New Hampshire man arrested for firing a warning shot into the ground while stopping a crime
The story goes like this:
A New Hampshire man, upon realizing his home was robbed, grabbed his .38 caliber handgun and went outside where he saw a man walking down the road with a backpack. A few minutes later he came back outside and saw that same man jumping out of his neighbor’s window. Realizing that the police wouldn’t get to his home in time to stop the man, Dennis Fleming aimed his pistol away from the thief and fired a warning shot safely into the ground where he knew there was no chance any harm could come to anybody.
The startled thief immediately stopped, and while Dennis Fleming unloaded his weapon and set it down to avoid any accidents his neighbors who heard the shot quickly rushed out and subdued the criminal until the police were finally able to make it onto the scene. All of the stolen property was recovered and his neighbors were thanking and shaking the hand of the man who stopped the criminal. The police arrested the thief and that is where the story should end, but it doesn’t because the New Hampshire police made one more arrest in this incident. The police arrested Dennis Fleming–the man who fired the warning shot–as well.
New Hampshire is a state which has the Castle Doctrine, and in September of last year the state expanded the Castle Doctrine when the legislature overrode Governor John Lynch’s veto of the “stand your ground” bill. The “stand your ground” bill simply states that a resident of New Hampshire has the right to use deadly force in self defense anywhere in the state where it is legal to carry a weapon if a person feels their life is in danger.
Where Dennis Fleming supposedly ran afoul of the law is the fact that his life was not in danger and this was not a matter of self defense; because of this he has been charged with a felony and faces the possibility of 3-7 years in jail. But Dennis Fleming did not fire the weapon at anybody, he fired the weapon into the ground where he knew it would do no harm, he quickly unloaded the weapon, he stopped a robbery single handed, and he earned the praise of his grateful neighbors. Despite all of this Dennis Fleming has been charged with reckless behavior for discharging a firearm.
In my opinion–and obviously in the opinion of his neighbors–Dennis Fleming is a hero and the police should be thanking him for his actions and his quick thinking, and yet he is facing a felony for responsibly stopping a crime. If Dennis Fleming actually is taken to court and charged with a crime it will be a travesty of justice.
I only can hope that the police do the right thing and drop the charges against Dennis Fleming and he is allowed to remain a free man.
America's Watchtower 
The irony is if he had caught the crook in his house and shot him dead, the police wouldn’t have any problem with Mr. Fleming.
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Exactly, then he wouldn’t be in trouble. Something is wrong here.
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Unfortunately for Fleming the thief wasn’t on his property. You can bet that the good citizen will pay a greater cost for his actions than the thief.
I can tell you from experience most cops would applaud the guys actions. However the weak kneed clowns who penalize people for protecting their own communities are more concerned with protecting the rights of criminals, not honest citizens. Too bad he didn’t drop the bastard. Just my opinion….WM
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I fear you are right and I probably shouldn’t have blamed the police because they really had no choice.
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Dennis – You are correct. There were many times when we had to pull someone in according to the letter of the law rather than the spirit. of the law. However, on occasion when the circumstances warranted, we would kick someone loose rather then screw up their life over some ill though law….WM
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Well with the news that the charges have been dropped it appears as if this is exactly what happened. The police had to follow procedure and bring him in until the facts were learned. Once the facts were learned he was released. The system worked today.
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I saw this in the paper this morning. Maybe some of us should make it a point to be at the trial, if there ever is one.
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The good news is a decision will be made whether or not to pursue the charges by the end of the week, at least that is what I read today. Hopefully the charges will be dropped.
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Unfortunately the decision the charge him is being made by a liberal Democrat-Strafford County Attorney Thomas Velardi ,who no doubt like Lynch,does not support those that chose to protect themselves and their property here in NH.
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Well, that is sad news.
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Sorry that was not written well, the decision to charge “is” up to the Country Attorney (a Liberal Democrat) so I suspect he will be charged but do indeed hope that he is not.
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I understood what you meant, and I am so happy that your concerns were not met today as the charges have been dropped!
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So its against the law in New Hampshire to fire a weapon into the ground? This guy should get a medal, the mayor should give him a key to the city and his neighbors should bake him a cake. (with a file in it).
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I agree, Fleming should have been in the news as being a hero, but at least the charges have been dropped and he will remain a free man.
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Sums it up nicely, the sad state of affairs we are in.
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It worked out great today, the charges have been dropped!
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according to his own statements to WMUR – Fleming fired a round to the left of the robber and into the woods. NOT THE GROUND. It’s illegal to discharge a firearm in this neighborhood. He was unaware of that fact. Ignorance is no excuse for his behavior. He acted like a mad man running around the neighborhood with a loaded gun for a 1/2 hour before he found the robber. Hebert broke his foot jumping out of the window so it’s not like he was going anywhere.
Fleming was never in any danger. He was correctly charged with reckless conduct.
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A madman is someone searching for a thief and protecting neighbors when the police cannot? You are a moron!
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Your account of the story is nothing like anything I have read and today the charges were dropped and justice was upheld. A madman? Not according to the county attorney who freed him today.
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No Vigilantes – Your argument is weak if you weren’t there. You cannot anymore determine the man’s frame of mind or his level of fear, than anyone else. I can tell you cops have more problems with self rightous people like yourself, than they do with citizens like Mr. Fleming – You would do quite well in northern California.
Most people don’t realize when burglers get away they usually come back in a few days or few weeks. Now that the word is out I would hazard that the next creep might think twice before terrorizing that neighborhood…WM
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Not only was his argument weak, it wasn’t anything like of the news articles covering this story. And with the news that the charges have been dropped it is clear that his account was totally off base.
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