You have to be careful with what you do to thiefs. Just because they are trying to steal from you doesn't mean you have the right to beat thme, kill them etc..in CA.(according to the Sac PD)
I got thrown in the back of a cop car and my gun almost got taken for holding a thief at gunpoint in my yard for breaking into my civic. The cops can be dicks about how much force you use, in my case I hadn't broke any laws and they had nothing on me. In CA, they consider property crimes non violent and minor to "Real" crimes, like shooting someone for taking your car. I've heard many stories of criminals breaking into houses and suing the homeowner for getting shot. it sucks that lawyers are willing to take cases where the criminal got what they deserved and then make the criminal the victim...