This story stood out on Reddit because the killing occurred near where I spent many of my summers with my Italian grandparents in Cherry Valley, California. Troy Cansler, 47, (left) is a husband and a father who refused to stand by and watch a woman be stabbed for her purse on Sunday. He gave chase after police say Vincent Alex DeLeon, 26, stabbed and robbed the woman who had a baby in a stroller. DeLeon then proceed, according to the charges, to stab this brave man to death.
I knew exactly where this stabbing occurred and it is a sad indication of how crime has invaded this once sleepy beautiful place. However, I like to think that it is Cansler and not DeLeon who represent the people living in this area. DeLeon was arrested in an adjacent building after the fatal stabbing. The first victims is recovering. In the meantime, a wife is without her husband and a 12-year-old girl is without her father.
Cansler was raised on a farm nearby and his father was a police officer. His mother was a bird rescuer. Public service obviously runs deep in that family.
He left a proud legacy to what is clearly a remarkable family. As for DeLeon, his legacy if convicted will be infamous and his future dim. He is charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery and grand theft. That should do it for a life in prison if convicted.
Source: PE
I just looked @ a map and realized I have driven past/thru Cherry Valley many times. It is a beautiful spot near Palm Springs. I seem to remember stopping @ an Indian Casino near there.
And of course the police would not want the brave man to have a legal firearm w/ him.
Randyjet: There’s a lot of law out there about when a police officer (or civilian) can or cannot shoot a fleeing felon. It’s really not that simple.
If it is absurd to “criticize” since I “have no idea how the event transpired,” then what is it when you write: “My take is that he was pursuing to keep the crook in sight and not to catch him. The crook probably saw that he was being pursued, stopped and attacked the guy before he could reverse course.”? What do you base your “take” on?
I’m all for armed self-defense in an appropriate situation; this wasn’t one. Cansler was apparently not armed and obviously, was unable to defend himself or anyone else. Once the felon fled, the situation changed.
LaserDLiquidator: What condescension?
If it’s bad form to ask questions, then we need to abolish the internet.
There’s nothing in the news story to suggest that the robber was threatening anyone overtly.
I would suggest to you that an unarmed soldier would be less likely, not more likely, to confront an armed attacker. They do explain to soldiers in training what those weapons do — and train them to find field-expedient weapons if there is no other choice.
I can imagine the angst of the widow — I can also imagine the angst of the next widow whose late husband made a similar bad choice.
slohrss29:
I agree, no one knows exactly how they will react in any given situation. But by discussing and analyzing potential situations, they can reduce the likelihood of a bad decision.
Pork, I said that I did not know the circumstances, yet YOU make the assumptions of saying he was trying to apprehend the crook and should not have even kept the crook in sight. I only gave a reasonable other explanation for Troys actions. The crook did not threaten anybody, he just STABBED a woman and in any police dept I am aware of, cops are authorized to use deadly force to stop that crook. In Texas a person is allowed to shoot and kill a simple robber even without committing attempted murder.
The police cannot be everywhere at once and have to rely upon US to assist. Troy was a hero for doing what I hope every person here would choose to do in similar situations. If I were in a different profession and circumstances, I would get a pistol and carry it legally too.
A brave man doing the right thing. But, I guarantee you, if you research this story there will be a paternalistic statement by the police saying he should have just stood by and called them.
randyjet nailed it, bingo.
It is absurd to criticize this guys action since you have no idea of how the event transpired. My take is that he was pursuing to keep the crook in sight and not to catch him. The crook probably saw that he was being pursued, stopped and attacked the guy before he could reverse course. That is the reasonable course of action which cost the poor guy his life. This is but another reason for concealed weapons laws so that law abiding people can protect themselves and others. In Texas, had Troy been armed, he would not have to have pursued so closely and could have shot and killed the crook. Saving all of us the loss of a good man, and ridding us of the scum who need to be gone.
Porkchop;
As one who suffers the slings and arrows from the cheap seats too often; I find the candor of your questioning to be extreme bad form.
First of all, you assume facts much – not in evidence.
(Like no one else was there to aide the woman).
Could you imagine the angst upon the widow – when (if) she reads your post?
You also presume that no one else was in harms way. That the person in question had no training in martial arts and/or was/wasn’t a soldier.
I’m sure his widow wishes he had chosen discretion over valor;
but he didn’t and should not be condescended upon for the valor.
Too many of U.S. stand idle by.
“Cansler chased a robber for about a block until he was stabbed near Fourth Street and Yucaipa Boulevard, sheriff’s officials said in a written statement.
“The suspect fled into an adjacent business and was … detained by deputies,” according to the statement.” -from the linked article
I’d like to know what’s between “was” and “detained” in the statement, above, where all we’re seeing is “…”
For now, I’m in Porkchop’s camp on this one.
filibuster
Bruce, murder is murder and especially heinous when conducted by the state. Prisons work just fine for criminals like the one, unless he is suffering from a mental disease, in which case he should be given treatment.
The appeals process is essential and would move faster if the many federal judgeships were filled. There are many qualified pending appointments if the recalcitrant Rs in the Senate would allow a vote without a filabuster.
Bruce;
Your style of logical pathway of bloodlust, (especially charging for it gladiator style), is why I gave up being a die-hard Republican Christian.
As one who worked Cameron Todd Willingham’s case, along with Troy Davis from nearly inception, along with others; I can assure you murder by state is too often wrong.
I do not concur with your statement. Of course, there are always different ways to handle anything. I challenge anyone in such a situation to tell me exactly how they will react in such a crisis situation–and react in precisely that way. I have been in several–and you do not know how you will respond, adrenal response, different visual perspective, outright emotional trauma… we are too complicated for that. The only problem here is the horrible, horrible crime. Without the crime, we would not have to have this disagreement.
Do I understand this story correctly? The robber stabbed and robbed the woman (or tried to) and ran away? The robber was armed; Cansler was not? The woman was wounded, and presumably bleeding?
My sympathy goes to all the victims here, but, frankly, discretion would have been the better part of valor. Moreover, remaining with the wounded mother and her child,and providing aid and comfort until other help arrived would have been a wise idea. The crime had been accomplished. There was no exigent need for self-defense or defense of others. Those are the times when the police should take over.
I don’t question Cansler’s intentions or his courage, but what he did was utterly foolish. There is an old saying that you don’t bring a knife to a gunfight — you also shouldn’t go unarmed to a knifefight. In the heat of the moment, he exercised really bad judgment, and now his family pays the price.
Before anyone calls me out for “blaming the victim”, I am not. What Cansler did was certainly from the noblest of motives, but he took a foolish risk when it was not necessary to do so. He apparently just saw a woman stabbed; he chased the robber away. At that point, a noble deed had been accomplished. Even those specially trained (perhaps, especially those) in knife fighting and martial arts will avoid facing a blade while unarmed if it is at all possible. What could he possibly have thought to accomplish when he caught up to the miscreant? Ask him to please quit robbing people and turn himself in? The likelihood of a good ending when an unarmed person chases down and confronts an armed person with reason to want to escape is vanishing small.
RIP
Laser The death penalty would be cost effective if the alleged killer only got one appeal if proven guilty was hung from the gallows. you could charge admission and fill the local arena with public executions. Convicted death row inmates could be picked at random for execution, let them live in the same fear they dealt their victims
It is fortunate that the crook was not injured in this since he would be able to sue and win. When I lived in SF, a cab driver saw a purse snatcher steal a Japanese tourist woman’s purse. The cabbie saw it and pursued in his cab. He cornered the crook with his cab and pinned him with its bumper against a building, breaking the crooks leg. The crook sued the cabbie and WON and had to pay thousands of dollars to the crook! I certainly hope the rest of us do not Californicate.
Issac;
Why should all the other death row issues prevail, due to the evil (and obvious mental unstable-ness) of one such as DeLeon?
Murder by State is never logical;
nor is it cost effective.
Why would DeLeon get to spend his life in prison (He will probably get out in fifteen years, sorry and repentant)? He should forfeit his life. He rampaged through society stabbing and stealing. This is a no brainer. It shouldn’t have to take decades on death row. It is not an issue of DNA, witness, etc. This is a situation tailor made for the death penalty. A thief stabs a mother who is caring for her child and then takes the life of a father and husband who tries to do the right thing.
I’m growing weary of how evil bullies decency in our country.
R.I.P. Troy Cansler
Sad this man had to die for doing the right thing. Crime can blight a community quickly and often for decades or more.
How sad that crime has entered even the sleepy villages and rural valleys that were once peaceful and moved at a slower pace. A place where neighbor helped neighbor and family was the nucleus.