[rangerman2bn]

So I come out of the store, and head to my bike. And there on my bike is an Ass Clown sitting on my bike... My Bike!!!
I do not know this guy, I have never seen his punk ass before, but he feels the need to sit on a strangers bike. I don't sit on anybody's bike, even if I know them, unless they give me permission.
And by the way this is not the first time, I had to fix my bike once already because someone sat on it and then DROPPED it when I was at work.
Anyway, I walk up to the guy from behind, not wanting to scare him, I calmly ask if that was his bike. He had the nerve to say yes. Never mind that I am standing there with my jacket on and helmet in hand. I ask him if he could start it up so I could here it. He looked at me perplexed, then he looked at my gear. He mumbled what I believe where the words "oh shit" and he proceeded to jump of my bike (he had the kick stand up) I jumped to try to keep my bike from dropping, in the process I lose the grip on my helmet and that hits the ground. And I am unable to keep my bike from nailing the unforgiving ground.
I was like the Hulk at this point, I honestly believe that I turned green. I look at the guy who had frozen for a second but then began to run. I pick up persuit and catch him after about 30 seconds of going in and out of parked cars. I tackled him to the ground and punched him just a couple of times to weaken him. I asked someone standing by if they could call the police for me. As I wait for them he keeps telling me he is sorry, that he was just really scared and thats why he jumped off. The cops come and I tell them what happened and that I wanted to press charges for him destroying my property. They take him to the police substation and I call my insurance company. Figuring that they would book him and release him I thought that would be a good punishment, after all I did beat his ass a little.
But it is not over, now he is pressing charges for assualt. Isn't that just my luck.

 

[trig]

Oh well, fuck em'. You hurt a person keyword "DURING" a crime committed to your property. End of story.

 

[crjbeez]

i understand your situation, but i would say ignore the "fuck em" attitude of trig. if you're not a lawyer/judge, there's no point in trying to pretend you have the answer to his solution. since when does a judge buy "i punched him a few times to weaken him" as an excuse? if you were able to keep him on the ground, you would have been able to do it w/o punching him. adrenaline is an amazing thing. unfortunately, the old adage "two wrongs don't make a right" applies pretty well here. hopefully the judge will throw out his case, but only time will tell.

 

[trig]

Your absolutely right. That's why the cop arrested rnagerman too. He must have been a "second wrong" therefor commiting a crime.

And maybe causing a couple thousand dollars damage isn't worth getting beat up, WHEN YOU RUN, but the cop arrested the guy, so obviously what ranger did didn't really matter after all.

 

[Johnny Dollar]

I'd say you overreacted by hitting him. Adrenalin can be a bitch, but if it wasn't possible to control, we'd all be serial killers. Chances are the dude wouldn't have gotten too far. What really blows is: You've got a tough row to hoe trying to get any money out of the guy. (he'll get a defender to argue that your bike is an "attractive nuisance") Whereas, he's been assaulted by a "crazed biker." (and people probably saw you do it.) I hate to sound so negative, but:
[:Opps1]
Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer or anything...just a casual observer. And for the record, I probably would have hit him too.

 

[burtonsbs5114]

that fucking sucks man. Sue him for property damage, and press charges for attempted grand theft auto. I would ahve beat his ass to, btw.

 

[rangerman2bn]

Well, you guys are right. I know that hitting him was overreacting. But unlike this turd brain, I will face the Judge like a man and admitt to what I did. The guy screwed up, and destroyed someone elses property and what does he do? He tries to take the focus off himself. I could easily lie and say that the bruises occured when I took him down, but I was not raised to lie just to cover up what I did. Hopefully the judge will take it easy. I'll keep you guys posted, I have a court date for next week so we will see.

 

[Nigel]

That sucks.

I hope it goes well for you.

 

[Johnny Dollar]

I hope it works out for you.

 

[Deathace]

rangerman: I have to say that i applaud your honesty, I am the same, I have done some silly shit over the years but i owned up to it rather than try to avoid it and in one case i got the book thrown at me so to speak (driving with no license and insurance) im not proud of what i did but i wasnt about to lie about it. Yes its a pain in the arse what happened to your bike and granted i would have chased him and tried to restrain him as well.

I hope it all goes well for you and if you stay calm and explain to the judge you were very upset and as a result you made a mistake im sure they will be easier on you even if they still have to charge you. Good luck.

Russ

 

[trashmonkey]

see that just shows that people look at bikes differently than cars...I mean I hear about this kind of thing all the time, yet I don't hear about people coming back out to their corvette or viper with someone sitting behind the wheel. I mean if you found someone in your car wouldn't that be criminal? Yet someone can sit on your bike and fuck around with it all they want and it's somehow different?? Makes no sense to me at all...should be trespassing (or something else, for lack of a better word) in both cases.

EDIT: or better yet, you come home and someone is sitting on your couch. to me it's all the same...it's your property and someone is ignoring that and treating it as their own.

 

[awelshrider]

Pretty much like our laws over here.You can only defend your property with reasonable force,great when you get a screwdriver in the leg,off a thief,then you batter crap out of them,and because they are more hurt,you get the prosecution.I can only sympathise Buddy,but if you had let him go,no doubt your complaint would never of been followed up,and if it had the usual thing would be that the guy would of gone to court and agreed to pay loose change a week in compensation,and walked free.The end of the day,it is criminal damage,but the law will make you prove that,and no proof,tough.All the best,I would of done the same.

 

[jealous57]

I hope it works out for you. The worst part of what you have said is the guy was claiming it was his bike. I myself wouldn't do that (sit on someone's bike) but if I was and got caught, I wouldn't ever say yeah it is mine.... that is rediculous.

 

[onewickedsvt]

the problem is, you cant beat a guy for attempting to steal your property(if you thought that)

he posed NO threat when he ran, so he can very well hit you with assault, but most likely a cross complaint will be made and thats that.

remember, if he is RUNNING AWAY from you, you are NOT in danger...... therefor your defense of he ATTEMPTED to STEAL MY PROPERTY is OUT THE WINDOW!

SUCKS you had to go through that.

 

[cgeezy]

Hey rangerman2bn

Were you at cyclecity or southseas?

 

[rangerman2bn]

No cgeezy, I had stopped at safeway in Kapolei when this happend. What I have been advised to do is claim it was citizens arrest(this is legal, and I was arresting him) They may dismiss the charges on the guy if they deam that I used excessive force. And along with that dismiss my charges. We will see. Thanks for the response guys

 

[trashmonkey]

seems to me he had the right to apprehend and hold for police, just as he said "citizens arrest". In Utah, when I was in the police academy, there was a law we called the lucky 7's, (the code was all sevens) it was "use of force in making an arrest" it detailed the use of force, and at what point the use of force became excessive.

 

[ginofultano]

the important thing is, where did you punch him? in the head? in the torso?

 

[onewickedsvt]

the problem here is, you used physical force when the subject was FLEEING and posed NO threat to you.

THAT is the problem.

 

[trashmonkey]

Originally posted by onewickedsvt
the problem here is, you used physical force when the subject was FLEEING and posed NO threat to you.

THAT is the problem.

You CAN use reasonable force to take a suspect into custody whether or not he is a "threat". It isn't the fact that force was used, but that it may have been excessive force.