It is not clear what Justin Thompson, 29, has struggled with more: guilt or gravity. When police came to his girlfriend’s house on a warrant for assault and harassment, Thompson hid in the ceiling . . . only to fall in front of the officer in his kitchen. What was notable (beyond the means of apprehension) was one of the crimes charged against Thompson.
In addition to the original assault and harassment charges, police added resisting arrest and, here is the interesting one, endangering the welfare of children. The police argue that, because Thompson fell a few feet from the children, he was guilty of children endangerment. However, he did not think that he was going to fall through the ceiling. Indeed, he assumed he could safely hide there.
They has also charged the girlfriend with hindering apprehension.
It would seem like the other charges were sufficient without the novel endangerment charge. What do you think?
