Gun Drawn at Sunday Church Repo

“He would protect that property with his life and he told me he was prepared to shoot me,”

Kalamazoo, MI – June 11, 2024 – Repossessing at a church before noon on a Sunday; judgement call, I get it, but won’t judge. But a Michigan repossession agent that had a gun pulled on him at a church found that the extremes security were willing to go to in their efforts to stop him were anything but Christian.

Gun Drawn at Sunday Church Repo — Click to enlarge

It was just after 11am last Sunday when a repossession agent identified by the press as Jesse Carter, arrived at The Stones Church. There, he spotted a burnt orange vehicle matching the description of one he had assigned for repossession backed into a stall.

“It’s like a burnt orange color,” he said. “It stands out pretty well.”

But when Carter attempted to the VIN number and plate of the vehicle, church security asked him to leave.

“The guy approached me and he just kind of said, ‘It’s a church, man. You’re really going to repo from a church?’ And I said, ‘I got a job to do,’” Carter said.

It was at this point that one of the church’s security staff pulled a gun.

“He was just telling me that he wasn’t going to allow me to take the vehicle. He would protect that property with his life and he told me he was prepared to shoot me,” Carter said.

Video surveillance observed from the church confirms that Carter and another induvial returned to the church’s parking lot at higher speeds shortly before 11:30 a.m.

“We have them on camera leaving and then they came back and at which point they’re trespassing,” said Pastor Joel Brooks. “And they tried to connect to the car that they actually did not have any rights to.

Lead pastors Joel and Yvonne Brooks told News 8 who first reported the story, that each member of their security team goes through a background check and proper training. The person holding the gun in the video had even attended a training course just a couple of week ago held by the church.

“These guys, the way that they came on our parking lot, they broke the peace. They broke the peace we’re trying to establish,” Brooks said. “They were trying to steal the car. They did not have rights to the car. They were stealing the car.”

As it turns out, once police arrived, Carter discovered that the vehicle in dispute was not a match to the vehicle that he had assigned to him for repossession.

“He kept telling me to leave, go but the car, my truck was in park at that time. Like I said, I didn’t want to make any sudden movements and give him the opportunity to say he felt threatened,” Carter said.

News 8 interviewed Tonya Krause-Phelan with Cooley Law who advised that people are not legally allowed to use deadly force to protect property. She reviewed the case and said that this situation was most likely a mistake of fact.

“Stand your ground is when you’re confronted with deadly force you can respond with deadly force as long as you’re not in the process of committing a crime,” she said. “There’s nothing to indicate that the repossession person was exhibiting any kind of deadly force that would allow the security guard from the church to come out with a deadly weapon and threaten.”

Police arrested the gun wielding 40-year-old security volunteer on suspicion of felonious assault. The prosecutor is reviewing the case but at the time of reporting no charges had been filed.

Source: WoodTV.com