actually be convicted:

Louisiana Aggravated Criminal Damage to Property
LA R.S. 14:55

Aggravated criminal damage to property is the intentional damaging of any structure, watercraft, or movable, wherein it is foreseeable that human life might be endangered, by any means other than fire or explosion.

Whoever commits the crime of aggravated criminal damage to property shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars, imprisoned with or without hard labor for not less than one nor more than fifteen years, or both.

He had no intention of damageing the property- it was as much the result of an accident as, say, a car accident. I hope that if he is convicted of something, that he may be convicted of some lesser crime.

 

[JohnBT]

He should have let them have the 2 rims. By the time he pays for a lawyer, not to mention the cost of all that ammo he wasted shooting up the neighborhood, he could have bought some new wheels.

John

 

[41magsnub]

That's exactly what I thought. Generally a prosecutor will file for the toughest charge that could conceivably be applied, and then be eager to plead it down to a lesser charge and a slap on the wrist. They're even more eager to do that if the person in question has been a model citizen up to that point, since they know the person is more likely to try and cut things short, plead out to a year or two of probation, and feel lucky they didn't end up in jail. Meanwhile, the prosecutor gets to talk about how tough on crime they are.

And justice gets trampled.

It is possible that the guy had previous run ins with the law, but I'd think that then they would have charged him with something worse than property damage.

And.. the guy gets a felony record and can't own any of the evil guns anymore. Everyone wins!

 

[woodybrighton]

buy a shotgun loosing off unaimed centre fire rounds seems reckless.
one thing using the rifle as a threat.
thieves legged it job done
Chasing them down the street firing with a rifle not self defence.
he's only lucky he is such a crap shot he's not facing a murder charge
much as I loathe thieves death for stealing car trim is slightly excessive.

 

[lacoochee]

According to Pitre when he yelled at the two men to stop one of them pointed what looked like a pistol at him. At that point Pitre says he went inside and came out shooting with an AK-47 assault rifle.

According to witnesses Pitre chased the two suspects up the street, firing all the way. The suspects somehow managed to escape unhurt. Several of Pitre's stray rounds found their way into some nearby apartments. Fortunately no one was hit.

\

Wow, you guys and buses and the throwing of people under them never ceases to amaze me. Just for a second can any of you understand why someone might be a little out of their minds when upon opening their front door they take incoming fire. Drop out of the way (trigger on finger) and a round goes off (that would never happen to one of you folks, nope not with all of your super tactical skills). Getting back up and trying to shoot the guys who just shot at me would likely at that moment seem perfectly reasonable to me.

In Florida at least this would likely get no billed. Why? First, he was being shot at, the robbers caused the situation wherein a round was fired by the VICTIM. He then returned fire more directly, the robbers are fleeing so now they are safe right? Nope, they are feeling felons who just attempted to murder someone and fall under the deadly force rules now, at least in Florida. Maybe they were fleeing towards your daughter or wife walking your dogs, etc..

So was it a good idea to chase the goblins down the road (note: the article does not say how far maybe he just took two steps out his front door)? Likely not a good idea. Did the robbers turn back while running and point the gun at him again? Article does not say either way.

I predict that all charges will be dropped and that the article was very biased and did not do a good job of portraying the limited decision tree presented to a Victim in a fire fight lasting 60 seconds or less in his front yard.

 

[gym]

They should take away his AK, and give him a course in spakling, so he can fix all the holes he made. But really it's a tough call, things happen quick

 

[JohnBT]

"Maybe they were fleeing towards your daughter or wife walking your dogs, etc.. "

Maybe you've stretched your imagination a bit too far. Let's stick to the facts we know. He went back inside, got a gun, and chased them down the street shooting as he went. All for a couple of rims.

Was he a little out of his mind? Who cares. He was shooting up the neighborhood over some car parts.

"Maybe they were fleeing towards your daughter or wife walking your dogs, etc.. "

I didn't see anything at all about this in the reports posted. You're inventing stuff out of thin air.

John

 

[woodybrighton]

they pointed what he thought was a pistol at him he went and got his gun at this point they were fleeing no identified weapon and legging it
yellow card rules you can't shoot
no threat to you or anyone else
aimed rounds only

 

[mekender]

He should have let them have the 2 rims. By the time he pays for a lawyer, not to mention the cost of all that ammo he wasted shooting up the neighborhood, he could have bought some new wheels.

he wasnt defending property... THEY SHOT AT HIM

Pitre says" as I opened the door I heard what sounded like five or six shots. That's when I fell to the floor and my rifle accidentally went off and hit another apartment."

in a sane state, any damage or injury that occurred during a crime like this would be the fault of the criminal not the fault of the homeowner that defended himself...