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Pregnant woman ran down a fleeing man 'who stole purse from her car' in Walmart

Derwind

Member
My comment is not being used as evidence in a courtroom.

My comment was made that a majority of people in this thread are taking sides for or against the woman.

My point was that there's no need to take sides. Both side are right and wrong at the same time and the discussion should not be 'was she right to do what she did' and more, can we understand what she did

As already stated attempted murder is far worse than attempted theft.

A car is a weapon and the moment you try to purposefully run someone over, you are trying to take their life, there is no "maybe" when you plow a two-tonne machine into like a 200lb person, you are effectively trying to kill them.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
You might be wrong. A pregnant woman's body has chemical changes that can be backed by science. Changes to mood and mental stability occur through out pregnancy. A pregnant woman can be a different person versus prior to pregnancy. Have you heard of postpartum?

Yes, it still doesn't make this any better. This is not just a mood swing, this is 'intent'.

If something had happened to the kid, who'd be responsible ? The thief or the mother who chased after him in a vehicle ? I'm not doubting what happened would have made the woman angry and upset, I'm saying her reaction to it was very dangerous for the thief, herself, her child and any innocent bystander who could have been in the vicinity.
 

Kthulhu

Member
Again, one person actively sought another one out with ill intention, another one was just trying to get through her day, running errands.

We really putting these people on equal playing fields?



Anything but a hypothetical. Its a very real reality for many people.

She was innocent until she tried to kill him. Now she's worse than he is in my eyes. By no means is he innocent, he deserves jail time too.


Do you have any evidence that this is the case in this scenario? If not, it's hypothetical and irrelevant.
 

MarionCB

Member
For everyone saying criminals deserve to be murdered by vigilantes even for petty theft: this woman is a criminal. Yeah, she had a motive but so do all crimes. She had motive and opportunity to commit a crime and she took it with both hands. And her crime was far worse than petty theft. Also, people calling for criminals to be more harshly sentenced are talking about this woman too.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Again, one person actively sought another one out with ill intention, another one was just trying to get through her day, running errands.

We really putting these people on equal playing fields?

No, we're not. But that's not what's happened here, the woman ran someone over. If you're gonna rely on hypotheticals, we don't know what that thief's situation could be, maybe he needed money to feed his kids, maybe he needed to steal so he could get money for an operation for someone in his family .. we don't know. Does it excuse stealing ? No .. but it also doesn't permit almost getting killed over it.

I know you posted your personal story on this matter earlier but that was a case where a mugger (possibly armed) directly confronted your father. If a thief had taken your father's wallet and was running away, I doubt your father would have flunged his knife at him with intent to do cripple or do serious bodily harm. Your father would have given chase and attempted to subdue, if that hadn't worked, your father would do the next sane thing and call the cops.
 
And what if she's a single mom with no one else to depend on? And all her financial resources are in that purse? Not even a tiny justification there?

My father took a knife on a guy who tried to mug him while he was coming home with his last cent spent on milk for me when I was a baby. It was a very difficult financial time for my family back then. They got into a grapple and ultimately the mugger ran away.

We have no idea what her situation is.

None whatsoever. Defense with deadly force is only justified if someone's life is at risk. Not your material goods.
 

sarcastor

Member
I don't ever WANT to resort to violence but I'm also not above using it. And I can't blame this woman who was probably panicked and worried for her and her unborn child's saftey. It's easy to sit there when you're not in the moment and day how she should have handled it but being in that moment is entirely a different thing.

the thief ran away with her purse. The moment she got in her car and locked the door, she was COMPELTELY SAFE. If he actually pointed a gun a gun at her, you can argue that running over him was self defense.

Yes she panicked. She got really angry and chased him down and then hit him with a car. She DID NOT accidently hit him. The video clearly shows she drove straight into him.

If I was afraid for my ife and my unborn child, I would get the fuck out of the parking lot, and not drive TOWARDS the attacker.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
the thief ran away with her purse. The moment she got in her car and locked the door, she was COMPELTELY SAFE. If he actually pointed a gun a gun at her, you can argue that running over him was self defense.

Yes she panicked. She got really angry and chased him down and then hit him with a car. She DID NOT accidently hit him. The video clearly shows she drove straight into him.

If I was afraid for my life and my unborn child, I would get the fuck out of the parking lot, and not drive TOWARDS the attacker.


ding ding ding ding ding.

This is what common sense would dictate.
 

wilsonda

Member
The important thing to remember is that she is only charged with assault not with attempted murder, and nothing in her statements indicates a murderous intent.

He committed a crime so did she... if she was smart, she would lawyer up, push the aspect of being scared, hyped on adrenaline and pregnancy hormones, etc... don't try to push the aspect of being a vigilante

Still is a good chance that she will get in more trouble than him... sad situation all around
 

Meier

Member
I was not prepared for that GIF at all. Holy shit! (which I guess the dude in the video said as well based on an early reply)
 

traveler

Not Wario
For everyone saying criminals deserve to be murdered by vigilantes even for petty theft: this woman is a criminal. Yeah, she had a motive but so do all crimes. She had motive and opportunity to commit a crime and she took it with both hands. And her crime was far worse than petty theft. Also, people calling for criminals to be more harshly sentenced are talking about this woman too.

It all works out neatly then- she can murder the thief, the next person who sees her murder the thief can murder her, the baby can then bust of the womb and avenge the mom, and everyone else in the parking lot can follow in turn starting by murdering the baby.
 

traveler

Not Wario
Re:emotions/hormones/heat of the moment/etc.

I think it's totally fair to take those kinds of things into consideration during sentencing/judgment, but they don't change the morality or correctness of the act itself. You can view her act as a worse criminal act than the thief's, but still hold that some grace should be given due to her current situation.
 

sarcastor

Member
Common sense flies out of the window when adrenaline kicks in and your body goes into attack mode.

yeah and unfortunately you still have to pay the consequences.

I wonder how much cash was in that purse? Enough to pay for a good lawyer?

She's shopping at Walmart and drives a 1999 Ford Explorer. I'm gonna say no.....

Still is a good chance that she will get in more trouble than him... sad situation all around

Attempted murder/assault >>>> petty theft. Maybe its her first offense and he has some priors. Who knows. The baby's gonna get it the worse when the woman goes to jail.
 
Heat of the moment. Emotions running high.

Give her a pass.

150408091220-walter-scott-shooting-framegrab-large-169.jpg


Like here, right?
 

MIMIC

Banned
The important thing to remember is that she is only charged with assault not with attempted murder, and nothing in her statements indicates a murderous intent.

Murder is a general intent crime. You don't have to say "My intent is to murder you" for it to constitute murder. All you have to do is intentionally do something that is highly likely to kill someone....like....saying "My intent is to run over you with my car."

EDIT: I goofed. It's not general intent, but the required mental state for intent doesn't have to be "intent to kill."
 

Yeoman

Member
In this thread: People sanctioning that thieves should be ran over by SUVs then shitting themselves when Saudi Arabia chops their hands off.
You can't have it both ways.
Stealing a handbag doesn't mean the thief should get hit by the car as some sort of high-tech medieval justice.
 

Meier

Member
Two main reasons, if I'm being honest:

-I don't think her intent was to kill, what I would guess happened is anger got to her head, mixed with adrenaline and increased irritation/anger that can come with pregnancy, and her idea was more "I'm pregnant and can't catch him by foot," and made a stupid call in the moment. Everything about the situation screams clouded anger to me.

-I'm not very empathetic towards people trying to take advantage of others, especially in a criminal way. Obviously I don't want him to die and I'm not wishing it upon him, but I can honestly say I wouldn't feel any sort of pity if he did die while trying to steal a pregnant woman's purse. That has more to do with me though and of course I know that's not the best position to have, but it's honestly how I feel.

I would say there's probably 0% chance the dude knew the owner of the car was a pregnant woman. He probably saw the window open or saw it was unlocked and thought okay, I'm going to try and steal some shit. He's randomly shirtless, so I wouldn't say it's out of the realm of possibility that he's got some addiction issues. The fact she is pregnant shouldn't excuse anything for one and certainly should not make his unfortunate decision retroactively more worthy of being runover by a car. She showed absolutely no remorse in the quote that was posted so if it's accurate, she should have the book thrown at her.
 
We don't execute thieves in the civilized world.

Maybe some of y'all should move to Malaysia or something if you wanna see people beaten to death for petty crimes.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Again, one person actively sought another one out with ill intention, another one was just trying to get through her day, running errands.

We really putting these people on equal playing fields?



Anything but a hypothetical. Its a very real reality for many people.
I'm not putting them on equal playing fields.

Robbing someone is incredibly shitty and can ruin someone's day/week/month who may already be struggling. Running someone down with your car is worse.
 
This thread encapsulates why America's justice system is irreparably broken.

YOU DON'T JUST GET TO MURDER PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY STOLE SOMETHING FROM YOU.

THE PUNISHER IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A ROLE MODEL.
 

D i Z

Member
Well. That certainly was one way to react to a situation. I can think of a half dozen other ways off the top of my head that don't involve attempted murder though.
 

Dynomutt

Member
Well. That certainly was one way to react to a situation. I can think of a half dozen other ways off the top of my head that don't involve attempted murder though.

At least an ass whoopin' right? He was campaigning and he damn sure got elected.
 
"I have no sympathy for criminals" aight then cool lets just make the death penalty the only punishment. Or we can compromise and bring back stoning and lashing. 50 lashes for stealing a purse sounds fair.

Oh wait, that's what third world dictatorships do. Not a fucking democracy with law and order.

Some of y'all be so damn bloodthirsty I'd be scarred to be in the same room as you, worrying about if you'll just pop off and drop me cause I made you mad.
 
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