“About 6 p.m., 44-year-old Wilfrido Cruz called police to report his Dodge Grand Caravan stolen from his home in the 4300 block of West Cullerton,” chicago.suntimes.com reports. “Officers responded to meet with Cruz and complete a preliminary report. Cruz . . . left to search for his vehicle armed with a handgun. A few minutes later, Cruz saw two males in his vehicle two blocks away, in the 4100 block of West Cullerton.” Guess what happened next . . .
He opened fire on his own minivan and the two males, who ran away.
No one was hurt.
Yeah, no. Not a great idea. In Texas, where you have the right to shoot at felons fleeing with stolen property? Maybe. But certainly not after they’ve left the scene and you’ve gone perp hunting. And if for some reason you did that, which you really shouldn’t do, but if you did, you might not want to lie about it to the po-po.
Cruz went back to his home and hid his weapon, police said. He then spoke to the officers, who were still at the scene and had heard the gunfire.
The officers discovered Cruz had two semi-automatic handguns, a revolver and a rifle, police said.
Cruz was charged with one felony count of aggravated discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle, and is scheduled to appear in bond court Sunday.
The real problem here – other than Mr. Cruz’s decision to go all Death Wish and fire rounds that landed he knew not where – is that he’s what the Campaign for Civilian Disarmament (CSGV) will call a “good guy with a gun.” The Land of Lincoln resident had (the operative word being “had”) a conceal carry license and a FOID card.
If only Wilfredo had shot the car thieves! Then the antis could have pointed to the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago and said, “See? We told you the streets would run red with the blood of innocents! OK, not-so-innocents. But still . . .”
Meanwhile, chicagotribune.com reports that at least ten people were wounded in shootings across the city since Saturday night.
[h/t DC Studios]
An operator wannabe who gets a cold wake up call from, bubba, his new bunkie.
Why is it okay to joke about homosexual prison rape but not any other kind of rape?
Because people become prison rape victims by committing felonies. We have no sympathy and consider it part of the penance.
When felonies calling for prison time include minor wetlands filling, obscure tax violations, possessing cannabis in one state when it’s legal in the next….you consider anal rape part of the penance? Not to mention lots of this happens in pre-arraignment and pre–trial detention. Further, lots of prisoners are in jails for misdemeanors.
What do you consider the the rape means for the rapist? Promotion to prison guard?
A minor female getting drunk is against the law. If she gets raped do you consider it “just part of the consequences of breaking the law”?
So of that poor Pennsylvania woman who accidentally carried in New Jersey was raped in prison, that’s part of her penance?
Sorry, we can’t have it both ways – if we so avidly support the Second Amendment we have to also support the other amendments in the Bill of Rights.
Amendment 8: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.”
I’m pretty sure that constant fear of or actually being raped by other prisoners is not part of the sentence (ever) handed down by the court.
Incidentally, if someone cannot be protected from sexual assault, or many other types of criminal assault or activity, inside a prison with constant monitoring by guards and the very definition of a “Gun Free Zone”, how can anyone expect that we could be safe from those crimes outside of prisons if we do not have our 2A rights of self protection?
Lighten up, Francis. If wilfrido ain’t laughing when it’s over, is it a joke?
Because the victims are men.
Don’t get butthurt.
…by being butthurt?
Because prison rape, while fun to talk about, almost never happens.. the State is charged with your safety and security while you are incarcerated… meaning HUGE lawsuits, if it happens.., In Fact, you have a better chance of being raped while not locked up, than you do in custody
The correct prison term is “cellie” not ‘bunkie’ – only a new fish would say ‘bunkie’.
Another helpful prison tip – if someone offers you a ‘meat shank’ don’t take it. Its not a cut of beef steak.
😉
Yeah, pretty stupid response. Probably still pissed that his car was stolen. If he had taken a basic weapons class on safety and the legal issues involved with firing your weapon he might have not gone Rambo on the perps. Now he will lose his right to bear arms. The class I took also pointed out that someone with a firearm should never fire at anyone in anger. Typically that is a mistake. Those kinds of points can be very helpful when making a decision in a situation like this. Another reason why I think that a basic class for someone to get a concealed permit is a very good idea.
“If he had taken a basic weapons class on safety and the legal issues involved with firing your weapon…”
According to the newspaper he had a Concealed Carry License, which means he took the required sixteen (16) hours of training and in fact had been taught about the lawful use of deadly force.
You can’t fix stupid, and this shows why legislated training requirements don’t make us safer.
I don’t believe in mandatory training to excercise a right. It is good sense to seek out good training on the safe handling of firearms before obtaining your first gun. Safe handling trumps all other training IMHO.
What wilfrido needed was the good sense to know when NOT to fire. Much more important than any room clearing or corner clearing training.
If I owned a Dodge Caravan (and I wouldn’t), I’d rather shoot at it, rather than shoot to protect it.
On a serious note, requiring training for any sort of gun related thing, i.e. carrying or owning, is just one more way to prevent new people from exercising their rights. A new pistol costs about $600, used about $350. Add on $100 for a class give or take, $50+ for training ammo, and then the fee for the application if applicable, and it’s a big bill just to exercise a right.
I thought about how big a headache it would be if I had to take drivers ed drive the allotted hundreds of supervised hours and take a behind the wheel driving test after I moved to a new state. Sort of like having to take the pistol course again, pay to get a new permit, fill out an encyclopedia of forms and cool my heels for several months so I could have the rights afforded those that have resident permits have the privilege of getting. Definitely doesn’t feel like a right to me.
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union,
Not really sure. While I personally only would fire following massad Ayoobs advice (immediate risk to life), I wouldn’t quite throw the guy under the buss either. A person I know once chased some people out of his house with a Luger, but then they tried to break into another house. They were only stopped because they got chased out by a huge dog but I’ve heard of plenty of stories where the second victim was far less fortunate.
Rambo has had plenty of proper tactical training and if he even chose to use a gun in this instance, wouldn’t have missed. Therefore this guy did not go “all Rambo”
Agreed. This blog is far too hard on Rambo.
Did he go ‘Barney Fife’ on the perps then?
It might be, if said classes actually taught you about the relevant legal and practical issues around gun ownership and carry. For example, CT requires the NRA basic pistol class for the state carry permit. This class teaches precisely nothing you need to know about carrying a gun. There is no review of state laws, no discussion of practical considerations for carrying, nothing. It goes over the 4 safety rules, teaches about the different parts of guns, and you take a quiz. This is the state of affairs in most places. The result is that the process fails on all counts; while it is time-consuming and expensive to take the class (and it’s totally unnecessary for those who have no intention of carrying, but nonetheless need to because the state laws make it difficult to actually practice without one), it does not actually teach you anything useful, nor does it address the supposed “state concern” of making sure people carry safely.
I think a class is a good idea also! I think everyone who decides to carry should take one as soon as possible. But your neighbor or your government do not have constitutional authority to REQUIRE it. There are STILL no laws against smoking, or drinking. Everybody agrees about those, too, but government does not have the authority to require you to follow their rules, which are often dead wrong anyway. Note today’s revelations about saccharine, 40 years late.
Does the “I thought it was Christopher Dorner” defense work for civilians? At least he identified the correct vehicle.
For the win!
Lovely.
Darn that Zoroaster!
Irresponsible comb owner of the day?
The article makes no mention of a comb; he likely hasn’t one.
He kinda has a Charlie Sheen thing going on with that hair…
Unlike Charlie Sheen, this guy ain’t winning!
Yeah, and zero tiger blood…
Why do you have a picture of Mark Ruffalo up top?
“Meanwhile, chicagotribune.com reports that at least ten people were wounded in shootings across the city since Saturday night.”
What? No way! This has to be a false statement by the press. Chicago has very strict gun control laws and nobody has a gun that shouldn’t.
It was a MINI VAN…… not a corvette… let em keep it collect the insurance and GET a corvette…. dumbass
I drive a nice car which is not worth killing or dying for.
Dying for? Perhaps the scumbags who stole it should be thinking that. I have that as a warning sign next to my front door. Inside the door is a massive “Wrong House Mother#@$#er” sign. I consider it slightly more classy than.
“This house is owned by a former Marine who is an excellent shot and a horrible negotiator. You have now been properly negotiated with.”
Mine says even less…
“If you are found here tonight, you will be found here in the morning.”
I don’t have one, I’m afraid it might be used against me. The one I always liked, though, was
“Trespassers will be shot,
Survivors will be shot again.”
Did he get the car back?
To quote an (in)famous children’s movie, he should have “Let It Go”.
And called the police while keeping the perps under observation.
Mock him all you like, if this happened more often, and the po-po didn’t arrest people for it; there’d be a hell of a lot less grand theft auto…
Depriving society of violence only emboldens the dregs, and does nothing for the rest…
Seriously? His life is in no danger and he went looking for trouble. You think letting a fool like this fire several rounds in an urban environment is a good idea?
In Chicago the lots are only 25 feet wide; meaning there is house every 25 feet. Do you think this idiot considered the background of what he was shooting at? Hell no he didn’t because if he wasn’t an idiot and if he did consider his background he would have realized that it was full of houses with families in them and would have never fired his weapon.
I didn’t say it was a GOOD idea. I IMPLIED that is was a SLIGHTLY LESS BAD idea than the way things are currently done.
And I’m right.
Pretty simple what happened, the cops got mad that he did their job for them because they’re all incompetent morons these days so he’s getting charged. Same thing with that British woman whos daughter was being bullied, she calls the school and the cops and per usual no one shows so when she beats the EXPLETIVE DELETED out of some of the kids who gathered around her house and threw stuff at her she’s the one who got in trouble.
Liberals …. smdh
We used to hang horse thieves in this country. smh
Why assume that insurance would pay to replace it?? Perhaps he can’t afford to be without transportation i.e. lose job which he needs to support his family, life etc. I am not saying this is true but if it was. How dare we criminalize his struggle to be a self supporting citizen he didn’t go out and steal so money car…. only unfortunate part of this story is that he didn’t ventelate the perps
“Yeah, no. Not a great idea. In Texas, where you have the right to shoot at felons fleeing with stolen property? Maybe. But certainly not after they’ve left the scene and you’ve gone perp hunting.”
We’ll see. This same thing just happened here in Houston last month. 1:00 a.m., truck alarm goes off, waking two sleeping brothers just in time to see one’struck being driven off, accompanied by another vehicle.
Armed and angry, the brothers gave chase in another vehicle; ultimately ending in something of a rolling shootout, the crashing of the stolen truck, and a dead thief at its wheel.
The exact events, including the timing and precise circumstances of the kill shot, are under investigation. I call it playing “Fast and Furious: Houston Drift”, but that’s just personal preference. By any other name, it’s just as dangerous and fraught with legal peril all around.
http://m.chron.com/houston/article/Reports-Two-brothers-chase-kill-man-who-stole-6069644.php
I’m not feeling sorry for the dead perp, but I’ll feel sorry if the boys get in any trouble beyond, say, their insurance company blaming the wreck on them, since they killed the driver while the truck was moving.
Well duh…Wlifredo lives in a crappy neighborhood. I doubt he had full coverage for his minivan. I saw this on the local news and they didn’t mention (at all) he had legal carry or a FOID card. He makes all of us legal folks in Illinois look BAD. Sorry-dumba## deserves what he gets…
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