Trail Camera to catch a snooping neighborhood thief?

[VerbaVolant]

Question is what is the legal definition of a "Booby trap"?

Excerpt from Wiki:

"A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim. As the word trap implies, they sometimes have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. At other times, the trap is set to act upon trespassers that violate personal or restricted areas. The device can be triggered when the victim performs some type of everyday action e.g. opening a door, picking something up or switching something on. "

Surprise a person = check
Unknowingly triggered = check
Form of bait designed to lure the victim = open garage door = unlocked car door = visible/exposed valuables = check
Set to act upon trespassers that violate personal or restricted areas = check

And so on... Just leave it to the lawyers.

The only advise I have is to be careful and go the safe, civil way. Like other posters here suggested, talk to the local authorities first and document it.

It could be the silly teenage boy next door. Many tragedies triggered by silly people, and at the end of the day, it takes two to tango.

A trail cam would not be harmful. It all depends of your next steps.

 

[VerbaVolant]

One should always get a health screening from their doctor, before taking on a career in theft.

Wise thing to do, especially for those allergic to lead...

 

[realdog4]

Question is what is the legal definition of a "Booby trap"?

Excerpt from Wiki:

"A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim. As the word trap implies, they sometimes have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. At other times, the trap is set to act upon trespassers that violate personal or restricted areas. The device can be triggered when the victim performs some type of everyday action e.g. opening a door, picking something up or switching something on. "

Surprise a person = check
Unknowingly triggered = check
Form of bait designed to lure the victim = open garage door = unlocked car door = visible/exposed valuables = check
Set to act upon trespassers that violate personal or restricted areas = check

And so on... Just leave it to the lawyers.

The only advise I have is to be careful and go the safe, civil way. Like other posters here suggested, talk to the local authorities first and document it.

It could be the silly teenage boy next door. Many tragedies triggered by silly people, and at the end of the day, it takes two to tango.

A trail cam would not be harmful. It all depends of your next steps.

Suprising a person could, in some jurisdictions, impute liability. It isn't; however, cut and dry. I studied the issue in Torts but it is not worth discussing.

I mean no offense but if your going to look up legal definitions, look to "Blacks Law Dictionary" rather than wiki. That is essentially the only legal dictionary used in all law schools.

 

[VerbaVolant]

No offense taken. I don't pretend to be what I am not (My opinion is uneducated and my advice reflects that). The question about the legal definition remains so please tell us what a "booby trap" is. The excerpt from wiki is just that, a wiki definition.
I have learned very well that nothing is "cut and dry".

 

[ackvil]

No offense taken. I don't pretend to be what I am not (My opinion is uneducated and my advice reflects that). The question about the legal definition remains so please tell us what a "booby trap" is. The excerpt from wiki is just that, a wiki definition.
I have learned very well that nothing is "cut and dry".

"A device set up to be triggered to harm or kill anyone entering the trap, such as a shotgun which will go off if a room is entered, or dynamite which will explode if the ignition key on an auto is turned. If a person sets up such a trap to protect his/her property, he/she will be liable for any injury or death even to an unwanted intruder such as a burglar. Setting a booby trap to even protect one's property is a crime."

 

[realdog4]

No offense taken. I don't pretend to be what I am not (My opinion is uneducated and my advice reflects that). The question about the legal definition remains so please tell us what a "booby trap" is. The excerpt from wiki is just that, a wiki definition.
I have learned very well that nothing is "cut and dry".

There are too many elements to explain. Some differ from State to State. There is; however, a basic body of law.

You could make this into a Torts exam question. It's been 10 years since I took classes and the bar and I am done. If you want the legal definition, just look it up. Blacks law dictionary.

Look for phrases like "duty to trespassers" and "spring guns in torts" and you will uncover some answers.

You can can probably just google "booby trap blacks law" and be done with it.

I will leave you with the following:

Suppose you left your garage door open to see if the neighbor is snooping around by capturing him on your new trail camera. Recently you noticed odd footprints in the area.

As suspected, he begins walking towards the open garage late at night without invitation.

When he begins to approach he uses the garage wall to sheild himself.

As he gets closer, a motion sensor light (extremely common) turns on and the guy has a deadly heart attack.

Do you really think the homeowner is liable?

Last phrase to lookup - "foreseeability"

 

[realdog4]

"A device set up to be triggered to harm or kill anyone entering the trap, such as a shotgun which will go off if a room is entered, or dynamite which will explode if the ignition key on an auto is turned. If a person sets up such a trap to protect his/her property, he/she will be liable for any injury or death even to an unwanted intruder such as a burglar. Setting a booby trap to even protect one's property is a crime."

The above is 100% correct.

 

[VerbaVolant]

..Do you really think the homeowner is liable?...

It doesn't really matter what I think. Only what the judge thinks.

 

[VerbaVolant]

I agree, my initial thought was ridiculous. Just wanted to make the OP think more about what course of action to take.
Thanks for clarification.

 

[ackvil]

Take a look at this case to see what a court think. As you can see, an appeal court affirmed a judgment against someone who attmpted to protect personal property in an unoccupied boarded-up farm house against trespassers and thieves by a spring gun capable of inflicting death or serious injury. The award was for a total of $30,000.

When I was in law school, most of us were shocked by this doctrine.

 

[realdog4]

Take a look at this case to see what a court think. As you can see, an appeal court affirmed a judgment against someone who attmpted to protect personal property in an unoccupied boarded-up farm house against trespassers and thieves by a spring gun capable of inflicting death or serious injury. The award was for a total of $30,000.

When I was in law school, most of us were shocked by this doctrine.

I think this case was in my torts book.

 

[Doc4]

There are too many elements to explain. Some differ from State to State.

There are too many states, countries, provinces, municipalities, and other jurisdictions all jumbled up in our B&B membership for us to be able to give good "legal" advice to anyone here about what they can and cannot specifically do in their case. It'd be worth "your" (ie whoever happens to be reading this and interested) while to acquaint yourself with your local (federal, provincial/state, municipal, &c) laws, including how they are interpreted and enforced by the local police and courts of law.

 

[Argonaut]

Booby traps are aptly named, for both parties involved usually. I would think a trail cam set anywhere close enough to identify a face would wind up stolen with anything else not nailed down.

 

[OkieStubble]

It doesn't really matter what I think. Only what the judge thinks.

And that very fickle bunch called the jury...

 

[OkieStubble]

Booby traps are aptly named, for both parties involved usually. I would think a trail cam set anywhere close enough to identify a face would wind up stolen with anything else not nailed down.

And if you want proof of the truth in this post, check out all the trail cams in pawn shops. just sayin.

 

[Bhugo]

And if you want proof of the truth in this post, check out all the trail cams in pawn shops. just sayin.

You just need to set up a second trail cam to catch the trail cam thief. Ha

 

[Deltaboy]

Trail cameras work great they come in camo , brown or black.

 

[Ad Astra]

I'd like to think non-lethal "surprises" are legal... Creative uses of cameras certainly are.
Well. Unless trespassers have more legal rights to thair image than homeowners ...


AA