17 yo surrenders on assault charges

[OtakuLoki]

And I actually have some (very limited) sympathy for him.


The long version of what's going on: Last Friday night a worker at a California Boston Market was seriously burned when a customer at the drive-thru threw a hot serving of ceamed spinach at him, after shouting, "Fire in the hole!"

According to the story this is some kind of internet fad, where it's been seen as a harmless prank, to throw things at minimum wage workers who can't dodge. When it's a wrapped burger, it's just a bit messy. In this case, however, the item being thrown was a viscous fluid heated to 180 F and produced second degree burns on the face and ear of the worker.

Over the weekend the cops released that they were looking for the person or people involved with the prank, and let it be known that because of the seriousness of the injuries they were treating it as a case of assault with a deadly weapon. They had video evidence, and asked for help from the public in identifying the culprit.

Today a 17 yo, in the company of his parents, surrendered himself to the police as the suspect in question. Obviously there's not much directly available considering the on-going nature of the case, and the fact that the suspect is a minor.

My reaction is mostly one of sorrow, with a side of anger. What this kid did was asshole behavior, and dangerous, too. Just for an example, he should be giving thanks every day that the creamed spinach didn't hit the worker in his eyes. And I'm not going to cry that he's facing serious legal consequences from his actions. (Though, given the situation and the support of his parents, I doubt he'll see even a day in jail.)

Having said all that, I also believe that he's dealing with consequences he never imagined possible, simply going along, in a group of four teens doing stupid shit. The intent that I ascribe to this event is to have been a jerk and laugh about it. This doesn't make him an angel, by any means. He's a teen aged boy who was being an asshole for shits and giggles.

I don't for an instant believe he ever meant to cause serious, permanent damage to anyone.

I hope he serves some time. I hope he gets a felony conviction for his behavior. He's earned it. I'm peeved by my belief that the kid in question is likely to get off with probation or a suspended sentence.

I'm still saddened to see someone's unconsidered alleged "fun" actions causing such damage to two people.

[CatInASuit]

"It was just a single moment of stupidity, I just got caught up with it, I didn't mean any harm." It's amazing how often you hear that kind of thing.

We have had student protests over the last few weeks culminating in a lot of violence and trouble yesterday. And this morning, a few people are having to own up to behaviour they would never normally consider, ever, ever doing.

The message never gets through from generation to generation, each one pulls stupid stunts and eventually someone gets hurt. I wonder if it is more common nowadays because happens more often and kids just don;t understand what they are doing or if it is the same sort of hi-jinks but it just gets reported more. I think a bit of both.

Would it help if there were some very well publicised and very harsh penalties for this kind of behaviour?

[Zuul]

Having said all that, I also believe that he's dealing with consequences he never imagined possible, simply going along, in a group of four teens doing stupid shit. The intent that I ascribe to this event is to have been a jerk and laugh about it. This doesn't make him an angel, by any means. He's a teen aged boy who was being an asshole for shits and giggles.

While intent matters a great deal when it comes to how someone is going to be punished under the law, I don't feel in this situation his intention to just have fun really matters that much. People commit crimes and assault for fun all the time. It's not like he was driving and meant to stop and then slid on ice and couldn't help but knock someone down with his fender. He deliberately threw something hot at another human being.

Unless he had some sort of cognitive problem, I think he must have recognized that hot spinach dip was too hot for human skin. If he didn't realize that, then he's presumably burned himself repeatedly in the past and his disability should be taken into account. But I imagine he knew damn well it would burn him and he manages not to burn himself on a daily basis. His thought process was, "This hurts me. I matter. I won't stick my fingers in burning hot spinach dip. OH HEY IT'D BE FUNNY TO THROW THIS AT THE WAGE MONKEY."

That isn't a problem involving youthful fun. That's a serious empathy problem a person who is nearly eighteen should not be suffering from.

[OtakuLoki]

His thought process was, "This hurts me. I matter. I won't stick my fingers in burning hot spinach dip. OH HEY IT'D BE FUNNY TO THROW THIS AT THE WAGE MONKEY."

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the thought process was "This is the cheapest item on the menu, including the drinks. Since I'm not going to consume it, why spend more than I have to?"

IOW, I think you're giving shithead credit for more thought than was going on. Psychopathic thought, yes, but more than was going on.

Otherwise, I am in general agreement with you.


ETA: So much for that theory. The soda is $1.89. The smaller side is $2.29.

Your theory gains an important lead in the races.