Tuesday, January 9, 2007

West Gables, Florida

From the January 9, 2007 Miami Herald:
Liquor store owner Pedro Agudelo fights hard to protect his West Gables business.

Outside, a handful of surveillance cameras are in plain sight. Inside, Agudelo keeps a loaded gun handy.

He used it tonight, shooting dead a would-be robber.

And it's not the first time he's shot someone trying to steal from his store.

On a weekend afternoon in 2001, Agudelo opened fire on a gunman just outside LeJeune Liquors, 930 SW 42nd Ave. The would-be robber, who was never named by police, survived and Agudelo never faced any charges.

Agudelo said at the time: ``I'm just a working guy, a victim of a crime, and I fought back, and that's all.''

About an hour before closing time tonight, Agudelo, 63, fought back again when a man walked into his store, pulled out his gun and demanded cash. Agudelo opened up the cash register, but instead of handing over the money, he pulled out a gun from behind the counter, Miami-Dade police said.

Agudelo then called 911, but the would-be robber was dead at the scene. Police have not released the identity of the dead man or said how many times he was shot.

Florida's new Stand Your Ground'' law allows anyone who feels threatened to shoot -- even if they don't see a gun.

''It's self-defense. He's not going to be charged,'' said Miami-Dade Det. Roy Rutland, a police spokesman.

No comments:

Post a Comment