Drizzt
Member
The State (Columbia, SC)
October 17, 2003 Friday FINAL EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 555 words
HEADLINE: Home burglary suspect dies after being shot;
Legal expert says shooter wont be prosecuted if he fired in self-defense
BYLINE: By CLIF LeBLANC and J.R. GONZALES; Staff Writers
BODY:
A Columbia burglary suspect died in the hospital Thursday after he was shot 13 hours earlier by a man protecting a rural house with a shotgun.
Robert L. Mack, 38, of 910 Abbott Road, died at 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning Palmetto Health Richland from a gunshot wound to the back of the head, said Gary Watts, Richland County coroner.
But the 46-year-old man who told police he shot Mack likely will not be charged if he fired in self-defense, a legal expert said.
Police have not identified the shooter or his father. The house where the shooting happened about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday is on Old Hopkins Road, southeast of Columbia, police said. They would not give a specific address.
A second suspected burglar, driving a getaway car, was arrested about four miles away.
Howard K. Jeffery, 48, of 701 Maryland St., has been charged with second-degree burglary, the Richland County Sheriffs Department said.
State Law Enforcement Division records show Mack and Jeffery have drug and theft convictions.
The man who fired the fatal shotgun blast has not been charged, sheriffs spokesman Joseph Pellicci said. The prosecutors office will review the case to decide whether charges are warranted, he said.
Deputies said they would not identify the shooter or give his address, saying they wanted to protect him from possible retaliation and that the investigation is ongoing.
Mack and Jeffery were not carrying weapons, Pellicci said. Police said the shooter told them Mack entered the house.
The attempted burglary was the second in a week at the house:. An antique marble dresser, an antique marble-top table, a television and a VCR valued at $1,370 were stolen in an Oct. 9 burglary, a police report said.
The owner asked his son to watch the house on Wednesday while the homeowner went to work, police said.
Police gave this account, based on their interview with the shooter:
About 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, a white 2001 Dodge Neon pulled onto the property.
A noise inside the home alerted the son, who called 911, grabbed a shotgun and hid in shrubbery.
The Neons driver saw the man with the shotgun, honked the car horn and started to drive toward him. The driver floored the car and drove directly at me, the son told deputies.
He tried to get out of the way as a man fled from the house and scrambled to get to the car, Pellicci said.
The son fired the shotgun at least three times at the car. Mack was hit in the back of the head as he ran toward it.
Jeffery sped away, but was stopped by deputies five minutes later at Bluff Road and Montgomery Lane, Pellicci said.
Criminal defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian said that, under state law, the shooter will avoid criminal charges if he can show he was in a situation that posed a threat to himself or the community.
It would be difficult to charge the man if he was being threatened by the car, said Harpootlian, who is not involved in this case but who has been a prosecutor and is a defense attorney.
The law does not allow people who are protecting property to shoot burglars, he said. Simply because somebody broke into your house, you dont have a right to shoot them.
But he said, in his view, it is impossible to prosecute a reasonable person who kills someone to protect himself or others.
Reach LeBlanc at (803) 771-8664 or [email protected]
October 17, 2003 Friday FINAL EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 555 words
HEADLINE: Home burglary suspect dies after being shot;
Legal expert says shooter wont be prosecuted if he fired in self-defense
BYLINE: By CLIF LeBLANC and J.R. GONZALES; Staff Writers
BODY:
A Columbia burglary suspect died in the hospital Thursday after he was shot 13 hours earlier by a man protecting a rural house with a shotgun.
Robert L. Mack, 38, of 910 Abbott Road, died at 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning Palmetto Health Richland from a gunshot wound to the back of the head, said Gary Watts, Richland County coroner.
But the 46-year-old man who told police he shot Mack likely will not be charged if he fired in self-defense, a legal expert said.
Police have not identified the shooter or his father. The house where the shooting happened about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday is on Old Hopkins Road, southeast of Columbia, police said. They would not give a specific address.
A second suspected burglar, driving a getaway car, was arrested about four miles away.
Howard K. Jeffery, 48, of 701 Maryland St., has been charged with second-degree burglary, the Richland County Sheriffs Department said.
State Law Enforcement Division records show Mack and Jeffery have drug and theft convictions.
The man who fired the fatal shotgun blast has not been charged, sheriffs spokesman Joseph Pellicci said. The prosecutors office will review the case to decide whether charges are warranted, he said.
Deputies said they would not identify the shooter or give his address, saying they wanted to protect him from possible retaliation and that the investigation is ongoing.
Mack and Jeffery were not carrying weapons, Pellicci said. Police said the shooter told them Mack entered the house.
The attempted burglary was the second in a week at the house:. An antique marble dresser, an antique marble-top table, a television and a VCR valued at $1,370 were stolen in an Oct. 9 burglary, a police report said.
The owner asked his son to watch the house on Wednesday while the homeowner went to work, police said.
Police gave this account, based on their interview with the shooter:
About 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, a white 2001 Dodge Neon pulled onto the property.
A noise inside the home alerted the son, who called 911, grabbed a shotgun and hid in shrubbery.
The Neons driver saw the man with the shotgun, honked the car horn and started to drive toward him. The driver floored the car and drove directly at me, the son told deputies.
He tried to get out of the way as a man fled from the house and scrambled to get to the car, Pellicci said.
The son fired the shotgun at least three times at the car. Mack was hit in the back of the head as he ran toward it.
Jeffery sped away, but was stopped by deputies five minutes later at Bluff Road and Montgomery Lane, Pellicci said.
Criminal defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian said that, under state law, the shooter will avoid criminal charges if he can show he was in a situation that posed a threat to himself or the community.
It would be difficult to charge the man if he was being threatened by the car, said Harpootlian, who is not involved in this case but who has been a prosecutor and is a defense attorney.
The law does not allow people who are protecting property to shoot burglars, he said. Simply because somebody broke into your house, you dont have a right to shoot them.
But he said, in his view, it is impossible to prosecute a reasonable person who kills someone to protect himself or others.
Reach LeBlanc at (803) 771-8664 or [email protected]
