Florida jewelry store owner shoots teen robbery suspect in the head

[TomMontana]

Amazing/lucky shot. Turned out okay, but that was reckless.

 

[The5thDentist]

But, he was supposed to fly the pyramids off of a dying flat earth!!!

 

[Jttgspring]

I get it. We would like this to be a good shoot. As we would like others to not be able to steal from, or otherwise victimize us, and get a free pass once they are done and have begun fleeing. Seems so lousy, that once the bad guy turns and flees, now the good guys adrenaline has to be null and void. That said, this is a bad shoot. There was much more that turning and fleeing going on here. Especially as a former LEO, the judgement was questionable. The shot it self tho, while running, head shot through the back back window, of a moving target? Hot dang, that was a hell of a shot. Still a bad shoot, this seems to me to be truly a case of that’s what insurance is for. I wonder if he gets charged... FLA so could go either way

 

[Varmint]

Action, meet consequence.

 

[ReluctantDecoy]

Amazing/lucky shot. Turned out okay, but that was reckless.

Agreed. If that car jerked to the right a second before he pulled the trigger, some unlucky commuter would have had a face full of windshield or a new hole in their body. I mean, those windows are blacked out, so he just got lucky and really didn't factor in full sight picture.

That being said, had this been in MA, I think the police expectation is that you just roll over and let them rob you with the expectation that they'll "work the case" to get your possessions back (yeah right).

 

[Dennis in MA]

My big concern: When will they ever incorporate Port St. Lucie????

I say "hey man, nice shot."

 

[drgrant]

would not try that here in MA. There was no threat to the shop owner at the time he shot the robber in the head.

Taking down the SUVs plate number would have accomplished the same thing--return of the stolen property as the cops went to arrest this punk

In FL? Good luck with that... that shit would be fenced in about 10 nanoseconds.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

I get it. We would like this to be a good shoot. As we would like others to not be able to steal from, or otherwise victimize us, and get a free pass once they are done and have begun fleeing. Seems so lousy, that once the bad guy turns and flees, now the good guys adrenaline has to be null and void. That said, this is a bad shoot. There was much more that turning and fleeing going on here. Especially as a former LEO, the judgement was questionable. The shot it self tho, while running, head shot through the back back window, of a moving target? Hot dang, that was a hell of a shot. Still a bad shoot, this seems to me to be truly a case of that’s what insurance is for. I wonder if he gets charged... FLA so could go either way

Would I do what he did? No. Because legally it's probably trash, but given FLs byzantine laws, who knows.

Morally though have no problems about a POS getting shot in the head for having poor target selection and a poor career choice.

-Mike

 

[mac1911]

Former LEO:

Dacey, 57, of Palm City, is a retired law enforcement officer from New York who has owned the store with wife Barbara since 2012, according to TCPalm's public records searches

Ahh maybe special LEO treatment. ?
IDK some how I feel if a non LEO store owner to pop shots at a fleeing car “we” would be screwed?

 

[Squire]

I'm sorry, but that seems like vengeful vigilante justice there. Unarmed, fleeing, nobody threatened in the moment he shot.

He has an absolute right to stand his ground and that kid is an absolute scumbag, bit the shooter would have a better case if he shot the kid when he was in the shop making threats, not effectively in the back as he was fleeing.

 

[Matt-CZ]

I'm sorry, but that seems like vengeful vigilante justice there. Unarmed, fleeing, nobody threatened in the moment he shot.

He has an absolute right to stand his ground and that kid is an absolute scumbag, bit the shooter would have a better case if he shot the kid when he was in the shop making threats, not effectively in the back as he was fleeing.

I can't tell if this is just yee-haw Florida LE discretion at work, or a case of the retired cop having 1st class citizenship status. I'm guessing a bit of both.

He shot a fleeing snatch-and-run unarmed robber in the back. I don't see how that meets the letter of the law for self-defense in FL.

It's a minor miracle his shot hit his target and not some car passing by downrange. This was a terrible shoot and the shooter should be counting his lucky stars he didn't blow away some rando that happened to be driving by.

I won't shed any tears for a robber that catches a bullet, but that doesn't make the shooter justified.

 

[Daniel MacDonald]

Teen suspect shot in head during jewelry store robbery in Florida

MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) - A Florida teen was shot in the head by a jewelry store owner following a robbery at the business.

The teen, who is a suspect in the case, remains in grave condition, TCPalm.com reported, citing the Martin County Sheriff's office. We are withholding his name because he is a minor.

On Thursday morning, investigators said the teen entered the shop and asked to see gold rings and a chain. Then he put on three gold rings, each costing at least $850. He was told he couldn't try them all on at once, so he threatened to kill one of the store owners, investigators said.

Still wearing the rings, the teen pushed an employee out of the way and ran out of the store. Then he got into the passenger's side of an SUV.

Surveillance video shows the other store owner, 57-year-old Michael Dacey, fire a shot at the vehicle, which hit the suspect in the head.

Officials said the teenager was rushed to the hospital where he remains in critical condition.

The 16-year-old driver got out of the SUV and began to flee, but was caught a short time later. That teen is facing robbery and grand theft charges. One of the teens involved was reportedly involved in another jewelry store theft earlier that morning in unincorporated Port St. Lucie.

Investigators referred the case to the State's Attorney's Office, but Dacey is unlikely to be charged, the newspaper reported.

“We have no intention, as of now, based on the evidence we have, of making an arrest," Sheriff William Snyder said.

He was only doing robberies until his Rap career took off....got to give the 3 baby mommas some money.

 

[Tallen]

Bad shoot, good shot.

Here are the before/after frames from the liveleak video. It almost looks like he was aiming for the driver, assuming the POI is his POA. There's a Box-O-Truth video that covers how auto glass changes bullet direction. I can't remember exactly but I think it turns to be more perpendicular to the glass, which would be consistent with this shot being redirected toward the passenger's head. There's some angle guesswork given the 2D image and camera location but that's my take.



Edit: Here's the Box O' Truth link: The Buick O' Truth #2 - Windshields Outside/In - The Box O' Truth

 

[Larry Gentile]

Had a friend of mine recently got robbed. He was trying to sell a $1500 camera lens (he is a photographer) and some guy responded to his post. My friend met the guy in random place and guy ran off with his lens, jumped into a running vehicle and drove away. My friend pulled out him legally owned 9mm and decided he did feel like going to jail today over a camera lens. I told my friend that he made a good choice for not shooting that guy and a bad choice meeting some random dude at a random place.

 

[Wendell]

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From liveleak

Watch the clip!

What a lucky shot...with that other SUV right across the street, behind the SUV driven by the thieves...and I strongly doubt that he even saw that other SUV (until after he'd taken the shot). He knows now (what could have happened), so he must be thanking his lucky stars things that turned out so miraculously.

Someone was watching over him, for sure.

 

[HARRYM]

Bad shoot. He's an ex LEO so he won't catch any grief over it. I would have let it go. My life wasn't in danger. Many of those idiots drive around with their kids in the car. Firing blind into the back window you could kill a kid. Ain't worth it. Turn the plate in and let the Cops handle it and you go and file your insurance claim.

 

[nstassel]

So we are amazed he hit the perp?

They don't say how many rounds he fired

 

[LTCRN]

Justice served at an extremely discounted rate.

 

[Bt74]

would not try that here in MA. There was no threat to the shop owner at the time he shot the robber in the head.

Taking down the SUVs plate number would have accomplished the same thing--return of the stolen property as the cops went to arrest this punk

No it wouldn't have, the YUMMIE (Young Urban Maggot) would do time at taxpayers expense and then go on to rob rape and steal. This accomplished a much better result.

 

[Ringworm]

...

 

[Dadstoys]

Other than a piss poor sense of what was behind his target when he shot, zero f*cks given for the perp.
A blossoming criminal career cut short. That's all.
There's no telling how many lives were saved down the line by putting the little shitbird down for a dirt nap.
As far as them getting the rings back when he got caught ?
I'm sure the police were going to devote all the resources they had to a snatch and grab .
That case file was going to the bottom of a real tall stack .
The most likely scenario is the little POS would have been back within a month and jamming a gun in someone's face this time.

 

[fishgutzy]

True enough, something these 2 nitwits should has considered.

But the jewelers I know would let this goon go,
And let the cops catch up with them,
Have the goods covered by the insurance.

In south Florida tho,
They may well be under siege
And the shoot em before they get away mode is good to go.

Send the community a message.

A family friend owned a jewelry store in Salem NH. His door was buzz in / buzz out. Now way a thief could exit unless he smashed the glass door. Not easy with tempered glass.

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

So we are amazed he hit the perp?

Probably aiming for the tires.

:emoji_tiger:

 

[Palladin]

Glad the perps head got in the way, Otherwise the good guy might have hit that other car

 

[fencer]

Lucky shot x100. There is no way Chubby McFatfuc could have made that shot, stationary on a pistol range, with a two handed grip. Let alone one handed, running, with three chins and a box of jelly rolls, giggling across the parking lot.

 

[Chevy 2 65]

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From liveleak

Firing that shot was stupid, as stupid gets.

 

[rep308]

I’m not killing a person over stuff, your mileage may vary.

 

[fencer]

I’m not killing a person over stuff, your mileage may vary.

It depends on what that person was stealing, and the severity of injury the theft caused.
Steal a craftsman's tools, mess with a fisherman's nets or a rancher's livestock and you deserve to be shot. And in some cases would be. Looters deserve to be shot.
And even if insured, there is often a loss of income and someones livelihood is impacted.

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

I personally would not have pursued this guy and shot at a fleeing car over some presumably insured jewelry.

But as a thought exercise...
What would folks here do in the same scenario had the fleeing thief stole a gun and box of ammo - - would that make a difference in your decision to shoot?

:emoji_tiger:

 

[EJFudd]

Insurance means that crime like this really isn't real crime anymore. Sounds very "progressive" to me. Sounds like Boston's new prosecutor. After all, the police and the prosecutors are too busy these days with real crime... you know, the real crime that criminal scum like this graduate to after a few successful non-crime crimes.