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chasfm11 · 04-29-2009, 06:16 PM

...things are the way that they are.

Our DD's car was burglarized in November of last year at 2am, within 50 feet of her bedroom window (in an apartment complex.) The "perp" used the car parked next to hers to smash out her passenger side window with both of his feet, reaching through it to trash the dash and steal her Alpine stereo. It was "all her fault" because she made the mistake of leaving the face plate on that night. He did 10 more cars that same night in the same town. He and/or others did 70 other cars in 3 weeks. DD's deductable was $500, the perp got $50 for pawning the radio and the insurance company was out another $1,500 for vehicle repairs.

The police quickly identified her radio and arrested the guy who pawned it and many others. Last week he came to trial for the 15th time for similar crimes and has served jail time. Since there was no witness who could put him at the scene, he was not prosecuted for DD's situation. The perp collected the funds from the pawn shop and the pawn owner lost the radio to the police. BTW, the perp is not in this country legally.

I fully recognize that every bad guy cannot be caught and punished every time. I have to wonder, however, what motivation this particular perp has not to do it again.

doc · 04-29-2009, 06:39 PM

"It was "all her fault" because she made the mistake of leaving the face plate on that night"

Who said it was her fault?...and why? Surely you don't feel that way?

TXiceman · 04-29-2009, 07:10 PM

The fault lies with the judicatory system which furnishes an attorney to find a legal way to keep people like this out of jail. The reason the legal system is in the condition it is in is us...I has met the enemy and it is us.

Ken

chasfm11 · 04-29-2009, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doc

"It was "all her fault" because she made the mistake of leaving the face plate on that night"

Who said it was her fault?...and why? Surely you don't feel that way?

No, of course not. You would be interested to know, however, that she works for the police department (dispatcher) and the department has an aggresive program to go around identifying people who leave things in their locked cars but in sight of someone who peeks inside. That part of my comment was as much of her feeling about the situation as anything. We often end up blaming ourselves for things that other people do to us.

Ken, regarding your comment about knowing who the enemy is, I'm not really sure about that. I don't understand all of the inner workings of our judicial system and don't think the "blame" in this case rests with the public defender. I'm sometimes agast and the crimes that we, collectively, seem to allow to go un-prosecuted. What I have mental problems with is the sensational stories where they take an elementary school girl out in handcuffs while our system allows a repeat offender to walk away from repetitive situations like this string of burglaries.

sharbra · 04-29-2009, 09:32 PM

Those who are in this country illegally are a problem and a serious one, however, in our area we have noticed with the downturn in the economy a good number of the "illegals" are heading back across the southern border. There are other elements in this country that are contributing to the lawlessness, though. Those hooked on methamphetamine also contribute substantially to the crime rates and, unfortunately, many law enforcement jurisdictions ignore the problem.