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You hear a noise in the middle of the night. You go downstairs. As you reach the bottom of the stairs you see that the front door is open and there's a guy standing in the hallway holding your DVD player. You yell "What the hell!" and the guy runs for the door.

My question is, how does this pan out in your mind? Let's keep the basic scenario the same, but you can introduce one change if it's reasonable; if you habitually keep a weapon in the bedroom, you can bring it down with you and use it or not. The guy runs whether you threaten him with the weapon or not, though.

Me, I wouldn't be armed in this situation. I don't keep any kind of weapon in my bedroom, not even a pointed stick, so yelling is about the worst I can do. And when the guy ran, I'd let him go; why risk a fight over a DVD player?

Would you be armed? Would you use the weapon to stop the fleeing man? How would the law react where you live?

I keep a spear in my bedroom, mostly because I have PTSD and am therefore fruity as a nutcake but I'd just let him go. I can get another DVD player with my insurance. The law here allows me to use appropriate force, meaning if some guy assaults me in my home with a bat, I can beat him and disarm him but I can't kill him or just shoot him outright. I also have a duty to retreat if I can.

Here, I could shoot the guy, but I probably wouldn't; my DVD player performs sporadically at best anyways.

The hassle and monetary cost of going to court totally outweighs the loss of the DVD player.

My computer, on the other hand...

I'd try to kill him.

Yeah, I'd let him run, really don't see any reason to risk myself on a DVD player, not worth it at all.

We to "run" from my house would involve a flight a cement stairs, thus I'd probably go after him and knock him down those.

I don't want to hurt the guy so much as just have him caught. So long as he is unarmed I am fairly confident in my ability to hold him while yelling for help which would easily be heard by my neighbours.

The only weapon in my room is a large walking staff.

You know this is a sad situation in most cases. What I mean by that is, most likely if you are armed and prepared to protect your home, ( it's very difficult to tell the difference between a DVD and a weapon in the dark ) if you take aim in America it better be fatal. Laws here seem to protect an intruder. If he/she were harmed in the act of breaking into your home, yet recovered you would be victimized yet again by the culprit and the court system.
If you "chose" to let the culprit run away with your DVD, lets hope your presence doesn't scare the thief into taking your life before parting.


Hypothetically, if he runs no matter what, I say let 'em go, but in my house the wind chime on my door knob would wake me up before he got in.

I'd kill him.

Simple enough. If I only hurt him, he can cause problems later. If he's dead, he can't. As I said, simple enough.

I'd let him run. In the dark, he'd most likely fall off of our deck and break his neck on the concrete. And even if he lived and sued, it would be the landlords problem, not mine.

Unfortunately for this guy I severely doubt that in the middle of the night I'll be able to deduce that he's only after my DVD player and that he's got no one else with him. Factor in that my entire family would be behind me at this point and I've got no real reason not to shoot him, and I would. After which I search the remainder of my house for accomplices. After I find none I lock the doors (if possible, if not I wait where I can see the door he busted in and keep a bead on it) and wait for the cops to show up.

Legally, the guy is in my house, I didn't ask for him to be there, and in my mind any one who's broken into my house in the middle of the night is an immediate danger to my family. Legally I have all the right in the world to put in his chest and one in his head.

How about changing the nature of the theft? Instead of a £100/$150 DVD player, how about something that can never be replaced and is of special and sentimetal value?

Myself...tough call. I'm in the UK so projectile weapons aren't as easy to come by so the best I could do is throw my wife's cooking at him and hope it has the same effect on the intruder as it does to me Seriously, I'd find it really difficult to answer that question until I was actually in the situation. Would I freeze? Would I think, 'it's not worth any potential trouble for a second hand DVD player' or would a primeval instinct kick in (now I'm married and have a baby) and I'd go crazy. I just don't know. How do I know that the guy doesn't have a gun or knife hidden?

(edited to include my own reaction)

thelordharry wrote:How about changing the nature of the theft? Instead of a £100/$150 DVD player, how about something that can never be replaced and is of special and sentimetal value?

The only thing that really qualifies for me is the kids and my wife. So if I had to I would definitely use deadly force, I'd rather not but their safety outweighs me going to prison. Better tried by twelve then buried by six.

Doesn't make any difference.

First, I'm not shooting the guy because of what he's stealing. I'm shooting him because he's a threat to my family.
Second, I doubt I'll be able to identify what he's stealing regardless.

*shrug* Context is everything, if the guy is already half-way out the door and doesn't have a kid or wife in his hand then there isn't much point in getting into it with him.

That said, there's no guarantee on how anyone is going to act in this situation, training may take over and the guy dies or you may just piss your pants and pass out.

All the training in my retail years about "just let them go, don't be a hero" never took with me. I've always confronted shoplifters, even when threatened with bladed weapons.

However, if he's obviously just on the way out with a $40 DVD player, let him go. If there is any indication of him remaining - which could indicate a danger to my wife and kids - I attack. I don't a firearm, or any weapon greater than a sentimental and very old 6" Polish hunting knife, so the attack probably comes in the form of a double-A style takedown and a foot on the neck.