Originally Posted by LAF1269

........and this is one of the reasons we may be doomed as a society. If we do hear from the kid, what's he going to say? I can't think of a justifiable reason (that may be present if it was a different type of offense) as to why he would have caused the damage, so his response will be either "I did it." or "I didn't do it."

Too many people promote (as you obviously do) the complete lack of personal responsibility, and blame the police, society, parents, etc. instead of simply saying "Yea, I screwed up." I too have worked around "cops" for years in a capacity that I guarantee is more involved than what you have experienced. I've also spent my fair share of time around you that work (or have worked) in "television", and can testify that there is often very little fact or truth involved in t.v. production. Eyes on the screen is the only thing that matters in this industry.

You did get one thing correct. The "cops" ARE trying to make a case. That is EXACTLY what our tax dollars pay them to do when they are investigating a criminal offense. The whole point of performing an investigation is to collect evidence in an effort to ultimately find the truth. There is absolutely no point in investigating a case in the first place if you aren't going to do anything with the evidence or information collected.

And now for this gem.... "They are not working in the service of truth or accuracy and rarely present a fair and accurate picture in their police reports or their press briefings. ". That is one hell of a blanket statement, and you probably couldn't have gotten this any more wrong. These are exactly the things that the investigators are working for. It is nearly impossible for the police or prosecutor to prevail on a case if truth, accuracy, or EVIDENCE is not present. Just because you may not agree with the evidence presented, does not make it any less accurate or "unfair".

......and I can't leave this one out......"Maybe the kid is a piece of crap. Maybe the kid is just stupid and didn't realize he was doing $45K in damage." Here is part of that "lack of responsibility part" that I mentioned earlier. I HIGHLY doubt that this kid is a "piece of crap", but it appears that he may have caused approximately $45,000 worth of damage due to his actions. The truth is NOT somewhere in the middle. There is either $45,000 worth of damage or not. He either caused the damage or he didn't. It absolutely does not matter if he realized he was doing that AMOUNT of damage or not. This kid obviously knew or should have known that he was doing something wrong (look up culpability) and made the choice to do it anyway. He unfortunately for him and the owners chose a newly constructed BMX track rather than an open field or trail to have his "fun".

As far as your friend goes, it's great that he has dodged both death and incarceration, but you still miss the point. Malicious intent has nothing to do with rather or not an offense was committed. If he chooses to recklessly (again, that culpability thing) do something stupid, then he is responsible for the consequences.

Originally Posted by LAF1269

Too many people promote (as you obviously do) the complete lack of personal responsibility, and blame the police, society, parents, etc. instead of simply saying "Yea, I screwed up."

Originally Posted by LAF1269

I've also spent my fair share of time around you that work (or have worked) in "television", and can testify that there is often very little fact or truth involved in t.v. production.

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Actually no, I obviously don't. Nowhere did I say the kid shouldn't be held accountable for his actions. And how do you know the kid didn't say, "Yea, I screwed up"? Were you there? Did you talk with him?

That was my point. Too many people are jumping to conclusions assuming they know exactly what happened from only a few hundred words from a small market reporter regurgitating what the cops told her.



And yet you made all sorts of assumptions based on what you read from a small market newspaper reporter without questioning it at all.

Originally Posted by kgm

Old people looking at young people and saying "we're doomed". How novel and fresh!

Who cares. Random dip**** kid. I did this when I was a kid, but I was smart enough to never get caught.

Originally Posted by kgm

Old people looking at young people and saying "we're doomed". How novel and fresh! Who cares. Random dip**** kid. I did this when I was a kid, but I was smart enough to never get caught.

Originally Posted by kgm

If anything, that story makes me think "That kid needs an offroad area to drive in!" almost immediately. Just saying.

Some kid in my town when I was growing up spray painted an entire car dealership fleet. Too bad he forgot to wear a mask or walk there, and was immediately identified via video. His folks must have sold his kidneys to pay for the damage. I think there's a big difference between those two acts.

Originally Posted by kgm

If anything, that story makes me think "That kid needs an offroad area to drive in!" almost immediately. Just saying.

Some kid in my town when I was growing up spray painted an entire car dealership fleet. Too bad he forgot to wear a mask or walk there, and was immediately identified via video. His folks must have sold his kidneys to pay for the damage. I think there's a big difference between those two acts.