Trespassers !!!

put it this way i am sick off ppl running around on my yard and property stealing stuff,,,, i had put out my gas cans to mow ran back in house to use bathroom 5 min latter cans were gone,,, have had mail stolen etc........i have had all i can stand of this BS

It would be wrong to affect the quality of gas left out. :laughing7:
While concealment an issue,(a clever person can blend them in) game cameras used in hunting can provide some pics.
 

Have you thought - if you lost your gas cans in 5min., they may be watching you? Game cameras- excellent idea. Make sure the time stamp is the right time and date/ and you have it on. yelnif... HH- hope you catch them !!!
 

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The law is definitley not on our side. My brother is a handy person who built his own flatbed trailer out of rail car flooring wood on the deck and welded up the frame and sides. Well he lived in the South part of our fine City here in California were someone took it from in front of his house. For months whenever I went anywere with him he was always looking at trailers going down the road looking for his trailer it was sorta funny. One day he was going to the scrap metal dealers and drove in to the scale and in front of him connected to an old 1960 truck was his trailer. He goes inside uses the phone and calls the cops they really dont respond to well so pissed off he goes outside and parks his truck across the scale so the people couldnt leave. They happen to be 3 really big bad looking mothers who are starting to ***** at my brother to move his white ass all 150 lbs of it outa their way so they can leave. So he walks around their truck and takes his pocket knife and stabs their tire and says look you gottta flat. They mess with changing it for a long time still no police show up. My brother is beyond pissed and the street next to the scrap yard happens to be a street that goes to the jail and lots of police cars are always driving down it. My Brother being an idiot runs out in the street in front of a police care with a suspect in the back the police officer is way pissed my brother says hey these people stole my trailer and I want them arrested after a few minutes 3 cop cars show up my brothers frothing at the mouth and saying arrest these guys there probobly felons. Cops say how can you prove its yours. My Brother says I built it I welded its my trialer they stole it. Cops say we cant run these fine gentleman to see if they are felons we have no proof its yours so your outa luck buddy. All this takes and hour so my brothers says so your telling me your gonna let them keep my f'in trailer and let them go ? Yes says the cops. So my brother says so if you let them leave I am going to follow them drive them off the road and take my f'in trailer back then you can try to get it back from me. After another 30 minutes of heated discussion they give him his trailer. Oohh and when they finally did run ids on the three occupants of the truck all wanted felons.
 

I caught some guys stealing deerstands on my property a few years ago and had been hearing the law wouldnt do anything, so i just hooked a chain to their truck and drug it off into a spot they couldnt find , then waited for them to come walking up the road and charged them 500 bucks to get their truck back. Needless to say word got around and I had no more problems. Had they called police which would have forced them to be arrested , I would have said "Truck? What truck? My land is posted and private, aint no truck out there."
 

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Many years ago a teenager came into my yard at 3 AM and was stealing the tires off my car. Wouldn't have caught it, if he hadn't dropped a tire iron on the concrete driveway. Unfortunately for him, i own an AR-15. Didn't bother to call the cops. Fired about two dozen rounds at his heels as he scrambled down the street. Never had any other problems with looters and my neighbors are uncommonly polite and considerate. You don't have to actually shoot anyone, just have to let 'em know your not opposed to the idea. Next time, pop a few rounds off. Word will get around, and your looter problems will disappear.

If you would have hit him you would be the one in jail for ag,assault or murder ,then probably would have been sued.
 

Too often in my lie time I have seen ordinary people expect our social services IE: the law. To care and protect us and the surprise when they discover they stand alone. Cops, courts, lawyers really don't care about property theft if it's petty. The cops get no awards. The courts just get jammed up with more traffic and the lawyers make little money. In the court (if it goes that far) you will have the burden of proof. So you better have paper because the thief will swear you sold him the stuff and now you are trying to cheat him.
Everyone except the victim wants it to go away. If you are unwilling to go the distance you might as well forget about the whole thing and explane to others that there was little you could do because there is. If, on the other hand, you can't live with that or choose not to, then you have to live with risk.
The system forces people to make these hard choices because it favors the bad guys.
 

Go to the courthouse in the county you live in and tell them the problems you are having. Tell them you have tried to stop them through law enforcement and if they dont do something about it that you will take matters in to your own hands. Get their liscense plate number and go take a warrant out against the owner of the truck. If that dont work take your loaded gun a when they come back go to them and tell them to stay off of your property and if they come back there will be trouble! Somebody can help you with this problem at the law enforcement office. Talk to the sherriff of your county. You pay taxes and that is their job.
 

I really hate to hear about cases like this. Around here our police department is top notch. I can call and complain that kids are knocking down mail boxes and they will come running out to investigate. Stolen property is taken very seriously. Then again, I live in a relatively crime free area and all the cops have to do around here is take care of minor theft issues. Nothing major happens here. Unfortunately, the State Police in most states are a completely different matter. They have their hands full with all kinds of nasty stuff that you would not even want to know about. Sad but true. It stinks that you are not getting the justice you deserve.

However, shooting at people and setting booby traps are very bad ideas. Is that metal worth your life and liberty? Probably not. The game camera idea is good as is just being more careful to secure your belongings. Criminals are always on the lookout for "low hanging fruit". Evidently your setup is such that they see you as an easy victim. If metal is laying out in a field in plain sight then you are going to be a target. I'm not trying to lay the blame on you. After all, you SHOULD be able to just put a gas can or metal on your property and not expect it to disappear. But the reality is that we have to protect ourselves and our stuff if we don't want to be victims.

Take a look at your setup and how you can stop being seen as an easy victim. Criminals want to do the least amount of work possible for the greatest rewards. They aren't going to go for high risk, low reward targets.
 

I remember this sign just after hurricane Katerina.
GO AWAY! I HAVE A BULL DOG AND A CLAW HAMMER! I wish I had a picture of that sign.

Most people that live by the law don't realize how brazen thief can be. The saying that possession is nine tenths of the law works in a thief's favor as it places the burden of proof on the victim.
Get everything bought/sold in writing.
We had a lady here getting checks stolen from her mail box. The thief chemically erased the names and numbers and wrote his on the checks. When her bank called saying there was a guy there trying to cash a check after her stop-payment she called the cops and went to the bank. The bad guy was there and said. "Remember the work I did for you? well the check is no good." If the guy hadn't had priors it would be her word against his.
If you still use checks and put them is a mail box with the flag up you could be the next victim.
 

this metal was not in plain view it was out of site the guy tried to tell me he seen it from the road ,, it was in the woods tucked away out of site at about 800 ft from the road
I really hate to hear about cases like this. Around here our police department is top notch. I can call and complain that kids are knocking down mail boxes and they will come running out to investigate. Stolen property is taken very seriously. Then again, I live in a relatively crime free area and all the cops have to do around here is take care of minor theft issues. Nothing major happens here. Unfortunately, the State Police in most states are a completely different matter. They have their hands full with all kinds of nasty stuff that you would not even want to know about. Sad but true. It stinks that you are not getting the justice you deserve.

However, shooting at people and setting booby traps are very bad ideas. Is that metal worth your life and liberty? Probably not. The game camera idea is good as is just being more careful to secure your belongings. Criminals are always on the lookout for "low hanging fruit". Evidently your setup is such that they see you as an easy victim. If metal is laying out in a field in plain sight then you are going to be a target. I'm not trying to lay the blame on you. After all, you SHOULD be able to just put a gas can or metal on your property and not expect it to disappear. But the reality is that we have to protect ourselves and our stuff if we don't want to be victims.

Take a look at your setup and how you can stop being seen as an easy victim. Criminals want to do the least amount of work possible for the greatest rewards. They aren't going to go for high risk, low reward targets.
 

he removed his plates before coming though the field and would not let me get more than 40 ft near him
Go to the courthouse in the county you live in and tell them the problems you are having. Tell them you have tried to stop them through law enforcement and if they dont do something about it that you will take matters in to your own hands. Get their liscense plate number and go take a warrant out against the owner of the truck. If that dont work take your loaded gun a when they come back go to them and tell them to stay off of your property and if they come back there will be trouble! Somebody can help you with this problem at the law enforcement office. Talk to the sherriff of your county. You pay taxes and that is their job.
 

he removed his plates before coming though the field and would not let me get more than 40 ft near him


Then you know all about how brazen a thief can be. It's what their good at. You have gotten advice here from going to the cops to being a vigilante to trusting the courts. I'm not sure any of those paths work without adding a lot of frustration to your life. Maybe sell what's left. It's sad when a solution to thieves is to not have anything worth stealing.
I have known some bad guys in the past and it was always a surprise how their minds work. They think differently and see opportunity where most don't. Everything's a hustle. I'm glad when some can deal with them outside the accepted routes but I know that's not for everyone.
 

When I was a kid my Dad kept a 100 gallon gas tank on a stand. There were always 3 or 4 5 gallon cans full under it in case he was away from home and needed gas, then Mom would run some gas to him. He noticed one can would be empty sometimes, meaning someone was helping themselves to some gas. Dad loaded one can with 5 pounds of sugar and made sure it was the only one left with anything in it. After the loaded can was found empty, he never had anymore taken.
A guy I worked with found a couple of teens stealing his cattle. They had a pickup and loading chute and had 4 head loaded when he confronted them. He was a pretty big guy and rough. He thumped them, threw them in the back of his pickup and took them to the Sheriff. All they could charge them with was trespassing. If he had let them get onto public roadway then they could have charged them with theft.
Funny thing. He didn't press charges but their property disappeared. Their truck and loading chute must have been stolen as when they went to get it it was gone. I personally think it disappeared to the bottom of an old coal strip pit about 100 feet from where they left it. As the pit had about 60 feet of water in it, they couldn't see the bottom.
Maybe you need a sign that reads "Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again". Good luck.
 

My Uncle Bobby Joe once told me, "Steve if you're gonna shoot somebody. Don't tell anybody about it, Don't make threats, Just do it and take it with you to your Grave". So far, i haven't been arrested or sued by anyone.
 

Ill try to keep this short....

A guy with a reputation of tresspassing and poaching rents a farm house in our neck of the woods. Instantly everyone starts seeing him on everybody elses posted property. Also they are catching him on their own properties. Everyone warns or rewarns him to stay off. This continues a couple yrs. Finally my neighbor catches him up a tree in his climber, in archery season. My neighbor curses him, throws a few stones up at him, then says he is going to the house for a gun. Instead my neighbor goes to the house and calls the state police. They show up and talk to everybody involved. A couple weeks latter the case comes up at the Justice's office. Poacher, neighbor, cop show up. Case is heard...$250- fine for defiant tresspassing. Neighbor leaves satisfied.
A few weeks go by and neighbor gets notice of an appeal. Has to go to County court. Poacher and neighbor show up, cop is unavailable. Neighbor gets on stand and questioned by poachers attorney.....

Is your property posted? ......yes.......... neighbor answered

For how long?..........20 yrs

Those orange or yellow posters?...........yes

Maybe 50 or 100 ft apart?.......... something like that, yes

Easy to see? .........yes

What about in the dark?...........what? says the neighbor

Could someone walk past one in the dark and not see it?.......But he knows where he is at, says neighbor

Attorney repeats question and neighbor says..... that someone could walk by a sign in the dark and miss it

Now the attorney asks......So now, a person has walked past the sign they didnt see in the dark, and they are in the middle of your property. Do you have signs in the middle of your property letting them know not to be there?

The poacher walked

That was 3-4 yrs ago and the poacher still roams today
 

Get game cameras. This happened on my farm. Guys removed their plates but got clean pictures of them and the truck with the scrap. Criminals always return to the scene of the crime. A week later I was up there shooting targets and the neighbor stops by to tell me he saw the truck near by off the highway and got a plate number. A couple days later they return and steal my dad's riding mower. Cops got it the next day and they are screwed.
 

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