10-Year-Old Charged With Felony After Stealing Bicycle

It is wrong to steal of course but really is it necessary to charge this child with a felony?
tampa.cbslocal.com...

A 10-year-old child was arrested and charged with felony burglary after stealing a bicycle while leaving his tricycle at the scene of the crime in order to get away successfully.

This really caught my attention. Why is a 10 year old riding a tricycle?

“I read the juvenile defendant … his Miranda Warning in the presence of his stepmother,” the report adds. “[He] knowingly and intentionally committed burglary to an occupied dwelling by entering the garage on two separate occasions.”

Maybe if someone bought him a bike he wouldn't have to steal.

Peace.

Originally posted by cavalryscout
Maybe if someone bought him a bike he wouldn't have to steal.

Let's hope you view it as kindly when he dumps his bike and steals your car.
Perhaps he oughtta deliver some papers, cut some lawns and save up for a bike!

Charging children with felonies is a very, very bad idea. His life is over before its begun if he is found guilty. What incentive does he have to do good in school or become a contributing member of society if he's convicted?

Originally posted by cavalryscout
It is wrong to steal of course but really is it necessary to charge this child with a felony?

Yes it is, it's absolutely neccessary to show kids they can't just steal things. Besides, he's 10 year old not 5, you can talk with a 5 year old and hope he learns his lesson. A 10 year old needs to be punished if he still thinks stealing is OK

reply to post by ShadowAngel85


So punish him by making him do community service or something like that. There are other ways to punish him and teach him a lesson without "throwing the book" at a child.

A felony is far too serious a thing to be throwing at a 10 year old child over stealing a bike.

HES 10!!!!!!! kids GET ON BIKES, and RIDE THEM!!!!

its normal!! how can he even know he was stealing it!?!?!?!?!?


the people trying to charge him with a felony should be charged with a felony!


poor kid!

That's sad. Children should not be charged with felonies for something like this. This would have never happened when I was a kid. If a kid stole something, usually, the matter was turned over to the parents and trust me, that kid was going to get it. We are moving in a bad direction. Hell, when I was a kid, schools handled things internally as well. There were no cops called in. What the hell is going on? A couple of months ago, my step-daughter told her coach that someone had taken her cell phone out of the gym locker. The coach told her to call the police and went about her business. We shouldn't be building "records" on children.

Don't they pitch your record when you turn 18? Point being, if you're gonna get charged with a felony, better to do it when you're just a kid.
But ya, I think that's kinda harsh. Throw him in the back of the cop car, drive him around the block a few times whilst bustin' his chops and maybe he'll get the point.

Originally posted by JimmyJagov
Don't they pitch your record when you turn 18? Point being, if you're gonna get charged with a felony, better to do it when you're just a kid.
But ya, I think that's kinda harsh. Throw him in the back of the cop car, drive him around the block a few times whilst bustin' his chops and maybe he'll get the point.

I've never heard of that. They erase your record when you turn 18?

these things are EXACTLY how society conditions children into grown ups who hate the system.


send the kids to school- all the teachers are evil and don't get paid enough, they don't care and are unfair, and teach nothing.

cruel and unusual punishment for poor ***ing kids all the time

kid says the word "stupid" and "teacher" on facebook in the same sentance- oh well better EXPEL THEM

kid is bad at math, better judgmentally punish them with an F so they can't pass/go to college/ get a good job/ make enough money to survive/ have a happy normal life.



this system WILL FAIL. its already failing, because it has the most AMAZING habit of kicking everyone while they are down, and conditioning everyone into despising it.

kid rides bike....FELONY.....kid stops caring about school, loses faith in country "how could they do this to me?"

kid now cares about NOTHING. he is more likely to rob a bank/ do drugs/ stop going to school all together, because "*** it, why should i care?"


this system is so messed up.



edit: in conclusion, YES IT IS VERY WRONG. if the kid really had super bad intentions and was like MUHAHUAHUAHU i steal the bike LOLOL then well, im not sure even still he should be punished, but maybe talk to the kid for a while.

punishment doesn't work, it makes things worse. if someone cool took the kid to chucky cheese and talked it over with him why its wrong, while shooting hoops and earning tickets to buy a prize, maybe he would be a good kid?

Some of you say punish the kid now before he does something worse. Teach him a lesson. Fine I agree but to charge him with a felony is a bit excessive.

reply to post by cavalryscout


they are going to mentally scare this poor kid....

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


Don't blame the "system" for HIS bad behavior.

Felony charges usually are pegged to the value of the item as a rule. I believe it kicks in at about a 5k value where I'm located. Surely, the bike wasn't worth that much. But many posters seem to overlook the fact that the kid took it from a garage, it wasn't just laying there on the curb. So HOW the theft happened may have something to do with the charge. He did admit to having been in the garage twice.

Some stupid people are bright enough to know when they need to start checking their own impulses when they get an object lesson. Some aren't that bright and continue along their downward spiral. This affair will give the kid a wakeup call or not. Don't blame society for holding his feet to the fire.

reply to post by Aliensun


hes just a kid, even if he busted into a garage and stole it, he shouldn't get punished like that, maybe a few combined smaller punishments that are not mentally scarring, or permanently damaging to the kids life or stuff in any way.

i did so many dumb things when i was 10, and many more even after that, but im a different person now because i looked back and understood my mistakes, and i now know what NOT to do.

i didn't need some horrific punishment to know i did something wrong and realize i was being a dummy.

im afraid the kid will grow up hating the police and the government (even more than people normally do) and would purposely go out of his or her way to do more crimes....

There is no common sense in this nation anymore.

In Florida anything over $300 is a felony.

You either want laws or you don't.

There is no gray area.

Theft = illegal.

If a report was filed the police have no choice but to make an arrest and charge the suspect accordingly. The law is the law. However, it is very likely that due to the age of the child and his clean record that the judge will knock this down to a misdemeanor.

reply to post by zroth



dude.


10 years old.


he likes chocolate milk, and pokemon.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


it should be knocked down to a very light spanking, and a time out.


hes 10.



thats like punching a baby in the face for being born too hard.

Originally posted by notquiteright
They erase your record when you turn 18?

They do up here...seal them, anyway.
Now, don't you kids go getting any ideas!

reply to post by SoymilkAlaska


As I said, if the victim filed a report there's nothing the police could do. At that point they become obligated to bring in a suspect and charge them with the crime they have committed.

I do find it interesting that ATS often complains about how the law is not applied equally. Yet here we have a case where the law is being applied without prejudice and still people complain. So which is it? Should the law apply equally to all regardless of age, race, gender, etc. or does the law only apply to certain people?