NH man captures burglar at gunpoint and gets charged with a felony
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012For many years, now, I’ve lamented the conversion of local police officers into Law Enforcement Officers, aka LEOs. (Don’t you just love the acronym, how it makes them sound fierce.)
The police I remember as a youth behaved as police. They knew the difference between a crime and something stupid, between reckless endangerment and a warning. That’s not so anymore, at least not in this part of the country. Cops behave like robots — see crime, arrest and charge, regardless of circumstances. Take the case of Dennis Fleming. You might expect this to have happened in The People’s Republic of Massachusetts but you’d be wrong. LEO lunacy has spread to the Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire.
Farmington homeowner doesn’t regret firing gun: Though he might take different approach to stopping burglar in future
Farmington resident Dennis Fleming has been charged with Class B felony reckless conduct for firing his gun into the ground while apprehending a burglary suspect who is accused of breaking into his home and a neighbor's on Saturday.
FARMINGTON — While he may be facing a felony charge, Dennis Fleming said he does not regret firing his gun Saturday when he stopped and detained a burglar who had entered his home and at least one other on Ten Rod Road.
Still, the 61-year-old grandfather of 14 said he might go about stopping the burglar a little differently next time.
“I should have called police and I recommend that everyone does,” he said. “That aside, I’m glad I caught him.”
Fleming was arrested late Saturday night after turning himself into police and charged with felony reckless conduct, alleging he put others at risk of serious bodily injury when he discharged his firearm into the ground near 27-year-old Joseph Hebert in a residential area where people had gathered to watch the ordeal unfold.
Though shots were fired, no one was injured. Fleming was released on personal recognizance bail soon after his arrest.
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The good news here is that the County Attorney, Tom Velardi, is making noises that indicate the charge will ultimately be dropped, unless they decide to make Fleming plead guilty to some bogus lesser charge to keep the conviction rate up.
But why was Fleming arrested in the first place?
When the cops showed up and learned he fired his weapon into the ground, that should have been the end of it. Had he fired it near the burglar or into the air, then there was reason to claim “he put others at risk of serious bodily injury” and charge him with reckless endangerment. But he did not. He did the right thing, the smart thing, the brave thing, and could be facing up to seven years in prison if the charges are not dropped.
That is complete madness.
What do the cops think he should have done? Let the burglar walk away while he called them so they could show up an hour later and take a statement? Should he have waited for the burglar to charge at him so that he’d have to actually shoot, and possibly kill the guy?
Given the circumstances, what happened was the absolute best outcome and the Farmington police say he’s a felon? Well, I say he’s a hero and I’m happy to hear that most of his neighbors think so too.
What do you think?
Was Fleming reckless?
Is he a hero or a felon or something in-between?
And are you happy with LEOs patrolling your streets or, if you are old enough to remember them, would you rather have police officers in your town?
February 22nd, 2012
This is crazy! He was protecting his property, injured no one and caused no damage. Now I understand the law concerning the firing of weapons in cities and without care this could be considered a careless or reckless act. Given that the perps were captured should be the end of the story. In place of an arrest the city should give him a medal and another bullet to replace the one he used in doing their job. If this is a way to curtail what some call abuse of the second amendment we are in more trouble than I suspected. To this gentleman I say “Job Well Done,” and more of us should be willing to act or re-act in the same manner. Many criminals would, or should, be just a little more concerned about the outcome of their actions if more people were willing to do what this person did.
February 22nd, 2012
This would never happen in Texas. lol. We’re armed and will protect what’s ours and there is a law that protects us here.
If someone breaks into my home and I find him there, I will shoot him and I will not be charged with anything. I have the right to protect my property.
February 22nd, 2012
Mixed feelings on this one. He fired into the ground after watching the bad guy come out of the neighbors window. It doesn’t say the man charged at him, so his life wasn’t in danger. He shouldn’t have shot. If he felt he was justified to shoot he should’ve shot center mass, not center dirt. That’s not to say I don’t understand what he did, I just don’t agree with it. Grabbing his gun and going for a walk to do his own investigation doesn’t look good either. Now, if the neighbor was home and shot the intruder, or the intrudor would’ve fallen from the second story window to his death, too bad for him, he shouldn’t have been doing what he was doing!
February 22nd, 2012
Unbelievable! This is complete crap, He was doing what He was supposed to do. He caused no injury, no one was in danger. Good grief, this is just a taste of what is to come if we just sit back and say ” this is America, I have rights”, but do nothing about protecting them. I applaud him, good job.
February 22nd, 2012
It sounds like the police are from MA. He did what he had to do. Also FARMINGTON is not on the border with MA which makes this strange. I could see this happening in Salem or other border towns. All I can say is people from MA go back.
February 22nd, 2012
Good job!
In the State of Washington we would have to wait until he was in the house then shoot him.
February 22nd, 2012
I think he was in the right. What are the cops thinking of? I do agree with him when he said he might have done it differently but at the time, he thought it was the best. At least the criminal (and I say guilty) is still alive.
February 22nd, 2012
I totally agree with what he did. That’s why we have “protection” at home. The police can’t be everywhere at the perfect moment. He did it to scare the burglar and warn him. It was HIS house, if he is protecting it good job. The burglar’s lucky he didn’t get shot!
February 22nd, 2012
Sure! We are invaded and threatened and we are supposed to hold our breath for 20 minutes til the cops get here. NOT
February 22nd, 2012
Pardon my French, but this pisses me off!!!!!
where on earth has common sense gone??
Oliver, I love your blog! I agree with 99% of what you say but……. I’ve gotta stop reading your blog because every time I do, My blood pressure goes up. What is happening to our country? I don’t know if I should be mad or just plain sad.
keep up the good work, I think I’ll keep reading and just get a script for some valium.
February 22nd, 2012
Mr. Fleming was using reasonable means in stopping this criminal. The “Law Enforcement Officers” should be extending their appreciation to this citizen, not locking him up.
February 22nd, 2012
he spent 10 or 15 minutes checking his house over. didnt call the police. went on a little search. didnt call the police. went home and got his gun to “talk to the neighbors”, didnt call the police. fired a gun illegaly in a residential area when he admittedly was not under attack. so why all the “the police should be thanking him for doing their job” comments or “he was defending his home”. it wasn’t in his home or on his land. he did not find the man in his home. he went out as a vigilante to find the man without ever calling the police. and as a gun owner, he should know the laws, whether he agrees with them or not. there are plenty of gun laws we can all agree suck, but as intelligent adults we know that if we break them there will be consequences. ifwedont like them, we can 1) work to change them, 2)move to an area that has laws that better fit our beliefs, or 3) break them, get arrested and cry about getting arrested for breaking a law. actualy, he seems to be looking at the consequences logicaly, it’s everyone else that seems to be off the mark. now, before anyone gets on me about being anit-gun or something let me say that if someone comes home and finds someone in their home, take action. if someone is on your land threatening you,take action (in alaska we only have to tell them to leave 3 times before we can shoot them. a handy law in the bush). but if you decide to take arms and go out into the neighborhood knowingly and purposefully keeping the police out of it, what the hell do you expect? if this turned out differently, if someone had gotten hurt either by accident or on purpose, we wouldall agree he is in the wrong. you can’t pick and choose when the law applies. and lets be real, he wont go to prison. the cops did what they had to do because they took an oath to uphold the law that he broke. but in the end, it will be thrown out and i’m sure the police that arrested him will be happy about that.
February 22nd, 2012
That’s the kind of neighbor we all need!
February 22nd, 2012
Dennis did the right thing and would do it again. I can say with some degree of confidence, that thirty years ago the incident would not have involved police in Farmington.
Some may say “he went out as a vigilante”, others may say he went out as a pro-active neighborhood watch. Let’s reward the act of social responsibility shown by Dennis Flemming. He’s a good man and shouldn’t be charged with a felony. NH is an ‘open carry’ state and many people over there walk around with fire arms on a regular basis.
February 22nd, 2012
2 words “BULL FRITTERS!”
February 23rd, 2012
In Tennessee we are not allowed to fire unless lives are endangered. And then it must be “shoot to kill” and must be within our homes. Burglary does not matter. :-(