23
Feb
61 year old hero persecuted in New Hampshire.
A 61 year old men heroically stopped a serial burglar and held him for police to arrive. The man is now being charged with a felony.
A New Hampshire man who fired his handgun into the ground to scare an alleged burglar he caught crawling out of a neighbor’s window is now facing a felony charge — and the same potential prison sentence as the man he stopped.
Dennis Fleming, 61, of Farmington, was arrested for reckless conduct after the Saturday incident at his 19th century farmhouse. The single grandfather had returned home to find that his home had been burglarized and spotted Joseph Hebert, 27, climbing out of a window at a neighbor’s home. Fleming said he yelled “Freeze!” before firing his gun into the ground, then held Hebert at gunpoint until police arrived.
“I didn’t think I could handle this guy physically, so I fired into the ground,” Fleming told FoxNews.com. “He stopped. He knew I was serious. I was angry … and I was worried that this guy was going to come after me.”
No one was injured in the incident, but when the police arrived, they made two arrests. Hebert was charged with two counts of burglary and drug possession. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. Fleming, meanwhile, is scheduled to be arraigned March 20 on a charge of reckless conduct, which could potentially land him a sentence similar to the one Hebert faces.
“I didn’t know it was illegal [to fire into the ground], but I had to make that guy realize I was serious,” Fleming said. “I’ve got a clean record. I really don’t want to be convicted.”
County Attorney Tom Velardi told Foster’s Daily Democrat he will review the case and determine if the charge against Fleming is appropriate under the state statutes regarding self-defense and defense of property.
Fleming, meanwhile, is hoping to catch a break.
“I have 14 grandchildren, I don’t want to be a felon and go to jail,” he said. “I’m kind of wound up about it.”
Charges have been dropped.
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120223/NEWS03/120229969
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:33 pmThe ones putting this man on trial need to be tried for violating this mans 2ndmanedment rights and for allowing these filthy crinimals to rome the streets
February 23rd, 2012 at 4:30 pmThis is absolutely ridiculous. I’ve been a cop in a large metropolitan area for almost 20 years and this disgusts me. Whomever made the decision to arrest this man is an idiot and needs to be fired. I cant read the news anymore because the stupidity makes my blood pressure rise. The government is not your friend but you have more friends I the police department than you think.
February 23rd, 2012 at 6:50 pm*in the police department
February 23rd, 2012 at 8:28 pmThis is like throwing batman into prison for stoppping some robbers from holding up the bank
February 26th, 2012 at 1:53 am