What do you do if you wake up in the middle of the night and sense that there is an intruder in your house? Why, you phone 911, of course. That’s exactly what Parker County, Texas, homeowner James Gerow did over the weekend when he became aware of a prowler in his bedroom.
The bad guy, 41-year-old Christopher Lance Moore, however, also called for help. Moore phoned to report that he was trapped in his vehicle, being held at gunpoint.
The background details, courtesy of The Dallas Morning News, will help clarify the bizarre dog-bites-man escapade.
The incident, the paper reports, happened around 12:30 a.m. Gerow and his wife were both roused by sounds in the room where they slept. They surprised Moore, who made a beeline for the front door.
Once outside, he jumped behind the wheel of his GMC, which was parked in the Gerows’ driveway, but he wasn’t quick enough to make his escape. Gerow grabbed his keys from the ignition, while his stepson trained a shotgun on Moore. As an added precaution, Gerow blocked Moore’s getaway by positioning his own vehicle so that it sealed the egress.
“If he gets out of the truck, shoot him in the legs,” Moore heard Gerow tell the youth. “You ain’t gotta kill him; just shoot him in the legs.…”
Moore, seeing his options limited, pressed 9-1-1 on his phone. The exchange, possibly a first for 911, went like this, according to the Dallas CBS affiliate:
Operator: Parker County 911, where’s your emergency?
Caller: I’m not sure. I’m out in the country somewhere. Some guy’s got a gun on me.
When deputies arrived, both men were still on the phone with 911. Deputies asked Moore why he had broken into the home, to which he candidly acknowledged, “I had bad intentions.”
He was arrested and charged with burglary of a habitation, with bail set at $35,000. His criminal record includes theft and drug charges.
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I have been wondering what your take on this would be since I first heard of it.
Very good, I think. And I would bet that you know why.
I am laughing VERY hard right now. And I bet you know why.
If you cannot get a good laugh at work, ya’ got the wrong job.
That’s my personal credo.
well Howard…
I think as a home-owner he should have been faster on the draw and then made the 911 call…solely to tell them to send the coroner.
but the fact that the perp made it outside changes everything so hopefully Mr. Moore will pick a different spot when he gets out in a day or two.
Yeesh, I guess Obama was right about you bitter clingers…
“cold dead hands” guy here Howard…best sign I ever saw read “prayer is the best way to meet the Lord but trespassing here is quicker”.
Once again, tjeek (or should I say kjeet), I joke.
What?
My motto is: “I bitterly cling”.
Gosh, I didn’t harsh your
mellowmotto.Harsh man, harsh.
Don’t know the exact circumstances, to know if it was even possible.
Could have been though. Parker county is Texas. The Texas yankees think about any way. I love Parker county.
Home Invasion, 2.0.
Ira is home invaded, tied up, beaten, and robbed. The perps escape. Ira fears (incorrectly, it turns out) that they have kidnapped his wife. He gets free, pursues them in his truck, and rams them. One perp dies in the crash. The rest sue for damages. Ira is now facing murder charges and multiple lawsuits.
http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2012/may/23/evansville-murder-suspect-free-25k-bond/?print=1
What say ye?
Steven
I say woo-hoo!
-Turn the victims into the criminals. Its the 0bama way.
-And no data recorder in my car.
-The prosecutor wanted this. Nobody has as much sway over a grand jury as the prosecutor.
-The crime here is that any of the “home invasion” scumbags (checking filters here) are still wasting oxygen.
law in the state of Indiana doesn’t have spit to do with Obama, young cozmo.
Ya’ don’t say. The law has little to do with what a grand jury can do though.
‘Course you wouldn’t know anything about what the remark was referring to. I’ll put it down to your youth.
Maybe we can wait for obama two weigh in. Will he say the prosecutor, and grand jury, acted stupidly? Or, if 0bama had a son he would look like the dead guy?
I know where I would put my money.
don’t know the law in Indiana concerning pursuing criminals and killing them afterward instead of calling the cops, and don’t know why he might incorrectly think that his wife had been kidnapped, …but am willing to guess that a guy charged with murder…and released on $25K bond….. ain’t likely being viewed without sympathy.
This is a tough one, fester. What I will relay is second hand, from a friend of a friend.
The perps fled because a car (the wife) pulled into the driveway mid robbery. They panicked. Ira untied himself and went looking for her. When he didn’t immediatly find her, he assumed (incorrectly) that they had her. Not a totally unreasonable assumption, IMHO. Should he then call the cops or attempt to rescue his wife? Personally, I wouldn’t wait for the cops. Maybe you would. Keep in mind that it was a rural setting. Who knows how long the cops would have taken to get there. The man had just been pistol whipped, forced to open his safe at gunpoint, and then bound. I’m no lawyer but I think Ira did the only reasonable thing he could do, given the circumstances.
Someone snatches your child at the mall. You gonna call the cops or tackle them?
I say he walks.
Steven
Civilized citizens always rely on law enforcement. Especially in rural areas. After all, they are just minutes away.
Operator: Parker County 911, where’s your emergency?
Caller: I’m not sure. I’m out in the country somewhere. Some guy’s got a gun on me.
You have to admire this. What just happened here is a crook called the cops for help when his crime went all sideways. We’re talking brass here. Vacuous, cowardly — yet still, somehow, brass.