Yeah, I guess a big difference could be in how we interpret “confront.” I’m not sure exactly what this homeowner did. I would not run out and point a shotgun at the window smasher, but I would not have a problem addressing him from a safe distance. Again, I would record the encounter and/or would have a 911 operator on the phone until the police arrived.
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That depends on the vehicle, especially older vehicles that were low production or so old that replacement windows are not made anymore, or now, maybe, with all the shortages.
Then there is cleaning the glass from the vehicle, and other probable damage to the vehicle by whatever was used to smash the window. I will personally attest that getting repairs done are not always quick and easy. In the meantime there could be further weather damage or theft. I had a windshield replaced on an older car and I could never get it properly sealed, even after several or more attempts to fix it, and different glass companies. Had leaks and rusting until we finally got a new car.
I would likely be calling the police, but will they respond to such a crime or take how long? I would also likely open my door and yell, but not approach, and tell the perp(s) that the police are on the way, hoping to prevent further property damage.
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Yelling from your doorway seems a very reasonable, balanced choice. Pretry unlikely a person is going to respond as far as this one did (breaking into the house) and you are not only on much more solid legal ground in that case, but you can be pretty sure there isn’t an nth bad guy about to blind side you that you didn’t see
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You do you.
I think both reaction are OK. One person feels OK confronting and still being in safe zone, other may not feel comfortable doing this. And that’s OK.
@Ouade5 expressed it the best way:
Level of avoidance depends on the person who avoids.
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I thought about this, too, as well as the uncertainty that the window smasher might have something more than a baseball bat concealed inside his belt. I chose to ignore that for the sake of this specific scenario, but those would be very important considerations for anyone who might have to make a confront/avoid decision.
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I would not even approach I would just call 911 and let them handle it. We cannot use deadly force to protect property. I agree 100 percent @Jerzees but the reason I would do it my way is because a prosecutor would ask why did you approach the individual because that escalated the situation and if you stood inside the house he would not have attacked you.
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I would not even approach I would just call 911 and let them handle it. We cannot use deadly force to protect property. I agree 100 percent @Jerzees but the reason I would do it my way is because a prosecutor would ask why did you approach the individual because that escalated the situation and if you stood inside the house he would not have attacked you.
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I hope we never ended up with life when we stop talking and asking questions, because it may escalate somebody’s bad mood. 
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What kind of response are you expecting when you take the “not in my neighborhood” and “will not allow anybody to mess around with impunity” thought process up to someone who is actively breaking car windows? You may speak a question like “can I help you” but given the context/totality of the circumstances, I’m not sure it’s fair to characterized that as simply asking a question
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Yes, Simple question like: “Why are you breaking into my car?” And I would expecting fair answer. If it’s not fair - I know this is a criminal and I would then decide what to do.
Sometimes you may find the person is just mentally unbalanced so your approach can be different.
The attempt is to stop his acts at the first place.
But this is not a situation I’m using avoidance and being good witness.
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In my personal experience dealing with unstable people and seeing others deal with them, confronting or even simply trying to helpfully interact with someone who is venting their anger on inanimate objects more often than not leads to them changing the focus of their anger to the person engaging them and/or those around them.
I would expect that directly confronting such a person would significantly increase the chances of a violent encounter. In my case that could very likely lead to me having to defend myself or run back to my home with a violent person in pursuit now threatening me, my home and my family.
I wouldn’t hide in my home with the curtains drawn but I most likely would try to go unnoticed by the perpetrator while calling the police and keeping an eye on things to make sure the person didn’t start threatening one of my neighbors.
I’d rather have to make a claim on my car insurance policy than on the USCCA policy.
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That is certainly what happened in this story.
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I would react differently if it were a 12 year old girl than it were the Hulk. So I would access the situation and act accordingly.
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In this particular case it is given as a “man”. One apparently physically capable of breaking into a home
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Dave17: You raise a good point. In the current atmosphere, and depending upon the city where you unfortunately may live, police response to something like simple malicious mischief is going to be low on the urgency list of police calls. There is a joke around about a call about a break-in and the dispatcher says it will be a couple hours before an officer can respond. The old man calls a few minutes later and say he shot the intruder. Cops are there in a couple of minutes. The intruder is tied up in the shed. The cop says “I thought you said you shot him.” The old man says “I thought your dispatcher said it would be two hours before you got here.” Unfortunately it is not as funny as it was a couple of decades ago when I first heard it.
I agree that a broke car window is not a joke. It is not a simple matter of getting it fixed. It is completely out of pocket or if you report it to your insurance company you rates go up the next time you renew and forever after because now you live in a “high risk” neighborhood.
Too many people including law enforcement just say, “Oh Well, you insurance will cover it” thinking there is no consequence to filing an insurance claim. Despite ads that seem to indicate the contrary, insurance companies are not in the business of paying claims. They are in the business of selling and collecting for policies. Claims are a cost of doing business. As any business owner will tell you, lower the cost of doing business goes straight to the bottom line. Not paying claims goes straight to the year end bonuses.
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Which insurance company increases your rates for living in a high risk neighborhood because you had a broken window?
I have also been wondering about the information provided in the OP: Whose car windows were being broken?
I was on the second part
Have you witnessed property destruction before? What was your reaction, and would you respond differently now?
Sorry, I missed the answer. Have you witnessed property destruction before? What was your reaction? Would you respond differently now?
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@Barry54 Stick that Chevy Blazer in my GARAGE, I’ll protect it!
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I forgive you. Mine was the third reply.
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