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Armed citizen apprehends assault suspect after attack


COOS BAY — A citizen used a .45 caliber handgun to detain a man he allegedly saw assault another man outside of Fred Meyers in Coos Bay on Wednesday.

Jeffory Snyder, 55, of North Bend, said he was in his car at a stoplight on Johnson Avenue with his wife, when they say Donald Johnson, 53, “sucker punched” Basil Broman, knocking the man unconscious.

Snyder, a former nurse, said he got out of the car to check on the 23-year-old Broman due the vicious nature of the punch.

“The first thing to hit was the back of the gentleman’s head on the sidewalk,” Snyder said. “The van in front of (Broman) almost ran over his head.”

Both Synder and his wife, also a former nurse, along with other bystanders, attended to Broman and called police. That’s when Snyder said Johnson took off on foot southbound on U.S. Highway 101 toward the Coalbank Slough Bridge.

Snyder followed Johnson, telling the man he couldn’t leave until police arrived. Snyder grabbed the back of Johnson’s shirt, turning him around, and the two had a “face-off.”

Synder, who said he suffers from disabilities and has a neck injury, said Johnson started to come at him and he started to retreat away.

“I didn’t want to fight him because he just knocked this other guy out,” Snyder said.

Fearing for his safety, Snyder pulled his handgun, which he carries legally with a concealed weapons permit. Snyder said the two men stood about six feet from each other.

“I pointed (the gun) right at his nose,” Snyder said.

Snyder said he pointed the gun at Johnson, clicking the safety off a one point as Johnson came toward him, for a “couple of minutes” until Coos Bay police arrived.

Capt. Chris Chapanar said there was mild confusion when police arrived and saw Snyder pointing the gun at Johnson. Snyder said he placed his gun on the ground and was immediately put in handcuffs. Police eventually let Snyder go and placed Johnson under arrest for fourth-degree assault after speaking with witnesses.

“I really did not want to shoot the man,” Snyder said. “I believe in a civilized society we don’t need to see people, even street people, knock someone out and get away with it. Someone has to do something.”

Chapanar said both Johnson and Basil are transients in the area and Johnson is well known to police.

While Snyder believes pulling the gun on Johnson saved him from serious physical harm, if he would have shot Johnson, he could have faced charges ranging from negligent homicide to murder.

Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier said a person can defend themselves with a reasonable amount of force if they feel threatened, but a concealed weapons permit does not give a person the right to pull a gun.

“The question would be whether pointing the gun was a reasonable way to defend himself,” Frasier said.

Coos Bay police determined Snyder used reasonable force to defend himself and he was not charged with any crime in the incident.

Johnson was booked on the assault charge and was released from the Coos County jail on his own recognizance today.

Reporter Tyler Richardson can be reached at 541 269 1222 ext. 236 or at [email protected]
 
While Snyder believes pulling the gun on Johnson saved him from serious physical harm, if he would have shot Johnson, he could have faced charges ranging from negligent homicide to murder.

Another example of unnecessary editorializing. Why didn't they just say, "Now don't do this at home kids!" If the man felt he was in imminent danger of grave physical harm or death then pulling the trigger would've been fully justified.

The DA saying that a CHL doesn't give you the right to pull a gun is misleading at best. What the CHL doesn't give you the right to do is to play LEO which is pretty much what the guy did. If the assailant walks away then you don't go after him and you sure as heck don't grab him by the shirt. If the guy turned around and decked him then guess who just got himself a nice new gun. If you suffer from disabilities then why would you lay your hands on a guy who just cold cocked someone else?
 
Another example of unnecessary editorializing. Why didn't they just say, "Now don't do this at home kids!" If the man felt he was in imminent danger of grave physical harm or death then pulling the trigger would've been fully justified.

The DA saying that a CHL doesn't give you the right to pull a gun is misleading at best. What the CHL doesn't give you the right to do is to play LEO which is pretty much what the guy did. If the assailant walks away then you don't go after him and you sure as heck don't grab him by the shirt. If the guy turned around and decked him then guess who just got himself a nice new gun. If you suffer from disabilities then why would you lay your hands on a guy who just cold cocked someone else?

I believe, under ORS 161.255 Snyder had every right to pursue the suspect. Furthermore, he has the right to use reasonable force to protect himself or others from the threat of deadly physical. I agree, however, that he was walking a very narrow line of recklessness in confronting the assailant on his own.

The police and the DA have to give us caution when taking the law into our own hands because things can get out of hand and actually cause more damage and harm. Of course I am always reminded of that quote about good men doing nothing.
 
I believe, under ORS 161.255 Snyder had every right to pursue the suspect. Furthermore, he has the right to use reasonable force to protect himself or others from the threat of deadly physical. I agree, however, that he was walking a very narrow line of recklessness in confronting the assailant on his own.

The police and the DA have to give us caution when taking the law into our own hands because things can get out of hand and actually cause more damage and harm. Of course I am always reminded of that quote about good men doing nothing.

I think what I'm trying to get across is that it's going to be hard to argue that you were in fear for your life because you suffer from disabilities when you've chased and attempted to apprehend a bad guy. From the news story this appears to be a case of 2 homeless people getting into a fight with each other. Being a former paramedic I applaud the man stopping to render aid but I think I'd probably just make sure I was a good witness rather than chasing the "bad guy" down. A quick photo with the old iPhone would suffice to give the police a decent idea of who the perp was.

It's all Monday morning QBing anyway. Nice to hear a story where the good guy wins.
 
I think what I'm trying to get across is that it's going to be hard to argue that you were in fear for your life because you suffer from disabilities when you've chased and attempted to apprehend a bad guy. From the news story this appears to be a case of 2 homeless people getting into a fight with each other. Being a former paramedic I applaud the man stopping to render aid but I think I'd probably just make sure I was a good witness rather than chasing the "bad guy" down. A quick photo with the old iPhone would suffice to give the police a decent idea of who the perp was.

It's all Monday morning QBing anyway. Nice to hear a story where the good guy wins.

Yeah, Mr. Snyder would have had a difficult time proving necessity if he had actually shot the guy. Glad it went down like it did.
 
The real kicker is "Johnson was booked on the assault charge and was released from the Coos County jail on his own recognizance today." . So a guy well known to police can be released based on his word. Back in the 70's I spent a day in the Monterey County jail because I got a ticket for riding a bicycle at night without a light and forgot about it.
 
The victim and assailant are both local bums that hang out under the same bridge, Just another day in their world. The citizen that got involved is lucky that he didnt get either hurt or arrested.
 
Legally, he could have been in hot water:

A: his life was not in danger.
B: threat was eliminated because the man left.
C: Concealed never gives a right to chase a person down. " EVER".
( a lawyer would say you had no need to pull the gun until you pursued him )

Morally:
You go dude, people like him make one proud as he stood up for a stranger.
I think at the point he chased him and pulled the gun, he could not shoot and
still stay out of jail. So I commend him for keeping cool under pressure.

I disagree... The article says Johnson started to approach/come at Snyder who already was seen viciously assaulting a guy. I think it is reasonable to assume, a deranged individual like Johnson may have decided to assault again and I thing this is exactly the time you pull your weapon. There are many recent examples of people getting hit with a fist that causes serious bodily injury. In fact, more people are killed with fists each year in the US than assault rifles. Go look it up on the FBI crime statistics.
 

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