Only in America

[Phlegm]

(CBS/AP) A man who was beaten by employees of an auto parts store he was trying to rob is now suing the store and those employees.

Police say Dana Buckman entered the AutoZone in Rochester, New York, last July, brandished a semi-automatic pistol and demanded cash.

Eli Crespo and Jerry Vega – who were working that day – didn't cooperate. The pair beat the would-be robber with a pipe and held him at bay with his own gun.

Buckman escaped when the employees retreated into the store to call 911, but he was arrested a week later. Buckman pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a repeat violent felon.

But now, Buckman is suing the auto parts store and the two men who beat him, claiming they committed assault and battery and intentionally inflicted emotional distress.

"It seems to me a bit audacious," Patrick Naylon, the attorney for AutoZone, Crespo and Vega told CBSNews.com's Lloyd de Vries. "The plaintiff first tried to rob AutoZone with a gun, and now he's trying to rob it with a civil lawsuit."

But lawyer Phillip R. Hurwitz, who represented Buckman in the criminal case and also filed the civil suit in April in state Supreme Court, told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle that Crespo and Vega crossed the line by pursuing Buckman and attacking him.

"The danger was past," Hurwitz told the paper. "These two employees took it upon themselves to go after Mr. Buckman after he left the store."

The lawyer for Crespo and Vega – who no longer work for AutoZone – told CBSNews.com his clients shouldn't be too worried about the outcome. "If they were brave enough to handle an armed robbery, a civil lawsuit certainly shouldn't scare them, especially one like this."

Monroe County District Attorney Michael C. Green would not comment on the suit's chances in court, but he told the Democrat & Chronicle, "There doesn't seem to be any question that they were justified."

[Tuggan]

fucking scumbag lawyers.

[Ginzburgh]

"The danger was past," Hurwitz told the paper. "These two employees took it upon themselves to go after Mr. Buckman after he left the store."

He's got a case.

[Markarado]

I wouldn't be surprised if he won the case. Fucking bullshit

[Trielelvan]

If he wins, I hope those 2 workers pull an Al Bundy and punch him in the face, then sue him back for hurting their hands.

[Thon]

he should get a couple more years on his sentence just for filing that lawsuit

[Ginzburgh]

While your hearts are in the right places, your brains aren't. Sure, the guy is a scumbag and I'm happy that he's not on the street, but those two auto zone workers should've let the police handle it. Instead, they watched the guy walk out, grabbed some pipes, followed the guy down the street and beat the shit out of him.

That was stupid on their part. Stupid because they should've just notified the police and let them take care of it and stupid for avenging a robbery at a place they probably make 10 dollars an hour working for.

Like I said, he's got a case. Any reasonably intelligent defense attorney would have enough to win.

[kaharthemad]

what do you call 1200 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean...


A good fucking start.

[Thon]

the only mistake the auto zone workers made was not beating him to death

[Captain Insano]

While your hearts are in the right places, your brains aren't. Sure, the guy is a scumbag and I'm happy that he's not on the street, but those two auto zone workers should've let the police handle it. Instead, they watched the guy walk out, grabbed some pipes, followed the guy down the street and beat the shit out of him.

That was stupid on their part. Stupid because they should've just notified the police and let them take care of it and stupid for avenging a robbery at a place they probably make 10 dollars an hour working for.

Like I said, he's got a case. Any reasonably intelligent defense attorney would have enough to win.

No fuck that shit.

Its people like you that enable criminals to get away with murder.

In all reality it is pretty fucking easy to get away with petty robbery and theft; criminals know this and they also know that most people won't do anything to stop them.

This country needs vigilante justice. If some prick gets his ass handed to him during any sort of robbery that should just be too fucking bad. Who gives a fuck if they get beat to death? Let a good 20 of these assholes get killed in robberies and the crime rates would drop through the floor, I guarantee it.

If I ever catch someone robbing my house I'm going to get their attention and then blow their head off and tell the cops I thought he had a gun.

[Captain Insano]

the only mistake the auto zone workers made was not beating him to death

Yah know shit... should have taken a torque wrench to that fuckers skull until it looked like spam smeared across the concrete.

[Drem]

The police don't even have to get involved in the first place if these guys got a couple four pounders and took this guy's face off the street. That's exactly what he deserved.

[Ginzburgh]

Hi we live in a place called "reality".

[Minrott]

We do. You live in a place where people are apparently a sore lot too afraid to stand up for itself, where the only answer to a scary physical altercation is to cry for help, where criminals have more rights than citizens.

Wait I thought you were in CT not London.

[Captain Insano]

he's a liberal ie: communist. They love crime and terrorism... It gives them an excuse to fund more social programs.

[kaharthemad]

look at it this way...if you see a murderer. you see him running away from the scene of the crime...should you be able to beat his ass to a pulp?


How about the guy in atlanta that killed two guys when they broke into his store in the middle of the night. He is not in imeinent danger however, he blows the guys brains all over his icebox, then when the other guy runs from him he shoots him in the back. Is this wrong? dont think so. Should he be prosecuted? nope. Should he be given a medal for exemplary aim with a 45cal? Yup. Two thugs tango uniform and less paperwork for the cops. the guy prolly saved us about 50 to 100k per in trial fees.

As for autozone They knew who it was. They took it upon themselves to subdue the person. That is the great thing about this country called reality. They can by law apprehend said individual. Its called citizen's arrest. While he is carrying that gun he is considered armed and dangerous. He showed propensity to use the weapon when he brandished it at them in their shop. They used the force necessary to remove the weapon from the individual. Had they continued to beat the t-total shit out of him after the weapon was removed then it becomes assault.

[Spazz]

Your right ginz people should have the right to steal whatever they want and they should also be given the chance to get away from the scene. Have you ever been robbed before ginz ??

Its people like you that enable criminals to get away with murder.

If you rob someone and you get totally fucked up in the process the least that should happen is you have no right to sue who fucked you up.

[Harrison]

Hi we live in a place called "reality".

We?

I think you're off in fucking la la land.

"POOR CRIMINAL HE TRIED TO ROB SOMETHING AND GOT FUCKED UP, LETS GIVE HIM MONEY!!!"

Fuck that shit, this isn't candyland. He deserves whatever he got, and some.

[Tuggan]

he's a liberal ie: communist. They love crime and terrorism... It gives them an excuse to fund more social programs.

im a liberal, and i would have brained this fucker with my .45

[Spazz]

Well thats not what a liberal would do.

[Tuggan]

thats what this liberal would do.

[Ginzburgh]

Rofl hard talk.

Most of you (if not all) wouldn't do a goddamn thing if you got robbed working at auto zone, McDonald's, a bowling alley, a best buy or any other shit paying job out there. You'd let it happen then come post on NT about how "crazy your day was".

The only thing you guys have proven with your "vigilante justice" diatribes are that you're not mature enough to have a normal conversation without hurling (unwarranted) insults.

I do not condone the actions of the robber. Like any rational, law abiding civilian I am happy he is behind bars where he belongs.

You guys can have grandiose fantasies how this country SHOULD be run, but as things currently stand, the man has a case. And that was all I was saying.

Freaks.

[Jay]

I agree with Ginz. To start, they beat him with a pipe when they had him subdued with his own gun. If a cop did that, they'd get nailed with police brutality. As a police officer, they're trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to subdue assailant, and even then that's one of the hardest parts of being a cop. Having to judge what constitutes "minimal force" let alone some dipshit autozone clerks. The law gets out of hand when citizens take it upon themselves to do a cop's job. Not to mention they risked their lives for a job that obviously didn't mean enough to them to remain at. How fucking stupid is that?

[Naethyn]

By entering society we transfer rights to the sovereign.

They had no right to do what they did.

[Captain Insano]

Rofl hard talk.

Most of you (if not all) wouldn't do a goddamn thing if you got robbed working at auto zone, McDonald's, a bowling alley, a best buy or any other shit paying job out there. You'd let it happen then come post on NT about how "crazy your day was".

The only thing you guys have proven with your "vigilante justice" diatribes are that you're not mature enough to have a normal conversation without hurling (unwarranted) insults.

I do not condone the actions of the robber. Like any rational, law abiding civilian I am happy he is behind bars where he belongs.

You guys can have grandiose fantasies how this country SHOULD be run, but as things currently stand, the man has a case. And that was all I was saying.

Freaks.

I'm a marine... I would have kicked the gun out of the guys hand, found two more guys with guns kicked those too and then stabbed a chick to death just for good measure.... and then I would reward myself with hookers and cheap booze.