A burglar who broke into a garage in Indiana has filed a lawsuit against the homeowner for shooting him while he was running away.
David A. Bailey, 31, of Albany, broke into the garage of David McLaughlin, 33, in the city of Dunkirk on April 21, 2014, according to IndyStar.com.
McLaughlin, a postal worker, shot Bailey in the left arm.
This case has lots of twists: Burglar sues Indiana homeowner who shot him, https://t.co/SyUPy34q1i @DouglasWalkerSP pic.twitter.com/JkJNugOwOy
— Linda Dono (@LindaDono) April 26, 2016
Bailey pleaded guilty to burglary and was placed on electronic home detention for 3 years.
McLaughlin was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 4 months home detention for criminal recklessness.
Now Bailey is suing McLaughlin for more than $100,000 in damages, according to The Daily Beast.
Bailey says he was convinced to plea guilty to the burglary in exchange for getting rid of another charge involving carrying a handgun without a permit and theft of a firearm.
According to his version of the events, he never stepped into McLaughlin’s garage—it was another man, his friend, who went into the garage and tripped an alarm. Both men fled when they saw McLaughlin with a gun, but only Bailey got shot.
McLaughlin’s attorney said Bailey is trying to change his story for financial gain. He argued that if there was another man, Bailey would have already ratted him out, instead of getting sentenced for a crime he didn’t commit.
“This is a last-minute Hail Mary,” the attorney, Brian Pierce, told The Daily Beast. “He swore under oath last summer in his criminal case that he did in fact enter the garage … So he’s either lying then or he’s lying now but my belief is he’s lying now for financial gain.”
