[Houston Crime] foiled robbery at S. Gessner taqueria

Good beats evil
At least in Houston

 

Correct decision or not - when you break into someone’s home or attempt to rob people with a gun in the state of Texas - you better accept the fact that if a witness sees you do it, there is a good chance your brains will end up on the wall.

I don’t like the idea of everyone walking around and taking the law into their own hands. However, having been a victim of a violent crime (having someone break into my home with a gun) I can tell you that I don’t really have a lot of empathy for people thay choose to rob at gun point.

If you are sitting and eating in a restaurant with multiple people in it - you feel somewhat secure and don’t expect to be robbed.

 

A gross decision. Maybe in American history x, Derrick shouldn't have gone to prison since those guys were breaking into his house. That apparently legalizes executions in Texas.

 

I'm wondering who it was that "won"?

 

Like a lot of things, it is hard to know how much of a deterrent that it really is. The death penalty is another example of possible deterrents for violent crimes.

While it seems like a deterrent to you or I - we are not the people murdering people or robbing people with guns.

The actual data on the topic is kind of in the middle.

On one hand, Texas is 11th in the USA per capita when it comes to robberies with a gun.

States like California and Illinois and NY have higher rates than Texas.

On the other hand - Houston and the suburbs have one of the highest gun related robbery rates in the country.

I have a bit of a different opinion on all of this as I was asleep when someone woke me up on top of me with a gun pushed against my temple, and although I am no stranger to violence or bad luck - this was the scariest moment of my life because I was asleep and was woken by a gun to my face.

I don't think people should shoot an intruder if they are leaving their home, but I do believe that people have the right to self defense and the home is the one place we should feel safe.

 

Someone needs to make a vigilante taco in honor of this hero
@Salvy
@Os Trigonum
@ROXRAN

 

Needs a corrido that can be played at all taquerias... Like this one, "The one with two guns"

 

He should at least get free tacos everytime he goes there, nobody is going to mess with that place

 

Yeah...I got robbed at an ATM in downtown Houston years ago...it went from normal to me having a gun in my face in about 1.2 seconds. I still have no idea how I kept it together like I did. I even asked him for my drivers license out of my wallet "because it sucks getting a new one"...he chuckled and gave it to me. Kept her whole purse though.

 

I'm sorry that happened to you. You should look into self defense classes like this one.

 

Yup - you don’t know for sure how you will handle it. Do you try to run? Do you immediately go for the gun? Do you do what you are told, but only as long as you are not told to get on your knees or get in a car?

I have known people that robbed people at gunpoint, and to them it isn’t a big deal because they have control of the situation. The victim doesn’t know if they will live or die.

in my case the worst part was that I was asleep and woke up to a gun on my temple. The fact I was sleeping is what bothered me. When I was a teenager and early 20’s I had guns pulled on me a few times (the 90’s were crazy) and I was even shot at while with friends at Memorial City Mall (I think they just shot at random people because I was with 4-5 people and they fired at us and drove away… none of that really freaked me out like being asleep in my house and waking up to someone on top of me with a ski mask and gun.

In my case I got extremely angry and quiet after I saw a second man in my doorway right away. I knew there was nothing I could do at that point so I made it clear I wasn’t looking at them, I looked towards the wall. It felt like 30 minutes- but think it was probably like 5 minutes before they left through a glass screen door with my wallet and keys and some sports cards and mail.

I didn’t call the police. They were Hispanic gang members (tattoos on arms) and I wanted no problems. I slept in a hotel for a few days before paying a months rent (fee for breaking lease then) and moved. The apartments management was involved with the Latin Kings, so someone there likely told them to rob me and gave them a key.

Now I have insane security around my home, my property is lit up like a candle and I have commercial security, cameras and other stuff because with a family (25 years later) I don’t want any problems- especially with my past work history as a prosecutor and as someone that still files civil suits against people that have committed serious crimes and would love nothing more than to get at me.

 

Another time, during the week while I'm home working on the laptop and she's at Rice, on the back patio that had a view straight through to the front door of the townhouse (Shepherd and Alabama-ish)...I hear a knock. So I look. Another knock. It's a guy who has no business knocking on my door, and then proceeds to scope out the windows on either side. I had 911 ready to dial and just watched. He's still scoping. I get the bat out of the closet and go have a chat.

"What's up?"

He did not think there was someone at home.

"Uh..I'm thirsty, can I get a glass of water?"

I just laughed. "Cops will be here in 4 minutes." He boogied, but HPD was there in 2, they caught him down the street.

 

Dam, not sure how I would react in that situation, but I know fear would top the list. I go back and forth about owning a gun just for this reason, I want it for protection but in that moment of fight or flight would I end up shooting myself or would I even get to the gun without fumbling it and then they take it from me. I do keep a 7-iron next to my bed and I have a good security system, but my biggest fear is they do this while I am sleeping, and I end up in the situation you experienced. Scary stuff man..........glad you made it through it

 

If anyone attempts to break into my house, it will be the last thing they ever do in life. Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again. Gun in every room.

 

Deterrence is not my concern. I imagine the effect is overstated unless it's applied to very specific circumstances (i.e. a place you know for certain people are armed). If the number of ambient guns floating around was any deterrent to crime, America would be the safest place in the history of the universe.

My concern is that we not place undue burden on average citizens.

All the MMQB's putting the onus on Joe or Jane Doe to do things like "secure the area", "shoot to incapacitate", "assess threat" in a space of a few seconds while lives hang in the balance is living in a fantasy world. Those are things we expect of the military (most of the time) and paramilitary (some of the time), not average citizens.

If you assault someone with a deadly weapon, you have, in almost all circumstances, forfeited your right to life.

It takes an extraordinary situation like this one to jump from self defense to murder.

 

They should at least have some salsas named for this guy