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Friday, May 11, 2007

Out of Jail And No Where To Go, Mugging victim spends night in truck.

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posted by Bob at Friday, May 11, 2007

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Blogger Bob said...

Out of jail with nowhere to go, mugging victim spends night in truck
BY MARA H. GOTTFRIED
Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 05/11/2007 10:03:04 AM CDT


Donald Hurd spent last night in his truck.

The 68-year-old man was released from the Ramsey County jail Thursday, but he had no wallet, no cash and nowhere to go.

Hurd, of Bigfork, Minn., was mugged Tuesday night in St. Paul, and officers arrested him after he shot one of the suspected robbers.

Readers contacted the Pioneer Press today, offering to help Hurd - they said they'd like to give him money, a place to stay, or take him out to a meal. When told about the offers this morning, Hurd said, "Thank you, but no."

"I don't like to ask for help," said Hurd, who is retired but comes to the Twin Cities to do odd jobs. He is divorced, and his relatives live out of state. "If you get into a situation, it's up to you to get out of it."

Hurd was taking the bus Tuesday to pick up his Chevrolet truck from a repair shop and was attacked between stops, in the area of Snelling and Como avenues. On Thursday, he made it to the Roseville shop, but his truck wasn't ready.

Hurd thought the jailers would return $100 in cash the robbers hadn't found. He was going to use it to stay in a motel Thursday night. As it turns out, when the jail returns inmates' property, they trade cash for a check. Hurd didn't know what good a check would do him because his driver's license had been stolen.

Hurd's truck isn't drivable and is parked at the shop. That's where he spent the night. He was planning to go to a bank to see if he could get some money. He's going to try to get a new driver's license, too.

Hurd's problems might not be over. Though he was released from jail, he could yet face criminal charges.

He might be a hero in the court of public opinion, but whether Hurd broke the law is a different story.

Hurd said he was only trying to scare the three young men who attacked him. Legal experts said Hurd's case doesn't seem to meet the self-defense standard in Minnesota. The 18-year-old man who Hurd shot in the shoulder is expected to be fine, police said.

"You would think somewhere between the letter of the law, there's some space there for some consideration and understanding," Hurd said. "It is an injustice."

The robbery suspects weren't arrested. The investigation into the robbery and the shooting continues, police said.

Hurd was born in St. Paul and raised in San Francisco. He came back to St. Paul when he was 15, after his mother was killed in a car accident, and he lived with his father.

On his 17th birthday, Hurd enlisted in the Army and worked as a military police officer. He was stationed in Germany, what is now Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

After leaving the Army, Hurd returned to Minnesota, where he and his wife raised a family. He worked different jobs over the years - driving trucks and school buses, working as a plumber and an electrician, and being a security guard.

He's a quiet man and said he's embarrassed by the attention his case has received. He said he would have done the same thing if he came across someone in his situation.

"I would give up myself to destroy evil," he said Thursday. "It's just the way I am."

Hurd doesn't have a criminal history, but he acknowledged some problems with the way he handled things Tuesday night. He lied to police at first about the shooting, which he said he did because he was scared and confused. He doesn't have a permit to carry the pistol he had with him.

If he could go back to when he fired his gun Tuesday and change things, he's not sure he would.

"God only knows," Hurd said. "I don't want to say yes and I don't want to say no because you have a different frame of mind in that situation. I felt like I was violated. You look for some justice for yourself."

State Rep. Tony Cornish, who sponsored a bill this legislative session to give citizens more leeway in using deadly force to defend themselves, said he was outraged by what happened to Hurd.

"Maybe if these scumbags that were beating and robbing our old people had some doubt in their mind if they were going to survive their own crime, they would have some doubt about committing it in the first place," said Cornish, R-Good Thunder.

Cornish's bill, which he called "Stand Your Ground" legislation, didn't get a committee hearing. Though it might not have applied directly in Hurd's case, Cornish said, the law would have offered clarity about when and how citizens can defend themselves.

Current Minnesota law says it's justifiable to kill someone if you are "resisting or preventing an offense" that you "reasonably" believe could lead to "great bodily harm or death" for you or another person. If you are in your own home, deadly force can be used to prevent someone from committing a felony.

Even so, local attorneys think an argument could be made for Hurd's actions. If he is charged and the case goes to a jury, he'll likely come across as a sympathetic figure, they said.

"These aren't cases prosecutors like to take to juries," said Richard Frase, a University of Minnesota law professor.

Mara H. Gottfried covers St. Paul public safety. She can be reached at mgottfried@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5262.

3:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Only in St Paul do the guilty walk free and the law abiding get locked up. Then they have the lunacy enough to wonder why they have a crime problem. Oh well...just go tear down some more houses to make us safer Kathy.

6:15 PM  

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