Lubbock Business Owner Opens Fire on Thieves
By: Meredith Hillgartner
Updated: January 3, 2013
"Well I would prefer to let the authorities handle it," nearby business owner said. "But that is just me."
This man is the owner of a car wash off Avenue S and Clovis Highway.
It is located right across the street from Lubbock Power Sports, the business that was broken into around 5:30 Thursday morning.
Police say the owner of that business tried to stop the thieves by shooting at them.
"There is always that possibility but you hope not," business owner said.
The two intruders got away--police do not know if they were hit by the shots.
The man we spoke to, who did not want to be named, said he is not surprised to hear about the break in, because his car wash was burglarized back in April.
"We had a guy come in," business owner said. "In fact he hit several of the car washes in this area and did quite a bit of damage and stole a bit of money."
This man said he would rather call police than use a fire arm, so he hired someone to live on the property to keep a look out.
"I'm not really concerned about people breaking in now as mush as I would be if there wasn't anybody here to watch the place," business owner said.
The state of Texas law says a person has the right to protect himself and property using deadly force within a reasonable situation.
One local lawyer said the gentleman last night was absolutely acting within his rights.
"If they are living on the property and someone is breaking in," Hawkins said. "They have every right to protect themselves because they don't know the person who is breaking in; they don't know their intent."
Defense attorney Matt Hawkins said this law gives people the chance to act when police are not around to help.
"Police are reactive not proactive," Hawkins said. "In other words, they have detectives who will try to find the person who did that to them but not actually be there in time to prevent the crime."
He said while this law does protect owners, it is best to always contact local police.
"I think always call the police because no matter what happens you're going to need them there anyway," Hawkins said.
