Neighborhood bulletins

[ninemm]

I live in a large neighborhood (non-HOA) with a voluntary organization that publishes a weekly newsletter that is sent via e-mail. Today's newsletter had this story (names and addresses omitted).

"Dear Neighbors: I thought I would drop a note regarding something that happened on June 5th. I had a call from an unlisted number saying they were from the City sign service that was painting all the curbs on my street and that everyone had agreed on the same color and type of sign. I told them I would check and let them know and to call back in two days. I left and went to the store and was gone twenty minutes. When I returned, two (etnhic details omitted) men were coming out of my back yard. They said I owed them twenty dollars for painting my curb sign and that they had gone into my back yard looking for me. I told them that I had previously told them on the phone that I would let them know about the signs, and an argument ensued. I asked where they got my number and one of them pulled out a printed sheet with numbers and ----------------- Ave. addresses on it, saying that he said he had printed it at the library. I told them to get off my property. They became threatening, and I retrieved a baseball bat I keep next to the garage door. I told them I was calling 911 and they'd better leave. They were clearly high on something, and as I dialed they ran away. They got into a small brown car with dents all over it. They said they would be back, and I told them for their own sake I hoped not. My neighbor saw this and said she asked them not to go into my back yard earlier. They had told her that I owed them twenty dollars and that I had asked them to come by and collect it. They also had painted the house address on the curb across the street and those people didn't even know any thing about it. So, be careful of any such calls, and be on the lookout for two men in a small brown car. I know they were casing the neighborhood, as they had to climb over my gate to get into my back yard, and my neighbor said they were looking in the back windows. - ***Name*** **address**Ave"

A baseball bat against two crackheads? And people wonder why we want handguns.

[Purplehood]

Lucky for those two guys that the Homeowner didn't pull a gun on them while they were standing in his backyard.

[seamusTX]

This account would have been funnier if it read, "I let out my Rottweillers and picked up a baseball bat ..."

The house number painting scam is an old one. I have encountered it in a milder form.

As for the phone numbers, perform a Google search for your phone number in this form: 321 987 6543. Then go to ZabaSearch and search for yourself. You might be surprised by what it out there.

- Jim

[USA1]

question -in this situation , would a home owner be justified to detain the trespassers until police got there..even if you had them held at gunpoint ...

[seamusTX]

In a word, No.

Simple trespass is a class C misdemeanor. There is no justification in Texas law for a non-LEO detaining a person for a misdemeanor other than theft. (Even a LEO can't take a person into custody for simple trespass.)

Doing so could open you to a charge of kidnapping, deadly conduct, or assault (depending upon how you do it).

This kind of citizen arrest or detention rarely turns out well. Stores lose lawsuits for it all the time, trying to detain suspected shoplifters who are not in fact thieves.

- Jim

[USA1]

dang !

[kirock7]

But what if you displayed your firearm as a means to get them to leave your property. Would that be excusable under the law?
I don't have a BB bat and would have gone for either my carry weapon or a shotgun if these guys were scary enough. Could that have put me in hot water with the locals?

[Purplehood]

As far as I know you can walk around your property with your weapon openly in the nude if you so desire. You might get attention, but I don't think you can get arrested.

[note to self: don't be a test-case]

[USA1]

But what if you displayed your firearm as a means to get them to leave your property. Would that be excusable under the law?
I don't have a BB bat and would have gone for either my carry weapon or a shotgun if these guys were scary enough. Could that have put me in hot water with the locals?

if i were a LEO, i would take the side of the home owner rather than a couple of drugged up losers ,but thats just me

[USA1]

As far as I know you can walk around your property with your weapon openly in the nude if you so desire. You might get attention, but I don't think you can get arrested.

[note to self: don't be a test-case]

i think i saw that on "Cops " once.

[Commander Cody]

I think the LEO's might question the nude thing.

[seamusTX]

It is legal to display a weapon while on your own property for the purpose of giving someone a clue about stopping whatever illegal act they are engaging in.

However, and this is a big HOWEVER, it is a felony offense to point a weapon at a person, vehicle, or habitation without one of the justifications for the use of deadly force in Chapter 9 of the Penal Code.

Also, LEOs tend to arrest everyone and sort it out at the station when weapons are involved.

I remind y'all of this episode: http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... 15&t=20767" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

P.S.: It's also legal to be nude on your own property, but most people are less than intimidating when nude.

As usual, IANAL, etc.

- Jim

[Purplehood]

I think the LEO's might question the nude thing.

I think all they can do is "question" it. As far as I know you can sunbathe in the nude in your yard.

[Keith B]

I think the LEO's might question the nude thing.

I think all they can do is "question" it. As far as I know you can sunbathe in the nude in your yard.

Only if you are not visible to a casual observer; i.e. readily visible to someone passing by or from another piece of property.

[USA1]

I think the LEO's might question the nude thing.

I think all they can do is "question" it. As far as I know you can sunbathe in the nude in your yard.

Only if you are not visible to a casual observer; i.e. readily visible to someone passing by or from another piece of property.

what about casually peeping through a hole in the fence