LA - Homeowner Shoots Copper Thief

[Kevlar]

An upper 9th Ward property owner shot a 41-year-old man who tried stealing copper from his flood-damaged house and attacking him with a large piece of wood Friday morning, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

Lionel Lewis, 61, will not be booked with any violations because he was defending himself, said officer Shereese Harper, NOPD spokeswoman.

>snip<

Lewis said he was inside his FEMA trailer about 7:50 a.m. when he heard someone outside kick down a wooden board restricting access to the space below his two-story house in the 1900 block of Desire Street.

Lewis feared someone was after the house's copper pipes. He grabbed his cell phone and a handgun from his trailer and stepped outside to investigate.....

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/11/9th_ward_homeowner_shoots_intr.html

"Step away from the copper, or get some of my led [sic]."

It's how the conversation went today when a 60-year-old homeowner, whose home is under renovation has been hit by copper thieves nine times, stopped a burglar with a gun.

>snip<

Pointing his gun, Lewis says he warned the burglar, but it didn't matter. The intruder tried to take him down with a pipe and then a two-by-four.....

http://www.neworleans.com/news/local-news/536092.html

He's apparently never heard of Pex...

 

[Rob Boudrie]

It does seem appropriate the thief was in "guarded condition".

 

[Fixxah]

Hopefully the next time he tries to steal live buss bars.