Legal experts generally agree Washington state law prohibits opening fire on someone stealing your car. But as the investigation into last week’s fatal shooting of an auto thief in north Spokane continues and prosecutors prepare to decide whether the armed homeowner was justified, it’s clear numerous legal issues are at play.
A poster intended to memorialize “a friend and son” has become a message board for a community divided about whether a Spokane homeowner was justified in killing an unarmed man who stole his Suburban. “Murder is not the answer,” one note says.
Police say Gail Gerlach, a 56-year-old plumber with no criminal record, shot and killed a car thief Monday morning. No weapons were found in Gerlach’s stolen Chevrolet Suburban or on the body of Brendon Kaluza-Graham, 25.
