caught a kid spray painting a neighbors car (vandalizing)

[zzyzzx]

live in a section of Baltimore City where there are rowhouses (referred to as brick townhouses in other places, I think), and where I live it's farily common to park in the back yard (often paved). Anyway, when I was leaving this morning, I noticed a little kid on the other side of the back alley spray painting white paint onto a blue car (Honda Accord). This person's car was 2 houses away, and on the other side of the back alley. The kid then tried to walk past my house, when I started questioning him. I then brought the kid to the house next door to the scene of the crime, where there were neighbors by the back door. They then got the car owner to go outside. In all the commotion, another neighbor 2 doors down came out and knew who the owner of the kid was, so at that point, I gave the car owner my info, pointed to my house, and told him that I saw the kid spraypainting his car, etc. Of course this neighbor, which I had never talked to before (his name in Willy) thanked me and by then the offending kids parent had been brought to the scene of the crime by his (Willy's wife, I think). Since Willy then had my info as a witness, and the offending kid's parent's at the scene, I then left to go to work.

My question is that when I enable my WIFI card on my laptop at home, I see a WEP encoded WIFI signal called "Willy". Exactly how do I ask Willy for his encryption key so I can use his hi-speed internet? I only have dialup at home.

[stiltman]

Say,

Hey Willy, You know how I helped you out. What to return the favor?

If he says no, key his car

[gadgetguy]

Why would you ask for anything? You witnessed a neighborhood kid misbehaving and did the neighborly thing. I assume he thanked you and I'm sure that he will return the favor if he witnesses something happening to you or yours, or better yet, to another of your neighbors. This could be the first step into turning a group of houses into a real neighborhood of friends that look out for each other. But to ask for access to his home network via his wireless router is not what I would consider a reasonable request from someone you just met, and would probably undo the good that you started.

[zzyzzx]

I'm probably not going to ask. I was just curious as to if anyone could come up with some really good wording or figured the whole story might be good for a laugh. Traumatizing the little kid was fun.

[Supreme2k]

I thought the post was a joke. It sounded like an old Simpsons episode:

Birch Barlow: Mayor Quimby, you're well-known, sir, for your lenient stance on crime. But suppose for a second that _your_ house was ransacked by thugs, your family tied up in the basement with socks in their mouths, you try to open the door but there's too much blood on the knob --
Mayor Quimby: What is your question?
Birch Barlow: My question is about the budget, sir.

[zzyzzx]

No joke, and I'll even try to post a pic of the car if I can. Thing is that the kid spray painted the back of the car, and this morning it was parked with the front facing out so I couldn't see it.

[thecoalman]

Be the same old story, the parents will claim he's just a kid and not responsible.

They need to handle situations like my Father, my brothers got caught egging a neighbors house once. No cops needed.... they cleaned the outside of his house for 3 or 4 hours a day for a week. Guy had the cleanest house on the block.

[Noahtuck]

Huh....
Never saw the end of that story coming

If he says no, key his car

But make sure you do it AFTER it's repaired :P

Seriously though... egging a house is one thing... it can be washed of pretty quickly, spray painting a car is serious permanent damage!!!

That kid would have NEVER walked away without the cops leading him away, i don't care what age he was!!!
And mom and dad would be paying for the repair, which would not be cheap!!

[M Bruner]

If the egg yolk dries on the house, you could spend a few days cleaning the house.

[Noahtuck]

Yeah, on some good vinyl siding it's not too bad though.
Brick is no problem at all, now treated wood or paint might be a diff. story.

Aint no few days cleaning gonna take spray paint off a car

[thecoalman]

And mom and dad would be paying for the repair, which would not be cheap!!

If it was paint trust me they would have paid for it, Dad would have shelled out the cash but we would have the cleanest house in the neighborhood, neatest kept lawn on the block and lot's of new paint on our house (where it belongs) etc.

My point is this, parents don't want to make their kids responsible for their actions.

[M Bruner]

Reminds me of the two teenage girls who jacked a little girl selling girl scout cookies. The teenage girls were mad because they got caught. One of the girls' father reimbursed the girl scouts for the money his daughter took. Go figure.

[thecoalman]

I remeber that and its exactly what I'm talking about, here's the story:


http://www.wpbf.com/news/15194935/detail.html

The girls, whose names are not being released because they are minors, told WPBF that they were not remorseful for the crime, and that they did it because they "needed money."

"We went through all that effort to get it, we got all these charges and we had to give the money back. I'm kind of pissed," one of the girls told WPBF.

The other girl told WPBF that she was upset because police found them.

"I'm not sorry, I'm just pissed that I got caught," the girl said.

Click the link for: # Video: Teens Rob Scout

I mean WTF, no remorse, no sense of responsibility. These aren't some poor inner city hoodlums either where you would expect attitudes like that.