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Horray for the Police!

rtdgoldfish

rtdgoldfish

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 4, 2004
575
1
Nashville, TN
I know this is the wrong section and I was going to post it in my old thread but since the games thread is all locked up at the moment, I figured I'd post this here.

If you need background, the old thread was here Solen Xbox 360

I got a call from the investigator in charge of my case this afternoon and it seems they recovered my 360! The local sherrif's department had an open investigation into some stolen property and they made an arrest yesterday. Among the stolen goods were my Xbox and the rest of my missing games, controllers, etc. It seems the person they arrested was a 14 year old kid.

I get to go in on Monday and ID all my stuff and decide if I want to press charges or not. Pretty sure I want to...

Anyways, I feel much better now knowing I don't have to drop another bunch of money to replace it. Kinda weird cuz I was planning on buying an Elite 360 this week and now I'm getting the old one back.
 
Yes, you are very lucky seeing as very few a time does this happen. Press charges for sure. :)
 
wow. i'm glad that you're getting everything back.
its good to see things work out like this.
pressing charges is tricky in this case. i don't know that i would since you're getting the stuff back (hopefully undamaged). if you weren't able to get the items back then i'd definitely press. remember that hes a 14 year old kid whos probably just going down the wrong path. hopefully being arrested now will help set him straight.

good luck in any event.
 
Oh I'm pressing charges for sure. Its kinda sad that a 14 year old kid is breaking into houses and stealing stuff. What happens when he turns 16 and wants to drive?? Just gonna steal himself a car I bet.

Some sad times we are living in. Its a shame that parents don't take more responsibility for their kids.
 
rtdgoldfish said:
Oh I'm pressing charges for sure. Its kinda sad that a 14 year old kid is breaking into houses and stealing stuff. What happens when he turns 16 and wants to drive?? Just gonna steal himself a car I bet.

Some sad times we are living in. Its a shame that parents don't take more responsibility for their kids.
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So true, and on so many different levels. It's quite an odd day and age we live in.
 
PlaceofDis said:
wow. i'm glad that you're getting everything back.
its good to see things work out like this.
pressing charges is tricky in this case. i don't know that i would since you're getting the stuff back (hopefully undamaged). if you weren't able to get the items back then i'd definitely press. remember that hes a 14 year old kid whos probably just going down the wrong path. hopefully being arrested now will help set him straight.

good luck in any event.
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A slap on the wrist is not the way to go. I agree with the OP that he should press charges, as it (may) truly teach the kid a lesson, and the charges will be expunged from his record at age 18, giving him a chance at a normal adulthood.
 
adk said:
A slap on the wrist is not the way to go. I agree with the OP that he should press charges, as it (may) truly teach the kid a lesson, and the charges will be expunged from his record at age 18, giving him a chance at a normal adulthood.
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My guess is at 18, he will just do something else stupid and spend the rest of his life in jail. I hope he learns a lesson but I wouldn't bet on it.
 
PlaceofDis said:
remember that hes a 14 year old kid whos probably just going down the wrong path.
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I agree. I think that for the most part, young adults are just working things out. Going through phases, if you will.

Sure, it's within your rights to press charges (I'm assuming), but realize this; even if charges are filed and he is convicted, his sentencing might not even include material payback and is much more likely to be a required x hours of community service, which may or may not be what you were hoping to "gain" by pressing charges.

Just don't lose sight of the fact that he is very young. And that everyone, every last one of us, makes mistakes. Some mistakes are different from others. Some people are caught. Some are not. Don't lose compassion.
 
devilot said:
I agree. I think that for the most part, young adults are just working things out. Going through phases, if you will.

Sure, it's within your rights to press charges (I'm assuming), but realize this; even if charges are filed and he is convicted, his sentencing might not even include material payback and is much more likely to be a required x hours of community service, which may or may not be what you were hoping to "gain" by pressing charges.

Just don't lose sight of the fact that he is very young. And that everyone, every last one of us, makes mistakes. Some mistakes are different from others. Some people are caught. Some are not. Don't lose compassion.
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I understand that people make mistakes. I also feel that people should be punished for their actions. I think some community service might do this kid some good. Make him go out there and volunteer instead of breaking into people's houses. Odds are his parents don't care about him or he wouldn't be doing the stuff he is doing.

Maybe its just my view because of the way I was brought up. And when I was little, if I did something wrong, I was either shown the correct thing to do or I was punished if it was bad enough. Granted I never stole anything as a kid but that was something my parents taught me, don't take things that don't belong to you.

I would guess this has been going on for a while and he has just started stealing things of value. It might have started out with CDs and petty cash but now he has moved on to grand theft. Someone needs to put him in his place.
 
devilot said:
Just don't lose sight of the fact that he is very young. And that everyone, every last one of us, makes mistakes. Some mistakes are different from others. Some people are caught. Some are not. Don't lose compassion.
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Why are we holding hands and singing kumbaya for a 14 year old thief? If the OP doesn't press charges it tells the kid "thievery is ok". Besides there is too much sympathy for both criminals and those that are under 18.

I am not saying put the kid in a jail and throw away the key, but community service does sound like a proper response for the child's actions. If it was just a mistake/"i'm working things out" deal then it will be wiped off the kids record when he is 18, and may not even go on in the first place depending on the local law.
 
devilot said:
I agree. I think that for the most part, young adults are just working things out. Going through phases, if you will.

Sure, it's within your rights to press charges (I'm assuming), but realize this; even if charges are filed and he is convicted, his sentencing might not even include material payback and is much more likely to be a required x hours of community service, which may or may not be what you were hoping to "gain" by pressing charges.

Just don't lose sight of the fact that he is very young. And that everyone, every last one of us, makes mistakes. Some mistakes are different from others. Some people are caught. Some are not. Don't lose compassion.
Click to expand...

I agree, the kid obviously didn't think he was going to be arrested. I'm sure he is sitting at his house pissing himself that he is going to go to jail. I think that he has probably already learned his lesson. If it were me I'd let him off. He is only 14 that's like what 8th grade? My guess is he will not do it again. 14 years old, he is figuring life out and deciding between rights and wrongs.

Sure you have the right to press charges but this could hurt this child permanently. I'd let him go.
 
faintember said:
Why are we holding hands and singing kumbaya for a 14 year old thief?
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I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was singing aloud over TehIntertubes™.

...but community service does sound like a proper response for the child's actions. If it was just a mistake/"i'm working things out" deal then it will be wiped off the kids record when he is 18, and may not even go on in the first place depending on the local law.
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And I agree. I never said he shouldn't get community service. And I think some posters helped prove my point actually.

In so eagerly jumping at "the kid's" throat, it shows the simple lack of a bit of compassion or understanding. Yes, he probably knew better. But yes, he is also young. And yes, my point was that we all make mistakes. He's been caught. And he will and should be held accountable for his actions. But that doesn't mean others should judge him harshly.
 
Nice to hear you got your stuff back....when I first read the thread title I thought it was about the band The Police, was going to make a witty joke about the "cops"


As for pressing charges...intersting, you got all your stuff back or will soon so there not much for you to gain, other then revenge.

I'd ask to talk to him or something and explain what your doing to do, if you don't press charges. Why your being so nice ect. However pressing charges might good for him, curve his actions before something bad happens to him. Breaking and Entering is pretty big for a 14 year old kid
 
devilot said:
In so eagerly jumping at "the kid's" throat, it shows the simple lack of a bit of compassion or understanding. Yes, he probably knew better. But yes, he is also young. And yes, my point was that we all make mistakes. He's been caught. And he will and should be held accountable for his actions. But that doesn't mean others should judge him harshly.
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We both agree that the person in question should get community service. So how does any of my statements show a lack of compassion or understanding, or judge him harshly?

Your quotation marks around "the kid" are cute. Are you trying to insinuate something?
 
14 yrs is old enough to know what is right and what is wrong. File charges by all means. I'm so sick of the namby-pamby hand holding of the criminal regardless of his/her age. If you're old enough to break and enter, then you're old enough to be punished. The courts are going to go easy on the kid anyway, so he's not likely to learn anything from his actions except how better to protect himself from being caught the next time.

Yes, we all make mistakes and we should all have to pay for them, too. I'm just tired of paying for other peoples'.
 
Yes, file charges. Like someone above me said, if you don't, he'll just think he can get away with stealing again. The kid needs to be taught a lesson. And he probably won't get that much punishment, probably just some community service and maybe probation for like 6 months. And when he turns 18, his juvenile record will be sealed, so it won't affect him in the future.
 
Dont press charges. You will find out who the kid is just by going through the process of IDing your stuff and what not. Dont press charges and then a couple months from now, beat the living daylights out of the kid. Its the only way to get any sort of justice. He is too young to have anything very serious happen to him. Gotta take the law into your own hands.:cool:
 
I will find out tomorrow what stuff they recovered. I know they have the system and a couple of the games. I think I will decide then if I'm going to press charges or not.

I'd love to see this kid get some community service though...Or maybe just rake all the leaves out of my yard from the 20 huge oak trees around the property :D
 
rtdgoldfish said:
I will find out tomorrow what stuff they recovered. I know they have the system and a couple of the games. I think I will decide then if I'm going to press charges or not.

I'd love to see this kid get some community service though...Or maybe just rake all the leaves out of my yard from the 20 huge oak trees around the property :D
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THAT is an acceptable punishment. Every. Single. Leaf. :D
 
I don't see why you wouldn't press charges. It's not like they're gonna ship the kid off to a desert island to break rocks for 30 years. He'll get community service and his record expunged when he turns 18.

The fact that the OP got his stuff back is immaterial, IMO. How many people did the kid steal from that didn't their stuff back? He knowing broke the law and deserves to be appropriate punished for it.


Lethal
 
Oh that's great news mate! I was following that story too. Good to see everything is (will be?) back in your posession soon!

When I was attacked a whole many years ago now, I pressed charges. I really pushed for anything I could get, or what I could get the defendant. There is a developing sympathy for criminals now, with excuses like "they were brought up badly" or whatever. Either way they did something inexcusable to you and need to be told it was wrong for them to do that. If my dog rolls in mud I'll shout at her and she won't do it (for a month at least :D ) telling her no will just get her doing it again and patting her on the head will make her carry on, surely these people are beyond Labradoodles?
 
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