Guns Save Life deputy chief joe morelock
Illinois Department of Natural Resources Deputy Police Chief Joe Morelock at Guns Save Life's Champaign, IL meeting.
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I serve as the Executive Director of Guns Save Life, a successful and aggressive regional grassroots gun rights group that meets in six cities each month in Illinois. Each month, our meetings feature a main speaker and we bring in some fascinating people.

Last year at our Champaign, Illinois meeting, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Deputy Police Chief Joe Morelock visited. After giving a summary of IDNR programs and news, Joe shared with us his very personal story of defending himself and his children from a home invader. His self-defense story came loaded with practical lessons for us all.

The incident took place in December, 2012 and lasted nearly nine minutes. The aftermath lasted considerably longer.

Deputy Chief Morelock prefaced his remarks by telling us he was going to move around the room while he talked; he wanted to be open and not keep a podium between himself and the listeners, because he had nothing to hide. He also warned us that it might get emotional, as the incident involved his family and this was the first time he had spoken about it publicly.

To frame his decision-making that night, he gave us a summary of his background and training. After high school, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, seeing active duty in Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Operation Eastern Exit (Somalia), Cuba (Operation GTMO-2 tours in support of the Haitian Migrant Crisis), and Puerto Rico. While in the military, he had MP and SWAT training.

After his service, he worked as a part-time police officer while going to college. When he was through with school, he applied to the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. He has also gone to the State Police Academy and the DNR academy, and has since worked his way up to deputy chief of the law enforcement division of IDNR. He was part of a team that went to New Orleans for a few weeks to assist after Hurricane Katrina.

He has had to discharge his weapon three times in the line of duty; twice at animals, one a Bengal tiger. He was also wounded in the face and legs by shotgun pellets during the apprehension of an armed robbery suspect in one incident. “I know guns from both ends,” he said.

He wanted us to know about his previous training and experience because if any of us are ever involved in an incident like he was, we might well make different choices about how much to intervene, and when or when not to use our firearm.

The Incident

December 16, 2012 was a good day for Joe and his family…until that night. Extended family stopped by their home in Decatur earlier in the day, and later his wife left for an overnight with other relatives at a bed and breakfast in another town. He took his kids Christmas shopping — they were 10 and 6 at the time — and when they got home, he let them stay up late watching movies and camping out on the living room floor. He was with them in the living room late that night, sleeping, when he heard a loud noise.

Joe looked out his front door and saw a woman sitting on his front lawn, and a man standing over her choking her with both hands. Both appeared to be in their early 20s. Joe opened the front door and forcefully told the guy to go away. The guy walked to the end of the driveway where Joe’s squad car was located. He then stopped and began pounding on the woman’s car, yelling and cursing at the woman and at Joe.

Joe ran upstairs and retrieved a gun, a 1911-style pistol. Running back down to the front door, he found the woman pounding on the door, pleading and begging to be let in. Her attacker had lost interest in battering the woman’s vehicle and advanced toward her and the front door, clearly intent on resuming his attack.

Joe let the girl in, ordered her to stand in one corner, as he secured the door. He decided at that point that he needed a different weapon. He thought his duty belt with his duty sidearm was downstairs, so he ran down to get it, only to find that it wasn’t there.

He remembered that he had left it in the trunk of his squad car. He found his GLOCK duty gun downstairs, however, with which he had shot thousands of rounds over the years. “It was an extension of my hand” he said of his familiarity with the weapon.

Running back up the stairs, he was on the phone with 911, describing what he was wearing (not much, just green shorts and a t-shirt). Why tell them that? Because the police were on their way and he wanted them to know what the good guy looked like before they showed up, so he didn’t get shot by responding officers.

“Decatur Police,” he said admiringly “don’t miss much.” He wanted them to know who not to shoot before they arrived on the scene.

As he returned to the main floor, the cursing assailant had begun trying to kick in the front door. Joe told him to stop, but the attacker wasn’t listening. Moments later, the aggressor forced his way into the house and began advancing on the woman.

Joe had his firearm pointed at the assailant from the moment he entered the house, and kept giving repeated commands to the assailant, all of which the angry invader ignored. The man began attacking the woman again and Joe continued to tell him to get away, get on the ground, etc.

You can hear all this on the 911 call, which was released publicly after the incident. Joe gave the man every opportunity to cease the attack, probably more opportunity than most of us would.

Joe said he was trying to buy time for responding officers to arrive. Instead of backing down or complying, the assailant stripped off his hat and shirt and advanced on Joe, puffing his chest in the classic pre-violence posturing. He kept challenging Joe to “shoot me.”

Joe kept himself between the assailant and his kids who were still in the living room and did his best to keep the girl behind him as well. Joe kept giving ground, hoping the police would get there in time.

The assailant backed him all the way into his living room, where his kids had been sleeping. They were awake now, and the older boy was covering his younger sister with his own body to protect her, hiding both of them under a blanket. Joe kept giving verbal commands. He kept giving ground – until he stood with his children at his feet behind him.

Then Joe fired his weapon, striking his would-be assailant with a single .40 S&W round dead center mass, ending the immediate threat.

The girl became hysterical, of course, and ran to the dying man. It turns out she was his estranged wife, and despite him trying to choke her minutes before, she still loved him.

Joe did what he had to do when he had no other option.

The Decatur police had rolled up and were just approaching the front door when they heard the gunshot. The Deputy Chief had high praise for how the local cops handled things.

He learned later that the cops took the kids out, keeping them covered with the blanket so they wouldn’t see what was on the floor in their home.

Morelocksm

The Aftermath

If you’re involved in a use of force like this, you will be a suspect until proven otherwise. Joe knew this and complied with the officers who arrived. He was put in the back of a squad car and eventually taken to the police station.

Joe said that after such an incident, your thinking will be cloudy. It’s best, after answering the basic questions of who you are and where you live, to assert your right to counsel and stop making statements until later, when your body has recovered and your mind has had a chance to clear.

As he sat in the back of that patrol car in his driveway, a jumble of thoughts were crashing through his head:

“I just killed someone in front of my kids.”
“I just ruined Christmas.”
“The house is ruined.”
“We can’t come back here.”

The kids, of course, would have to go somewhere as Joe was being detained for questioning. Their mom was out of town. They asked Joe where she was. He didn’t know the address, but he was able to tell them the name of the bed and breakfast and the town.

They asked for his wife’s phone number. It was a number he used every day, but so much was going on in his mind he just couldn’t remember it. They said that was all right, they would figure it out.

He suggested the boy’s basketball coach, who lived nearby and had kids about the same ages as his, as someone who could take care of the kids for the night. He was able to give a name, but again, not an address or phone number. Decatur Police figured that out, too, and the kids were taken care of.

He noted how the confusion he experienced just reinforces earlier advice of asking for counsel and not making any statements about the event immediately. His mind wasn’t up to giving accurate information that soon after the incident. He couldn’t accurately recall his wife’s cell phone number, much less exact details of what had just happened.

He was taken to the police station and the police again asked him what had happened. “I very respectfully told them that I hoped they understood, but the police union I was a member of had a lawyer available to me and I wanted to talk to them before saying anything else.” The investigator was not upset with him, and no undue pressure was put on him to talk before he was ready.

They had been able to find his wife and told her that the few clothes he was wearing were likely to be taken as evidence. Later that night, he was allowed to leave, wearing the clothes his wife had purchased at Walmart in the middle of the night on the way to the station.

He couldn’t go home. Not only was his front door broken and his house a mess, it was still a crime scene and investigators were still there. Also, threats from the family and friends of the “suspect” were already coming in.

The Lessons

Counseling: don’t go it alone After the incident, Joe got counseling for the kids, and for himself. “That was a very good decision,” he said. One of the first things the psychiatrist told him was to get out of that house. Sell it and move.

He told Joe that he would never be comfortable there again, that he’d never be able to relax. It would slowly destroy his family. It could cost him his marriage. It might cost him his life, too. So Joe took the advice and called a couple of friends and relatives on the way home.

Joe was grateful that fellow officers from his department and others stood by while Joe and friends moved belongings out of the house.

The media are not your friends – The initial reports in the media were that someone had been “murdered” at his house. They sensationally reported the event, and not to his benefit.

Later, he and some friends came over to the house to move out personal belongings. He asked the press people to please not film them as they took stuff out of the house. They ignored his requests and filmed anyway. The press will say what they want to say and do what they want to do, and it probably won’t be good for you.

The local television media shot video rather intrusively as Joe and his family packed up some of the essentials and carried them out of the house. They ran the footage on the local evening news.

Expect threats –The family members and friends of the 21-year-old “suspect” not only communicated threats to Joe and his family, they harassed his neighbors looking for people to testify against him.

Matthew Hollgarth
No longer a threat.

Some of the suspect’s “friends” looked for and found a guy to kill Joe and his wife. The would-be killer, who was suffering from terminal cancer, went to police when he found out the friends wanted him to kill Joe’s children, too. That led to around-the-clock security for about three months.

It’s expensive to shoot someone, even justifiably – The incident saved Joe’s family (and the perp’s estranged wife) from harm…and cost Joe between $40,000 an $50,000 all told. Hotels, counseling, and relocation all cost money. Immediate repairs had to be made to the house, and because of all the press coverage, the market value took a nosedive. Joe took a $17,000 loss when he sold the home. There were relocation expenses, too.

He had to live with his mother-in-law for a year.

Home invasion.
Scene of the incident in Decatur, Illinois

Results of the Investigation

The case went to a coroner’s jury where the family members of the deceased again appeared and brought accusations against Joe. The jury came back and in a very unusual occurrence, made a statement before delivering their verdict: “The safety and sanctity of the home shall not be violated.” They then ruled this a case of justifiable homicide.

Joe summarized his experience this way: “I’m glad I had a gun. I’m glad I had all that training. Be vigilant. Complacency kills.”

Joe said he kept a copy of everything that was written about him or the incident. When GSL asked him to speak to our group, he remembered the support he had gotten from us at the time on our website, both in the story we published and the comments from GSL members supporting his actions that night. We were perfect strangers, yet he said the support came when he needed it most. He reread that stuff and decided to accept our invitation to talk to the group.

We’re grateful that he did. It was a heartfelt talk that drew a long standing ovation at the end. Joe gladly answered questions, both during the presentation and for a half hour or more after the meeting. We’re lucky to have such a man as this in law enforcement and as a neighbor. Thank you, Joe, for coming to speak and for doing what you do.

 

This article was originally published in 2016.

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46 COMMENTS

  1. Good article. We all talk of owning guns to defend ourselves and our loved ones, but it’s always good to read stories and advice from those who have actually traveled that road.

    More of this type, please, Dan.

    • The real lesson here; don’t open your front door to crazy people you don’t know.
      Especially with your kids inside who are your priority, not a stranger, female or otherwise.
      He’s lucky it wasn’t a set up to rob him and he waited way too late to shoot.

  2. The media aren’t your friend…neither are the po-leece. We are figuratively & literally on our own. I grew up in Kankakee,ILL. Most cops were to say the least corrupt & violent. Buy a backhoe!

    • “Buy a backhoe!”

      That only works as long as you have access to enough land and have neighbors that don’t ask a lot of nosy questions.

      But if you do, consider yourself truly blessed…

      *snicker* 😉

  3. Wonder if he was part of the gun grab squad after Katrina in NO.

    I bet he got much better treatment afterwards because he was in LE.

    • Wow, what a miserable prick you must be. You read this article and your response is to start thinking and speculating the worst of someone you don’t know.

        • It’s not a matter of bowing and scraping. It’s a matter of having such a miserable outlook that your first thought is to think the worst of someone and toss out purely speculative conjecture that they’re some kind of Nazi.

        • I think it’s a reasonable enough question. If he did, it would create a certain irony to this story. Not that I mean to say I’m glad about anything that happened to him and wish him all the best and am glad he and his family were all unhurt of course.

          This article just raised certain questions about uneven treatment in LE and whether this guy was part of the Katrina gun grab goon squad.

        • “Did he help confiscate weapons or not.”

          They didn’t shoot his dog ‘Daisy’…

  4. “He was taken to the police station and the police again asked him what had happened. “I very respectfully told them that I hoped they understood, but the police union I was a member of had a lawyer available to me and I wanted to talk to them before saying anything else.” The investigator was not upset with him, and no undue pressure was put on him to talk before he was ready.”

    It mentions the investigator not pressuring him for information. If he were an ordinary citizen instead of an off duty police officer, would the investigator have been more inclined to pressure him for answers?

    • I would say that depends on your location, and also the cop on the other side of the table they will likely fasten you to. Really a good idea to have self defense insurance of one kind or another. Also remember there is a DA who may decide to try to destroy your life just because he wants another scalp to hang on his wall especially if he is a Democrat or worse a Soros Democrat.

  5. Serious question:

    In my research and learning about legally justified use of deadly force, I have run into something that is deeply troubling to me. What I keep finding is that (in general) we are not legally justified to use a firearm to defend ourselves from an “unarmed” person of somewhat similar size, strength, sex, fitness, and age. Thus, if you are a man between the ages of 18 and 55 (or thereabouts) and of average size, strength, and fitness–and another man in that same ballpark is unarmed and attacks you–you are legally limited to only using your hands and feet to defend yourself.

    The alleged justification of that legal “doctrine” is that an attacker who is unarmed and more-or-less equally matched with you does not actually present an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm because you should be able to simply fend off (with your hands and feet) your equally matched attacker. The fact that your attacker could render you dead or unconscious (at which time your attacker can easily kill you) with a single solid punch to the head somehow doesn’t figure into this doctrine.

    That really angers me. If I am minding my own business–being polite/respectful to everyone–and some scumbag suddenly attacks me, why do I have to roll the dice on the outcome of a fist fight? In my humble opinion, in such a scenario, I believe it is just and fair that I be able to brandish and/or point my self-defense firearm at my attacker. If my attacker then breaks-off his/her attack, fantastic. If my attacker insists on continuing his/her attack after realizing that I am armed or pointing a firearm at him/her, then I believe that I should be legally justified to pull the trigger at that point.

    • “Thus, if you are a man between the ages of 18 and 55 (or thereabouts) and of average size, strength, and fitness–and another man in that same ballpark is unarmed and attacks you–you are legally limited to only using your hands and feet to defend yourself.”

      Location, location, location.

      Walking down a street somewhere and a thug jumps you, you might have a problem.

      Down here in Florida where my county sheriff is Grady “Because they ran out of bullets” Judd, self-defense is a lower bar of proof.

      In your own home, even in California, for cripe’s sake, you are covered by ‘castle doctrine’, and as the King, someone breaking into your home you can ‘crown’ as you see fit (enough to stop the threat, that is)…

    • U_S,

      Your concern raises some alarms:

      In the situation you describe, there is no way to judge equal strength. The attacker may be of equal size, but you have no way to know if he is significantly stronger.

      The same goes for speed.

      And training.

      And drug inducement.

      When you are being threatened, there is no reliable way to assess the situation to decide “Oh, it looks like we are equal in all ways. I should not draw my gun on this fellow…after all, I have a 50-50 chance of winning.”

      So, fully agree with your frustration. If an unarmed person attacks me, I will respond as if my life/well-being is in danger.

      My USCCA insurance will kick in to defend me after I defend myself.

      • LifeSavor,

        You highlighted the other gigantic problem with that legal “doctrine”–you cannot possibly know with any reasonable level of certainty whether your attacker has similar levels of fitness, speed, strength, or “enhancement” (e.g. drugged up and impervious to pain or much stronger than normal).

        And these days you cannot even be sure if your attacker is the same sex or a different sex with so many cross-dressers going to extremes to masquerade as the opposite sex.

        Finally, you have no way of knowing if your attacker has a concealed handgun or stabbing/slashing tool which he/she plans to deploy at some point in his/her attack.

        Combine all of these uncertainties and I believe a person who was reasonably polite and respectful (in other words not provoking someone) should be legally justified to brandish and/or point a self-defense handgun (without initially shooting) at an attacker. Sadly, what I believe is reasonable and just may not be what courts tell juries.

      • LifeSavor, I can agree with your analysis up to the point where you quit, after saying you may have a 50-50 chance. You should carry on to observe that a lowlife who attacks strangers would doubtless take your gun and kill you with it, should he win, so let’s cut to the chase and shoot him several times before commencing the hand-to-hand.

  6. Good article … But I have to ask how he would have been treated if he wasn’t a member of the “fraternity,” albeit a different chapter.

    • The Chicago area seem to be changing, now that concealed carry is recognized, stopping someone in your home from attacking you doesn’t seem to be seen as an outrage as it would have, 10 years or so back…

  7. My opinion is that he received no pressure to talk without a lawyer because he was an LEO. We peons can’t expect that.

    I realize no normal person wants to shoot someone even in defense.

    However, I believe he should have shoot the attacker as soon as he broke down the door. This is re-inforced by the statement that he ended up being backed towards his children before he shot the attacker.

    He was compromised by letting the woman inside. Battered spouses often end up attacking those who confront the abuser.

    Don’t know exactly what i would have done in this situation. But I preach to my wife and daughter that if someone breaches the door…..start shooting…… and stop when they stop.

    • “However, I believe he should have shoot the attacker as soon as he broke down the door.”

      Young kids were with him. I think he was trying to not expose them them to something extremely traumatic (the shooting, and after effects) if he could help it…

      • My thoughts exactly. Also perhaps because he – as a LEO – already knew how any situation would be scrutinized by investigators and the D.A., and gave the perp every chance to leave, until he no longer had that luxury and had to shoot.

      • Understood and I concur…..but that went sideways pretty quick.

        He should have shot him when he came through the door. If his intent was to shield his kids from a traumatic event……he was already too late…..someone kicked in his front door.

    • LEO is constitutionally mandated to stop all questioning when the right to counsel is invoked, and absent a clear waiver, nothing said after that is admiisible

  8. Call me callous, but I wouldn’t have interfered in the marital dispute in the first place. Call the cops and let them deal with it. I know he’s law enforcement, but he had his kids to think of.

    Don’t be a hero if you want to keep your sanity and your life. As they say, every good deed has its reward, and its not usually very nice.

    • This guys a “officer” with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources?
      He was “in the military and he had MP and SWAT training.”
      Yet he looked out his front door and saw some punk beating his girlfriend so he
      “opened the front door and forcefully told the guy to go away.”

      This guy wouldn’t last one day on the Chicago Police Department.
      A Marine MP would of just went outside and beat the shit out of the punk.
      I kind of doubt the “Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Operation Eastern Exit (Somalia), Cuba (Operation GTMO-2 tours in support of the Haitian Migrant Crisis), and Puerto Rico” part.
      He was probably just making that shit up. This is actually laughable.
      A Marine who had MP training who see’s some BS on his lawn and goes back in the house?
      Really? Ever tussle with a MP? You will likely get the beating of a lifetime.

      This never gets to the house, go beat the shit out of the punk on the lawn or street.
      That’s what real Marine MPs do. “What race is he”? It doesn’t matter.
      It’s been taken care of, you might want to send an ambulance, I just beat the shit out of him.
      I know female CPDs who would have just beat this kids ass on their lawn.
      “I just killed someone in front of my kids.” “I just ruined Christmas.” “The house is ruined.”
      “We can’t come back here.” Man up and this never would have happened.
      It’s pretty typical of IDNR, they mostly write tickets for no fishing permits.
      They usually work in pairs so I hope this guy has a “tougher” partner.

      • Yeah, go beat up the punk, and his abused wife will testify against you, because she’s a psycho that hoped “she could change” her husband.

        No way.

        Let the event run its course. You just don’t know the dynamics behind the situation. Let the cops take out the trash; it’s their job. All the high-minded bullshit, at the end of the day cops are nothing but trash collectors.

        • Let his wife testify, you have your family and neighbors to testify for you.
          You should call the local cops and they will show.

          The dynamics of the situation are this: The guys a ex MP WITH military SWAT training which gets you into just about any PD academy there is. MPs have to deal with stuff like this all the time on base and off base it’s usually against younger soldiers who are drunk and full of piss and vinegar. They are usually not liked and tend to hang around with other MPs.

          Simply put, MPs get into fist fights all the time. It takes a special mindset to be an MP, your position knows no rank to a point. You have to decide whether busting someone who is a higher rank is worth it or just say screw it. For the most part, MPs are mostly bad asses. It’s a 4-8 year commitment.

          “MP companies are some of the most heavily armed units in the Army, and they know how to use it. My company spent more time at the range than most others did in the neighboring Infantry Division. When we got into a fight, we laid down the hate.”

          This guy would have been better off going outside and dealing with the situation then letting the woman inside his house. At that point it escalated the situation which ended up with him shooting the guy.

          There is something seriously wrong with this guys story. “Joe ran upstairs and retrieved a gun, a 1911-style pistol. Joe let the girl in, ordered her to stand in one corner, as he secured the door. He decided at that point that he needed a different weapon.” Um?

          Operation Desert Shield/Storm was a kill crazed frenzy and that didn’t affect him? People were being buried alive while in trenches but hey I need a shrink because I shot a guy in my house?

          “One of the first things the psychiatrist told him was to get out of that house. Sell it and move.” Once again: This is actually laughable.

          Call SERVPRO and move on or get some Prozac from your psychiatrist and join the IDNR or become a mall cop.

          I sincerely hope this guy isn’t allowed to carry any sort of gun.

        • @ To Funny
          Yes I noticed all the mix ups in the story too, upstairs, downstairs, lost my gunm, found my gunm, this ones not good enough, go stand in the corner, wife took off with friends on Christmas, .?
          I’d have thought being an MP he’d have just stomped the piss out of the guy?
          I sold my house cause my wife died in it and I couldn’t deal with the ghost.
          But shooting an evildoer in it , nah, I’m keeping the place.

  9. This guys a “officer” with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources?
    He was “in the military and he had MP and SWAT training.”
    Yet he looked out his front door and saw some punk beating his girlfriend so he
    “opened the front door and forcefully told the guy to go away.”

    This guy wouldn’t last one day on the Chicago Police Department.
    A Marine MP would of just went outside and beat the shit out of the punk.
    I kind of doubt the “Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Operation Eastern Exit (Somalia), Cuba (Operation GTMO-2 tours in support of the Haitian Migrant Crisis), and Puerto Rico” part.
    He was probably just making that shit up. This is actually laughable.
    A Marine who had MP training who see’s some BS on his lawn and goes back in the house?
    Really? Ever tussle with a MP? You will likely get the beating of a lifetime.

    This never gets to the house, go beat the shit out of the punk on the lawn or street.
    That’s what real Marine MPs do. “What race is he”? It doesn’t matter.
    It’s been taken care of, you might want to send an ambulance, I just beat the shit out of him.
    I know female CPDs who would have just beat this kids ass on their lawn.
    “I just killed someone in front of my kids.” “I just ruined Christmas.” “The house is ruined.”
    “We can’t come back here.” Man up and this never would have happened.
    It’s pretty typical of IDNR, they mostly write tickets for no fishing permits.
    They usually work in pairs so I hope this guy has a “tougher” partner.

  10. Opening your door is really expensive. Remind me not to do that unless someone I know, or expect, is knocking. Even pigs go for the ride and have a hard time. Can’t expect it to be easier for a regular citizen. Such is life in the Kwa.

  11. Cry me a goddamn river. Pigs take care of their own, but any private citizen in the exact same situation would have had it 5 times worse

    • That’s civilians, not citizens, and they’re all combative.
      Law Enforcement 101.

      After hearing a conversation between two police officers on their “secret channel ” about us civilians my outlook on law enforcement officers changed for the worse.

  12. Since Boch is the author of this story I have some advice for him.
    The GSL website has “This site may be hacked” when you try and access it.
    You might want to do something about that.

  13. Murphy’s law, sad but true, “No good deed goes unpunished”. And you wonder why many people do not help other people when they are in trouble.

    I used to wonder why when in New York way back in the 50’s when a woman was screaming for help while being knifed that many people looking out their windows did nothing to help. Now I know why.

    I have heard of other cases where an attacker that turned out to be the woman’s husband was killed by a concerned citizen who was then later was prosecuted and the witness who testified against him was the woman he saved from being murdered.

    In another case a truck driver went to the aid of a screaming woman and the man he shot was an undercover agent attempting to arrest the woman for prostitution and a drug sale. Again, ever wonder why some people are afraid to help other people who appear to be in trouble.

    In another case a man gave first aid to a traffic victim who later died. He was sued by the family because he was not qualified to give aid.

    In another case a man stopped to give aid to a traffic victim and he and the victim were run over and killed by traffic that would not even move over into the other lane to get by them.

    One man stopped to help a freezing hitch hiker in a snow storm who promptly robbed him and then opened his new car door and smashed it against a telephone pole. He never again picked up a hitch hiker even in a snow storm.

    I am not advocating that everyone just ignore people in need of help but remember your good deed will probably not go unpunished because no one can avoid Murphy’s laws.

  14. “He had to live with his mother-in-law for a year.”

    i can’t unread that. ttag now has potential blood on it’s hands as a hesitation has been instilled in my reaction time.

  15. It is wonderful news that he and his family escaped injury in this thing. People should take note though, that as a police officer himself he enjoys advantages the common citizen does not. A lawyer from his police union. A certain degree of professional courtesy from the investigating agency. Would any non-LEO in that circumstance be able to decline detailed and intrusive questioning all night long with no rest? No time for the trauma to ease and the mind to catch up?

    Nope. Not very likely.

    All those advantages reduced the costs in money, property loss and emotional burdens. Reduced his risk of criminal liability too, not that there should have been any in this incident.

  16. Joe could have avoided his whole clownish performance by keeping the door closed and calling the real cops. I actually thought the fight on the lawn was a ruse to either get the girl inside or to distract from a back door attack.

    Joe thinks the 1911 isn’t enough gun for a punk, but finding the Glock is worth leaving a stranger alone with his kids. Somehow the Glock beamed itself from the trunk of his car and appeared downstairs. Luckily it fit Joe’s hand like a glove so he can make accurate hits on the punk pressing his chest against the muzzle saying SHOOT ME.

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