Homeowner threatened my wife with a gun, then pointed a laser equipped firearm at her

[fireninja13]

Last night my wife stopped on the side of a rural road last night (Bald Hills Road outside Yelm WA). She was on her cellphone calling someone, and stopped the car due to cell coverage dropping after this area and to use her cell. It happened to be across from a house. The owner proceeded to walk up to her car and said if she didn't leave he was getting his gun and would shoot her. She stated she was on a county road, not on his property, and doing nothing wrong. She then dialed 911. While on the phone, she then noticed a red laser beam moving around her head and her phone. She looked over and saw a silhouette of a person with a gun in the picture window of the home. 2 renters of a trailer on his property came to my wife's car and apologized for the owners actions. They apparently overheard the incident. WTF over? Thurston County sheriff deputy arrived. After a brief discussion of the incident, He told my wife he had a right to point a gun at her because he was on his property. She stated he threatened her. Still the deputy said he didn't do anything wrong. I called 911 and had the deputy call me at my home. I brought up the WA RCW about brandishing and threatening bodily harm with a firearm. He stated the law is vague and there is nothing he can do with the new WA anti-LEO measures. I said that if I pulled up my shirt to "reveal" my concealed firearm to another person during an argument that I'd be arrested. He stated yes. But, I countered that if I pointed a firearm at someone that is ok? Yep. OK in WA if I'm on my property. Seems that threatening to shoot someone is different than saying you're gonna kill them. Am I wrong in thinking this situation should have been handled differently? The old fart never inquired if she was broken down or needed assistance. Just " Leave or I'm getting my gun". Me thinks I need to pay him a "friendly" visit and have a chat. He needs a teachable moment.

The guy is clearly deranged and showing up with a gun might well end up as a gunfight. . . do you really want to be explaining to a jury of little old ladies why you went to his door armed and ended up shooting him in his own home? A good prosecutor is gonna make you look like the worst of badguys.

The best teachable moment for this is a lawsuit -- he threatened a motorist with lethal force for stopping on a public road, and then pointed a weapon with a laser at her. AND there are plenty of witnesses and it is well documented. If you play this right you could end up owing that bubblegums house, instead of being in jail for premeditated murder. At a minimum, you can cost him a lot of money, which is a great way to teach someone a lesson about the value of being civil.

EDIT -- looks like while I was writing this you talked to a family friend in the legal profession. Take his referral. See if the guy will take it as a contingency -- you'll make a lot less if you win, but it won't cost anything upfront. If your motivation in this is the teachable moment, it is a good deal.

 

[No_Regerts]

Nope. Guy has a huge picture window and home is approx. 100 feet from the road. Not like she pulled into his driveway. It's gated anyway.

Most houses in that area are close to the road because most land out there doesn't perc worth a damn.

 

[fireninja13]

Not a lawyer.

Someone had me " served " with a frivolous small claim summons. His full name and physical address were included in the documents.

At this moment, you and your address are unknown to the armed person you are contemplating starting a feud with.

Might think about that for a few days before going ahead with whatever.

That is small claims -- no lawyers allowed in small claims court. A real lawsuit comes from your lawyer's office.

EDIT: also, with real lawsuits, Service (being served) is done by a legal professional called a Process Server, who is registered to do this work with the State, This person will go knock on his door and hand it to him. . . it will get *really* interesting for him if he pulls the same bullsh*t on a registered process server, who is Serving him legal paperwork.

 

[Nosferatu]

You should totally molotov cocktail his meth lab.

Then steal the 'Benz hood ornament he stole to put on his '84 Camaro that needs a new engine.

 

[No_Regerts]

You should totally molotov cocktail his meth lab.

Then steal the 'Benz hood ornament he stole to put on his '84 Camaro that needs a new engine.

If you bust out the rear window, you can call it an El Camaro.

 

[P7M13]

Get your Antifa gear on
Toss a molotov through the front winder
smoke 'em when he comes out of the house.
DA won't press charges, "it was a mostly peaceful protest...."

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Last night my wife stopped on the side of a rural road last night (Bald Hills Road outside Yelm WA). She was on her cellphone calling someone, and stopped the car due to cell coverage dropping after this area and to use her cell. It happened to be across from a house. The owner proceeded to walk up to her car and said if she didn't leave he was getting his gun and would shoot her. She stated she was on a county road, not on his property, and doing nothing wrong. She then dialed 911. While on the phone, she then noticed a red laser beam moving around her head and her phone. She looked over and saw a silhouette of a person with a gun in the picture window of the home. 2 renters of a trailer on his property came to my wife's car and apologized for the owners actions. They apparently overheard the incident. WTF over? Thurston County sheriff deputy arrived. After a brief discussion of the incident, He told my wife he had a right to point a gun at her because he was on his property. She stated he threatened her. Still the deputy said he didn't do anything wrong. I called 911 and had the deputy call me at my home. I brought up the WA RCW about brandishing and threatening bodily harm with a firearm. He stated the law is vague and there is nothing he can do with the new WA anti-LEO measures. I said that if I pulled up my shirt to "reveal" my concealed firearm to another person during an argument that I'd be arrested. He stated yes. But, I countered that if I pointed a firearm at someone that is ok? Yep. OK in WA if I'm on my property. Seems that threatening to shoot someone is different than saying you're gonna kill them. Am I wrong in thinking this situation should have been handled differently? The old fart never inquired if she was broken down or needed assistance. Just " Leave or I'm getting my gun". Me thinks I need to pay him a "friendly" visit and have a chat. He needs a teachable moment.

If u pay him a visit its possible that one of you will end up dead. Is it worth it?

 

[ilikegunspdx]

When I lived in Pierce County, Yelm was known as a dump full of meth heads and meth cooks. Good combo. Maybe he is the former or the latter? Or maybe he's had one too many of them on his property. No good will come of a confrontation. It's an irresponsible idea at best.

If that location is like that then I would say he is probably on guard against anyone tresspassing and may have had incidents in the past. Not excusing his behavior at all. But when you have enough scary criminals around over and over it makes you really jumpy and ready to pounce on the next person and stop them before they strike again. But then an innocent person comes along and they get the brunt of all the past crap.

 

[edzz]

So... a guy comes out and threatens her and she stays put. People from trailer come out and chat her up and she stays put.
Feels threatened so she calls law enforcement with he said she said story in front of a strangers home and she stays put until officer arrives (and this took how long?).

Is it just me or is anyone else questioning the decisions made here?

And the hubby wants to go over to a mans house and educate him?

Could I suggest large term life insurance policies for both husband and wife naming me as beneficiary?

 

[Flopsweat]

If that location is like that then I would say he is probably on guard against anyone tresspassing and may have had incidents in the past. Not excusing his behavior at all. But when you have enough scary criminals around over and over it makes you really jumpy and ready to pounce on the next person and stop them before they strike again. But then an innocent person comes along and they get the brunt of all the past crap.

Sounds reasonable but his approach could use a little fine tuning.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Sounds reasonable but his approach could use a little fine tuning.

Yea again not excusing his behavior as she wasn't even on his property. Myself we had a car jacking close by and the next day or so some people come to neighbors house and are trying to get in trying door looking around for hidden keys etc. If I wasn't wound up from the previous incident I would have reacted differently. But I let him have it a bit verbally as it looked like they were trying to break in. Turns out that was the first ever renter after neighbors decided to use Airbnb to rent it out by the day. Airbnb says they have to notify neighbors but they didn't. Totally innocent guy and I immediately apologized for biting his head off and told him why I was so jumpy. He understood and everything was cool.

As others said sounds like this guy has isolation paranoia or something cuz pointing a gun at someone for simply parking on the public road is way too much. Also as others have said I can't see any way that would be legal. Deputy is being lazy methinks.

My guess is you could get A LOT of stories from those people in the trailer as they probably know where all the bodies are buried (not literally). They probably ran into similar behavior with the crazy guy in the past (guessing), know all about the code violations, etc. But it might be just as well to let it go.

 

[deerbandit]

Last night my wife stopped on the side of a rural road last night (Bald Hills Road outside Yelm WA). She was on her cellphone calling someone, and stopped the car due to cell coverage dropping after this area and to use her cell. It happened to be across from a house. The owner proceeded to walk up to her car and said if she didn't leave he was getting his gun and would shoot her. She stated she was on a county road, not on his property, and doing nothing wrong. She then dialed 911. While on the phone, she then noticed a red laser beam moving around her head and her phone. She looked over and saw a silhouette of a person with a gun in the picture window of the home. 2 renters of a trailer on his property came to my wife's car and apologized for the owners actions. They apparently overheard the incident. WTF over? Thurston County sheriff deputy arrived. After a brief discussion of the incident, He told my wife he had a right to point a gun at her because he was on his property. She stated he threatened her. Still the deputy said he didn't do anything wrong. I called 911 and had the deputy call me at my home. I brought up the WA RCW about brandishing and threatening bodily harm with a firearm. He stated the law is vague and there is nothing he can do with the new WA anti-LEO measures. I said that if I pulled up my shirt to "reveal" my concealed firearm to another person during an argument that I'd be arrested. He stated yes. But, I countered that if I pointed a firearm at someone that is ok? Yep. OK in WA if I'm on my property. Seems that threatening to shoot someone is different than saying you're gonna kill them. Am I wrong in thinking this situation should have been handled differently? The old fart never inquired if she was broken down or needed assistance. Just " Leave or I'm getting my gun". Me thinks I need to pay him a "friendly" visit and have a chat. He needs a teachable moment.

As sonic blue said, leave it alone, it's not worth it. If you went there and something did happen it would be twisted to make that it was premeditated. You and your family would be the loser. I would request a copy of the report and follow up with the local prosecutor. This state is so screwed up, but at least he would be able to articulate the reason no arrest was made or he will tell you that he will pursue charges. I still don't understand how someone could point a gun at someone and you can prove it with the appearance of the red dot sight. In the state I lived and worked this was not legal. The elements to charge the person with aggravated assault would be that a deadly weapon was pointed at them and they had a WELL FOUNDED FEAR that they were about to be harmed. I believe your wife fits those elements. I definitely am not an expert with these ridiculous laws in this state though. You never know.

 

[Member 34319]

Also, get your wife a good dash camera. One with both front and rear facing cameras that can be moved. If she is tech savvy, there are models that automatically link to your phone when your driving and with a press of a button start recording to your phone as well as the constant loop on itself.

 

[JRuby]

My only concern is that since he did this to your wife I can only think he has done and will contine to show this behavior to others. It could lead to an inocent person being shot. The old man has chosen this behavior he deserves what he he gets.

 

[Mikej]

I'll let it be. Trust me. Wackos like this shouldn't be allowed firearms.

Good lord. I wasn't going to read two more pages. something that crossed my mind is, if the media were contacted. the media isn't our friend in a case like this. the people at the capitol are always looking for more ammo to justify more "Gun Safety Measures". We certainly don't want to willfully give them more ammo. Just sayin'.

 

[Stomper]

I strongly disagree. ANY use of red flag laws erodes our rights as gun owners.

On that note:

Another thought just occurred to me (yes, it did hurt…. thinking and all)….. what's to say he didn't just use a laser pointer/pen to scare her?

 

[JO JO]

you called the law to discuses the incident and were unhappy with the results then you decide to take matters into your own hands intending to seek seek justice on your own and the encounter gets out of hand guess what you are the aggressor and will most likely be the one one the wrong side of the law , even going their and confronting him he could call 911 and you still could be made out to be the bad guy
I don't like it
I think the way the law works now a days and is fubar ,

 

[Kruel J]

On that note:

Another thought just occurred to me (yes, it did hurt…. thinking and all)….. what's to say he didn't just use a laser pointer/pen to scare her?

Yeah I thought about that. Identifying a handgun with a laser attached from 100 feet away through a picture window at night is pretty tough to do.

 

[nwslopoke]

If it were me…. I'd sneak up there under the cover of the darkness of night, and shove a bunch of bananas in the tailpipes of all his vehicles.

Why not go one better and use plantains?

 

[Kruel J]

Why not go one better and use plantains?

Now that's just silly. Bananas yes. But plantains? What are you, some kind of animal?