Jailed for taking electricity worth 5 cents !

[whip]

Originally Posted By: Mykl
I'm pretty sure that if this went to court they would find that the officer opening the car to look at a name on a piece of mail to determine the owner of the vehicle to be a reasonable search.

Absolutely not. The best and only option would be to run the license plate number. What if a neighbor was on vacation, and he was getting their mail? That would wouldn't happen if the officer ran the plates.

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: KenO
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Originally Posted By: Vikas
I am shocked, shocked to see most of you have no problem for a cop to enter your car without warrant or any reasonable suspicion.

I was wondering something similar. With all the new laws and zero tolerance stuff going on, is it possible that the law is such that entry on school property constitutes consent to search?


On that note, am I the only one who seems to care about an arbitrary person (non-school administrator) using 911 for a non-emergency call?


He should be fined hugely (say, cost of the response x100 or $1,000,000, whichever is greater) for it. Misuse of the 911 system should be a felony!

How do you say stuff like this and expect to be taken seriously? Do you seriously think a $1,000,000 fine is appropriate for this?

 

[The_Jeff]

However it went down the cop either has the experience of the guidance of his sergeant to make a compelling report, minus the spelling errors.

"I thought the car was abandoned" is one tool in his belt, just like pulling a car over and "I thought I smelt pot smoke coming from inside."

 

[CourierDriver]

I think it would be easier for a elephant to crawl thru the eye of a needle while the local town tries to solve this high profile case,,,mercy..

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
However it went down the cop either has the experience of the guidance of his sergeant to make a compelling report, minus the spelling errors.

"I thought the car was abandoned" is one tool in his belt, just like pulling a car over and "I thought I smelt pot smoke coming from inside."


Perhaps. One thing for sure, I'd bet the whole Precinct has been put on notice about this guy and his Leaf. I'm sure if he causes any problems going forward he'll be properly dealt with, and not be happy about it either.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: whip
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
He should be fined hugely (say, cost of the response x100 or $1,000,000, whichever is greater) for it. Misuse of the 911 system should be a felony!

How do you say stuff like this and expect to be taken seriously? Do you seriously think a $1,000,000 fine is appropriate for this?


Misuse of the 911 system? Absolutely and unequivocally yes! I would have no problem with anyone misusing the 911 system getting jail time!

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: eljefino
However it went down the cop either has the experience of the guidance of his sergeant to make a compelling report, minus the spelling errors.

"I thought the car was abandoned" is one tool in his belt, just like pulling a car over and "I thought I smelt pot smoke coming from inside."


Perhaps. One thing for sure, I'd bet the whole Precinct has been put on notice about this guy and his Leaf. I'm sure if he causes any problems going forward he'll be properly dealt with, and not be happy about it either.


And hopefully, he's smart enough to document the resulting pattern of police harassment and then turn a pack of bloodsucking lawyers loose on the department!

 

[TrevorS]

And maybe the local citizens will demand the police who work for them act more reasonably.

It's thankfully only a small percentage of people whose pleasure centers light up at the prospect of undue harm to a fellow human being. The problems begin to happen when those small minorities get together and the majority turn a blind eye.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: eljefino
However it went down the cop either has the experience of the guidance of his sergeant to make a compelling report, minus the spelling errors.

"I thought the car was abandoned" is one tool in his belt, just like pulling a car over and "I thought I smelt pot smoke coming from inside."


Perhaps. One thing for sure, I'd bet the whole Precinct has been put on notice about this guy and his Leaf. I'm sure if he causes any problems going forward he'll be properly dealt with, and not be happy about it either.


And hopefully, he's smart enough to document the resulting pattern of police harassment and then turn a pack of bloodsucking lawyers loose on the department!


For being properly dealt with? I guess there's a lawyer for that too.

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: whip
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
He should be fined hugely (say, cost of the response x100 or $1,000,000, whichever is greater) for it. Misuse of the 911 system should be a felony!

How do you say stuff like this and expect to be taken seriously? Do you seriously think a $1,000,000 fine is appropriate for this?


Misuse of the 911 system? Absolutely and unequivocally yes! I would have no problem with anyone misusing the 911 system getting jail time!


Whoa, there.

A lot of people, post 9/11, call in a "suspiscous person." I wouldn't want to dissuade this, nor intimidate someone into thinking an emergency call "better be good". That's a judgement call better made further down the line, at the points of arrest, prosecution, and conviction.

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: whip
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
He should be fined hugely (say, cost of the response x100 or $1,000,000, whichever is greater) for it. Misuse of the 911 system should be a felony!

How do you say stuff like this and expect to be taken seriously? Do you seriously think a $1,000,000 fine is appropriate for this?


Misuse of the 911 system? Absolutely and unequivocally yes! I would have no problem with anyone misusing the 911 system getting jail time!

Over the summer, I heard a loud explosion. I called 911 to report it. Granted it wasn't an emergency for me, but it might have been for someone else. Should I be fined a million dollars and do time?
What constitutes misuse to you?

 

[TrevorS]

I think Jarlaxles original comment was sarcastic and a commentary on overreaction for minor offenses.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: TrevorS
I think Jarlaxles original comment was sarcastic and a commentary on overreaction for minor offenses.


Not at all. Calling 911 for a car accident, a fire, a loud BANG!, or even a dude poking around your garage at 3am, fine. Calling 911 because your McNuggets are cold or someone plugged in his Nissan Leaf...throw the book at them!

 

[antiqueshell]

Fact is that the subject in question DID NOT get prior permission to use the electrical outlet at the school. That is theft of electric service....whether it was 1 cent or 100 dollars worth.

The reasonable suspicion comes from the FACT that the vehicle was plugged into school property WITHOUT consent. As soon as that was noticed the officer had the right to inspect the car, also the car was UNLOCKED. If the subject was so concerned about anyone entering it he should have locked it. That is the reasonable thing to do on public property or in your own driveway for that matter.

When the subject became obstructive and belligerent when the officer was simply attempting to do his job, he gave the officer reason to follow through with some sort of charge.

All this dummy had to do was politely excuse himself by saying he was mistaken in plugging in at the school and saying that in the future he would seek school permission.

I hope that the guy is as belligerent at court as he was to the officer and gets the book thrown at him. I think 7 days in the cooler ought to do it. (No option to pay a fine instead either)

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Fact is that the subject in question DID NOT get prior permission to use the electrical outlet at the school. That is theft of electric service....whether it was 1 cent or 100 dollars worth.


It's also a fact that there's no sign on the outlet regarding who it was set for or what the school wanted people to use or not use it for. Nor did anyone from the school call the police or harass the leaf owner over his use of electricity. (The call came from a 3rd party.)

So are we to assume that signs grant or deny permission? If they grant it, the leaf guy was in the wrong for not specifically choosing an outlet reading, "Hey, plug your car in here." If denied, there should be a sign reading "For school use only." It's a glass half empty, half full thing. As much as we'd like to make this a black & white case, all the players involved show shades of grey:

-- the school admin for trespassing Leaf owner away during school hours, but not denying any other privleges
-- the "narc" who chose not to face Leaf owner but called 911
-- the Leaf owner, who claims innocence, and knows more than he's saying.
-- the policeman, who calmly bottled up his rage and let his superiors deal with things days later, but who made some specious claims about the purported abandonment.

There are people who bang through this world bending or breaking the rules, questioning assumptions, and generally inventing new stuff. We have others who run sewing circles under "Robert's Rules of Order" and who never leave the house imperfectly dressed. They lock their cars in locked garages with the e-brake set, despite the level floor, because those are the rules.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: eljefino


It's also a fact that there's no sign on the outlet regarding who it was set for or what the school wanted people to use or not use it for. Nor did anyone from the school call the police or harass the leaf owner over his use of electricity. (The call came from a 3rd party.)



Reasonable expectation is that it was designed for use of school personnel and or officials, and it is on school property, the school doesn't need to put a "sign" on it.

It is the responsibility of the subject to adhere to such reason.
If he chooses not to (theft of electric service from the school) then he is subject to criminal charges for violating the law. (theft) Ignorance of the law is NOT an excuse. This has been proven in court case after court case.

I really relish seeing obnoxious, belligerent, law breaking criminal elements facing justice, and getting just that. Because our system is pretty fair, the crooks often times get away with breaking the law, but every so often they pay.

These are the same bullies in society that then quickly start whining when they have been FINALLY been served.

I look forward to see this subject in jail to cool his heels for a week or two.

 

[Astro14]

If it's not clear to people what's theirs, and what is not theirs, then I guess I better start posting signs around my house...

Electricity for homeowner's use.
No parking on grass.
Newspaper in driveway for homeowner's use.
Water available on request.
No cutting down trees for firewood.
No using gas grill on deck.

Otherwise...people could plug in, take my paper, use my driveway for washing their cars, take a tree or two, use my property and propane...because I didn't post that those things, which have a modest value, were mine?

That about right?

 

[Trav]

Quote:
That about right?

That's sure seems to be the prevalent mentality today. Its all communal and about community.
There is a word for that.

Right and wrong? what's that?

 

[PSS]

He was arrested for being a smart [censored].

Marc Johnson, police chief and city manager of Chamblee, said, "Bottom line: if he had just said, 'Sorry I can just unplug,' there wouldn't have been a report."

If you mess with the cops they will always charge you with something...

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: PSS


If you mess with the cops they will always charge you with something...


It's not right but that's how it is.