Have recently found our front yard rolled. If I were to catch the perps. in the act, could I hold(literally) them until LE arrives? Being involved in BJJ for yrs., I am fairly confident I could get ahold of someone with very minimal discomfort to the person. I do not want them to be able to get away with this on a regular basis. If they are on foot, there is no license plate to get and following them home may or may not be an option.
Just looking for any advice on how to deal with them if I catch them red handed. I want to stay within the confines of the law and common sense. Please feel free to give advice, tips, past experiences, etc.
Any hands on or even the perception of “discomfort” will cause hot water you probably don’t want especially if it’s kids. Because some parents just won’t understand why you decided to assault their little precious that never did any harm.
I would be a huge fan of the scared straight method myself. And if that involves you scaring the living shit of out them to where they won’t come back and doesn’t require any physical hands on, you’ve won.
Not really. If they are no longer on your property the LEOs would get better stats for the kidnapping charge on you than the littering citation they’d give the turd burglars rolling your house. Expect a transport to the county jail for processing if they roll up and you’ve got a 15 year old (or younger) in an arm bar that you chased down the street. For reference, I used to TP houses while I was still in elementary school. You really think it’s wise to tackle an 11 year old? Even if you don’t end up in jail or charged, the news media loves shit like that. Bonus points if the kid is black and you’re white.
After all, how are you going to prove the person you’re holding against his will is the person who rolled your house? They will deny deny deny and you’ll end up on the nightly news as the BJJ master that beats up little kids or the old guy that follows little kids home. It sucks and it’s shitty, but unless you’ve got LEO buddies your options are fairly limited as most Depts will toss your complaint right into the garbage can. Of course, my local agency is pretty busy getting into shootouts with gang members. Yours might have less to do.
A better idea would be to install motion activated lights, and get a dog that alerts you to a ruckus in the front yard. A good camera would help but no one would be able to make a positive ID from any camera you would have on you at the time with the distance and darkness involved. If they’re not too old (meaning, you’re not getting rolled because you cut off a 25 year old stoner in traffic and he followed you home) you running out of your house with a flashlight screaming might be enough to get them to never come back.
Of course, if they’re anything like the teenagers around here they would just escalate the situation by throwing rocks into your windows a few weeks later. Or shoot at you as you came out of your house. Or break into your house the next time you left.
My house got TP’d quite a few times a few years ago. Cops called and showed every time. They said “what else do we have to do at 2am in this small town”.
One night these kids got BRAVE and parked their cars in front of my house. I called the cops and then let my 150lb Malamute out on a 250 foot retractable cable that was bolted to my front porch(that stupid dog would sit in the front yard in 100+ degree temps and refuse to come inside) to chase them down the street. Cops rolled up and I was sitting outside with the dog. Cops towed their two cars(presumably while these kids hid in the woods a couple hundred yards away and watched it all unfold). Dont know what the cops did after that, but house never got TP’d again.
Let me clarify. I would only consider going hands on if they were still on my property. So, they are on my property and physically holding them there is the only option I have that would allow for them to be apprehended by LE.
What are my options at that point?
The house is always lit up with plenty of floodlights. They were no deterrent at all.
I have two very small children and cannot imagine why someone would do this. Don’t care. I worry it may escalate further and would like to nip this in the bud. I hope this isn’t a rock/hard place scenario.
…an ass-whipping hurts temporarily…law suits hurt for a LONG time.
Catch the perps on video and sue the parents.
The problem nowadays is the, “Little Johnny is an AAAAAAngel” shit. All I know…my dad was scary enough to where I had not the ball sacks to try any shit as a kid.
Three words: Remote. Activated. Sprinklers.
Seriously, just get proof, and handle it through legal channels…or fire up the sprinkler system!
Record and report. Any other rec has to much risk for you.
What the kids need is to get their fuggin asses beat. What will likely be best for you is criminal mischief charges and possibly a civil lawsuit as well.
Gotcha. The biggest issue is that neither the law nor you can really do anything effective in this situation.
Even if you get video, good video, how are you going to know who it is you’re looking at?
Also, it was fourth of July. We had assholes throwing firecrackers in our backyard that night. Maybe you were just a random target and you’ll never have any other problems.
Isnt any sort of detaining against someones will against the law, given the abundance of dumb laws? Kidnapping, unlawful detention, battery, terroristic threats… ?
Exactly the sort of stuff I had considered which led me to ask on here what are the options? Multiple heads are better than just mine.
I am going to hide out and if I catch them in the act, will jump out screaming like a madman while throwing the little “poppers”(as in small child safe firework) on the ground. Maybe I can make someone piss/shit themselves and they’ll find the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
My concern is that if it turned out to be some young punks and they decided to get physical. Not too worried about taking an ass whipping, but the ramifications if I had to defend(physically-no firearms!) myself; even if I am being attacked on my property.
It is never a good idea to use any kind of force to defend or recover property. Is it legal…I have no idea what your local state laws are, but it is still a really bad idea, for all of the reasons people have mentioned. If you accidentally hurt one of the kids it would be a very very easy lawsuit.
I would strongly advise against physical touching, you or your dog, booby trapping etc. Get some cameras, get some bright lights and call the cops.
I know it’s frustrating, but especially in urban areas using BJJ against a 12 yr old is a pretty fast way to screw your life up.
Honestly, I wouldn’t even do that. That sounds like an easy case for negligence if someone gets hurt, has a heart attack, etc etc. don’t think for a second just because someone is trespassing will absolve you of liability.
Or if you could just lure 'em inside, BAM… I kid, I kid. As mentioned before, you should hope it was a one time thing and if it continues hit them in the only place you can in this neutered society, their parents checkbook. Just coming forth with a pic of little Johnny caught red handed from the police using the term “liable for damages” will probably be enough to wake parents up. If you want to press your luck you might be able to get lil Johnny to pay for a new roof, maybe even damages to car needing new paint job… Again, I kid.
I would try to avoid situations that have the potential to escalate into violence if I could safely do so.
You may find yourself facing multiple assailants/weapons/a harder fight then you expected. It may escalate beyond what you expected or intended and you may wind up having to hurt someone worse than you expected.
You can even find yourself being the next Zimmerman.
Let it go… Call the cops and let it go… Anything more will risk major problems… They’ll grow up, leave and the the next age group of kids will arrive… JMO
I like the ideas for lawn sprinklers, cameras, and maybe a big dog sleeping in the front yard (depending on the particular dog).
There might be some statute on the books where it is technically legal for you to detain the perps, but as most have said, it’s not likely to turn out well for you and just isn’t worth the risk.
I have wondered about the utility of a paintball marking gun for this type of issue, but I do NOT recommend going that route.