Rural porch pirates: ideas?

[bcp]

One problem with a booby-trapped package is the thief may come back and burn your house or car in retaliation.

Bruce

 

[bdhsfz6]

Another problem with booby traps is the legal issue. In many states, it's a crime and if the perp is injured or killed, you can be in a heap of trouble. Lawsuits have been filed and won in some cases. To me, this is just wrong on so many levels but the law sometimes favors the crook.

As much as I like the idea of trapping a criminal, I would check the laws where you live first.

 

[LouNY]

Booby traps are illegal most every where.
However I don't think a package that does nothing unless it is opened and lets the contents out is not a booby trap.
As far as a scurvy scumy piece of garbage cowardly thieving coming back to burn your house or car in retaliation,
they don't have the guts to do so.

 

[ljjhouser]

If you did something like that (booby trap), the thief would not have to retaliate. After the court settlement, he would own your house, car, boat, land. I would never place that risk and opportunity out there for anyone. Protect the property. That is really the issue.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

The law against booby traps comes from common law, and goes back centuries. The case I remember took place in Iowa, I believe; guy had an empty house on his farm that folks kept breaking into, so he set up a loaded shotgun to go off when the door was broken in. It shot a guy looking for old fruit jars; he had to sell the farm to pay the judgement.

Just found this, if you are so inclined...

https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/collages/2773

 

[bdhsfz6]

Booby traps are illegal most every where.
However I don't think a package that does nothing unless it is opened and lets the contents out is not a booby trap.

It would be up to a court to decide what a booby trap consists of.

If the package contained bees, as someone suggested, and the thief was allergic to bee stings, you could be liable for the consequences.

This isn't quite the same thing but it still gets me to this day:

Back in the 1970's, an old drinking buddy of mine had his car stereo stolen from in front of his house on two separate occasions. To burglar proof the third one, he wired an automotive spark coil to give a mild shock to anyone tampering with the unit. At his request, I tested it and did receive a shock but not very severe. I remember it being much less than sticking your finger in a light socket. It was just strong enough to make it impossible to remove the unit. The following month my buddy caught the thief all right. He was found dead laying across the front seat of the car with a screwdriver in his hand. The guy was 60 years old with a long criminal record. He also had a heart condition. The "mild" shock caused a heart attack.

My friend was charged with involuntary manslaughter and the trial lasted 8 days. It got a lot of attention and was in the paper for over a week. He was eventually convicted, fined and sentenced to 6 months in county jail. The sentence was appealed and reduced to community service but he still had to pay the fine. I forget how much but I remember it took him a long time to pay it.

That was over 50 years ago and unfortunately, the incident forever tainted my respect for our legal system.

 

[MossRoad]

The law against booby traps comes from common law, and goes back centuries. The case I remember took place in Iowa, I believe; guy had an empty house on his farm that folks kept breaking into, so he set up a loaded shotgun to go off when the door was broken in. It shot a guy looking for old fruit jars; he had to sell the farm to pay the judgement.

Just found this, if you are so inclined...

https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/collages/2773

That's one of the classics that has been quoted and reviewed anytime the subject of boobytrapping comes up.

 

[MossRoad]

I recall back in the late 60's a neighbor of ours put their garbage in a box, wrapped it in wrapping paper, put a ribbon and a bow on it, set it by their mailbox and it got stolen within an hour. It came back later in the day strewn all over their yard.

Oddly, their house was the only one to ever get broken into on our block. And not much was taken, just vandalization. Near that same time period, a divorced woman (that was scandalous back then, too) got attacked inside of her house. The old biddies on the block blamed it on her promiscuity. Ever since that summer, we had to lock our doors. I remember my parents giving me a house key when I was about 8 years old. And we got a large dog, too.

 

[MossRoad]

The law against booby traps comes from common law, and goes back centuries. The case I remember took place in Iowa, I believe; guy had an empty house on his farm that folks kept breaking into, so he set up a loaded shotgun to go off when the door was broken in. It shot a guy looking for old fruit jars; he had to sell the farm to pay the judgement.

Just found this, if you are so inclined...

https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/collages/2773

Remembered a couple of these, too...

Booby traps: Man in Maine killed by own device

The 65-year-old in the US state of Maine had rigged a door to fire a handgun should anyone enter.

www.bbc.com

 

[2LaneCruzer]

That's one of the classics that has been quoted and reviewed anytime the subject of boobytrapping comes up.

It's one of the cases I remember from law school. There others, much older, that originated in the English courts.