We don't normally defend cops here at Cop Blaster, but this is a rare exception. Chicago Police officer Oneta Sampson Carney was arrested for defending her own property against thieves while off-duty by shooting at her own SUV while some teenage boys fled the scene with her vehicle. Prosecutors seem to be using a legal loophole that prevents people from claiming self defense when using potentially deadly force in defense of personal property. This loophole is something our founder knows all too well having been prosecuted for responding illegally in a case where he was the real victim.
When someone steals a car, breaks into a home, or otherwise commits a crime against a person or their property they have the right to respond. Unfortunately, the law only recognizes that right in cases where there is an imminent threat to someone's life. As a result you can't legally shoot a car thief as he escapes with your car. One might be quick to call such action self defense because the perp would otherwise be able to escape with your property. If the law were in fact just it would support using deadly force in defense of property, but it is not. All over America innocent people are going to jail because they were victimized and fought back (ex: that couple that stood outside their home with guns to deter trespassers https://copblaster.com/blast/25860/mark-and-patricia-mccloskey-charged-with-unlawful-use-of-a-weapon). The case of officer Carney is one such case. She is now charged with reckless discharge of a firearm. The thieves were later arrested.
This scenario is also categorically different than had she shot a fleeing suspect while on duty. When a cop is off duty they are legally the same as a civilian. Civilians are morally justified shooting thieves that are trying to make off with their stuff. That is not the same as a uniformed officer shooting a suspect just for running away. Had she been on duty shooting at a stranger making off with some random person's car we would not be defending her. We are defending her for being a property owner defending her property.
The founder of Cop Blaster knows all too well what it is like to be the real victim in a case and labeled a criminal. In 2012 he was targeted by a deranged stalker. That stalker had filed false police reports against him, swatted a member of his immediate family, and did not heed warnings to cease her activities. When he found undeniable proof that she was responsible for stalking him he told her that if she screwed with him again that he would kill her. Then she screwed with him against and he sent an email announcing his intention to kill her for not taking his previous warning seriously. She took the threat to the police, he was arrested, and sentenced to 24 months in federal prison. Even after he was able to show that he was the real victim she was never charged and everything he did was twisted to sound as if she were acting reasonably in response to lawful activities of his that had a detrimental impact on her personal reputation. A just prosecutor would have let him go the second he realized that she had committed a crime against him first.
We hope that Officer Carney finds justice in this case. Making off with stolen property should not be a safe activity.