A Canadian couple is so fed up with the crime in their neighbourhood that they decided take matters in their own hands, going so far as to shoot a perpetrator with paintball guns.
Rob and Nicole Iezzi have eight security cameras that have caught the same masked man in their yard multiple times, reports CBC News. There was so much surveillance footage they posted it on their YouTube channel.
The couple, who live in Chilliwack, B.C., say they’ve had iPods, tools, and a friend’s purse stolen from a truck in their driveway.
Aside from the cameras, they have also tried calling the police and putting better locks on their doors, CTV News reports, but it didn’t deter the thieves.
The thief would be gone by the time police arrived, Rob told CBC. Next steps had to be taken.
“I didn’t want to shoot him with a pellet gun, because you’re going to make him bleed,” Rob said to CTV. “With a paintball, it’s like getting punched. I didn’t want to punch him, so a paintball seemed like the logical thing.”
But police are warning that the action could do more harm than intended.
Shooting someone with a paintball gun could be seen as assault, Chilliwack RCMP Const. Tracey Wolbeck told CTV, and the attack could prompt the thief to react with violence.
It’s not scaring the Iezzis, however.
“A lot of people keep saying, ‘You shouldn’t leave your stuff out,’ or, ‘You should have locked your door, or this and that,’” Rob told Global News. “But he shouldn’t have stolen from us.”
The Iezzis told the outlet that they haven’t seen the man since.