(MI) Permit holder captures burglar 05-15-03
(MI) Permit holder captures burglar 05-15-03
Armed store owner catches
burglar
Address:http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news-2/1053011901286230.xml
Thursday, May 15, 2003
By Ken Kolker
The Grand Rapids Press
PORT SHELDON — Robert Carini had no intention of becoming a “poster
child” for the gun lobby, but he is resigned to the possibility.
The 39-year-old co-owner of Gold Coast Outfitters, who has a license to
carry a concealed weapon, jumped out of bed early today and grabbed his
semi-automatic pistol after he was awakened by a burglar alarm at his
store.
By the time he reached his shop, the burglar was outside with a backpack
full of sporting goods and a desire to leave.
Carini drew down on him.
Ottawa County sheriff’s deputies arrived moments later and arrested the
23-year-old man from Hamilton. They were seeking warrants against him
for burglary.
It is one of the few cases since the new concealed weapons law went into
effect in July 2001 in which a legally armed citizen has apprehended an
alleged criminal.
“I’d rather not be a poster child or anything like that,” Carini said.
“But I think it is a good thing if responsible citizens can protect
their property and lives.”
Carini, a former fire chief in Port Sheldon Township, lives a couple
miles from the shop, 6755 Butternut Drive, on Pigeon Lake. The burglar
alarm is wired to sound in his home, he said.
He was sleeping just before 1:30 a.m. when the alarm woke him. He said
he got dressed and drove to the store. Burglars have broken into his
store once or twice in the last five years, he said.
The burglar, who had broken a window to get in, had just climbed out the
window when Carini approached him.
“In that situation, the adrenaline was definitely there,” he said. “But
to look back on it now, I guess I wasn’t all that excited.”
The man was carrying a backpack filled with several thousand dollars
worth of telescopes and binoculars, Carini said.
“I told him to get down on the ground, lay down on his stomach and
spread-eagle and not to move,” he said.
“It turned out real good with the armed citizen doing something,” said
Deputy Brian Buter, who responded to the call. “It turned out quite
positive.”
Ottawa County Sheriff’s Sgt. Bill DeWitt said police have mixed feelings
about citizens using guns to catch criminals.
“We don’t want to see citizens out there running around, sticking a gun
in people’s faces,” he said. “But when they come across a felony and use
it for self-protection, that’s the purpose behind the law. A business
owner has a right to protect his own property, as long as he stays
within the CCW law.
“What he did is good. He did what the CCW law was meant for.”
Carini said he has held a permit to carry a gun for about 20 years, but
that was only while fishing and hunting. Several years ago, before the
new concealed weapons law went into effect, he obtained a permit to
carry a gun to protect his business.
When the state’s CCW law went into effect in July 2001, Michigan became
a “shall-issue” state, mandating county gun boards to grant permits to
applicants if they are 21, have no recent criminal history, no mental
problems and can pass a training course. Before that, most permits went
to retired police officers and those with law enforcement connections.
The law also created gun-free zones: schools, day-care centers,
hospitals, college dormitories and classrooms, churches, casinos, bars,
restaurants that serve alcohol, and stadiums and arenas with a capacity
of at least 2,500.
Since then, thousands of people have obtained permits to pack handguns.
The apprehension by a permit-holder is one of the few reported in the
state since the Legislature made it easier for people to carry concealed
weapons.
In February 2002, a Grand Rapids taxi driver pulled his Glock 27
.40-caliber handgun and fired two shots into the air after a fare put a
knife to his throat and demanded money. Grand Rapids police arrived
moments later and arrested the robber, who was later sentenced to
prison.
?? 2003 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission
