Friday, March 2, 2007

Miami-Dade County, Florida

From Miami’s Local10.com of March 2, 2007
Police: Man Shoots, Kills Would-Be Robber

Police said a man shot and killed a would-be robber Thursday night in north Miami-Dade County.

It happened at about 9:45 p.m. outside 752 N.W. 102nd St.

Miami-Dade police said a man was approached by two other men who tried to rob him, but the intended victim instead pulled out a gun and fatally shot one of them. The other would-be robber got away.

Police said it was unlikely the man who shot his alleged attacker would be charged, as it appeared to be an act of self-defense.
From the Miami Herald of March 2, 2007
Attorney shoots first in alleged robbery

A prominent Miami-Dade traffic-ticket lawyer, facing an armed robber, pulled a gun from his glove compartment and stopped his attacker with volley of fatal gunfire.

Driving his black Mercedes, Traffic Ticket Office's Scott Hidnert was backing out of his north-central Dade office Thursday night when the robber rushed him.

Handcuffs stuffed in his pocket and a ski mask pulled over his head, the attacker pointed his weapon at the attorney.

''I'm lucky to be alive,'' the attorney said.

Hidnert has been called the ''granddaddy'' of ticket defenders. He founded a firm called Ticket Busters in 1992, one of the first to focus on misdemeanors such as speeding and running red lights.

The firm's name changed to Traffic Ticket Office three years later. Today, the firm offers legal help in Miami-Dade for $69 and up.

The incident is one of three recent high-profile self-defense shootings, all fatal, none resulting in criminal charges.

Last year, a new Florida law was enacted that loosened the standard for self-defense, allowing threatened citizens to shoot first even if their attacker doesn't show a gun.

''I don't expect any charges. He had a gun and was aiming at me,'' Hidnert said. ``If his gun didn't jam, he would have shot me.''

Miami-Dade police spokesman detective Roy Rutland declined to discuss charges. ``The entire case is still under investigation.''

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