On Monday, a Las Vegas open carrier, Brandon Francis, made a citizens arrest on a hit and run suspect. Francis had just seen the driver hit a pedestrian and drive away. Francis drove after the suspect, cut him off, then ordered him out of the car at gun point.
It’s clear from the video that Francis was open carrying his pistol. Nevada has always been an open carry state. In interviews with two television stations, he is open carrying.
From lasvegasnow.com:
Matthew Shaykin, 31, is facing felony hit and run charges after allegedly hitting a pedestrian near Maverick and Smoke Ranch, but the only thing on everyone’s minds today is his takedown.
In the dramatic video taken by a bystander before it was posted to Facebook, Brandon Francis could be seen pulling his gun and making a citizen’s arrest of Shaykin. Francis says what you don’t see on the video are the moments leading up to the confrontation. …
Metro police said every situation is different when it comes to citizens arrests, but in this case, the officers on scene determined Francis would not face any charges. Metro Police says the 24-year-old man who was hit suffered multiple broken bones but is recovering from non-life threatening injuries.
Francis said the man’s family reached out to him to thank him for his efforts last night.
While Francis wasn’t apparently in danger and went above and beyond, it’s hard to argue with success. There is no doubt that he successfully stopped the hit and run driver, survived the encounter with the police, and didn’t get into any legal trouble. So far. No one was shot, and the hit and run driver’s victim’s family thanked Francis.
It’s easy to make tactical decision from the comfort of a keyboard hundreds of miles away from the action. While the hit and run driver had demonstrated that he was a threat to the community, another possibility would have been following him while on the phone with police. Having tried something like that once, only to have the irresponsible driver speed up, I know it doesn’t always work out. High speed chases in a privately owned vehicle are generally a bad idea.
This is another case of an open carrier using his firearm for the benefit of the community.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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