Woman who shot at fleeing shoplifters gets probation
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) — A woman described as a "sharpshooter" was sentenced to 18 months of probation Wednesday for firing a gun at the getaway car as suspected shoplifters fled a Home Depot in suburban Detroit.
Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez, who was licensed to carry a concealed weapon, said she heard a scream and feared the incident was worse than a theft. She acknowledged the shooting in the parking lot was a mistake.
"I made a decision in a split second," the 46-year-old Clarkston woman told a judge. "Maybe it was not the right one, but I was trying to help."
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Auburn Hills, Mich., Police Department, Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez is shown. The woman described as a "sharpshooter" was sentenced to 18 months of probation Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, for firing a gun at the getaway car as suspected shoplifters fled a Home Depot in suburban Detroit. Duva-Rodriguez, who was licensed to carry a concealed weapon, said she heard a scream and feared the incident was worse than a theft. She acknowledged the shooting in the parking lot was a mistake. (AP Photo/Auburn Hills Police Department)
Her gunfire flattened a tire on the thieves' SUV on Oct. 6 at a Home Depot in Auburn Hills. No one was hurt.
Duva-Rodriguez pleaded no-contest to reckless discharge of a firearm. The suspects were captured a few days later and charged.
"I don't believe any malice was involved in what you were doing, but I believe you have to think about what could have happened," Judge Julie Nicholson said.
Duva-Rodriguez' permit to carry a concealed weapon is revoked until at least 2023. Defense attorney Steven Lyle Schwartz said she's a "sharpshooter."
"We need more people like Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez in our society," he said.
