Coal rolling crash

I saw that in my news feed yesterday. If I'd done something that stupid and vile at that age, I can't imagine what my parents would have done to me.

 

I've laughed off several attempts to roll coal on is while I'm in the car... it's typical, dumb stuff, but funny to watch them try.

I've had rednecks (I'm a redneck, so it's fine) raise hell about "you're not paying the taxes n stuff to use MY ROAD where cars n trucks n stuff belong!!" or similar poorly worded exclamations of angst...

I've been accidentally brushed off the road by an inexperienced driver or twenty... most of them have stopped to say they're sorry, profusely and obviously terrified they almost hurt someone...

hit a few times...

but this kid, this is needs punishment as an adult that intended to do malice.

 

I'm thinking that just replacing those bicycles is going to bust the family liability coverage.

Don't know if they can get him for felony coal-rolling, but it's for dang sure that the crash victims have a 5-gallon bucket full of business cards from slip-and-fall lawyers.

 

yuuuuup, and they should go after both the adult that was driving, and his insurance carrier, to pay for their ouchies

 

four cyclists hospitalized of which two were airlifted. So, some serious.

Photo of truck suggests quite strong contact with targets. Or Ford super-dutys are made from tofu.

 

Pretty much any time I hear pickup truck ... cyclists ... I'm likely to assume the injuries might not be minor.

 

Injured were among a group training for an Iron Man Triathlon (another form of madness perhaps) and their reassembly time may prevent it. Also they have a GoFundMe page, but those are no longer deemed suitable for viewing here. So I can't report on that progress.

 

The assault vehicle is probably parked in a driveway in or near Waller, TX. A fella could print six stickers similar to

Or maybe add diagonal red bars, and add some proper decorations. Super Doodies may not be rare there, and those seeking attention, well, oughta just seek.

 

"The driver is considered a minor in Texas, so the legal consequences are unclear for now."

He is 16. My community is currently having a squabble over whether or not to move up a 15 year old hit-and-run killer of a jogger from juvenile to adult court. If she were 16, it would be almost automatic, but since she meant only to bump and scare him (at 50 mph), not kill him, the prosecutor won't do it.

(Nevermind that local prosecutors are trying to move two 15 year old boys to adult courts, in separate non-fatal attacks.)

 

I thought you had to be making that up.

 

Authorities believe she may have struck another runner a day or two earlier, based on photos taken from inside the car, but don't yet have any reported case to match up to it:

Authorities search for second victim they think was struck by 15-year-old driver charged in fatal Maple Valley hit-and-run | The Seattle Times

This additional possible case hasn't changed the prosecutor's mind about leaving her in juvenile court.

 

It seemed like some of the reluctance to try as an adult was because she's a kid, with no prior criminal record.

So try her for one of them, first.

 

An issue there is that the legal process is quite different for adult vs juvies, so the status must be decided before trial.

Much of the prosecutor pushback is based on criminal intent, and juveniles' maturity to form such intent. She had meant only to bump and scare him (at 50 mph??), not kill him. In contrast (from audio news, I haven't yet found in print), two separate boys of the same age had much more clear criminal intent. One fully intended to kill a certain person that he repeatedly stabbed, but the victim survived very serious injuries. The other kidnapped and raped a victim he held for multiple hours.

But to the public, this also creates an optics issue, where an actual murderer is being kept in the juvenile system at the very same time they are trying to push two non-murderers of the same age up into the adult system.

 

Three sets of horrific crimes and a sticky wicket for the legal system.
More and more of these types of crimes appear to be reported almost daily, nationwide.

 

wow. I guess the current crop of "it's your fault I did xyz"generation will keep doing dumb things that are detrimental to society.

 

There's a little bit of daylight between a punk causing mayhem with a truck accidently....and a 15 year old girl stealing a car and squishing a runner - THEN fleeing the scene, and there's a gulf between these crimes and kidnapping, ag assault, and murder.

Me?
I have a childhood friend who is a probation ossifer and I had a brush-pass with the system myself when I was pre-adult - so I can swing from either batter's box on this one.
I've seen Yuuge successes where the system fixed a bent kid before they got broken, and I've seen MANY examples of people being hurt and killed by kids who 'game the system' by being a kid juuuuust one more time.

Generally speaking?
Redemption is worth blood and treasure, cause it's always cheaper in the long run to FIX something but that's easy for ME to SAY.

OTOH....
Hard cases make for bad law.

So....
I'm content to let Washington be Washington, and Texas be Texas.
All states have more or less well thought out methods for doing the child/adult legal coin toss, and in most states there are appellate backstops.
One can (and some do) argue that systemic irregularities exist, but the system is under continuous tweaking.
All 52 of them....

I chose to fix phones for a living FOR A REASON.
I let those who are better than I make the "tough calls" and I try not to judge those who have to call balls and strikes in real time.

NOBODY get's that 100% right!

 

Charges filed:

Teen accused of hitting 6 bicyclists with his truck while harassing them faces felony charges

"[Waller County District Attorney Elton] Mathis said prosecutors were investigating whether there was any “criminal interference” between police and the parents of the driver, as they are a prominent family that owns several businesses in the area. Mathis has also criticized police for refusing to treat the crash site as a crime scene.

Waller Police Chief Bill Llewellyn acknowledged to the Houston Chronicle that police “mishandled” the scene, but he denied that the department was influenced by the prominence of the boy’s family.

The decision from the district attorney’s office came days after a Texas driver outside Houston walked free following a deadly collision with cross-country cyclists that killed a Massachusetts man and injured six."

 

I'm not a big fan of the increasing violent crime reports. I see similar cases reported daily on any of the big NEWS sites I've visited.
Mulling over if I should post here, because I tend to only read the Titles of most current NEWS stories published. I recalled a similar name from the past on the TV show "The Peoples Court"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People%27s_Court

Not really an adequate response to this ongoing saga of our current legal systems issues.
It will be interesting to hear Capt. Kirk narrate a documentary delving into the existence of the Devil this month.
Boy / Man - the times are a changin or There are some things in this world, Captain Niobe, that will never change.