Man shot while repossessing truck
RIDGEVILLE — A tow-truck driver was shot in the face and back with birdshot Sunday when he tried to repossess a pickup truck.
Johnny James Platt Davis said he went to the house after a man failed to pay $1,587 that was due in late May.
He told Dorchester County deputies that he was connecting the tow truck to the pickup at about 2:50 p.m. at 118 Jewel Drive when the pickup's owner came out of his house with a shotgun, according to an incident report.
Davis told deputies that he yelled, "OK, OK, I'm dropping it," but the pickup's owner racked his shotgun and fired at him. The pellets ricocheted off the truck and struck Davis' brother in the wrist as he sat in the tow truck.
Davis said the suspect fired another shot that struck the tow truck's glass. The pellets struck him in the face and back, according to the incident report.
The victims drove off and called 911.
Deputies charged Melvin Hayes, 49, of Ridgeville with assault and battery with intent to kill.
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Comments
NativeSon (anonymous) says...
There is no indication that this guy identified himself as a repo man and there is no indication that he served the owner with papers certifing an order to reposess. If that is the case, it would appear that he was stealing the truck and the owner had every right to shoot.
June 30, 2009 at 4:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oslo59 (anonymous) says...
Melvin has anger issues. It seems he is a deadbeat as well.
June 30, 2009 at 5:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ChasGuy71 (anonymous) says...
Actually you don't have a right to defend property with deadly force in SC. You have to be able to articulate that you felt a clear threat to your person to do that. Crooks don't normally bring a tow truck to steal a car and they wouldn't be hooking it up at 2 in the afternoon if they did. This repossession was being done in broad daylight, with a tow truck. A normal person would go to the tow truck driver and ask why their car was being towed. Not this guy. He just walks out and shoots. The charge he got is valid.
June 30, 2009 at 6:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
moonpie (anonymous) says...
i agree throw the book at him. native, if your charge is true i would say the tow truck driver has some blame for his on wounds. but since we only get part of the story as usual, we don't know!
June 30, 2009 at 6:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RPSERV (anonymous) says...
Unfortunately, we will likely read other articles like this if the economy does not improve soon.
June 30, 2009 at 9:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
happy2behere (anonymous) says...
I agree. He knew he was behind in his payments. He should have been expecting someone to take his vehicle.
June 30, 2009 at 9:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
maeko (anonymous) says...
ChasGuy is correct. you cannot use deadly force to defend personal property outside your home. you may be able to shoot a burglar; which, by definition, is someone who has snuck into your home while it is occupied. the act of entering the occupied home is, in itself, a threat to life or limb.
June 30, 2009 at 10:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ColdBud (anonymous) says...
Yea, the castle doctrine doesn't apply to your stuff in your yard or driveway. It would apply to things in a garage or in the house. ChasGuy is correct in that manner. If an unwanted, univited person is in your home, or even just trying to get in your home (screened porch, garage, etc.), the South Carolina Castle Doctrine law assumes that you ARE in fear for your life and that deadly force is justified. As was mentioned though, that doesn't apply to a car in the driveway.
June 30, 2009 at 10:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
iculukin (anonymous) says...
Papers are sent to the owner warning him of the outcome if they don't get the payment current. You have to wait to get either a certified receipt back, or a "not deliverable". Usually, its the latter. I can guarantee you the owner knew who was hooking up his vehicle. The repo man has a copy of the letter sent to the owner and also calls the police upon hook up. They are not requuired to go and knock on your door. Again, the owners know they are in default!
June 30, 2009 at 11:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
postman01 (anonymous) says...
People, while I am not defending this man since he deafulted on an obligation and agreed in writing that this could be done by secured creditors if he did default...let's be realistic and understand that it is amazing that this kind of thing doesn't happen a lot more often.
June 30, 2009 at 3:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
luvmydogs59 (anonymous) says...
Actually, I got information from a few LEO's who told me that the Castle Doctrine law can apply to your property outside of your home if you are threatened by the perpetrator and fear for your life, especially if they show a weapon.
The thing with this is that they told me that if the perpetrator doesn't have a weapon, you have to be able to prove that the threat was enough to make you fear for your life.
Rest assured that if someone came on my property and tried to get my car or anything else, they would be looking down the barrel of my gun. Whether I use it or not would depend on the situation. But they're going to be staring at it nonetheless.
June 30, 2009 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bmytedbear (anonymous) says...
This is the year 2009, am I not right. It was in the broad daylight, a tow truck was hooking up to the vehicle, I am sure Melvin Haynes had been sent (certified) what is commonly called a "right to cure" which means you have twenty days from receipt to bring your account current, (amount is on the right to cure) and for that matter one would know he wasn't current on his payments. It was obvious to Mr Haynes that a repo man was on his property. Mr Haynes is black and the repo man was white, perhaps it was a Hate crime. But it indeed was a crime. Period.....
July 1, 2009 at 5:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
usa99 (anonymous) says...
How can the hooking up of a vehicle to a tow truck EVER articulate a threat? Remember luvmydogs59, you can go to jail for pointing and presenting a weapon. Rest assured yourself, you may be ready to point your weapon but it may be pointed at someone who's ready to pull the trigger back at you. G'day.
July 1, 2009 at 7:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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