Thursday, October 14, 2010

Shoplifter's Unusual Punishment.

Video

If you aren't able to watch the video, here's what went down:
A 18-year old tries to shoplift at a Halloween store in Virginia and got caught. The owner decided that instead of giving this guy a record and involving trial and law etc. He decided to punish the theif by making him stand outside the store wearing a Bert (from Seasame Street) costume and holding a sign that says " I got caught shoplifting at Halloween Express". The 18-year old has to stand for 6 hours over a period of 2 days.

-- In my opinion, this kid got really lucky. Not only would he be charged as an adult for his crimes he would have this crime on record for the rest of his life. (Which colleges and potential employers look at) I mean standing outside for 6 hours is nothing compared to a permament record and maybe some jail time. It's ridiculous that he would even attempt to steal from a Halloween store out of all places. .. I mean really. At 18 years old.. you're an adult. And you're stealing Halloween costumes.. I find that really immature. What is your opinion on this interesting punishment? Was the owner of the shop being too nice?

8 comments:

Vernon Wong said...

i acuallyed laughed, i feel that instead of ruining the kids life by giving him a criminal record, the store owner decided to give him a chance by correcting his mistakes and allowing the store owner to get better business using the punishment as a way for his business to get attention.

-vernon wong

Stephen Chan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stephen Chan said...

I think this punishment was a great punishment. First of all, such a humiliating punishment will ensure that the kid never attempts to shoplift again. As adolescents, we are in the stage of life where we are willing to spend more time fixing our hair and dresses on prom day, than we will doing our homework. (Maybe that was a little exaggerated, but you get the point). Moreover, he is EXTREMELY lucky because even the shop owner in the video was sympathetic enough to allow the shoplifter to be without a criminal record--such kindness doesn't come around every day, especially when crimes can potentially be "jail or prison time, punitive fines, community service hours." I'm very happy and surprised at the owner's benevolence towards the boy as he has every right to place charges on the shoplifter. At least now the shoplifter knows not to steal, or break any other laws, or else next time he won't get so lucky.

http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/criminal_law/shoplifting/consequences.html

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, the shoplifter was indeed very lucky. However, I do think that the owner was a little too soft in regards to the punishment. If you think about, there have been thousands of other shoplifters out there in the past, who have not had the pleasure of escaping punishment.
~ Emily Zelter

Michelle Bunarjo said...

I think the owner of the store was being too nice to the shoplifter. Giving him a warning won't mean that he will never try to shoplift again. It might just give him more reason to do it again because he didn't get a really severe punishment. He might have the mindset that he can, once again, get away with shoplifting or other crimes just because he lucked out the first time. Although the store owner most likely had good intentions by giving him a lighter punishment, it might cause others to believe that shoplifting is not that serious of a crime.

Rita Huang said...

Yeah...I think the shop owner was definitely being too lenient on this punishment. This kid, actually this ADULT, should count himself lucky that the shop owner didn't report him. Honestly I don't know if this punishment would have taught him a lesson though because he got such an easy way out. Standing outside a store for 6 hours holding a sign for two days? No big deal. But if he was sent to jail, with a fine, with a permanent record? Lesson learned. But I guess he did get his two days worth of embarrassment standing outside in a Sesame St costume!

Bobby John said...

God bless America.

Ariana Sacchi said...

I think the store owner let this guy go off easily. Personally, if I were the owner of the store, I would have let him being punished for the crime he committed. I think it's ridiculous that an ADULT (even though he's a young adult) would steal from a Halloween store... of all the places in the world!!!! I think this guy should be grateful that the store owner did not call the police to charge him for the crime he committed. I hope he learns from his mistakes and knows that he got really lucky without suffering major consequences!!