There was recent post in one of the forums that I frequent.  A guy found a punk rifling through his car.  The guy walked passed his own vehicle to the punk's car and slashed the rear tires. Apparently a bit of a discussion ensued. Punk's girl friend hurled the booty out the window, the punk took off, with our vigilante in hot pursuit. Eventually the punk wrapped his car around a pole.

The "take" was a camera, a few CDs and some change. (The camera was destroyed BTW) The irony, our vigilante committed the major felony when he pursued the punk.  Why go after the punk in the first place? Over a couple hundred $$ of stuff? (OK I thought the tires were a cool idea...)  In today's world, our hero is likely to show up on YouTube and be sued by the punk. Not worth it in my eyes. Stuff can be replaced. The laws are screwy, but man ya gotta wonder.  80% of the forum posts thought the guy did the right thing.  I'm thinking "suppose the punk is packing...what if the punk get's killed in the pursuit...or some bystander gets run over..."  It's just stuff, not life.

When I lived in Montana, we had a "threshold" law. Anybody inside your house, without your permission, is fair game.  There were 4-5 "accidental" shootings every year (family members or friends). Then there were the real situations.

We had a father & teenage son move into our neighborhood from Brooklyn. It took less than a week for the kid to organize a street gang. At first it was vandalism, then petty theft. Local cops came out 4 times. The last time they cuffed the kid, through him in the back of a 4X4, and took off over the countryside for a scenic trip to the station. Dad screamed loud enough to get the kid released.  (Something about police brutality...)

Despite multiple calls from the neighborhood watch, the kid escalated activities. He and his posse broke into vacant homes and apartments. Eventually they became a burglary ring.  Dad did nothing to stop it. Then the kid broke into the apartment of a 72 year old woman. She drilled him in the forehead with a .32 pistol. (Everybody in Montana can shoot...)  Dad packed up an moved quietly away.

We're all enraged when we are violated. Sometimes it's just smarter to let them take it. The law doesn't always work or make sense. But losing a a few $$ may be the least of your problems.