Concealed Gun Carrier Charged for Allegedly Shooting at Shoplifters in Home Depot Parking Lot
A woman accused of shooting at two alleged shoplifters as they drove away from a Home Depot parking lot last week will face charges, Oakland County, Mich. prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The alleged shooter, who holds a concealed pistol license, has been identified as 46-year-old Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez. She’s charged with one count of reckless use of a firearm, and has been cooperating with police, according to Detroit’s WDIV.
Prosecutors say Duva-Rodriguez used her gun—previously described by local news as a 9mm pistol—in a “misguided attempt to disable the vehicle to stop two reported shoplifters” outside an Auburn Hills Home Depot store.
Shots hit the fleeing SUV, flattening a tire.
“If this is proven, I find it very disturbing that someone would take out their gun in a busy parking lot and shoot at the tires of a passing car,” Oakland County prosecutor Jessica Cooper said in a statement, “Once fired, the bullet could have easily ricocheted or fragmented and injured or killed someone else. It would have been much more helpful for her to take out her cellphone and shoot pictures of the shoplifter’s license plate.”
Michigan courts have allowed citizens some leeway for the use of deadly force in stopping a felony in progress under a citizens’ arrest law—more leeway than law enforcement officers have, in fact—but the use of force has to be “necessary” to ensure the capture of the felon.
In this case, the alleged felons—Anthony Harris, 46, and an unnamed 52-year-old suspect—were taken into custody by police in the days after the alleged shoplifting incident. They’re accused of stealing more than $1,000 in merchandise.