Alabama man killed by police in 'ambush' during truck repossession, family says

[Jilly_in_VA]

An Alabama man was killed by police in an "ambush," his family said Monday, that unfolded when a repo man tried to take his truck with the help of officers.

Neighbors' security footage captured some of the sights and sounds of officers confronting Steve Perkins, 39, on Sept. 29 at his home in Decatur, about 30 miles southwest of Huntsville.

A man could he heard saying, "Hey, give me my truck back!" according to footage made public by Perkins' family.

Then another male voice could be heard screaming, "Hey, hey, police! Get on the ground!"

There was only a fraction of a second between the word “ground” and the sound of gunfire, with more than a dozen rounds apparently being squeezed off in about four seconds.

"From the immediate footage that we're seeing, it looked like an ambush of him not even knowing who was in his yard," family spokesperson Brenton Lipscomb old NBC News on Monday.

"They were in uniform, but it's a very dark neighborhood. No police cars were in front of the house, they were parked down the street, hiding in neighborhoods' yards, hiding around the house."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-man-killed-police-ambush-truck-repossession-family-says-rcna119504

More police overreach, it looks like.

[exboyfil]

1. He initially threatened the tow truck driver with a gun

The tow truck driver then left to get LEOs which showed up with him.

What I don't understand is that if he thought the tow truck driver was illegally attempting to take his car, why didn't he call 911 to report the theft instead of meeting him and the LEOs a second time with a gun.

This does bring up an interesting point in Texas for example. If the tow truck driver is wrong about the legality of the seizure, then the home resident is justified under Texas law in using lethal force in preventing the theft of his truck (in particular at night the law allows great latitude to the resident).