No charges are being filed after a child was held at gunpoint
5:54 p.m. Friday, October 10, 2008
"They yanked me out and pulled the gun up to my stomach, they asked me where all my stuff was," Austin Stout, who was held at gunpoint, said.
Stout remembers the night last August when intruders came into his home and pulled a gun on him and his friend Otis Decker.
"They told us to sit over there behind the tree, and wait five minutes before we moved or turned around, and if we moved or turned around, they had people in one of these cars, if we moved or turn around, they said their friends would blow our head off," Stout said.
Two months later, the district attorney sent a letter saying charges aren't being filed. The letter says the circumstances don't meet required charging standards.
Austin's mom Stefanie Schirmer feels helpless.
"And now we're running scared and thinking okay, can we sleep at night, what's going to happen? Is he going to try to retaliate?" Schirmer asked.
Austin and Otis say they can identify the man who held them at gunpoint by a tattoo he has on his arm.
Schirmer tried to reach the DA but couldn't get any answers.
"Not a thing, they wouldn't even give me any information. I got a hold of the secretary and she's like, 'I'm just letting know, she will call you more than likely Tuesday.' I was like I have already waited two months, why am I waiting?" Schirmer said.
We contacted the district attorney twice and went down to his office, and we got the same treatment. Nobody could speak to me about the decision-making in this case.
"Very angry. I've got a lot of emotions. I feel like the district attorney swept this under the rug, I feel like the cops swept this under the rug. I am not done with this at all," Schirmer said.
She says something has to be done because the suspect lives near her and her son.
"I've seen him five times, the boys have seen him, neighbors have seen him. He lives less than 100 yards away from us," Schirmer said.
Schirmer says she just wants to protect her family.
"I want something taken care of ASAP," Schirmer said.
The DA's office told us, the attorney who handled the case won't be back in the office to answer questions until Tuesday. We will keep you updated on this case.
Comments
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Oct. 10, 2008 at 6:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)bobgick (anonymous)
Isn't this typical for Topeka? They'll get tired of waiting and the problem will go away. B.S.
Oct. 11, 2008 at 7:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)darrylz (anonymous)
Not filing charges on criminals? I hope this is not a norm for the counties Court System. We are considering on moving to Topeka and making it our home town. And we are checking out the crime rates and such there.
Oct. 11, 2008 at 8:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)wolf (anonymous)
the cops and D.A are both just to lazy to do the investigation completly and flat out want to weasle out of doing their jobs im with the mother on this one something needs to be done if it was my kid i would want somethin done about it to there is no reason for them to have to live in fear of whats gonna happen next.
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