Chuckles

Hello, all, didn't knwo where this would go so figured here..

My little brother, age of 16, was caught nabbing a 15dollar video game from fry's. I was wondering if anybody has any experience with this that they could share, advice on what to do, what the consequences could be, etc. Cop said things like probation, but wouldn't that be a little much i think for a 15dollar game? He was fully cooperative, didn't hesitate on saying things and only told the truth. All dependant on judge? Or what? Thanks in advance

side note: This is his first time with this, never has done anything like this before.
-Chuckles

WarWagon

Make his first time as big a pain in the ass for him as possible. If you let him off easy, its only going to escalate into something worse.

Mehoni

I think he needs to learn a lesson. I did the same thing when I was younger and the humiliation of being caught scared me straight.

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forseti-6

I have to agree with WarWagon and Mehoni. The fact that he hasn't had a history of petty theft allows for the opportunity to teach him a lesson. If he doesn't learn his lesson now, he might do it again. He has to learn theft, no matter how small, is still theft.

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WarWagon

Oh yea, if you really want to get him good, have your parents order a bunch of brochures from various military academies, then let him get the mail.

maleficent

Probation seems a little easy, I don't care if it's 15 dollars or 1500 dollars it's still theft, he still took something that did not belong to him.

Having worked in retail for years, and knowing firsthand what affect shoplifting has on a store, and on the people who work in the store (it was tied directly to my salary/bonus structure) so his selfishness in shoplifting took money out of my pocket, and he raised the prices of the product for everyone.

I'd expect him to be given a stern lecture about what his actions did, though I seriously doubt he'd listen. As a store manager I'd go to court a lot for people we'd catch shoplifting, and it was a lot of spoiled brats doing the shoplifting who had no concept of right or wrong, and were truly only sorry they got caught.


First time he's done it? Or first time he's gotten caught? Has he
said why he did it?

If it were my child, I'd make sure they learned the value of the dollar, have them get a job, or even better, have them do some volunteer work to give back to the community.

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Chuckles

He already has a job, and of course im going to give him a hard lesson. What I want to know is what kind of legal punishment is going to happen? He told me he did it because a friend needed help and for a thrill. Will a place like Fry's electronics thats that huge of a corporation pursue him in court?

maleficent

I worked for the Limited Corp, a pretty large retailer. We prosecuted ALL Shoplifters as a rule. It's not the corp that goes to court. Once he got arrested, it's now the state that does the prosecuting. The corp just says do it.

It's really dependent upon what the policy is of the company, most will prosecute all.

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ARTelevision

What is done depends upon the extent to which the corporation is willing to press the issue and the judge's decision. Probabtion isn't an unusual outcome. That's from personal experience. I'm not a lawyer.

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Cynthetiq

The legal system is IMHO hit or miss for 1st timers.

I have seen judges have mercy on those whose actions seem truly contrite, and I've seen judges catch onto those whose actions show that they don't care and are just waiting until the next oppotunity.

good luck.

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canuckguy

yesterday the missus and I took the baby for a walk in the park, when we returned to our car, we saw 2 kids by the tires of the car, kids looked about 5-8 range. we were about 50 meters away and it just looked like they were playing hide and seek, but when we got up closer after they had left i noticed they had stolen the valve stem covers off the tires. no biggie, but look at the parking lot and every car was missing them! well as we are leaving the area, we come around the little bastards at yet another car doing the same thing (who knows why they needed them! can get a bag of 100 at the store for like 2 bucks), so i slowed down and grab my cell phone, leaned out the window and yet that i was going to call the police, shout out to the missus "is it 911 we call?" just to scare them, they gave back the caps, but i gave them a tongue lashing. makes me wonder, the first time u steal it and if you don't get punished i think it leads to bigger and bigger thefts. but when i was young, i was major theif, but now i would never think of stealing anything. cops need to called to scare the pants of kids. put them in the back of the car...etc

Rodney

He's a juvenile, and it was a first offense, so it's not like they're going to send him to juvenile hall or anything for a month: if anything, that'd make the problem worse, putting him cheek-by-jowl with all the hard cases.

The next step above probation for juvenile crimes in my area is community service, and frankly that'd be more appropriate for your brother. Six or eight Saturdays picking up trash by the side of the highway might intiate some positive thought-waves in his thick skull.

Chuckles

Well my dad and him are with an attorney now or will be having a meeting later, because of his good record (Grades, sports, enver convicted before, comm service, etc) and with a payment settlement (not including this expensive as hell lawyer) he might have comm service or something, i'll keep updating just for fun

StormBerlin

I have a friend that got a DUI (her first one ever) and they treated it like a third offense (they put a breathalizer in her car so she has to blow into it every time she wants to start her car, and keeps blowing into it every twenty minutes). Everyone (including her) said they were too hard on her, but now that it's done and over with she knows she's never going to drive when she's been drinking again.

I think something similar should happen to your brother. Sending him to juvenile hall right off the bat would more likely deter him from doing it again.

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