BRIDGEVIEW, ILLINOIS — A pair of brothers are lucky to not have charges pressed against them after chasing down a robbery suspect, only to get into a shootout and shoot him in the back.
So many things in this story are messy when it comes to defending yourself, and we cannot overlook them.
The male tried to rob the store about 6:15 p.m. near 82nd Street and Roberts Road in Justice, but was foiled by the clerk, according to Bridgeview spokesman Ray Hanania. He was also suspected of robbing the same place on Friday.
The clerk called his brother, who was driving with friends nearby on Roberts Road, Hanania said. Together, they chased the suspected robber into Bridgeview, where they engaged in a brief shootout.
The suspected robber was shot in the back and hospitalized in good condition, Hanania said. Weapons were recovered from both the suspect and the brothers.
via suntimes.com
The first thing to mention is the call to the brother. During a robbery, or after, the first call you should be making is to 911. Taking matters into your own hands, and endangering the lives of others, is not the way to go.
The newly-introduced endangered lives were the brother and the passengers in the brother’s car. Once you decide to chase down a suspect, it’s a whole different world. I’m not sure whether they knew the suspect was armed or not, but you’re still getting into something that you don’t want any part of.
The next issue is what happens when you make contact with the suspect. Do you expect them to comply and give up? That’s not what happened here, and instead we see a shootout between armed citizen and armed suspect, opening up an extreme amount of liability. Not only that, the suspect was shot in the back, which can look unfavorably to the armed citizen if the case were ever to go to court.
The takeaway is simple; Don’t chase suspects, and instead make sure everyone is safe and alert police to what has happened. Giving chase puts you in a vulnerable and dangerous situation, and that’s the bottom line.
Swallow your pride, let them go, and call police. It’s not worth it to potentially get yourself injured or killed, or to put other people in harm’s way.
