Bad guy meets 6 ft 8 in homeowner

[Uncle Doug]

Homeowner Sends Burglar To The Hospital

DAYTON, April 1, 2009 - On Tuesday, March 31st, the Liberty County Sheriff痴 Office (LCSO) received a report of a burglary in progress, on C.R. 4021 in the Indian Ridge subdivision off F.M. 1409. The call came in at 3:53 p.m. from a teenaged girl who had just arrived home from school. She saw that her house
had been ransacked and also saw the suspect in the yard, near their shop building. In addition to contacting the Sheriff痴 office, she also phoned her father.

When the father, Israel Palmer, arrived at the home, the suspect was still on the property. Palmer confronted the suspect, and he said the suspect reacted. Palmer said he was then in fear of his life, as well as his daughter痴 safety, so he defended himself. The suspect was seriously injured and was subsequently flown to Hermann Hospital in Houston by LifeFlight air ambulance.

Because the home was close to the Chambers County line, LCSO dispatch had contacted Chambers County Sheriff痴 Office for assistance. The first LCSO deputy on the scene was Michael Nugent. The case investigator is Sgt. Michelle Watson.

Sgt. Watson stated, 展hile we can稚 recommend homeowners confront suspects, what Mr. Palmer did was very brave. He protected himself and his family with his bare hands and brute strength, and he came out on top.

The suspect in the case is Derrick Ford, 20, from Woodland Acres in Chambers County. His residence is a short distance across the county line from where the incident occurred.

Once Ford is released from the hospital, he will be turned over to Chambers County for two outstanding warrants. An arrest warrant for the Liberty County burglary incident is pending.

Sgt. Watson added, 的致e spoken to Derrick Ford by phone. His cooperation has allowed us to recover some stolen property from other incidents, including knives and guns.

The investigation is ongoing, with arrests of other individuals possible.

Editor's Note: We always receive complaints from our audience when we do not post a photograph or mug shot with stories such as this. We did try to get one. However, no photo was availalbe for this story because the suspect arrested was taken directly to the hospital for treatment of his injuries including broken ribs, a head injury and various and sundry other injuries as a result of his encounter with homeowner, Israel Palmer and was not booked into the Liberty County Jail as of yet. The suspect as of press time remains in the hospital and no booking photo exists. Please be patient as we strive to bring you the best news coverage in Liberty County. We have been told, but have not been able to confirm that, homeowner Isreal Palmer is around 6"-8" tall and weighs near 300 lbs.



This happened right down the road from me a few blocks. I heard the story down out the store last night. The bad guy must of been on drugs to hang around so long then confront the guy when he gets there.

This was a very rural area 25 years ago when we bought here. All year there have been a rise in theft of homes, sheds and barns. This is about the third one caught in the past few weeks. In Texas he would of been better off to just blow the guy away. I guess he will sue now for damages.

 

[chh]

Unfortunately your assesment is probably true. Some sleazebag lawyer will scream the poor guy wasn't doing any harm and didn't deserve what he got.

 

[jimmyj]

I'm not going to go political for fear of thread locking but I'm glad they cought the darned crook.

Sounds like the homeowner is a mountain of a man.

 

[wedge40]

remember gun control in being able to hit your target.
I think the owner should have practiced a little gun control.
Most of the time here in Indiana, if they are on your property and you feel threatened then you have every right shoot the person.

Wedge

 

[two_bit_score]

Do you know if the Castle Doctrine law that was passed in Texas last session would apply to injury inflected w/o a firearm? It would stand to reason to me that if you are now protected for shooting someone on your property illegally who threatens you that you would also be protected from being sued if you just knocked the daylights out of 'em.

 

[JMynes]

Warrants, and still he decided to snoop around somebody elses home and daughter.
That snot nosed punk got the @$$ whoopin he deserved!

 

[jinman]

This happened right down the road from me a few blocks. I heard the story down out the store last night. The bad guy must of been on drugs to hang around so long then confront the guy when he gets there.

This was a very rural area 25 years ago when we bought here. All year there have been a rise in theft of homes, sheds and barns. This is about the third one caught in the past few weeks. In Texas he would of been better off to just blow the guy away. I guess he will sue now for damages.

I think you are right about things changing as your area becomes more urban. Most petty thefts occur in urban neighborhoods and the perp is a neighbor or at least a resident of an area close by. Petty thieves don't often have a means of transportation and will take targets of opportunity. Organized home burglars usually have a means of transportation and work in teams. None of these will go to the trouble of going to very rural areas because they will not be as productive as in a neighborhood. At least that's my theory. I've known lots of folks who had cars or houses burglarized and most of the burglars were local.

 

[Western]

2 points for our side I say,

sign should read " Hel% with the dog, beware of landowner"

 

[texbaylea]

I think you are right about things changing as your area becomes more urban. Most petty thefts occur in urban neighborhoods and the perp is a neighbor or at least a resident of an area close by. Petty thieves don't often have a means of transportation and will take targets of opportunity. Organized home burglars usually have a means of transportation and work in teams. None of these will go to the trouble of going to very rural areas because they will not be as productive as in a neighborhood. At least that's my theory. I've known lots of folks who had cars or houses burglarized and most of the burglars were local.

A few years we had a team of burglars working out in the rural parts of the county. Because off the fact that most of the residents had jobs in town and there were no close neighbors they were hitting homes where it appeared no one was there. That went on until there just happened to be someone there. I don't remember the details but one of the bad guys ended up in the hospital.

I must admit that in certain cities in Texas (Austin, Dallas) the bad guy could bring civil suit and win but I doubt that would be so in most counties.

Vernon