Tree thieves shot

[dukalmighty]

DONNA - Police in Donna are deciding if a property owner will face charges, after shooting three suspected burglars. The shooting led to a grass fire. Firefighters are still monitoring hot spots this morning.

Police say the three men were stealing palm trees from a field on Canton Road East of Val Verde. The property owner shot at the men, hitting all three including the driver. He pulled off the road into a field and that's when the grass fire started.


"The exhaust system is real hot. The grass was high where it came to rest. And it caught the grass on fire underneath the car. The car caught on fire. And then with this wind, it picked up started blowing north, probably burned about 15 to 20 acres," says David Simmons, the Donna Fire Chief.

The three suspected burglars were taken to a hospital. NEWSCHANNEL 5 is working to find out their conditions. Police are questioning the property owner. Right now, he's not facing any charges.

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I believe that I heard one suspect died from his injuries and that they are filing murder charges against the property owner,I believe we will have to wait and see what a grand jury decides since under castle doctrine he may be justified but I'm waiting to hear more

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[dukalmighty]

Graham Garfield was arrested and charged with murder,the 3 men were on a public road and were not in possession of any trees and were not armed when they were shot,this guy is in trouble.They have had thefts in the past but you can't shoot people you think may be in the process of stealing from you.

[ccw9mm]

In Texas, yes? What time of day or night was this?

[dukalmighty]

It was night time and the guy that was killed had apparently recently lost his job,the palm trees sell for around 100.00 ea and there is evidence of several trees being stolen,I think the guy was waiting to see who was stealing the trees but jumped the gun and didn't wait til they were in the act of stealing them or else they were running and made it off the property before he shot,It's still somewhat sketchy,the cars catalytic converter set the field on fire after they drove in a ditch trying to get away IIRC

[bigiceman]

If they don't have your property and you are not in immediate attempt to prevent it's removal, no go. If they didn't have something in their hands trying to leave with it there is gonna be bad trouble for this guy.

[ccw9mm]

It was night time and ...

Well, it's night time and Texas, isn't that enough? Prowlers on private property at night engaged in furtive movement and (I would guess) obvious nefarious activity (by virtue of their whispers and attempts to be quiet) ... isn't that sufficient?

[Thumper]

Even if this guy gets off it still may cost him a lot more than the trees!

[Janq]

I won't call it simply because it occurred in Texas.

I've learned my lesson from Joe Horn. Texas is funny when it comes to 'law'.
If this were any other state though, dude would be up for manslaughter. And if he was found to have been lying in wait prior then it would murder one for the dead guy along with two more counts of assault with intent to kill.
Oh, and as an aside he is guilty of starting the fire regardless which is in itself a convictable crime. You do not park a car on top of dry grass. I thought that was common knowledge just for this reason.

- Janq would have called the cops and been a good witness

"Even if this guy gets off it still may cost him a lot more than the trees!" - Thumper

[dukalmighty]

Sheriff is saying,no stolen property and they were shot on a public street that's why there charging him with murder,I don't think this one is going before a grand jury

[JOHNSMITH]

Shot everyone including the driver - I think that, combined with the public street shots, will probably condemn this man.

Think before you open fire, that's all I can say.

[Double Naught Spy]

Texas law would allow for the shooting had the guys been trying to escape with the owner's property. He could have then shot with the belief that the property would not otherwise be recovered and could have done so on a public street. However, if they didn't have his property and were in flight with no aggression to the property owner, then it sounds like a really bad shoot.

[packinnova]

Yeah I think legally, he's up the creek without a paddle if events happened as described.

It would have been a different story if he caught them on his property with stolen property in hand.

[Duisburg]

just one suspect died? wow, that homeowner needs to practice more! It didn't really say why the homeowner was arrested but it seems like he'd be in more trouble for starting the grassfire than for the shootings.

[Napolean]

The article does not state what type of confrontation he had with the criminals. If he confronted and they went on the offensive, then disparity of force might help the guy stay out of jail, no matter if they were on a public street or not. If it was an ambush, the guy is up a creek without a paddle. There is not enough information in the article. I am sure there is another side to this story that we are not getting.

[Janq]

Think before you open fire, that's all I can say.

Bingo! ^^

Dude shot two people and killed a man over some trees, that are valued at what another person stated have a $100 street value.
We're talking human life here. A human life even that of a thief is worth far more than a tree or a C note.

People really do need to think things through before they act.

- Janq