Just before dawn on Sunday morning in Fountain, Colorado, Mark Plaskett was awoken by his garage door opening. He grabbed his pistol and a flashlight and responded. Three strange cars were parked in the quiet, residential neighborhood. Mr. Plaskett believes that he had forgotten to lock his van. That is likely how they accessed his garage door opener. From krdo.com:
“I saw the cars, I came out to the street with the flashlight on the first car and he took off. Then I ran across to the next car across the street and they didn’t even know I was there at their window with a gun in their face,” Plaskett said.
Three cars that were parked outside all fled the scene.”I heard them shoot a couple of rounds in my direction so I hopped in my car with my gun and took off after them,” Plaskett said.
Mr. Plaskett jumped into his vehicle, and manged to corner one of the cars in a cul-de-sac. He was able to capture the driver and hold the 16-year-old for police.
Police say a juvenile gang had been operating in this manner for over a year, breaking into and stealing cars. It’s likely that Mr. Plaskett will have provided the break needed to put an end to the depredations of this group of young criminals.
Mr. Plaskett never had to fire a shot. He showed admirable restraint in the use of deadly force; the people attempted to murder the home owner. Many will say that he should never have gotten involved. He should have left the job to the professionals. But consider the situation . . .
The professionals had been on the job for over a year and the criminals hadn’t been caught. Their modus operandi: victimize several car owners in one night’s operation. It’s likely that the gang’s victims, over the course of a year, numbered over a hundred. There were 56 as of November 25th, last year.
We do not know how many future crimes Mr. Plaskett has prevented. But we do know that citizens are the first line of defense. Armed citizens have a good chance of capturing criminals. You may not wish to take the risks Mark did, but his actions benefited the rest of society a significant amount. He should be applauded and encouraged.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Gun Watch