Actually I once heard a story of a neighbor who let themselves in when the house was literally flooding and he saved the owner thousands of dollars worth of damage.
That's more like what's happening with these patched routers.
I also heard a story of a guy who's house burned down. The neighbor saw it very early and did nothing about it cuz not her problem. The homeowner was devastated.
So yes, if you see incredible destruction going on, it's ok to go fix it.
Certainly in Texas I would be extra careful. Either way, have someone standing outside to advise the homeowner or cops what is going on. Also call the police ahead of time and tell them what you intend to do. Maybe even ask for an officer to assist.
Better get a friend with a firearm to stand guard at the door if you must take that kind of measure. US police are ill-disciplined, trigger-happy and uninformed about the law.
What I mean is, have the police enter the home for you. They will do this if there is a threat. In smaller towns, they will likely do this even if the threat is only financial damage to the home-owner.
Also, how many times have you seen someone's fly undone and very quietly and unobtrusively informed them of the fact? You can get quite different reactions, everything from grateful thanks to "how dare you inform me that I am embarrassing myself" or just be ignored.
Different people will react differently to any help you may give them. In this case, one could possibly agree that getting these machines locked down so they longer present as a threat to others is the moral thing to do, irrespective of the legality of the action.
But that is a judgement call for the individual to make knowing that there are potential consequences for their actions.
I also heard a story of a guy who's house burned down. The neighbor saw it very early and did nothing about it cuz not her problem. The homeowner was devastated.
So yes, if you see incredible destruction going on, it's ok to go fix it.