Should I prosecute my neighbor???

jagavahn · Post by **jagavahn** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:58 am

WillFightForFood, that pretty much sums up how I feel. I just want my neighbors to respect me and my property. I just don't understand how to make that clear to them without involving the authorities.

If I report the kid he will not be "scared straight". He will be sent to juvenile(or possibly adult jail)depending on his age. The amount of the stolen good comes to well over $3000.00 and since there were several packages stolen it will be much more than a slap on the wrist. His parents will also have to pay some hefty fines.

The first time he ran into my garage(my game room). I was pissed, but let it ride. The second time the only thing that stopped me from reporting them was their plea that doing so would cause the breadwinner of the family to be jailed and the family home would more than likely be lost to foreclosure resulting from it.

I have no desire to cause this much grief for anybody, I just want the crap to stop. So how could I make that clear without involving the law?

kturock · Post by **kturock** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:58 am

umm i hate to tell you, but yes the postal inspectors are your personal investigators.

that's their job. they don't prosecute. since 9/11, the prosecution part of their job has been turned over to another part of of the government.. crap.. i can't recall the name..it's 3 letters.. GAO, .. hmm was it them?
but anyway. yes that is their job and the job of every police, local, state and federal agency. they work for you. their job is to take care of problems.. otherwise it's vigilantism....

the kids parents were already 'not nice' now, forget about the future. it'll just reinforce the attitude that they can do what ever they want. because, they did.

how is he framing him. he has evidence that he did it. everyone else already knows it. it's not like he has an alter ego.

maybe he steals because his farther is an alcholic abuser.. and until that problem is resoveled and the entire family gets counciling, the problem will continue.

i have 3 little delinquients who live behind me. the father has stopped drinking but he's still abusive. they already almost burned down another neighbors barn, with horses inside. the father denied that the kids were there, even though my wife saw them, called 911, and put a garden hose on the fire.
they're still tormenting peoples pets, are bullys and probably are the cause of the minor crime out here.. gee.. they're barely 9 and 10.. maybe they'll grow out of it. it's only been 3 years...maybe maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt.

the neighbor already has proven that he doesn't want to be 'good'.
well wishes and happy thoguths time is gone.

drop the hammer before he drops it on you. again.

WillFightForFood · Post by **WillFightForFood** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:43 am

Deleted Post

( 832 ) · Post by **MagickalMemories** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:50 am

Will fight... No disrespect... but I have to admit I'm amused in that you sound like you TRULY BELIEVE what you said. It's a great theory. Don't get me wrong! I wish I could believe it. I really and truly WANT to.

Truth is, though, that you do not come across as someone who has lived among people like these.

I grew up in an area of south St. Louis county that, if you called it "Satan's Butt-hole," you'd be complimenting it. I knew a slew of good and bad people.
There are theories that there are no people that are truly bad, that people can change, etc... Those theories are BULL.
there really ARE people who are just bad.

I'm not saying it goes for his neighbor... but I'm sure as HECK not saying it doesn't.

Better to frame it as, "Hey, you screwed up kid, but if you do the right thing here we can let it go."

Dude. Do you know HOW many kids (guys and girls) I knew who would put on the "good kid making bad decisions" mask until someone made this kind of offer/statement to them? They'd "Thank you, sir!" and "I'll do better!" and "You won't regret it!" the poor guy until their tongues fell out, afterwards...
As soon as they were clear of the guy, though, they were all grins and laughing and making fun of the guy for being so gullible and falling for it.

If you want this kid to understand that you mean business, and you want the parents to understand it, as well... then you GO to the authorities, you file your complaints and let justice be served.
Ask the judge to be lenient. Ask him for restitution from the parents. Ask him to give the kid a punishment that will give him the best possible chance to get his act together... Say, restitution, probation for a specified period of time and community service. It will take a bit of commitment on your part... but you never know, it could improve your relationship with the family.

As far as the dad's drunk driving.... My uncle was killed by a drunk driver when I was only a year old. He was a GREAT man and I never got to know him because of some drunk driving waste of DNA.... You have been TOO lenient with him.
The last 2 times, it was your garage. What if, next time, it's your daughter or son or wife or a neighbor kid? What if it's a 15 car pile-up in rush hour traffic?
If it happens again, call the cops, file a complaint & make a statement. Drunk drivers deserve NO LENIENCY!
The more you allow him to get away with it, the more that everyone elses lives are endangered.

How other people treat you and perceive you has a big influence on how you perceive yourself.

Only if you were raised to let it... and, if you were RAISED that way... then you're going to be screwed up enough that trying to find a touchy-feely way to fix it just won't work!

::steps off soap box:

WFFF... I just want to reiterate that, while I DO disagree vehemently with your point of view... and I DO disagree with it vehemently... NOTHING I said above was meant as ANY sort of personal attack or insult. That's not "How I roll." <G>
Eric

deadmeat30 · Post by **deadmeat30** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:29 am

hey all, ive had a read through the posts, and me being one of the people that was waiting for the parcel from john, i would say press on and report them. how much are you willing to take till you do go the police? maybe another smashed garage door? or few more parcels going missing? thats only putting u out of pocket!
to me it does seem like there the kind of family that offer u the money, then get in there house laughing! teach that kid (and at 17 he knows full well what hes doing) a lesson he wont forget! uve got the evidence, there case would colapes infront of you!

right thats me 2 cents, better go patrol the streets of iraq. lol

look forwards to the parcel john.

Alan

WillFightForFood · Post by **WillFightForFood** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:27 pm

Deleted Post

( 34 ) · Post by **Morlock-Bloodletter** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:41 pm

Hey Jaga. This is a very generalised bit of advice.

Go to the Cops and USPS BUT do so ONLY to get them involved and to go to the neighbors house to ask questions, but leave it as a 'he said she said' type of problem.

Do not offer the video tape as evidence, so they can't SEE the crime but at least have them show up and do a report. Show the neighbors you mean business but also let them know that this is the LAST freebie they get. (because it sounds like the guy has a DUI problem.)

My personal experience comes from this... we had neighbors across the street from us that HATED it when we parked on the street in front of their house. In fact they had started doing things to my car.

Well I found out they had been keying it, and putting small scratches all over on the car.

So I taped them one night. I called the police to report the vandalism. I did not show them the tape but I got the police to go to the surrounding houses doing an investigation. I got the report from the police (to file my insurance claim to get the car fixed).

Once the investigation was over, I walked over to the neighbors house with the video tape, my deductible bill and told them that they should watch the tape and pay my deductible or I get them both arrested for "Criminal Damage".

They left my sh*t alone ever since. In fact they walk INTO their house if they see me coming out.

jagavahn · Post by **jagavahn** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:21 pm

Acutally, I can't say for certain that he drives drunk or not. Both times that his car has gone through my wall have been the result of the car being worked on (on jack stands) and him drinking. I don't know the specifics, but the result is old buick halfway through (cinderblock) garage wall.

Morlock, I think I am going to do what you say. I will get the law involved enough to show these people that I am serious, but refrain from showing my evidence. IF that doesn't get through to them, then they deserve exactly what they get.

It's funny, until I showed them the penalties for tampering with the mail and the value of the items involved. They seemed to think that is wasn't a big deal that their son was stealing mail and that I was being unreasonable over a couple of "toys".

MEDEVL · Post by **MEDEVL** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:06 pm

That's got to be the most ridiculous thing I've read in a long time. How in the hell is it not a big deal. Are you getting special "see through" packages at your house?? They nor the kid have ANY idea what's in a box when he steals it. I seriously doubt he opens at the doorstep and decides whether or not he wants it. He takes it home selaed and then opens it. There could be anything in there from toys, to socks, to much-needed medication. It doesn't matter what it is, the bottom line is the kid is a THIEF. Trust me when I say if you give an inch they'll take a mile. The neighborhood kids that live behind me and have been bad for the last 10 years (vandalism, throwing rocks at pets and cars, loud music, etc) were caught last week breaking into the house 2 doors down. We all took the similar "let's not be too hard on them" stance every time the did anything over the years and now here we are. Their parents are morons but what's annoying from a 10 year old can be a felony from a 17 year old. I absolutely believe that him stealing your mail is the tip of a rather large iceberg that you just don't know about. Give him what he deserves and feel good about it!! You'll be doing yourself a favor as well as the rest of the neighborhood and anybody else he might victimize in the future.

DarkSoul · Post by **DarkSoul** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:20 pm

Agreed, and knowing that one of those packages he stole was addressed to me... i will be glad to file a complaint myself. If I'm not mistaken I have the right to do that myself.. and I'm sure anyone else that you were trading with who lost packages would support you and file reports on their end as well.

You cannot allow even the smallest things to go beyond the initial incident, if you do it will just escalate out of control.. an avalanche can start from the smallest sound.

kturock · Post by **kturock** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:52 pm

that's why any mail stolen, even 'junk mail' and coupons, has the same penalty as stealing checks, or other 'worthwhile' things.

in the PO i work, about a dozen employees were fired and prosecuted for stealing ads. one of the local radio stations had a promo. every hour they'd announce a number and that number won a prize. after too many usps, night-time employees won and kept winning, the inspectors got involved.
these people stole, not only 'junk mail', but it was mail that was thrown away. the company sent out extra and the extras got thrown away...they were fired and charged with stealing mail. the mail was not only 'junk' mail, but actually trash that was removed from dumptsers.

this is not uncommon. i work with a custodian. he was arested and removed from the building pending the investigation. he was caught, filmed on several occasions, removing trash from the dumpsters. what did he steal? t-shirts, umbrellas, pens, calculators, note pads,.. things that were thrown away because they were undeliverable. he removed them from the dumpster. the only reason he got his job back, was someone filled out some paperwork wrong. he would've lost a 40+k a year job, and could have possibly ben in prison and fined... for stealing trash.
all of the 'junk mail' anything that doesn't have 1st class postage, or the endorsements saying they will pay to get it returned; is thrown awaay. everyday. for everyone you get at least 1 is thrown away at the po, or so it seems. the companies are only paying for '1 way' delivery. they don't want it back. it costs them more to receive it and handle it, than it costs.

{pulls out soap box}
OK. THIS IS IMPORTANT! IN CASE SOMEONE SOME HOW HASN'T TOLD YOU, TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST IDENITY THEFT.

1st. do not leave mail in your mailbox.. ever.
junk mail has some of your persnoal information on it. so does bank statements, charge card bills, phone bills. there are 2 types major forms of id theft that is going around. shread it when you throw it away.

1st. stealing you're incoming mail. the ads, or statements. they get your info and create new charge cards, get access to accounts, and all other types of things.

2nd. they steal your otugoing bills. they take the checks out of them. 'wash' off the payee and amount, and write it to a clearing house bank, for a new amount. the bank is usually outside of the US, usually the islands in the caribebean or south/central america.

to help protect you and your mail; letter carries [mailmen] are instructed to pick up mail that has sat in a box for over 3 days. they hold it for 10-14 and then if they don't hear from you, saying you've moved, gone away for a few days or have returned, THEY SEND IT ALL BACK TO THE SENDER; MOVED LEFT NO ORDER/ADDRESS.

let me repeat that.

THEY SEND IT ALL BACK TO THE SENDER; MOVED LEFT NO ORDER/ADDRESS.

so now all you banks, and bill companies believed you've skipped out or at least moved.

ALWAYS CONTACT YOUR LOCAL PO WHEN YOU CAN'T PICK UP YOU MAIL AT LEAST EVERY 3 DAYS.

you can do it by phone, call the 800 number and get the local offices number; you can do it online at usps.com.

change of addresses must be in writting, via mail or internet. holds can be done on the phone.

{soap box gone}

( 34 ) · Post by **Morlock-Bloodletter** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:28 pm

he was caught, filmed on several occasions, removing trash from the dumpsters

Which is an important point.

In my home town of Coldwater MI some off duty police officers were caught taking bags of chips out of the dumpster behind the frito lay factory/plant thing....

It's trash but it's still stealing.

ironic

kturock · Post by **kturock** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:33 pm

but that's the thing. in the PO, mail is never trash. if theres a box of paper, and an empty envelope, the envelope is still mail.

only a few people are allowed to desigante what is trash and what isn't; as far as mail pieces go. if anyone else does it, they're screwed.

MEDEVL · Post by **MEDEVL** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:01 pm

So is stuff only trash until it's picked up?? Could you take coupons or Fritos out of a garbage truck or dumpsite without getting in trouble?? Just curious because that trash thing makes NO sense to me. If it's thrown away at that point it's just discarded junk and I don't see how you still claim any rights to it.

merdain1504 · Post by **merdain1504** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:10 pm

Sounds like most ppl have the same idea. Call the cops man. If the kid goes to jail good. People seem to think they can do anything nowadays, Just look at the bad trader threads.

Good call on the camrea thing btw