Yesterday, we discussed the story of two men who celebrated the holiday by ruining it for everyone else. Brandon Ancell, 19, and Brandon Chait, 18, followed a UPS truck and stole gifts arriving at homes. Now, a Massachusetts woman has joined this ignoble list after she was captured on security cameras stealing several hundred dollars of holiday wreaths from the Sunshine Farm in Sherborn, Massachusetts. She does not appear to be too hard up for cash since she pulled up in a Range Rover. Well, at least it was not a small dog with antlers tied to its head.
What is interesting is that, once the video went viral, the police were quickly told who the woman was. However, they have decided to neither identify her nor arrest her. Instead, she was given a summons. In truth, I saw this story a couple days ago and held it because I was simply curious about the back story and the identity of such a person.
The business later posted this note: “Mystery solved. Thanks to all of our loyal fans and first viral video. 20,000 hits!” the business wrote. Sherborn police said they have identified a suspect in the case. Police said the person will not be arrested, but will be summoned at Natick District Court.”
It is a curious decision since the value of the wreaths would be sufficient for a felony arrest in Massachusetts. The key valuation under the larceny statute is $250 which seems to be satisfied here:
Section 30. (1) Whoever steals, or with intent to defraud obtains by a false pretence, or whoever unlawfully, and with intent to steal or embezzle, converts, or secretes with intent to convert, the property of another as defined in this section, whether such property is or is not in his possession at the time of such conversion or secreting, shall be guilty of larceny, and shall, if the property stolen is a firearm, as defined in section one hundred and twenty-one of chapter one hundred and forty, or, if the value of the property stolen exceeds two hundred and fifty dollars, be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years, or by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars and imprisonment in jail for not more than two years; or, if the value of the property stolen, other than a firearm as so defined, does not exceed two hundred and fifty dollars, shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars; or, if the property was stolen from the conveyance of a common carrier or of a person carrying on an express business, shall be punished for the first offence by imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than two and one half years, or by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than six hundred dollars, or both, and for a subsequent offence, by imprisonment for not less than eighteen months nor more than two and one half years, or by a fine of not less than one hundred and fifty nor more than six hundred dollars, or both.
The police could get creative in piling up charges, though I do not consider it necessary. If the curtilage is considered part of the structure, the damage could also be charged as breaking and entering:
Section 16. Whoever, in the night time, breaks and enters a building, ship, vessel or vehicle, with intent to commit a felony, or who attempts to or does break, burn, blow up or otherwise injures or destroys a safe, vault or other depository of money, bonds or other valuables in any building, vehicle or place, with intent to commit a larceny or felony, whether he succeeds or fails in the perpetration of such larceny or felony, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than twenty years or in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one-half years.
There is also burglary which again depends on the interpretation of key words like “enters” and “breaks”:
Section 15. Whoever breaks and enters a dwelling house in the night time, with the intent mentioned in the preceding section, or, having entered with such intent, breaks such dwelling house in the night time, the offender not being armed, nor arming himself in such house, with a dangerous weapon, nor making an assault upon a person lawfully therein, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than twenty years and, if he shall have been previously convicted of any crime named in this or the preceding section, for not less than five years.
In the end, I do not believe a serious punishment is needed given the social stigma of a charge and the lack of damage to the structure.
Source: CBS
QED
“A 2012 study by the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention revealed that in 2010 black youths committed six times more murders, three times more rapes, 10 times more robberies and three times more assaults than did their white counterparts.
Nearly 50% of all black males and 38% of white men will be arrested by the age of 23.
Similar statistics were released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the “Uniform Crime Reports.” They determined, “In the year 2008, black youths, who make up 16% of the youth population, accounted for 52% of juvenile violent crime arrests, including 58% for homicide and 67% for robbery.” By contrast, the only categories where white youths surpassed blacks were in liquor law violations and driving under the influence.“
“Data should come before drawing a conclusion.”
You are the one that reached the conclusion that there is no mystery why blacks are arrested more often on the basis of what – exactly what data???.
Data is a wonderful thing. One of these days you might try some. It doesn’t hurt – really.
Leftists caused my country to be soggy.
” ‘Jackie’, the possible rape victim.”
Inga goes full Red Queen: First the sentence, then the trial!”
“Data before conclusion”, yes indeed, except when it comes to ‘Jackie’, the possible rape victim.
What’s boring is this continual litany of “leftsists, leftists, leftists, leftists …..” Pogo. Did leftists cause your corn flakes to be soggy this morning?
Who said they were arrested for the contraband?
And what exactly were the types of contraband found?
Data should come before drawing a conclusion.
See what I mean?
Monomania.
If the post was about Santa Claus, the leftists would be all, “Hands up! Don’t shoot the reindeer!! and having a die-in at the mall.
Pathetic and boring.
Right ideologues only see out of their right eye. The left eye gone blind from underuse. Muscles atrophied and retina detached.
If she were an adolescent black male with a welfare mom, the mom might’ve been tased and the boy shot, for ‘resisting arrest’.
“Ferguson police are much more likely to stop, search and arrest African-American drivers than white ones.”
Young black males commit far more crimes, so they get arrested more often.
Not much of a mystery.
“Young black males commit far more crimes, so they get arrested more often….Not much of a mystery.”
Which, of course, explains why in those Ferguson police stops whites are half again more likely to be found carrying some kind of contraband – from the news story: “Contraband hit rate: Whites: 34.04 percent; Blacks: 21.71 percent…Arrest rate: Whites: 5.25 percent; Blacks: 10.43 percent ”
It must be very comforting to choose to remain oblivious to facts – if you are white and upper middle class.
:”It seems to me that this story gains interest and relevance specifically because she…”
Leftists see everything through Foucauldian lenses.
It distorts their vision, all they can see are the outlines of power struggles, even where there are none.
A sort of monomaniacal blindness.
“‘I’m outraged you’re not discussing my outrage unrelated to this!!1!
Bow to my straw man!’”
It seems to me that this story gains interest and relevance specifically because she seems to have been treated differently than we might have expected.
If that is true then the question of how others with different ethnic backgrounds or SES might have been treated in similar circumstances in this jurisdiction is directly on point to the story.
So, what is the record of the police in handling similar cases? Is there any variation by ethnic background or SES? We don’t know – at least not from the details of this article. But those seem to be particularly relevant questions these days.
BTW, when it comes to Ferguson the SLPD from 081214 tells us:
“Ferguson police are much more likely to stop, search and arrest African-American drivers than white ones. Last year, blacks, who make up a little less than two-thirds of the driving-age population in the North County city, accounted for 86 percent of all stops. When stopped, they were almost twice as likely to be searched as whites and twice as likely to be arrested, though police were less likely to find contraband on them….Pronounced as those statistics may seem, they don’t necessarily make Ferguson an outlier.”
So, yes the question of disparate treatment by ethic background and SES seems like a reasonable question, particularly in a case like this one.
What would the charges be if she were a drunken Democrat DA?
What would the charges be if it were two dozen adult black males from Ferguson looting and then burning the Sunshine Farm?
Nothing, in Ferguson.
“What would the charges be if she were an adolescent black male with a welfare mom?”
‘I’m outraged you’re not discussing my outrage unrelated to this!!1!
Bow to my straw man!’
This is part of the X-Files. But then Santa Claus gets arrested for wishes of hope and world peace.
Someone who drives up in a Range Rover to steal a few wreaths sounds like someone with mental problems. The police might just be doing what they should be doing, looking into it. Regardless of connections, perhaps there is a more appropriate way to deal with blatant kleptomania than throwing her in jail. However, if she is just a regular run of the mill thief, toss her away for six months. Let her spend Christmas behind bars.
What would the charges be if she were an adolescent black male with a welfare mom?
When do we find out who she is related to?
The mayor, police chief, or commissioner.