It was a typical crime around 8:30 on Tuesday night--ill-conceived and poorly executed. The victim made it easy, leaving his car unlocked with the keys in it as he went into the convenience store at 1st Street and Cornhusker Highway. The criminal jumped in, stole the car, and drove away. Winding through the neighborhoods for several minutes, his driving skills left a little to be desired. He hit a fence, then few blocks later a stop sign. Several citizens called 911 to report the erratic driving and the hit and runs, and the police were dispatched.
His escape came to an end on W. Saunders Street, where he plowed into the back of a parked pickup truck, disabling the 1988 Honda Accord he had stolen. He wasn't quite finished though: he took off running on foot. Fortunately, a resident of the block who saw the crash chased him down, tackled him, and held on to him until officers arrived a few moments later. He was drunk, of course--testing .14% at t he detox center. The charges were leaving the scene of an accident, driving while intoxicated, and auto theft.
Oh, did I mention that the defendant is twelve years old?
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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19 comments:
I saw this story yesterday and sat all day trying to come up with some witty comment, so I could post it on fark.com but dangit, this 12 yr old kid left me speechless. I hope his hangover was worth it.
Dave-
This story was extensively covered in the Omaha and Lincoln news last night and this morning, and I really don't like to rehash the news in my blog, unless I've got something to expand on. But I get so many hits from outside Nebraska (3,000 or so a month) that I just occasionally feel compelled to pass along one of these gems that the out-of-area readers would miss otherwise.
Just to add to your story....This twelve year old woke up from his hangover yesterday and now is on runaway status. Great parenting in that house.
Wow. Age 12 and a BAC that high. This child must be about 6 feet tall and 160 pounds. Parenting is not the issue here. Alcoholisim is the real issue. The treatment centers will be chomping at the bit to get a part of the action. Evaluations, counselors, lawyers, and the many fees that will be paid by the state to help this kid will be in the tens of thousands. All while the parents sit back and pop another beer while watching the game.
Dear Chief...please do not take offense...but regarding your blog headline...it's "Should HAVE been doing his homework..." not "Should OF been...."
I admire & respect your work, and enjoy your blogs even during those times I should HAVE been working. Pardon the grammatical correction, but as I've worked with struggling high school writers, this is a common error we confront on a frequent basis. :)
7:29-
Duh, thanks! Miss Evans would slap me silly with a dangling participle if she saw that.
This reminds me of the story of Latarian Milton, who had this to say after stealing his grandmother's SUV: "I wanna do it 'cause it's fun...it's fun to do bad things...I wanted to do hoodrat stuff with my friends."
*Sigh*
This just breaks my heart. What in THE HELL are the parents doing? Why have they not been arrested and the child taken into protective custody?
Your chances of being sensibly charged and sentenced as a pre-teen are just about nil, even if you show a clear pattern of felonious behavior. Expect yet another wrist-slap, and more (and increasingly serious) offenses from this little angel in the future.
The article says he was released into his parents' custody. Now that's real smart--and I realize this wasn't a police decision.Since this isn't the first time he's broken the law seems to me he should be in legal custody--and his so-called parents in VERY serious trouble themselves. Some serious problems here to be addressed.
Is alcohoism the real issue? I think not, unless it's that of his parents. The kid may be an alcolholic, but I seriously doubt it. But then I may be underestimating his generation.
And what goes through my mind is (1) how many brain cells is this kid destoying with alcohol (and possibily drugs as well); (2) How many times has this kid's parents been arrested and; (3) This is just the beginning. Chances are, this kid will wind up in prison many times, costing our society not just a lot in terms of money to keep him there, but the damnage to property and people that will put him there.
I hope this kid doesn't travel that path, but it seems that once a person starts, it's extremely hard to turn their lives around.
As for the guy who left his keys in the car at a Kwik Shop - I sometimes wonder if the police wouldn't like to give out tickets for being stupid in public. :-\
Dave, the story did make it to Fark.com (one of my most favorite websites).
Fark Tagline: Who says there is nothing fun for kids to do in the Midwest?
Why does everyone assume the parents are drunks or bad parents? Why are we so quick to judge when we don't know the full situation. Some deviant youths come out of good loving families. Maybe it was a one time mistake...did someone put him up to it?
You don't know if the kid was at a friend's house and an older sibling got him drunk and he acted like an idiot afterward. There are a lot of different scenarios. But that's for the police / social workers to figure out. Thank God justice isn't left up to bloggers!
Didn't we learn anything from the crying woman incident a few days ago? Judge not lest ye be judged.
I hope the next time your kid screws up, you are as quick to blame yourselves.
This just in.... his photo has been released.
Redstripe11:
I couldn't have said it better. People are so quick to asssume things, or judge others, without any more than a smattering of relevant information. I know, first impressions the easily followed, but people should be given the benefit of the doubt when there is one. The parents may indeed be alcoholics or worse, but we have no evidence of that so far as the blog goes.
As to what should happen to the kid, a good whippin' would be alright with me, but I don't know that it would work. It may be too late for this kid. Jail might be the only other way to keep him from doing similar things in the future.
All-
I don't know enough about the precise situation of this family to comment, and probably wouldn't so so anyway with cases pending.
Nonetheless, I've got some general perspective borne of long experience that might shed some light on your speculation when you hear about such events.
This kid has been drinking for awhile.... if he tested that high for first time binge, he would not be walking. His parents may very well be good parents at a total loss on what to do next.
redstripe11, the only problem with your explanation is this was not a "one time mistake" he has been caught before for theft, so he does have a history with the police. as for judging the parents i completely agree with you, it's so easy for us to judge looking in from the outside.
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