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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Bullets Over Buffalo |
| 2010-01-31 |
| Hunting season has been in full swing for a couple of weeks, at least in Niagara County, but the prey isn't deer or turkeys. Burglars have been dodging bullets. Homeowners are mad as heck, and they're fighting back at the intruders. Three times in Niagara County over a one-week period — and once in Buffalo last April — homeowners confronted home invaders with gunfire. Not all the shots found their marks, but the four incidents left one burglar dead, another shot in the chest, and one homeowner who didn't hit anyone charged with two felonies. Dennis F. Cherry of Royalton, the homeowner facing the felonies, a soft-spoken and polite Army veteran, said he was protecting himself from a home burglary at about 11:20 a.m. Jan. 21, when he fired 15 shots from a military-style assault rifle at the vehicle of a fleeing intruder. This shooting occurred during the second burglary in three days at his Akron Road home, and Cherry said he believed the two burglars — one was his stepdaughter — had stolen a handgun. He claimed he knew they were on drugs, knew they were coming back and was afraid they were armed. "I wasn't trying to kill anyone," he said in an interview in his Lockport attorney's office last week. "I didn't fire at the windshield. I fired at the radiator and the tires. "I didn't want to wait two days later and have him come back and beat my head in with a baseball bat," Cherry added. "When people get into drugs, they don't care what they do. I wanted to stop him. What if the cops came eight minutes later and the cops had a problem with him? I don't know. I've gone through this in my mind a thousand times." But the 63-year-old Cherry, a retired Harrison Radiator employee who served in Vietnam 38 years ago, now faces felony charges of reckless endangerment and criminal mischief for firing 15 shots. Fourteen of the 15 struck the vehicle. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #11 the fact he is a vietnam veteran doesn't prejudice me at all, in fact I'm going down to our brigades reunion in April and I will propose a toast to the vet that hit a moving car 14 out of 15 times. |
| Posted by: bman 2010-01-31 22:18 |
| #10 The radiator he shot means he was shooting at the front of the car. He most likely had a 30 round clip, so he was not emptying the banana clip on these thieves. In the three trys in a span of a few days, this time possibly armed with a firearm they just took from him means its going to be a gun fight this go round. But not only did the police not protect and serve this veteran, they too are going after him. Thats a red flag of dangerous incompetence resulting in a desperate situation for people in that community. |
| Posted by: wr 2010-01-31 17:43 |
| #9 If I recall correctly (Lockport wasn't exactly my part of town), Akron Road is a main street, not a side street within a neighborhood. So the question becomes, were the 15 bullets fired from Mr. Cherry's property into a vehicle on his property, or into a vehicle driving down a public main road in broad daylight on a weekday, meaning there were other vehicles on the road that either Mr. Cherry or the distraught burglar might hit. The secondary question is whether 15 bullets is overkill. The fact that Mr. Cherry is a Viet Nam veteran is immaterial, intended to prejudice the reader against him. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-01-31 16:54 |
| #8 "Fourteen of the 15 struck the vehicle" Better shooting than most police officers. As far as "fleeing", in "Make My Day" "Home=Castle" states like Colorado, if they are on your property, they are fair game. About the only charges that wouls stick would be the "criminal mischief" for firearm discharge that coudl potentiall harm the public (i.e. go off his property). Get this guy a jury trial of peers from the burglarized neighborhood, he should walk. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-01-31 15:45 |
| #7 He was firing at a fleeing vehicle. Once the criminal goes outside and is fleeing it gets tough to defend the shootings in almost every state. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-01-31 15:28 |
| #6 in Washington its OK as long as the guy is inside your house, once outside, it becomes a sticky issue. But inside , No Problem , blast away! |
| Posted by: 746 2010-01-31 13:06 |
| #5 No charges in Georgia either I suspect. Possibly a state income tax deduction for the expended ammo. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-01-31 12:42 |
| #4 Well it's New York state. In Texas I don't think there would be any charges against Mr. Cherry. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2010-01-31 12:40 |
| #3 Burglars get to sue him for damage to their vehicle. |
| Posted by: Swanimote 2010-01-31 12:32 |
| #2 Homeowner gets charged for defending himself... ... and no charges for the burglars? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-01-31 11:14 |
| #1 Take a jury trial. Going to be a real challenge to convict and the DA isn't going to help his reelection prospects. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-01-31 10:35 |