February 27, 2009
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Shot By The Repo Man
A man is being tried for murder after trying to repossess a car.
The repo man was repossessing the car at 2:30 in the morning. The owner of the car came out with his gun to find out what was happening and the repo man shot and killed him. Here is the link: Link
Should the repo man be charged with murder if the owner came out with his gun?
Comments (79)
x__x
he should be charged. If he’s innocent, let the jury figure it out.
deadly
I don’t think I know enough details to judge this one.
Seems to me the man has no accusers, now.
I’ll be damned if someone walked out with a gun and I sat around and waited for them to shoot me first.
Then again, who repos at 2:30 in the morning? As the owner I’d think that I’d be getting robbed.
try him! BURN HIM ALIVE!
obviously he should be tried if he killed someone.
i dont think he should be charged…he was defending himself.
Well…I agree with a previous comment that I don’t know enough details.
ouch
yes
He saw a gun and reacted. I think anyone could make the same mistake.
Well that depends on who shot first. Obviously the man thought he was being robbed. But the repo men should know how to handle these situations better. And repoing at 2:30 is a very normal thing, it’s the only way to get the car without the owner trying to hide it and such…
Sad story but I’m sure it happens a lot. Repo is a dangerous job.
I think the repo man was STUPID! Who repossess a car at 2:30 in the morning??? It’s no wonder the owner came out with his gun. A little common sense would have gone a long way in this case.
Times are hard, and more cars are being repoed. They are issued by the court, and they get paid, which in this economy I’d be willing to do anything. Even at 3 in the morning.
For someone to come out of their house to check on what is going on with their car at 3 is understandable. I would also like to be able to call the cops right away. To come out with a gun, in a way understandable, but you shouldn’t take the law into your own hands. It isn’t legal to shot a gun at anyone, even if they are stealing your car… only in self defense.
I guess, after watching those repo shows… that people who are getting their cars taken aren’t in the right state of mind, since I always see them react violently towards the repo person. Saw one girl lay on the road, saw someone go into convulsions, one smash out the windows, one had a full out fight. I think the people who repo are used to having to defend themselves, and if someone even popped off a bullet, into the air, ground, or at me, I would be putting them down and defending myself.
@josiebunny - i wouldn’t want to be that guy’s mistake!
YES
That depends entirely on the car. If your ass gets killed protecting a Hyundai…there is a problem.
@bripants - No kidding.
In response to previous comments: it’s not self-defense. Why does it matter that the guy in his house had a gun? It was 2:30 in the morning and someone was at his door; most people have guns to use for self-defense so how was he to know that the guy at his door was a repo man and not someone else untrustworthy? In this case he was actually completely right, the guy at the door was a violent person, who knocks on someones door with a gun ready unless their is ill-intent? Plus, even if the guy inside his house did have a gun, that doesn’t mean he was going to use it and shooting someone just because they’re holding a gun is not the most plausible “reaction.”
@icicle84 - Exactly.
WHAT?!?!?! I thought the repo man wasnt allowed to carry a gun in the first place.. That whole situation sucks..
Now that you have your gun you want to eat it, too?
@goodgirl_196 - They usually don’t knock on the door, they just take the car. And in said that he walked out the back door to confront them. Okay, yeah, he brought a gun, but wouldn’t you usually say, “hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
If you would just shoot, that scares me, and remind me to never come over to your house with a basket of fruit because you would think I’m trying to kill you, and you’d shoot me.
Also, the guy HAD to know his car would get repoed soon. For pete’s sake he filed bankruptcy and was behind on payments. What else would someone think is going to happen?! Oh, they’ll just let me have this car, because they don’t care about making money. Right.
No…it’s self defense.
There’s a reason I have a CCL…if someone ever pulls a gun on me, I’ll have some sort of recourse.
he should still go to jail,
unless the man with the car
was threatening to hurt him.
Just because someone has a gun,
doesn’t mean he’s going to shoot.
Some people in this thread really need to read the article before they jump to conclusions. The man did come out of his house with a gun. Kenneth Smith, the repo man, never went to the door. According to Smith’s testimony, Tanks did fire his gun first. And technically, if someone is coming to repo the vehicle, Tanks is no longer the owner.
Smith’s testimony could be false. There were other witnesses, namely his two helpers. Given the evidence laid out in the article, I tend to believe that Smith acted in self defense and is not guilty of murder. But like Mr. Ice Kitty said, a jury should examine all the evidence for themselves. They’d have a lot of information to make a decision than a keyboard-jockey like myself.
@fizzleshxt - The point of having the gun is to shoot. If a person brings a gun, he’s planning to shoot it. That’s the point of having a gun.
yes. He should hand the man a letter to say its being repoed. If he did that and the man still shot him……..then he shouldnt be tried for murder. But…….there are no witnesses. Oh! I know….a video camera on the towing truck like cop cars! Yess! Man, Im a genius.
Just because the owner had a gun that doesn’t mean he’s going to shoot you. Is this repo guy just gonna go around shooting police officers on duty now?
Seriously.
Its both their faults, but I’m thinking its mostly the repo man’s fault. Its understandable that they carry guns for protection because people do kill people over things like this. But really shooting without even stating who you are? Especially when you’re looking uber sketchy by going in someone’s car at 2:30am?
AND he’s shooting to kill? He couldn’t just shoot him in the knee could he? Its a damn shame.
@GunStarHero1988 - So police officers carry guns because they shoot someone daily? The point of a gun is to intimidate, and for self defense when it gets to that point.
No, he should be charged with the crime he actually committed.
Yes, he was on his property. Did the repo man NOTIFY anyone he was there or coming? I know there are some ridiculous people out there who think they shouldn’t have to pay for something they borrowed money to buy, but gee weez, you don’t go taking it back at 2:30 in the morning. There probably was trouble with this one to began with and on something like that, authorities should be called in to keep it peaceful if that is even possible. I wouldn’t be a repo man if it was the last job on earth!
What really would have made this situation suck to a deeper degree is if the repo man would have gone to the wrong house.
@GunStarHero1988 - not necessarily. Maybe the Man was scared and holding it for protection. There’s a big difference between threatening to kill someone and holding a weapon for protection.
have you seen the movie repo the genetic opera?
people make payments on organs they get transplanted, but when they don’t make payments the repo man comes to get them back. it would be a lot better if it wasn’t a musical though.
Depends on the laws of the county where the reposession occured. The question of whether it was legal to repo at that hour determines who gets charged.
For manslaughter, yes.
But even then, the verdict is up in the air.
Instinct or not, he should be tried; he killed a man.
Seriously, two thirty in the A.M. — if you heard someone outside at that hour and you didn’t know who they were or what they wanted…you’d pick up whatever weapon you had and check it out too, if you didn’t decide on calling the cops instead.
Moral of the story is: If you think you might be, being robbed…if you’re gonna check it out with your trusty weapon…TRY NOT TO GET INTO THE “bad guy’s” line of sight!
Also: wtf was the repo man doing with a gun in the first place?
So hard to say without more evidence. Did the owner verbally threaten him or say he was going to kill him? I.e. did the repo man have additional reason to consider this man a threat ASIDE FROM THE GUN? Which is reason enough in my opinion…
Essentially, to defend yourself you are supposed to only exert enough force to get out of the situation. I.e., I guess in this situation you’re supposed to try to shoot the person non-lethally. However, I go to the firing range and I don’t think I could even be that accurate.
I’m sure the repo man didn’t necessarily intend to kill him, but they have to sort it all out. He’ll probably be found innocent unless something comes up, like ‘he has a penchant for shooting people’.
Of course he should be charged.
Many states have laws that allow homeowners to protect their property by force (especially if the trespasser is armed). If you are on someone’s property without their consent you’re taking a risk. I personally know people who keep a shotgun by the door and greet anyone who’s vehicle they don’t know with it in hand.
My question is should the repo agent have been carrying in the first place. I realize that his job is a dangerous one, but was it legal for him to have a gun at the time. I know this is something that varries from state to state, but I find it a little hard to believe that there are a lot of states, if any, that would allow someone who is awaiting trial on murder charges to keep their CCP.
fuck
that’s bombastic!
like somethign you’d see in the movies
REPO MAN STRIKES AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ridiculouss [i shouldnt be loling]
When I saw the title of this post, the first thing I thought of was Repo! The Genetic Opera. It took me a second to figure out what the post was really about.
@StrongLetterI - so awesome
no
Maybe not murder, but I think he should be charged with manslaughter. The repo man acted very irresponsibly. A man has a right to defend himself, but Mr. Repo put himself in a dengerous situation where he appeared as someone who might pose a threat to this other man. The other man probably thought he was protecting himself and his family. Repo guy says the other man shot first, but how do we know it just wasn’t a warning shot in the air. Did repo guy even try to identify himself?
The repo man’s motives is suspect. Why he is repossessing the car at 2:30 in the morning.
Hell no. He was defending himself.
If the case is that the repo man shot first and didn’t try to tell him to put the gun down at all, then he should be locked up.
@R000Y - That’s when to do it. When everybody’s sleeping. That’s a really dangerous job.
If he wasn’t fired at then yes he should. If the guy was shooting at him then it was self defense
Maybe the repo man was panicking when he saw the gun, that he accidently shot the owner. I know some people are nervous when guns are pointed at them. I guess he should’ve been charged for unintentional response.
Hm, there’s definitely details missing that would be essential to saying an opinion.
@GunStarHero1988 - sorry to have to disagree.
The point of having a gun is to be able to shoot if you need to.
I have my CCP and I carry (though not all the time). I sincerely hope that I will never have to fire a shot outside of the target range, but I do take some comfort in knowing that if a situation arrises where I need to be able to defend myself or my loved ones I will be able to.
@LyricallyCharged - That’s when they often do repos.
Yes.
“‘There’s a time and place for everything, and 3 a.m. is not it,’ said Lovette.”
Anyone in my yard at two in the morning had better tread very carefully.
I think it would depend on who fired fist.
@nobodysangel_nobodysfool - You do know that I don’t give a fuck about this topic and most likely you are right.
Sorry to have wasted your time.
If you kill somebody, no matter what the situation, murder is murder.
I don’t know all the details, but it sounds like self defense.
Yes. I have a problem with the quality of person who would take that kind of job, as well as jobs with collection agencies, or businesses or charities that use telephone solicitations.
yes, of course someone that hears someone outside taking something in the middle of the night is going to come out with a gun. Do the repo people not tell you they are coming? Guess not if they come in the middle of the night, guess people would try to hide the car during the day or whatever.
NO, was self defense………….he was doing his job maybe a not very nice one but his job……………….is a rule ………….when you take a gun used, or dont take it……….. if is just to scare some one RONG you maybe killed is nothing you can be joking around, wapons are a serious matter
He should be charged. To be charged merely means that he will go through a court process to see if he in fact murdered the guy. The jury should determine if he is innocent or guilty. Whenever someone dies from a weapon I think the person who used the weapon should always be brought before the jury.
This “Repo Man” business is one that thrives due to legal loopholes and selective enforcement of the law. If a company seeks to reclaim property of any sort due to a failure to pay, there are prescribed procedures to follow. Auto companies, however, often seek to avoid legal costs by hiring these outlaws to repossess vehicles in the manner above… out of a man’s homestead in the dead of night. When they do so, however, they violate property rights and self-defense rights.
If someone invades your property- ESPECIALLY after the hours of darkness- a man has every right to arm himself and investigate a possible threat to his family, property and that of his neighbors. In fact, it’s traditionally considered a man’s duty!
Unfortunately, these people, like towing companies, often have an “in” with metropolitan governments and police departments. Here in Houston, for example, wreckers often give open kickbacks to a Special Police Fund… supposedly to provide police with much needed equipment. Repo men, while circumventing the law to the breaking point, nonetheless provide both the public and private sector with a quick and easy remedy to an potential drawn out legal procedure. Thus, local governments turn a blind eye to their activities.
In summary; it was murder. It was also invasion of a man’s homestead after the hours of darkness. The time is long overdue that these practices be abolished. If a company considers a potential customer to be a bad financial risk, they should not do business with him in the first place. If a local government does not want to follow correct legal procedures to process property claims, then they are not doing their job. And, when a legal authority turns to a (at best) quasi-legal enterprise that, by its methods, violates on of the basic rights of an American citizen, then no one’s property or person is safe.
This is what happens when a local or state government considers the Bill of Rights to be an inconvenience. Now we have a federal government that shares this outlook. Is it any wonder that gun and ammo dealers are unable to keep up with the demand?
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Lynn
<3
I think the more important question here is.. was the car taken or does the wife have it?
@TakingxOverxMe - This all could have been avoided if the repo guy was not there at 2:30. The owner would never had come out with a gun.I dont know if repo man should be charged or not thats a hard one.
Do repo men always sneak around with guns at 2:30 in the morning? That sounds a bit odd.
@fizzleshxt - would the bullets coming out of the gun be enough of a threat or does he actually have to say something too? read the article he DID shoot.
no, he most definitely shouldn’t.
@ionekoa - ahh. Then I was wrong, sorry. I should have read the article.
It’s natural human instinct…i’d have killed him too
If you think your life is in danger you can defend it.
Besides, they were black.
Does it matter?
@fizzleshxt - meh, honestly, there were many mistakes made on both sides aparently, the whole situation could have been avoided.
That depends if the owner of the car look like he was about to shoot Repo man.
Among many factors is whether the car was parked on the owners property or out in the street. If he shot the owner in his own property at 2:30 in the morning I believe there is a good chance he deserves some severe punishment.
That would be reason number 217 for why I think it’s a bad idea to keep a gun around the house for self-defense.
@GrapeJelly_Fish - Actually, in some states it is legal to defend your property with lethal force. For example, Texas’s “castle law” allows homeowners to protect their property with deadly force if necessary. So, in some states you do not have to be actively defending yourself to legally discharge your gun at a person.