
A memorial to Brendon Kaluza-Graham features handwritten comments from supporters and detractors Wednesday on a utility pole on North Lee Street on Monday. (The Spokesman-Review/Tyler Tjomsland photo)
Stealing cars is wrong and there is no excuse for it. But does that mean car thieves deserve to be executed by armed vigilantes? Is a car worth a person’s life? One man seems to think so. The Spokesman-Review reports:
Police say Gail Gerlach, a 56-year-old plumber with no criminal record, shot and killed a car thief Monday morning.
No weapons were found in Gerlach’s stolen Chevrolet Suburban or on the body of Brendon Kaluza-Graham, 25.
Spokane County prosecutors have not charged Gerlach, an outspoken gun rights advocate, in the shooting death that prompted a police investigation of second-degree murder.
Police say Kaluza-Graham stole the 1997 Chevrolet Suburban left idling in Gerlach’s driveway on Monday morning. When Gerlach called 911 just before 8 a.m. that day, he told the dispatcher he had just shot an armed man, according to police.
According to Police, Kaluza-Graham was shot in the back of the head after he had already driven at least two blocks in the stolen car, which ultimately crashed into a driveway. That means rather than call the police and report the crime, Gerlach, who was rightfully angry that his car had been stolen, took out his gun and shot at the fleeing carjacker who clearly posed no threat to the car owners life.
Of course Gerlach disputes this, claiming he saw Kaluza-Graham point what he thought was a gun out the window.
Gerlach told police that as the Suburban drove away, he saw the driver turn around and raise his arm. He saw what he thought was a gun and thought the thief was going to shoot at him, according to court records.
He then pulled his own gun, a 9 mm handgun, and fired a shot, according to court files. Police collected shattered pieces of tinted glass from the rear window of the Suburban, along with a child seat and a headrest.
The AP notes that “Gerlach called 911 on Monday morning to report that he saw his car being driven away and fired at the vehicle.” He doesn’t seem to have mentioned anything about thinking he saw a gun until he spoke to investigators. And no gun was ever recovered, unless you count Gerlach’s, which he did have a permit to carry.
In fact, Gerlach was quite the gun enthusiast, reports the Review:
Gerlach has written about his affinity for guns on his social media accounts.
In a Facebook post in Janurary, Gerlach wrote, “To all my new friends, A militia must be prepared today, tomorrow and forever!”
Gerlach’s publicly available social media posts include a slew of references to gun rights.
Another January post on his Facebook page was a photo of a man holding a gun, with the caption “I don’t register my 1st Amendment rights and I won’t register my 2nd Amendment rights either.”
Investigators haven’t decided whether or not to press charges. “This is a more complicated investigation than some as far as the use of force, whether or not it was justified,” Lt. Mark Griffiths told the Review.
As far as I know, Washington is not a Stand Your Ground state. And based on the publicly available evidence, Gerlach, at the very least, appears to have been reckless with his firearm.
Some of Gerlach’s neighbors told the Review that he might have been provoked by frustration with the recent rise in property crimes. In the last two weeks alone, a total of five vehicles in the neighborhood were reported to police as stolen. Some residents expressed additional frustration with the police who they say aren’t doing enough to address the spike in crime.
Still, Gerlach is not a police officer and frustration with property crimes does not excuse dishing out vigilante executions, especially over a stolen car.
Brendon T. Kaluza-Graham was born and raised in Spokane to teen parents (he was raised by his grandparents), according to the Review. His family has called his death “senseless”. KREM wasted no time digging up Kaluza-Graham’s criminal past as soon as his identity was released. He does have a history of stealing cars but that doesn’t justify murder. And anyone who argues that it does, answer me this: Would it be acceptable for an armed citizen to shoot at a thief riding away on their bike? How about their skateboard or scooter?
This was not self-defense, unless you consider an SUV to be the equivalent of a human life.
That’s not “carjacking” that’s car “stealing.” The thief did not use force or threaten force to take the car. Use of deadly force is never allowed in defense of property alone, but that simple concept gets complicated here by the shooter’s claim that he thought the driver was going to shoot him (facing backwards while driving). My bet is that the shooter will be charged.
Thanks for pointing out the distinction between carjacking and stealing Charlie. I didn’t realize there was one. I fixed it in the post.
Google Katko v. Briney, a case that’s in all the first year torts classes in law school. Very interesting concept – when you can use deadly force. I felt bad for the farmer in the Katko case, even though he used deadly force to protect his property.
Furthermore, Gerlach left his motor unattended & IDLING; in many states, this is often used AGAINST the vehicle’s owner (what business did they have leaving it running; don’t they know how unsafe that is; they’re just BEGGING to have that car stolen; ad nauseam). It will not be in his favour to explain why he left such a tempting & shiny object to tempt the magpies of the world!
I have personal conflict on this. I’ve had my home robbed, and in the heat of the moment, I wish I’d have had a gun. Upon cooling off, though, I’ve realized that things are replaceable. A life (which can be redeemed or educated… either through religions or rehabilitation) is not.
Adam,
Your point is well taken, but people make their own bed & they have to sleep on it.
Any kind of CRIMINAL ACTIVITY creates victims, whose PERSONAL SAFETY & SENSE OF SECURITY is automatically changed for ever.
Once the personal sense of security & safety is threatened by criminal activity, panic, vengeance, anger, frustration & insecurity takes over & victims REACT in a whole different way than they ever did ALL THEIR LIVES before.
Therefore, while I disagree VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER, I believe the criminals are responsible for their own fate.
Adam,
Your point is well taken, but people make their own bed & they have to sleep on it.
Any kind of CRIMINAL ACTIVITY creates victims, whose PERSONAL SAFETY & SENSE OF SECURITY is automatically changed for ever.
Once the personal sense of security & safety is threatened by criminal activity, panic, vengeance, anger, frustration & insecurity takes over & victims REACT in a whole different way than they ever did ALL THEIR LIVES before.
Therefore, while I agree VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER, I believe the criminals are responsible for their own fate.
People who live by fire, die by fire.
A low life scumbag like Kaluza-Graham doesn’t worth more than the SUV.
Actually, Washington IS a ‘stand your ground’ State. If you are threatened (or your loved ones), unlike California which mandates you must flee to the farthest corner and cower, you need not take one step backwards to claim self defense here. While in the calm of retrospect, a car is not worth a human life, the heat of the moment can put human lives at risk during the commission of a felony robbery/theft. I’ve seen it go down before. It’s not unusual for these things where an egregious felony is in progress to spiral out of control.
If the jury believes the man’s claim of justifiable homicide, he’ll walk. If the prosecutor believes him or feels he has insufficient evidence to prosecute, he won’t be charged. Worst case scenario?–involuntary manslaughter or reckless endangerment. Moral of the story?–don’t steal people’s cars. You could get hurt.
If I lived in an high car theft area, I’d rather invest in both a gun (for personal safety) AND an ignition interlock that can stop the car remotely, possibly by cell phone or whatever. The man made an attractive nuisance available to delinquents by leaving the running car unattended. That seems like contributory negligence. Yeah, the juvenile shouldn’t be stealing cars, and we shouldn’t be leaving open pits in our yards even though you’d be trespassing to encounter it.
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