From the Hartford Courant.

About a guy who's got some chops.

By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY
Courant Staff Writer

February 13 2003

MANCHESTER -- Staring down the barrel of a rifle Tuesday night, Richard Jarvis had three choices: hand over his cash, run - or risk taking a stand.

Jarvis took a stand.

As the cursing, 18-year-old robber demanded his money, Jarvis took out his wallet, looked at the $120 inside and said: "I ain't giving it to you."

Then Jarvis, 42, a target-shooter, grabbed the rifle and tried to remove its ammunition. "I just disarmed your gun," he said calmly.

The teenager, who had emerged from a nearby car with another person, pulled the gun away and swung the sawed-off .22-caliber rifle like a bat, said Jarvis. He bobbed and swayed in an attempt to avoid being hit, he said, but was hit a few times anyway.

As the robber tried again to get off a shot, Jarvis said, he gave him and his friend a warning.

He, too, had a gun.

Backing away toward his vehicle, the teenager again tried to pull the trigger, Jarvis said.

"I wasn't going to give him a second chance. That's when I pulled my piece and fired."

Bullets from Jarvis' .380-caliber Colt pistol shattered the windows of the Honda Passport his two assailants had come from. One struck the shoulder of a 14-year-old boy who was accompanying the gunman. The wound was minor, police said later.

Both young men bolted, but were quickly captured by Officers Aaron Calkins and Anthony Palombizio, who had responded to a report of shots fired in front of the Millbridge Hollow condominium on Prospect Street at about 11:15 p.m.

A third suspect, who Jarvis said was apparently inside a second vehicle, was apprehended later in New Britain, with help from that city's police force.
...
Police said Jarvis had a valid permit for the handgun and would not be charged with any crime.
...
"I had to look at him and evaluate my situation," said Jarvis, who is unemployed. "I said, `Dude, you picked the wrong guy.'"

"There is no possible way I am letting these punks take my wallet," he said. "My mother didn't raise me to be a sissy."

Despite some law enforcers' opinions that Jarvis' actions were risky and dangerous, Jarvis said he has no regrets. He'd do it again, he said.

"I'm not going to let these people ruin my life," he said. "They're just terrorists to me."
=====================================
Nice of them not to charge Jarvis with anything, eh? How about "First Degree Defending Oneself?'