I was chilling in my room. Not asleep, but just chilling watching TV when I heard glass shatter downstairs. My heart sank. I'm not going to try to act like a badass, because honestly I was terrified. I grabbed my gun and went to put my ear to the door. I heard footsteps. I didn't know what was awaiting me downstairs but I decided that I was going to check it out. (Looking back, I should have called 911 because I could be dead right now). I creep down the stairs and I see a skinny black kid wearing all black. I instantly turned on the lights, pointed my gun at him and said "if you make any movement I will shoot you right now." The kid was frozen. I looked into his eyes and I saw fear. I also saw something else I couldn't explain, He reminded me of myself when I was younger and dumber. I patted him down and he had a knife on him which I took. I told him to sit down on the couch. He kept saying " are you gonna call the cops? Please don't man, please don't" I just said " you have more to worry about than me calling the cops" he then looked really scared. I asked him "why are you doing this man." He then just broke down. He started crying and telling me about how he has no where to go and how he was hungry and broke. I could tell he wasn't lying. I really felt bad for him. I ended up giving him a sandwich and a glass of milk and just talked to him for awhile. I told him I wasn't going to call the cops but if he ever came back again I would shoot him. I also took his picture and told him that if any houses on this street got robbed I would give the picture to the cops. He seemed grateful. I sent him on his way. I boarded up the window and went back to my room. I just hope that I thought him a lesson. I didn't want the kids life to be ruined, I gave him a chance. Honestly I probably would have called the cops if he didn't remind me of myself.
Damn mad props bro that probably took a lot from you to do that. Might have gave that kid a change of mind.
Wow OP, very touching story! I was expecting a crackhead or something but not a kid. Makes me realize that life may be tough for me, but I have my family and I'm surviving day to day without a struggle; whereas that poor kid's life is nothing but a struggle. Hopefully the insightive conversation you had with him maybe straightend him out.
Honestly, I believe you did the right thing, although the amount of kids who are so fucked up and can steal anything without emotion, then when caught turn onto the sob story is unreal..
Wow, you're lucky. I can appreciate the big heart and kind gestures, but next time you're faced with a dangerous situation like this please call the police or do anything other than confront the guy. I had a close friend who tried to reason with a robber and ended up getting beaten to near death. He is now about 35 y/o and has a home health aide caring for him. You're obviously caring so be sure to care about your family and loved ones the next time you make a decision like this because it could easily have gone bad. Glad your experience wasn't a tragedy.
Gun ownership ftw! OP, respect for recognizing a lost kid, and not having his life fucked by the legal system. But 99.9% of robberies do NOT end like this. So next time, hopefully there won't ever be one, call the cops, take up a corner of th room, aim that pistola at the door and wait for the police. Hopefully intruder steals any illegals before the cops arrive
did you skim over the part where OP stated he had a firearm. Your friend wouldn't have been beaten to near death had he acted like OP. "hide in the closet and let the bad guys do whatever they want" yeah thats a great mindset you should move to Britain. He reacted incredibly well to this situation, although he should have called the police the moment he knew there was an intruder. This isnt stealing a candy bar from the corner store he broke into a home, he should be locked up. Op probably wasnt the first person he conned with that sob story.
You really shoulda called the cops man, when you invite people like that into there, that intention doesn't leave, hes not just gonna walk off with a changed attitude, hes still gonna be in the same spot in life and now hes had a huge opportunity to scope out whats in that part of your house, he knows how to get in since theres no window he can do it silently. I wish ya the best of luck dude but shit is fucking rough, this dude could be scoping out of your times that your away from the house if something caught his eye, he already knows you have a knife, gun and whatever else he saw worth stealing. I mean, from a logical perspective why would he break into another persons house when he already knows what you got, i mean great you got his picture but i have no idea if thats enough.
Complete agreement with this. We caught my step-daughter stealing my husbands vicodins (not only once but twice) out of his drawer in our room. She could turn on the sob story like you wouldn't believe. We kicked her out after the second time, though i was going to give her another chance if she had admitted it, and i got into her facebook page on our computer (i was going to delete her "icon" but thought about it) and found a whole ton of lies she'd been telling us, and lies she told friends about us.
ouch struck a nerve huh. Yeh im a regular john wayne The only mistake OP made was not calling the police and getting close to him and frisking him. Your friend obviously fucked up letting the scumbag get the better of him. Theres a reason cops have you get on the ground from a distance and put your hands behind your head, its so shit like that doesnt happen. I wont stoop to that petty armchair psychologist shtick you tried, it was cute though. Have a nice day.
That is a prime example of why we are going to need guns to protect ourselfs. You did the right thing, I don't believe I'm calling the cops for everything. If I hear someone break into my house, I'm not going to instantly call the cops either I'm going to handle it myself.
Exactly. Dude is just gonna be hungry again in a couple days. What's he going to do then? Compassion is good. Compassion in this circumstance would have been driving the kid to the nearest shelter if you didn't want to call the cops on him. However, the type of person who robs another isn't likely to hang around at a shelter and work to get his shit straight, so calling the cops really would have been the right thing to do. Now he will, without a doubt, break into someone else's house, somewhere not so close to OP's house, and he'll be more careful about it this time because OP scared him. He will probably scope out houses for the next couple of days, and then hit some old lady's house. All you did was fill his belly for a few hours. I understand that you think you did the right thing OP, but you really didn't help this dude out one bit. He needs compassion in the form of getting help to get his shit straight, not a get out of jail free card.
"Tomorrow will be the best day of Raymond K. Hessel's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted." ..good going, Mr. Durden.
I'll admit you did strike a nerve. I'm talking about a friend of mine who was attacked in a similar situation and you minimize the incident by throwing out an less than educated opinion. You have no regard for people when you post so wtf are you doing on a forum? My friend has a real life long injury he has to live with and the best you can come up with is "you should move to Britain"?! You're an insensitive d***, not much more to say about it than that.