This is an outrage! Tesla vandal causes $20,000 in damages, receives no charges.

[Zane Edwards]

Slap on the wrist consequences only leads to more of this criminal behavior

Sponsored

 

[Beetlebug62]

If I were his superior, I wouldn't have any choice but to fire him.

1. Ignorance. How could he think he could get away with cameras everywhere?
2. Bad decision making. I would have to question all his work related decisions after this.
3. Breaking the law. The State needs employees that can be trusted.
4. Inconsiderate/lack of empathy. Someone who doesn't care for his fellow citizens property shouldn't be a public servant.
5. Setting a bad example to his dog. Dogs are man's best friend, it's unacceptable to encourage dogs to disrespect the very cars that are making our cities cleaner and healthier for our dogs.
6. Stupidity. Thinking this was an effective political protest demonstrates low IQ.

I think his boss, Waltz, should be charged with inciting violence and made to pay the restitution since the perpetrator of these crimes would need a job to do that. And who is going to want to hire a serial vandal with low IQ and no empathy?

He's not a low-IQ idiot; he graduated from Johns Hopkins. He's a woke idiot.

He deserves to be fired; but, he'll probably find a job working for some liberal NGO.

 

[dalton108]

He's not a low-IQ idiot; he graduated from Johns Hopkins. He's a woke idiot.

He deserves to be fired; but, he'll probably find a job working for some liberal NGO.

I didn’t say a single thing about him being fired. That’s up to his employer. My comments remain bound to the scope that I set: crime, punishment, efficacy, morality, and grace.

 

[FL370]

It’s property. It’s exactly the same inanimate object it would be if your wife or daughter were in the vehicle and crashed it and you would have grace and wisdom to say the same thing that everyone else says under such circumstances to your crying wife or daughter … “it’s just a truck!”

Guess what? It still is just a truck! Someone made a mistake, did something dumb. I’m supposing since I don’t know the facts and really don’t care that he is being put into a diversion program he probably has - no prior record whatsoever.

I have no doubt whatsoever that every single one of you demanding a pound of flesh right now would want nothing but grace, deference and a 2nd chance if this was your kid and that instead of because of politics he vandalize someone’s vehicle out of just boredom or because his sports team won or lost and he was hanging around with his buddies (which happens way more than this shit here). 100% guarantee it - to the man!

I am stupefied by how the introduction of just a little bit of politics turns people into blood thirsty ghouls over … again an inanimate object that can be easily repaired. Of course we want to prevent future crimes and have deterrent; but draconian overreactions do not have that outcome (this is known).

For fuck sakes, men! Jesus turned the other cheek! I see way too much Christian virtue singling on this forum to see the constant barrage of UNHINGED burn them at stake bs that proliferates here.

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you guys???!!

We have an entire system and skilled professionals most of whom have been elected to deal with crime on a secular level. And for the rest of it, the guidance is not even sort of ambiguous especially for people who consider themselves “followers of Christ:

“But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

— Matthew 5:39, KJV

YIKES!!!!!! Seriously, WTF?

Pretty presumptuous to assume I believe in that mystical sky daddy.

 

[dalton108]

Pretty presumptuous to assume I believe in that mystical sky daddy.

You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you.

 

[pricedm]

Slap on the wrist consequences only leads to more of this criminal behavior

Unfortunately yes.

 

[dalton108]

Unfortunately yes.

Just some basic well-known, well understood, well-studied, well-reasoned, well-validated principles about crime and punishment boys … that I’m sure you’ll summarily dismiss because all of you are experts and know everything about everything:

- Punishment must be proportionate, prompt, and certain—not extreme.

- Severity undermines legitimacy: brutal penalties alienate the public and erode trust in law AND result in more not less crime because if the punishment is arbitrary it doesn’t mean anything.

- Certainty, not severity, is the most effective deterrent. It’s the getting away with it that emboldens people. We’re seeing a lot of people get caught and face consequences, that’s a good thing!!

Some of you should’ve learned some of this by raising children.

If you support our Constitution (I know it’s a catchy thing to say but not really understand) then you believe that your and everybody else’s rights include: due process, proportionality 8th amendment, etc.

Also, in case you’re not aware of how your criminal system works folks the reason we have a separation between the guilt phase and the punishment phase is so that once we established that the crime has been committed the punishment can be individualized and mitigating and aggravating factors can be applied to it! No just system would do it any other way.

So, again it seems like the system worked exactly how it is supposed to. To the extent that the title of this thread says that there were “no charges,” that’s patently false.

You don’t get “diverted” into an alternative punishment structure unless you faced charges and were found or plead guilty to them.

=====================

I don’t do criminal law I have two attitudes about it. I am not a bleeding heart and I don’t feel sorry for people that have put themselves in a situation where they’re facing consequences under criminal law. So, I could not be a defense lawyer. I also have no interest in being a prosecutor or a judge.

We have at least one public defender here and I leave it to them and other folks who want to deal with criminal law to apply the rules and the reasoning and make that system run.

But, I can tell you this - every single one of you should be thankful that the hive-mind here is not in charge. Shockingly misguided views on the subject.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

Slap on the wrist consequences only leads to more of this criminal behavior

So what you are saying is that you prefer sharia law. I get it, you dislike the way our system routinely handles vandalism cases for first time offenders. And of course, you’ve never made a stupid mistake. Good on you. Sanctimony and retribution boomerang almost every time.

 

[Cincycyber]

Lets be real here...

If he loses his job and the MN DHS is seriously considering canning him, then he is left looking for something else. Since he is now "famous" due to the internet and local news in MN, he may actually have a tough time finding a job. Assuming he can't find a job, he plays his violin to the prosecutor and says "I have no job". The prosecutor gives him some pity. Let s say he gets a job slinging burgers at McDonalds or other fast food joint, then the people don't get the money back for many years. The victims aren't really made whole and this guy gets to move on with his life. It's a lose/lose. Even the sheriff of Hennepin is pissed about it.

Punitive actions by the prosecutor will have the effect of causing fear in other people who are considering this. Monetary diversion is a drop in the bucket for fear because others who do this may not have a "nice job" to help pay for damages. This happens ALL the time. OTOH, fear of being with Bubba in a jail cell for 3 years will cause others second thoughts about doing this.

Diversion programs don't do squat. It's a slap on the wrist. I am happy to have my tax money contribute towards a ward of the state if it causes a reduction in that sort of crime.

Exactly. Look at California before they reeled themselves in. Let's just ignore "the small stuff" because the rule of law matters and criminals won't be emboldened and will calculate the dollar value of their thefts / damage to stay under the magic threshold. Laws that are criminally naive at best.

 

[CyberGus]

“But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

You get extra points for both quoting the Bible and using the word “fuck” in the same post

 

[dalton108]

Exactly. Look at California before they reeled themselves in. Let's just ignore "the small stuff" because the rule of law matters and criminals won't be emboldened and will calculate the dollar value of their thefts / damage to stay under the magic threshold. Laws that are criminally naive at best.

But wasn’t part of that, bullshit? I’m not in California but I’m quite certain that all of the misinformation about what counted as a felony… This is coming back to me as I’m writing this was about the smash and grab and what their threshold was for grand larceny versus misdemeanor and I’m quite certain that the actual facts were that California’s threshold was actually lower than many states and specifically to include some of the folks who were raising the issue.

I’m not 100% on this, but the facts should matter.

 

[dalton108]

You get extra points for both quoting the Bible and using the word “fuck” in the same post

Sinners gonna sin! ????

 

[CyberGus]

Pretty presumptuous to assume I believe in that mystical sky daddy.

Compassion and grace are not restricted to the devout.

 

[HaulingAss]

You’re talking about this guy as if he’s some underprivileged youth.

I'm glad someone gets what's going on here and not trying to write it off as a silly mistake of youth or requesting mercy for the poor guy by quoting scripture from the King James Bible! By that metric, I guess the owners should have turned their cars around 180 degrees so he could key the other side?

This was a deliberate and offensive attack on other people's cars. Has common sense left the room? That the guy has mental issues is obvious, but it's not a valid defense. He's obviously not so far out in left field that he can't get hired to a cushy job with state retirement and healthcare. He should be treated like a grown adult, which means being charged with at least one felony for the six felony events. Do you think a black, homeless person would be charged with a lessor crime than the one he commited? Very doubtful.

The whole reason it's classified as a felony is because the damage exceeded $1,000. In truth, he did it to so many different vehicles, the total damage estimate was $21,000. Each victim should also be paid at least $1500 in restitution for their time and inconvenience. Even then, they would wish it didn't happen to them!

I'm so sick of people that make excuses for privileged white young men. This is exactly why we have this terrible woke philosophy that is running rampant and leaving a trail of destruction in it's wake. Because the people pushing woke principles think woke policies are how you counter bias. I say it is much more effective to address the bias directly. Put him in the slammer for at least 30 days and ensure he can't work at another cushy state job for at least 5 years. The whole reason he did it is because he knows people like him are rarely dealt with very seriously for things like this. He thinks it's no big deal.

 

[dalton108]

Compassion and grace are not restricted to the devout.

Many an atheist has pointed out the fact that often it seems to be harder to find grace and Christ-like behavior within that population (at least among the most sanctimonious) than without.

Sponsored