DeKalb County Sheriff’s Police Charge Homeowner With Threatening Intruders
It's a controversial criminal charge that has a lot of people scratching their heads. A Malta resident has been charged by police with threatening two individuals who were on his property.
According to a published media report, on September 9th, DeKalb County Sheriff's deputies say they received a report that Robert Phillips, 34, of Malta, had threatened two people on his property. Roberts lives along Rt 38. Deputies said that the nature of the alleged threat was that:
Phillips told the two to get off his property and that he was going to go get a gun.
There was no indication as to whether a gun was displayed or whether Phillips actually retrieved a weapon
Police arrested Phillips on charges of disorderly conduct and assault. Here is a list of his charges from the DeKalb Circuit Clerk website:
Granted, we don't know all the circumstances of what transpired as police have not offered more details. The incident has a lot of people discussing if the arrest was justified.
Some questions people are asking:
- Did DeKalb County Sheriff's Police overreact?
- Is a homeowner justified in using a verbal threat against intruders on this property?
- Did the homeowner go overboard in threatening to "go get a gun"?
- Is a verbal threat considered an assault?
Share your thoughts below.