KEY POINTS:
As a general rule, people should not take the law into their own hands. A general rule by definition permits exceptions. The Aucklander who exacted vengeance this week on teenagers who attacked him deserved a medal.
The incident has been much discussed. The man was coming out of a supermarket when the four youths approached him, demanding his wallet and car keys. He held on to the keys and was bashed about the head. When the assailants took off in a car they had already stolen, he gave chase, ramming their vehicle to disable it.
He was furious; our front-page photos of the stolen car attested to that. Did he go too far? He said he thought his first bump had disabled the car and he headed for a police station. But when he saw the damaged car outside another supermarket, "I thought 'right' ... I just floored it and went in on the other side."
He is fortunate none of the occupants were killed.
This is the latest in a spate of juvenile pack-attacks this year. This is the kind of street crime that policing alone probably cannot stop. If citizens decided they would not be passive victims of these shake-downs, everyone would be safer.
It would not take too many well-publicised incidents such as that on Tuesday night before young would-be toughs shied off.
The police are duty-bound to warn the public against retaliation, and the sad case of a young tagger's death this year illustrates the dangers.
But passive surrender to criminal violence should not be the first instinct of self-respecting people. Fury is natural, permissible and frequently effective.
The man who surprised himself as well as four muggers this week is nursing bruises to his head and his car but not to his pride. Here's to him.
