TN:Man chases men breaking into cars and is murdered

[philip964]

https://www.wkrn.com/news/search-contin ... 1561595225

Chased them in his car, they shot from their car to his killing him. Leaves behind a wife and child.

[Paladin]

Very sad

[montgomery]

The moment this guy decided to intervene, the odds were stacked against him. Tragic outcome - but on the flip side: he chases them down and shoots these actors as the aggressor in retaliation for petty theft / criminal mischief and he goes to prison for the rest of his life, leaving behind a wife and child. Lesson: call the police and let them do their jobs - and know the law and what constitutes justified deadly force.

[Soccerdad1995]

This is a tough one for me, personally. From the article it was not clear whether he was being a good witness, or trying to take them down himself. Also no mention of whether the victim here was armed. The only thing we have to go by is the statement that he got very close to their car, which could have just been his attempt to get a good view of their license plate.

Here's something that just happened to me on Monday. I was returning home from work around 8:30 and a pickup turned left and got behind me as I entered my subdivision. There are only three entrances to this subdivision and two of them are on the road we both entered from. We were coming from opposite directions, so it would make logical sense for this guy to turn right at the next stop sign, but not to turn left, as that is going back toward the other entrance he drove right past earlier. Sure enough I turn left and he does the same. My alert level jumped a few colors, and I decided to turn left instead of right toward my house at the next stop sign. The pickup followed right behind me. I then drove to the mailboxes and stopped there to see what he would do. He slowed to a very slow speed, maybe 5 mph and was looking at my car. He eventually stopped in front of a house, still watching me. Bear in mind that we were now right next to the other subdivision entrance he had passed up originally.

After a few minutes, he slowly started driving again. I waited 30 seconds and followed him at a distance of about half a block. He did a complete circle through the neighborhood, drove back the opposite direction on the street he had just left. I decided to close the gap a bit so I could get his plate. That accomplished, I just watched as he drove past the entrance he had come in on and went to the other part of my neighborhood. I texted my wife the plate number, circled around and went home. Most likely this was just some guy who got lost on his way to his friend's house, but maybe it was something else. If the latter, I now have a license plate number to give to the police.

And BTW, we have had a rash of vehicle break-ins in the neighborhood recently. Although I'm not sure you can call them "break-ins" when a lot of folks leave their vehicles unlocked.

[flechero]

The moment this guy decided to intervene, the odds were stacked against him. Tragic outcome - but on the flip side: he chases them down and shoots these actors as the aggressor in retaliation for petty theft / criminal mischief and he goes to prison for the rest of his life, leaving behind a wife and child. Lesson: call the police and let them do their jobs - and know the law and what constitutes justified deadly force.

He might have just been trying to get a plate number for the police... I was in a similar situation once, where just trying to get a plate almost got me shot. Now I keep binocs by the door so I can see down the street without going out.

[Soccerdad1995]

The moment this guy decided to intervene, the odds were stacked against him. Tragic outcome - but on the flip side: he chases them down and shoots these actors as the aggressor in retaliation for petty theft / criminal mischief and he goes to prison for the rest of his life, leaving behind a wife and child. Lesson: call the police and let them do their jobs - and know the law and what constitutes justified deadly force.

He might have just been trying to get a plate number for the police... I was in a similar situation once, where just trying to get a plate almost got me shot. Now I keep binocs by the door so I can see down the street without going out.

Binoculars are a really good idea. It is surprising how close you have to be to make out a plate number on a dimly lit street, and I have pretty good distance vision.

I think this situation is completely different than the cases where people get involved to stop a shoplifter or like we just saw in Humble, to stop an alleged thief. Here it was this guys property, at his home, that he was protecting.

[RSX11]

"Binoculars are a really good idea."

Binocs are great, but a little bulky. I have an old Russian milsurp 7 power monocular I keep in the car console, for those situations when I want a better look at something without getting any closer. Less bulky and conspicuous than a pair of binoculars.

[bblhd672]

Metro police say around 1:30 a.m. Monday, Helffenstein's wife saw two men in hooded sweatshirts breaking into their cars.

Helffenstein went to confront the suspects and chased after them in his Nissan Pathfinder, according to police

After observing the crime in progress he should have called 911 and not alerted the suspects that they had been seen.

I’m not leaving the sanctuary of my house at 1:30am to confront criminals breaking into my cars or anyone else’s. One unlucky for you shot by the criminals is all it takes for you or a loved one inside the house to die.

[Lynyrd]

Don't try to use binoculars while driving. I did ONCE, trying to get a plate. It's scary what you can't see when you put them to your eyes. Almost had a wreck and didn't even know it until I took them away from my eyes.

[03Lightningrocks]

I am in the camp "don't chase" group.

[bigtek]

I am in the camp "don't chase" group.

If you do, make sure your batman license isn't expired.

[sugar land dave.]

Metro police say around 1:30 a.m. Monday, Helffenstein's wife saw two men in hooded sweatshirts breaking into their cars.

Helffenstein went to confront the suspects and chased after them in his Nissan Pathfinder, according to police

After observing the crime in progress he should have called 911 and not alerted the suspects that they had been seen.

I’m not leaving the sanctuary of my house at 1:30am to confront criminals breaking into my cars or anyone else’s. One unlucky for you shot by the criminals is all it takes for you or a loved one inside the house to die.

This is the correct choice in my opinion.

[sugar land dave.]

Don't try to use binoculars while driving. I did ONCE, trying to get a plate. It's scary what you can't see when you put them to your eyes. Almost had a wreck and didn't even know it until I took them away from my eyes.

Yet another thing that I would not consider trying. I think that it would be disorienting even if done from the passenger seat.