Four males jump your fence

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scoutleader

New member
All,
One of the few times that I was not ready I had 4 young males jump my 6 foot privacy fence. I had to work most of the night Friday evening and early Saturday morning. I took about an hour and a half nap, I was wakened by my wife to hear that we had 4 young males running through the backyard. I looked out the window to see the last two hop up and over my privacy fence.

Well in a half sleepy daze I grabbed a pair of shoes and told the wife to call the police (not 911). I got to about 10 foot from the back fence and could see the males on the other side. I realized at that time I was unarmed and a bit nervous. I was standing near my wood pile and remembered I had left my small 10 pound mallet on top if the wood pile. I grabbed the mallet and hear my wife whistle for me.

I turn around to see her holding her 20 ga. for me to come a get. That is when I hear the idiots jumping back on the fence. I turn around and get to the fence as two of them are trying to get over the fence. I see two sets of hands and use the only thing I have at the time, the mallet.

I hit the first hand hard, he drops and starts yelling, the second sets keeps hanging on the fence as his buddy is trying to get up. So I figure he wants what his buddy got, and I am more than happy to give it to him. Well I guess they figure it was not safe to cross back over and they haul on through the next yard.

By the time I got back to the house I had a cop pulling up in the yard. Told him what happened and that with the odds of 4 to 1 I was out numbered and did what I had to do to keep them from entering the yard. He said they committed a class A felony and if he could find them I could press charges. I told him that two of them should be pretty easy to find, they would have a sore right hand.
I know I should have not smacked them with the mallet but I was tired and **** that they would do this at 3 in the afternoon. I know if they did catch them nothing would have been done and maybe they might come back to get revenge. I am just ****** at what this city has turned into and can not wait till I can get out of it. Thanks for the rant.
 
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onthejon55

Moderator
Sound like a bunch of kids just messing around jumping fences. I bet they find a new hobby real fast though :D

Another reason keeping pepper spray around is a good idea
 
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BuckHammer

New member
That was a good way to resolve a situation that could have turned out much worse. Plus, like you said, you provided a good way for at least a couple of them to be identified. If they find them soon, they'll pretty well get caught red-handed:D. Or black and blue handed, depending on the way the bruises/broken bones (maybe) develop.
 
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Smallgame2100

Moderator
I woulda done the same thing, except I woulda thrown something, even my phone if I had to.

I wouldnt let them go with just a sore right hand. ;)
 
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Sixer

New member
Boys will be boys...

Doesnt sound like the posed a serious threat, probably just messing around. I bet they they won't be messing around in YOUR yard any more! :)
 
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Double Naught Spy

New member
trespassing is a class A felony in TN?
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That does seem a bit extreme... I thought criminal trespass was a lowly Class C Misdemeanor and can be punished by a fine or a sentence of up to 30 days in jail. Class A felonies (Not less than fifteen (15) nor more than sixty (60) years in prison. In addition, the jury may assess a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), unless otherwise provided by statute) are the second most serious felonies with only capital crimes being higher.

That is when I hear the idiots jumping back on the fence. I turn around and get to the fence as two of them are trying to get over the fence. I see two sets of hands and use the only thing I have at the time, the mallet.

I hit the first hand hard, he drops and starts yelling, the second sets keeps hanging on the fence as his buddy is trying to get up. So I figure he wants what his buddy got, and I am more than happy to give it to him.
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You can hit people with a mallet for trespassing in TN?
 
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Dallas Jack

New member
I hit the first hand hard, he drops and starts yelling, the second sets keeps hanging on the fence as his buddy is trying to get up. So I figure he wants what his buddy got, and I am more than happy to give it to him. Well I guess they figure it was not safe to cross back over and they haul on through the next yard.
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Don't know why but I could not quit laughing at this. I had a picture in my mind of a line of hands and a guy just bopping away at them. Sounds like you had just the right tool for the job.
Dallas Jack
 
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Gazdik

New member
Sounds to me that if one of the kids came over the fence and you took the mallet to them, you would be the one in jail. I know I would be mad if it was my yard but at 4 to 1 odds sometimes you have to consider the aftermath of your own actions...Don't get me wrong what you did would more than likely been my first reaction to..Like you said, it's just a shame what some areas have become...
 
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Keltyke

Moderator
I know I would be mad if it was my yard but at 4 to 1 odds sometimes you have to consider the aftermath of your own actions
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I probably wouldn't have gone out, even if armed. But only a hammer? You ain't Thor. :D 4 to 1? Call the cops, arm yourself, gather the family and secretly watch through a window.
 
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hogdogs

Staff In Memoriam
I woulda done the same thing, except I woulda thrown something, even my phone if I had to.
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I wouldn't put anything across the fence as that would be a crime I bet....

Sound like a bunch of kids just messing around jumping fences.
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Very possibly was just that. But don't go crossing MY FENCE My fence is there so that only the invited are "messing around" in my yard...

I probably wouldn't have gone out, even if armed. But only a hammer? You ain't Thor. 4 to 1?
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As was proven here... most deviant youth are not truly tuff... once one goes down many if not all the rest will flee like trash can rats when they here the garbage truck...
Had it been in florida and any had crossed back into my yard it would have been Head Busta time...

Do these punks actually just mess around tearing up folks high dollar fences or were they fleeing a home up the street that they had been attempting to B&E when scared off like the little punks they are...
Brent
 
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Chuckusaret

Moderator
Property rights

Where I live kids just don't jump a 6' fence just to be jumping them, when they jump one here they are up to no good. In my neighborhood most most residents are retired and the majority of them are retired military and are armed. The four fence jumpers would have paid dearly for their total disregard of others property rights. Need I say more.
 
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Brit

New member
The rudeness, and stupidness of some young members of our society flabbergasts me! If they had taken that trespass into a criminal trespass, as in kicking in your back door, one or more of them could have been killed!

Depending on the difficulty (time line) of gaining entry, ie; screen and house door construction.

One place I worked years ago, had a stray dog we adopted, a big one! had a black coat like a thick rug, he did not bark! a Buvayay? (spelling) once those first set of sneakers had hit the ground? Trouble would have arrived for that first young trespasser. Does fair game sound right!
 
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scoutleader

New member
My wife asked me if I was playing whack a Mole with there hands. I do believe that they were up to no good. I am on our neighbor hood watch and we have had an influx of some thugs due to the economy. I did call the police and when I when out to the fence it was just to see if I could see where they were headed. At 42, I did not think I could fight off four 18 to 20 year old punk kids. I did see one of them Sunday night while I was out on watch, I called the police and they did come talk to him.
 
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Croz

New member
Where I live kids just don't jump a 6' fence just to be jumping them, when they jump one here they are up to no good.
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Same here. We can all say they were just 'messing around' because they were caught and tried to flee. No telling what they might have been up to if they weren't caught.
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
You know, it used to be that teenagers causing trouble got a load of rock salt from a shotgun and most everybody thought it pretty well served them right. Now the question is "You hit them on the hand with a hammer! How dare you!"

Right there, in a sentence, one big reason society is where it's at today.
 
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OldMarksman

Staff
According to this, criminal trespass in Tennessee is a Class C Misdemeanor and can be punished by a fine or a sentence of up to 30 days in jail. Tenn. Code Ann. 40-35-111 (2006). "If the accused person uses force to enter the property and has knowledge that the owner has not consented to the entry, the trespass is criminal. A fence or enclosure around the property can convey the owner’s lack of effective consent. Otherwise the offense is a civil one that will not result in criminal charges."


http://www.tennesseecriminallawyerblog.com/2007/01/criminal_trespass.html

However, I find no mention of the use of force in the law itself:

http://www.tncrimlaw.com/TPI_Crim/14_05.htm

I do find it noteworthy that the law states that "entry" means that the person's entire body has entered, and that if the person leaves upon request he will not be prosecuted.

Where I live, the county police are given a great deal of legal instruction. Apparently that's not the case in the department that responded to the OP.
 
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