Man shot by homeowner charged with burglary
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - The Pierce County prosecutor has filed a burglary charge against a 20-year-old man shot and wounded by a Tacoma homeowner last June 19.
Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Monday that Christopher Rhodes was lawfully shot.
Lindquist says the homeowner ignored knocking at his back door because he was not expecting anyone. Then he heard prying noises at a window so he armed himself with a shotgun and called 911. The prosecutor says the homeowner fired as an intruder entered through a window, hitting the man in the face.
Rhodes was arrested after he was released from a hospital.
Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Monday that Christopher Rhodes was lawfully shot.
Lindquist says the homeowner ignored knocking at his back door because he was not expecting anyone. Then he heard prying noises at a window so he armed himself with a shotgun and called 911. The prosecutor says the homeowner fired as an intruder entered through a window, hitting the man in the face.
Rhodes was arrested after he was released from a hospital.
I suppose I could comment about how tickled I am that the burgler really got what was coming to him, but I think I'll just go with my standard comment in situations like this:
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"The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America:
It's not just a good idea, IT'S THE LAW."
[signed] --The Supremes
 @svensson The right to self-defense is one of our inalienable rights. The 2nd Amendment places strict limits on the government so that it cannot try block exercise of that right.
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@Iconoclast That's what I'm saying.
In Heller v. DC and MacDonald v. Chicago the US Supreme Court ['The Supremes' I referred to] affirmed and clarified that the right to bear arms devolves to the citizen and not the individual States [the National Guard or any other government-supported 'militia' group].
The homeowner in this case acted lawfully in all particulars and was held blameless, as he should have been. I wonder why it took 6 months to figure this out, but it could be that Lindquist is hoping that the case will get lost in the other firearms media noise.Â
And the home owner was given a key to the city.
Too many unanswered questions in this story. Why did it take six and a half months to file charges? Was the suspect not breaking and entering? Does that only happen in Tacoma? How many other crimes did this scumbag commit in that time? How much and who paid the medical bills? How paid the home owner's bills or cleaned up the blood?  Â
@Caring Citizen I suspect that Lindquist was waiting for the media noise to die down. At the time, there were a lot of anti-gun folks yelling and screaming about why the intruder was shot when the homeowner had called the cops already. But since Sandy Hook there won't be any 'quieting down' any time soon and he had to charge the intruder or drop it.
 @Caring Citizen I agree that this 'article' is thin at best.....which is increasingly to be expected from the AP. Â
In a matter like this, medical billing typically follows the traditional route....if the patient is unable to pay then it's sent to the hospital's collections dept and if they're unable to get payment it's usually covered by The State. Â
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Crime-scene cleanup is a booming business, with many companies making a good living with it. Â It's usually quite expensive, as crime scenes involving human body fluids or body parts are treated as a hazardous materials cleanup where the cleaners must wear full-protective Tyvek suits, respirators, etc.Â
Do a web search for "crime scene cleanup" and you'll get an idea of the scope of this.Â
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As to payment for damages to the building and costs for cleanup, I believe that much of this is covered by a comprehensive homeowner's insurance policy when it's been officially established as being a crime against the owner but just as with anything else I'm assuming it's up to the judgment of the insurance company and the scope of the homeowner's plan. Â
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"Reminder for 2013: Review homeowners insurance plan for the stoat cave to make sure I'm covered when I paint the walls with a dirtbag's guts"
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In other news, a 54 year old woman near Marysville was arrested last night and will be charged with assault for shooting her neighbor over fireworks because she apparently could not be bothered to call the sheriffs department. Another stunning gun owner moment. Yep, makes you just want to put all your faith in the judgement of folks with guns.Â
 @Citizen#3457899654 ...especially given the responses / comments of some such claimants. Reminds me of Joe Isuzu saying "Trust me!"
 @Citizen#3457899654 Yeah, makes you think about all the gangbangers walking around with guns and the police unable to stop and frisk them (4th Amendment). Drat those amendments anyway....
@Citizen#3457899654
And how many people were killed by irresponsible people driving drunk this weekend? Of course you have zero problem with all these lives lost. You of course do not wish to outlaw the car or the alcohol, just the gun. Typical liberal hypocrite claiming itâs all about saving lives.
 @Alex Clayton  @Citizen#3457899654 Drivers have to be licensed after passing a written test and a driving test. Do gun owners?
Motor vehicles have to be registered with the state. Do guns?
Drivers are required to carry insurance to at least help cover the costs of their negligence if they screw up. Do gun owners have to do that?
People caught driving while intoxicated or driving without insurance can lose their licenses and be forbidden to drive. How about gun owners?
People caught driving with suspended or revoked license can have their cars seized on the spot and then sold at auction. How about gun owners and their guns?
Motor vehicle owners pay substantial taxes on their vehicles and on the fuel those vehicles use. How about gun owners?
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I think you are being a "conservative" hypocrite by trying to use oranges to make a point about crapapples.
 @Iconoclast Actually, my comment about "hypocrite" was directed initially in response to an open accusation made by Alex Clayton: it was not your argument be begin with (unless perhaps you chose to identify with it.)
i personally believe that gun owners should be required to carry insurance to compensate those harmed due to negligence in storage or use. It might help encourage better training and perhaps even periodic mental evaluations.
There are municipal codes and zoning codes which often require that vehicles on private property be registered and licensed. Been bit there. I believe also farm vehicles and machinery are required to be registered in some form for tax purposes, although I cannot point you to the precise RCW.
 @JLS1950 I don't agree that all cars have to be registered even if they are never driven on public roads. Race cars aren't registered. Wrecks are registered. Cite the relevant RCW to back up that assertion.
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There is always a liability risk if you misuse or negligently allow to be misused anything you possess. That is vastly different than requiring insurance.
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Chastising me for an ad hominem attack after you accuse someone of being a hypocrite. Maybe you should examine your own hypocrisy.Â
@Iconoclast
Actually, motor vehicles on private property ARE required to be registered and in most municipalities must actually have current tabs.
On private property your homeowners insurance may come to the rescue for certain matters, but if you do not carry auto liability insurance and someone is injured by your driving on your private property, you can be sued and you may well lose your property and home.Likewise, if you are driving on your private property, you cause damage or injury, and you are not licensed, that fact can be taken into account to support an accusation of negligence / incompetence.
If you cannot respond to an argument without going ad hominem with unprintable words, you must have somewhat limited intellect and imagination - and a great deal of intolerance for people whose views do not coincide with your own. Your predisposition to anger is showing - suggesting an underlying bitterness over some perceived loss, perhaps long, long ago.
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Errata: that was supposed to be "crabapples". Apologies.
 @JLS1950 "Drivers have to be licensed after passing a written test and a driving test. Do gun owners?"
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You do not need a license to drive a vehicle on private property. Just as you need a license to drive on public roads, I need a license to carry a gun in public.
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"Motor vehicles have to be registered with the state. Do guns?"
Again, if they are on private property, no registration is required.
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"Drivers are required to carry insurance to at least help cover the costs of their negligence if they screw up. Do gun owners have to do that?"
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Not on your own property. And people are not required to carry liability insurance for possessions on private property.
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"People caught driving with suspended or revoked license can have their cars seized on the spot and then sold at auction. How about gun owners and their guns?"
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Jurisdictions with unfathomably complex gun laws will confiscate firearms at the drop of a hat. NYC does this to gun owners in transit.
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"Motor vehicle owners pay substantial taxes on their vehicles and on the fuel those vehicles use. How about gun owners?"
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Road taxes which are to the benefit of both society and the vehicle owner. Are you suggesting taxes to pay for more public gun ranges?
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"I think you are being a "conservative" hypocrite by trying to use oranges to make a point about crapapples."
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What I think of you cannot be posted in a family-friendly forum. But, objectively speaking, you certainly are ignorant.
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 @Alex Clayton Broke his little heart when Pravda went libertarian and pro-gun rights.
I love hearing stories like this.
Oh, but I thought there was "no reason anyone should need to own a gun" ?
Here's another positive "use of firearm" story that the mostly anti-gun media will not push! Thanks Komo for posting this article!
can we get pics of the "alleged" burglar ?Â
@Maynard G Krebbs Before & After shots would be nice. Double entendre there without even trying!
This is where the homeowner could have used an Assault Rifle, then there wouldn't have been medical bills, trial costs or prison costs. FYI, Prison costs are only for those criminals not signed up for the Catch and Release Program we have in place.
shoot them once for breaking in then shoot them again for getting blood on your floor. Now you have saved the taxpayers the hospital bill AND up to  20 year prison term giving him free room and board plus healthcare and appeals and maybe saved someone else from being murdered or a woman from being raped and killed in the future by the intruder when he gets out of prison.
20 years, ha! I would be surprised if he got 20 months. This states criminal justice system doesn't have the stomach to hold anyone accountable for their actions. I do, however, support the idea of a second shot for bloodying up the floor.
 @32jim2 A  little over cooked. No?
 Shooting  one in self defense is one thing  ( Just ) ;  but not   do to being inconvenienced; not Just . That will be as criminal as the brake in.
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Not even a good jest to write it as that.Â
 @Korz i think the word your looking for is "break" in, not brake in. Brake is in reference to stopping a motor or wheel form spinning, to brake.Â
good
Only "sad" part of this is the guy was not a better shot. Now we get to support the criminal for years. He will get out and start all over again with new victims.
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 @al_waÂ
It was a near miss, he just grazed him. Many people find out the hard way that you can miss with a shotgun. Still glad he had a gun to defend himself though. Nice to see the criminal go the ER instead of the victim.
@Alex Clayton
from a few yards away a shotgun isn't much different than a huge-bore gun in terms of shot dispersion so it is easy to miss a target.
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Probably just as well. A homicide, even justified, is probably a pain to deal with. And this is one burglar who may never stick his head in a window again....
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Don't agree. I can't see how shooting someone outside, in the face, is lawful. Â Wild, wild, west up here.Â
One day you will be a victim and you will scream from the mountain tops for justice. Here, justice was partially served and rightfully so! Word needs to get out that "we" are not going to stand for these law breaking scumbags to continue victimizing the rest of society.Â
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 @DT I guess it would have been much more civilized for him to just wait to be murdered and robbed.
 @DT Reading comprehension classes would appear to be in order. "as an intruder entered through a window" is NOT "outside." Secondly, you have no obligation to retreat from your home. Thirdly, breaking into a house shows a clear disregard for person or property rights. Fourthly, would you rather the owner waits until the burglar gets inside, and has full freedom of movement, making aiming and self-defense even harder? Lastly, if you cannot shoot someone in the process of breaking into your home while you are home, do you think that there are ANY circumstances when a person can defend their castle or their life?
 @RN1  @DT Actually the sad thing is there is a crazy Rep. down near Olympia who is proposing HB 1012 which would make it a duty of ANYONE to retreat from nearly every situation and NOT use deadly force, even possibly in your own home. Here is the bill: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1012
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Call up Rep. Appleton's office and tell her how crazy this is. The phrase "should know" is even in the bill! Insanity!
 @NorthwestEconomist Yes, a total capitulation to criminals.
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"Homicide shall not be justifiable under this statute if thep. 1 HB 1012 1 slayer knows or should know that he or she could avoid the necessity of using such force with complete safety by retreating."
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More than fuzzy enough to allow a cynical or "crusading" prosecutor to effectively gut our right to self-defense.
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A Democrat, of course. A bit surprising she is from Whidbey Island and not Seattle. But I am sure the lunatics from Seattle are lining up to support this steaming pile of excrement.
 @DT anyone who enters your place is there to harm you. don't ignore strangers at your door  yell at them to go away. tell them your armed. if they continue to try and get in they are there to KILL you so defend yourself. no one wants to go to jail and they will fight and kill to stay out of prison. people who are mental or high on substance are just as likely to kill you so defend yourself. Or wait the 45 minutes for the police to arrive to take pictures of the crime scene and your dead or near dead body.
 @DT his  face  was inside; his feed were only outside. He was not shot in the feet ,  that would have been illegal; yes.
@DT
You hear that glass breaking.. that's your glass house crumbling around your feet..
 @DT Of course you don't agree. The criminal is a "victim" in your mind and the home owner is a bad person who had "stuff" the criminal did not. So the owner should have just left and let the bad guy take anything he wanted. That is of course until someone makes you a victim, then you will scream about how the police did not do there job and protect you.
 @DT Perhaps you would have preferred the robber to finish coming through the window and slaughter the homeowner? From your past comments here I'd bet that's a reasonable expectation of your mentality.Â
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You strike me as a type of person who is much like a vegetarian who has never met a shark in the ocean. The first time you are mugged or robbed you will change your tune. Hopefully you will live through it to learn some good survival skills.Â
@NorthwestEconomist@DT
"The prosecutor says the homeowner fired as an intruder entered through a window."
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Last I checked, "outside" and "entering through a window" were rather disparate concepts. But apparently not in DTB's world?
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Intresting story...You're sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door. Half-awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers. At least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way. With your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your shotgun.You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door and open it...In the darkness, you make out two shadows. One holds something that looks like a crowbar.When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike, you raise the shotgun and fire.The blast knocks both thugs to the floor.One writhes and screams while the second man crawls to the front doorand lurches outside.As you pick up the telephone to call police, you know you're in trouble.In your country, most guns were outlawed years  before, and the few that are privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them useless..Yours was never registered. Police arrive and inform youthat the second burglar has died. They arrest you for First Degree Murder and Illegal Possession of a Firearm. When you talk to your attorney, he tells you not to worry: authorities will probably plea the case down to manslaughter. "What kind of sentence will I get?" you ask. "Only ten-to-twelve years," he replies, as if that's nothing. "Behave yourself, and you'll be out in seven." The next day, the shooting is the lead story in the local newspaper. Somehow, you're portrayed as an eccentric vigilante while the two men you shot are represented as choirboys. Their friends and relatives can't find an unkind word to say about them.. Buried deep down in the article, authorities acknowledge that both "victims" have been arrested numerous times. But the next day's headline says it all: "Lovable Rogue Son Didn't Deserve to Die." The thieves have been transformed from career criminals into Robin Hood-type pranksters.. As the days wear on, the story takes wings. The national media picks it up, then the international media.  The surviving burglar has become a folk hero. Your attorney says the thief is preparing  to sue you, and he'll probably win. The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized several times in the past and that you've been critical of local police for their lack of effort in apprehending the suspects. After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be prepared next time. The District Attorney uses this to allege that you were lying in wait for the burglars. A few months later, you go to trial. The charges haven't been reduced, as your lawyer had so confidently predicted. When you take the stand, your anger at the injustice of it all works against you.. Prosecutors paint a picture of you as a mean, vengeful man. It doesn't take long for the jury to convict you of all charges. The judge sentences you to life in prison. This case really happened. On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk , England , killed one burglar and wounded a second. In April, 2000, he was convicted  and is now serving a life term.. How did it become a crime to defend one's own life in the once great British Empire   ? It started with the Pistols Act of 1903. This seemingly reasonable law forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun sales were to be made only to those who had a license. The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns but all firearms except shotguns.. Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and mandated the registration of all shotguns. Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987. Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed man with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked down the street shooting everyone he saw.When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun control", demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all privately owned handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.)Nine years later, at Dunblane , Scotland , Thomas Hamilton used a semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public school.For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally unstable, or worse, criminals. Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up law-abiding gun owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearm's still owned by private citizens.During the years in which the British government incrementally took away most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism. Authorities refused to grant gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that self-defense was no longer considered a reason to own a gun. Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the real criminals were released.Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police spokesman was quoted as saying, "We cannot have people take the law into their own hands."All of Tony Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no fear of the consequences. Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had seen most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given three months to turn them over to local authorities.Being good British subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't comply.Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns from private citizens.How did the authorities know who had handguns?The guns had been registered and licensed.Kind of like cars. Sound familiar?WAKE UP AMERICA ; THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT IN OUR CONSTITUTION."...It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."--Samuel Adams
 @h20dad tl;dr - there's something to be said for being concise, brief, and to-the-point. I lost the trees in your forest.
@h20dad I stopped reading where you opened the door.
@h20dad
@h20dad This is NOT why our founding fathers put the second ammendment into the Constitution....
 @h20dad No novels PLEASE keep it short!
 @32jim2  @h20dad 32jim2 ;  Why keep it short?:  you did not have to read all of it to get the plot.  and it is not nice to tell someone what to do . "No novels PLEASE keep it short!".     ------******######______  ) (   and again -------  WHY!     and why not!
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 @Korz  You mean like when you call it "tripe" or someone "stupid" is nice?
 @h20dad "Oh dear god.. save that tripe for the NRA fan fiction."  she is insane .
 @h20dad *butthead voice"  "words".. Â
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*english teacher voice" "paragraphs"
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*jules (from pulp fiction) voice* "english muthafawka, do you speak it?!?"
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seriously... Â that story was the most gawd-awful thing I've ever read.. Â and I actually did read the whole thing. Â
 @sleever  @h20dad sleever This is not a English class;  stupid! You are sooooooooooooooo stupid in  your "  "  . [You must be a Jr Hi English teacher in the public school].
 @Korz  @h20dad Hmm,  you must be one of my failing students.  Don't worry, school will be back in session in a day or two.  There's still time to turn that F into a C.
 @h20dad Oh dear god.. save that tripe for the NRA fan fiction.
 @DT  @h20dad Lack of paragraph breaks aside, that *is a true story*. It's NOT fiction. THAT is what England has become because of blithering fools who don't think you have a right to defend yourself in your own home. Clue phone ringing for you.
@DT @h20dad  Hey, DT, if you think defending yourself is so horrible, why not move to England, Canada or Australia?
 @DT  @h20dad  DT ;  Things as that did, do happen.  some people in power as in the DA, are very stupid; if not mentally and or spiritually mad. That is why checks and balances are very important , and we are losing many balances to tyranny.  A Gun has no sin to do unjust evil; only the criminal or a unjust person can use a gun unjustly. ban all weapons  from society  and only the criminal will have one and the government administrators ; some times they are one of the same.  Your good intentions may be good , but they will only do unjust evil  if realized in the Gun Laws  you  want .  Many  good intentions only pave a road to Hell and do no good,  the good  that was intended. Â
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 @DT  @h20dad You sound like you didn't know that until last year the #2 recipient of US foreign aid money was Egypt, you know, the brutal dictatorship that was overthrown by it's people? Guess you think our government is too saintly to do bad things.Â