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
ER Brewster:
Porkchop you make it hard to honor the Professor’s civility rule. But I will try.”
“Let me just say that your comments seem utterly without value. . . . It’s just way too easy for you to sit (or stand) and lecture us all on the proper way to think and do things. It is condescending and pontificating that you seem to be. I did not, nor would I ever, attend, enroll in, voluntarily listen to or pay attention to such nonsense.”
Well, that attempt at civility didn’t last long — civility, I think,means more than simply refraining from curse words. You didn’t even manage to write an entire paragraph without resorting to insults.
“To second guess this hero, serves no valid social purpose. And don’t tell me you want to dissuade the next guy from making the same “mistake.” That’s simply nonsense.”
I don’t think that you get to decide what I can write. This is a legal blog, not a designated sympathy page.
Just to test the value of “dissuading the next guy” thesis, let me give you an analogous situation that occurs with some frequency in real life here in Northern Virginia: A group of immigrants goes fishing on the banks of the Potomac River near the mouth of the Potomac River Gorge. None of them can swim. They climb down on the rocks with their gear and sit down to fish. The rocks are wet and slick, one of the guys gets up to do something, slips on a wet rock and falls into the river; one of his buddies goes to help him, but unbeknownst to him the current there is always fast with a lot of eddies and concealed rocks. They both get carried away by the current, but a third friend decides that he should go help them — he gets caught, too. So, a fourth guy gets involved. The DC Harbor Police end up with a large body recovery operation. Which of the three additional guys were heroes? At what point, if at all, did this change from heroic to a plain old bad decision? The DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia first responders have gone to great lengths in recent years to dissuade people from attempting rescues like that — it seems to work. We seem to have fewer multiple drownings than we used to.
The learning: Know your capabilities and don’t go beyond them.
I’ve been practicing and teaching martial arts and self-defense for over 40 (you, of course, don’t have to believe me if you choose not to). I’ve been exposed to many different forms — from classical Japanese and Korean arts to present-day Army and Marine Corps training. It becomes clear as one examines them that most of the classical techniques taught and many of the modern ones are hopelessly naive and that there are very few people who have the time, motivation, and skill to master any technique that actually allows one to disarm and control a knife-wielding adversary. Standard police procedure is to shoot anyone threatening a knife attack at a distance of 21 feet (google “Tueller Drill” if you want to know why). There is no good way to fight a knife without a weapon of your own, especially if the knife-wielder is highly motivated, for example, to escape. If he is close enough to stab you once, he will in all likelihood succeed in stabbing you multiple times. How many times can you punch someone in ten seconds? A stab with a knife is essentially a punch with a sharp point at the end. As I said earlier, becoming a casualty yourself usually helps no one and slows down the people on your side.
I don’t want the “next guy” to drown, and I don’t want him to run to a knife fight unarmed.
Sorry if I am not sufficiently reverent to suit you, but I am a lot more concerned about the “next guy” than you are.
Maybe I’m wrong but the “headline” to this article seems to indicate the person who was stabbed was the deceased’s own mother.
Yeah dockman, it’s a very poorly written article. Troy was not related to the female victim.
State execution of the innocent is murder. State execution of the guilty (of certain crimes) is right and just. But it should be subject to the highest standard (i.e., beyond ANY doubt).
Ain’t the New California full of diversity great! Another white person dies at the hands of diversity.
Porkchop you make it hard to honor the Professor’s civility rule. But I will try. Let me just say that your comments seem utterly without value. To second guess this hero, serves no valid social purpose. And don’t tell me you want to dissuade the next guy from making the same “mistake.” That’s simply nonsense. It’s just way too easy for you to sit (or stand) and lecture us all on the proper way to think and do things. It is condescending and pontificating that you seem to be. I did not, nor would I ever, attend, enroll in, voluntarily listen to or pay attention to such nonsense. Our concerns should go to the widow and child, not to “explaining” this man’s “foolish decision.” You have no heart.
Exactly. I have seen my hometown go from peaceful 99% of the time 20+ years ago, to a place where crimes happen often enough to make a lot of our residents uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, we still have a low violent crime rate, but I think we can do more by being vigilant and selfless like Troy was. He was killed about two miles from my home and was friends with people I know. I like to think if he didn’t act, the murderous p.o.s. would’ve gotten away with stabbing and robbing the young mother in front of her child. The murderer was nearly to his accomplices(sp?) vehicle when he ruthlessly killed Troy. To all who think someone should stand back and call the police, I hope you survive if you are ever in a situation similar to this one. It takes less than 2 seconds for me to draw and fire my sidearm, it takes on average, 6 minutes for police to respond.
Porkchop- In Texas her aren’t nearly as many BS laws as California. You can shoot someone in defense of yourself or others. You can kill someone for breaking into your neighbors house. Texas has a law that states you are basically required to defend your property. You can shoot criminals when they are trying to escape. California has a lot to learn from Texas. I say law abiding citizens should be required to carry a firearm and help protect their fellow citizens, if they are willing to carry. I live in the town where this HERO was ruthlessly murdered. He did the right thing by pursuing a criminal in my opinion. He should be honored and respected.
Eric, it seems that some people DO know the hearts and minds of others in taking action to protect others. It takes incredible hubris to make judgments on others actions without knowing anything but the bare circumstances as reported in the papers. I offered other rational explanations for this hero’s actions which were NOT rash or foolish, yet some think that they are omniscient and spit on the guy for taking action which the commenters are in NO possible position to know anything of the circumstances.
Instead we are all treated to armchair quarterbacks who in 20/20 hindsight can make judgments after the fact. I find this to be despicable and ignorant. It is why we have such trouble in getting people to participate in civic and other affairs. It seems that some think that we should all sit back and let others do it.
I read of the opinion of the judge who dismissed the lawsuit of the Bologna family which was murdered by an illegal immigrant who had been sheltered from ICE by the City of San Francisco. He observed that the city has NO obligation to keep the citizens safe from criminals. Thus they did nothing wrong in refusing to turn the illegal gangbanger over to ICE.
neighbordave:
“folks like you will never understand it”
First of all, you don’t know what kind of folks I am, so you are in no position to tell me what I do or don’t understand. That would seem to be particularly so since you didn’t read the rest of the comments.
If your comment is premised on the metaphorical division of people into “wolves, sheep, and sheepdogs,” then I think that you have fallen into an error of oversimplification.
“Had he bothered to look at the beans as you have, he may have decided to do it anyway, in order to get this guy nailed and to prevent, even for a short time, some other innocent from being victimized.”
And the only innocent that was victimized was him — after which the robber continued to be at large until the police got there. This was a sad and unnecessary loss.
As to your disdain for “counting the beans before acting” — what do you think that the professionals in the police and military do before they act? Have you ever heard of the OODA loop? Continuous feedback? Only on the rarest of occasions do they charge ahead without assessing the threat, because becoming a casualty yourself does not help the situation. I have already said that I do not question his intentions or his courage. Regardless of how quickly he made the choice, it was still a choice and a poor one at that. An unarmed man confronting someone with a knife who has already shown that he is willing to stab another person is simply walking into a meatgrinder to no good purpose. At best, he delayed the man’s escape by a few seconds at the cost of his own life. Res ipsa loquitur.
Send the defendant to Oklahoma.
There should be a vote on the death penalty. All those that vote against the death penalty have to pay the cost of keeping these convicted murderers in prison. Think it will pass at a 2/3 majority? there’s about 700 row inmates in San Quentin
Italian grandparents. That explains a lot
Porkchop (I quit reading after your initial comment, so pardon me all if I am repeating anything that others mentioned.) You add this up like an equation, like Cansler chose to do what he did. People like him would have to choose not to do what he did, and folks like you will never understand it. Not many people have that trait, or inclination, but thank goodness some of us do. Had he bothered to look at the beans as you have, he may have decided to do it anyway, in order to get this guy nailed and to prevent, even for a short time, some other innocent from being victimized. Anyone can choose to live by not doing, few will risk dying to live right.
This guy is a hero for acting.
The guy was killed at the corner Of Yucaipa Blvd and Fourth St at the Jack-in-the-Box near the Stater Bros. I have been by there literally thousands of times on my bike as a kid.
The victim is a native of Yucaipa, California which is my home town. I used to go to the Stater Brothers supermarket where the stabbing happened. Damn. 🙁
“No good deed goes unpunished.” – Oscar Wilde
I suspect he will cop a plea and be soon out to do it again with or by the pathetic track record of our criminal butterfingers people who may find him not guilty even though he pretty obviously is.
Very tragic all around, except for the criminal. I’m betting this woman feels partly responsible for her rescuer’s death, although she shouldn’t. It may not be any comfort to the widow and child, but her husband was a courageous person, someone who didn’t just stand by. As others have said there is personal risk involved in doing the right thing, and often in just even in fighting back.
Concur Paul…
I find it to be greatly obtuse to presume unarmed trained soldiers would stand idle by; when the meek are assaulted by a mugger.
Doing the right thing – always has great risk.
Where I grew up you were expected to do what this brave man did. According to the Daily Mail, the mother was stabbed 5 times. And there was a scuffle of some type before he was killed. Sometimes doing the right thing gets you killed, but that should not prevent or anyone else from doing it.
RIP
Pork;
There’s no evidence to substantiate any of your theories or reasoning. Your “frankly” is as condescending as one can get from the cheap seat.
Troy made an assumption he could handle the bandit; and that turned out to be an errant decision. His giving chase was not a bad choice and may have saved others (we simply don’t know).
The wounded mother didn’t even realize she was stabbed.
(Hence, Troy may have had no idea – either).
For more on the story, here’s a news link with additional pics of Cansler.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2615965/Good-Samaritan-slain-chasing-robbery-suspect.html