Trespassers on Private Property

[Spiderman11]

then make the call to 911 as i hold pistol/light in one hand and phone in the other ?

Yes. Only thing I see that you did "wrong" was wait 3 hours to call. There are only so many cars on the road at 3:30 am and would have given the deputies a much greater chance of making contact, identifying, and potentially searching as I'm sure your residence was probably not the only one visited.

 

[brikon]

Thieves don't open house at 3am when almost everyone is at home. Thieves open house at 3pm when most folks are at work and school.

True, but not entirely true all they time, A couple Months ago around Christmas time, a house a couple blocks from mine got broken in Around 3am. Everybody was sleeping like you mentioned. They all got held up in a room at gun point. While 2 other accomplices ransacked the whole house.

 

[3clicks_Off]

In for bad info

 

[Badger]

Trespassing is a misdemeanor, I wouldn't be too quick to go pointing firearms at people for that....they can always say they are lost or took the wrong turn and trying to find a place to turn around.
It could make for a really bad situation for all concerned.
I think he gave you some shaky advise there as far as "yes you can".........you CAN do a lot of things but doesn't necessarily mean you won't get yourself in a major bind when you do.
Best bet..be attentive and when you see someone coming down your drive...call the police..at 3am, I wouldn't be bashful about using 911.....if you want an officer to come out, administration is just going to send you to a 911 dispatcher anyway....and an unknown vehicle in your driveway at that time of day is something you'd be expected to be concerned about.
You call first and stay on the phone with them if you can until the officer arrives, that puts you on record of doing the right thing first, then you observe..if you can get a plate number great, if not you observe and wait until the strangers do something that makes you TRULY concerned that you or your's face a threat to life or health and then you gotta do what you gotta do to prevent that.

 

[spencer60]

Pulling a deadly weapon on someone who is not in any way threatening you is a good way to get shot yourself

Even if they are on your land their self-defense claim would almost certainly stand (and rightly so... you were the attacker).

At best they go into town and report that when they tried to turn around in your driveway, a crazy guy with a gun started threatening them.

Now you're only up for assault with a deadly weapon, not murder or attempted murder.

In no way does pulling a gun on someone who isn't presenting a justifiable fear of death or grave bodily harm ever going to work out well for you.

 

[BNB]

What if they were lost and thought they were driving up the driveway of friends or family? Then you would be murdering innocents.

Oh, I absolutely agree they were not on the up and up. My comment was not to the OP, it was to the fella who simply said that he would shoot someone for being in his driveway at 3am.

You ****in A right i would,if you drive past the 3 no trespassing signs i have and the last stating you will be shot,then yes you are a threat and will be dealt with accordingly.

 

[GeauxLSU]

Don't know the legal answer but you can rest assured it would be very UNsatisfying.
Not sure what I've had done in that exact same situation. Probably something stupid. But I promise you two things, if I survived 1) It would make a great story and 2) the real estate shoppers would decide my particular patch of dirt wasn't worth pursuing.
They were clearly up to no good and I'd have been tempted to call 911 and hold them there. I'm guessing there's better than a 50/50 chance there were some stolen goods in that truck.

 

[Spiderman11]

You ****in A right i would,if you drive past the 3 no trespassing signs i have and the last stating you will be shot,then yes you are a threat and will be dealt with accordingly.

No wonder some look at gun owners as nuts . . . . Some really are . . . .

 

[BNB]

No wonder some look at gun owners as nuts . . . . Some really are . . . .

Dont judge folks tell you walk in there boots....

 

[Spiderman11]

Dont judge folks tell you walk in there boots....

Lol . . . .ok . . . Or on their jury . . . Good luck.