Here is a local story. Short on details.
http://hpnw.org/2011/04/appalachian-...c-center-food/
Here is a local story. Short on details.
http://hpnw.org/2011/04/appalachian-...c-center-food/
He probably thot the rec center was the site of a pre-planned hiker feed.
$2500 cash / $10,000 unsecured bond for some food sounds like they're going to make an example out of him.
Yeah, sounds a bit like "Les Miserables." Stealing a bit of food is a felony? Give me a break. Unless he hijacked a semi-truck, stealing some food should be a misdemeanor. Save the felony tag for serious crimes. Far too many "petty" crime definitions have not kept up with inflation and are now prosecuted zealously way beyond their place on the spectrum of harm to society and persons. IMHO.
Having said that, thieves should be prosecuted (just not like they're rapists or murderers).
RainMan
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[I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35
[url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]
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You have to admit, stealing food is rather.. uh... unsmart.
The only way I can see myself stealing food is if I were driven by hunger.
Food is the one thing most people would give you if you asked for it.
Agree with Rain Man. Real crimes have victims, no victim, no crime. If he did steal a low dollar value of food items, then he committed a misdemeanor at best. But no, some prosecutor and LEO's need to make an "example" of him. They would add a burglary charge if he entered the rec center building to steal the food, that he entered the building with the intent of committing a crime therein. This way they can threaten him with serious time in order to take their "deal".
It does seem a little extreme but that's the price you pay when you steal something, no matter the value.
Last edited by 88BlueGT; 05-05-2011 at 13:26.
Smile, Smile, Smile.... Mile after Mile
Skids
Insanity: Asking about inseams over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein, (attributed)
they should just make him do some comunity service or somthin this seems a bit blown up....punishment should fit the crime..
No victim, no crime?
How about the taxpayer who has to pay for any replacement food? Repairs to the doors, locks, whatever?
Let's give everyone a slap on the wrist no matter what - that'll deter them.
Old Hiker
AT Hike 2012 - 497 Miles of 2184
AT Thru Hiker - 29 FEB - 03 OCT 2016 2189.1 miles
Just because my teeth are showing, does NOT mean I'm smiling.
Hányszor lennél inkább máshol?
You're looking at this the wrong way. The burglary was the felony - i.e. breaking into the rec center at night for the purpose of stealing something. Because what he stole was food of relatively little value, the theft itself was the misdmeanor.
"It goes to show you never can tell." - Charles Edward Anderson Berry
A good lawyer will plead it down to criminal trespass, he'll pay a fine plus restitution for damages, and hike on.
i didnt say hes entitled to anything... but i doubt he stole a cow or a goat or stole $10,000 worth of food either so i think forceing him to work for that comunity fits this crime more than jail and large fines and tax payer money to house his ass in jail for a tiny amount of food... i also missd the breaking in part at first..
Lot's of sympathy here for the thief. How about instead of some rec center he was stealing food out of hikers packs? Would there be as much sympathy? A thief is a thief is a thief.
screw this guy.
The need for food I can see, but ask, dont break into somewhere, hikers get a bad enough rap.
way to go assfacedumbstick, now we will lose that park as a welcome camp.
Once again, thank you ******** who ruin things on trails.
"Fish Camp Woman.... Baby, I like the way you smell"
- Unknown Hinson
PS
I EAGERLY await Lone Wolfs response to this idiots actions
I stayed at the recreation center during my 1995 thru. Even then it was out of the way and used by few, but I needed resupply and laundry.
I can't think of a good reason for a non thru hiker to even walk the 3 miles in and out of town.
The town has allowed hikers to sleep there for all this time and to have some one screw it up is just amazing. A small town like this should take it serious when some one breaks in or damages it's park. No one could be that hungry in a place where any one would feed you if you needed it. If he could walk that far he couldn't be doing it just for food. He did it cause he thought he could get away with it.
So what happens now when a hiker "needs" to use the town park? Are they gonna find a big sign that says closed after dark? Is the town going to look at some one carrying a pack through town as a potential thief?
It only takes one to ruin it for everyone.
The trouble I have with campfires are the folks that carry a bottle in one hand and a Bible in the other.
You never know which one is talking.