# 12 year old boy arrested for opening Christmas present early **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 15, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291 "2006-12-15T15:08:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/1 "2006-12-15T15:08:06Z")
Top notch police work by the Rock Hill, South Carolina Police Department led to the arrest of a twelve-year old boy for larceny. He was charged after his mother revealed to police that the child had, without permission, opened one of his Christmas presents early. The mother, citing the boy’s poor behavior, asked for the arrest, and the officers complied… > **[Documents | The Smoking Gun](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/boy-arrested-opening-xmas-gift-early)** > > Public Documents, Mug Shots ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/2 "2006-12-15T15:14:04Z")
I guess simply bringing in the package and hiding it somewhere the kid wouldn’t see it instead of announcing “THIS IS YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!! DON’T BOTHER IT EVEN THOUGH I’M GOING TO LEAVE IT OUT HERE IN PLAIN VIEW!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/3 "2006-12-15T15:15:08Z")
:smack: message continues: would have made too much sense :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/4 "2006-12-15T15:15:50Z")
“Ralphie, you know you’re not supposed to go in there! Oh why are you so fascinated with my Forbidden Closet of Mystery?” ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/5 "2006-12-15T15:17:28Z")
Petty larceny? Did he really take something that didn’t belong to him? As long as it’s still in the same house, how can you tell who has posession? Furthermore, if the kid’s name was on the tag, I think that tells us who the item legally belongs to. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/6 "2006-12-15T15:23:24Z")
We already had a thread about this a few days ago. The kid had broken into his grandmother’s house (not his own) and gone searching for presents. He had also been getting in trouble previously for other petty crimes. His mother (at her wits end) called the police and asked them to arrest him to put a scare in him and they complied. Spending a little time in a police car was probably good for him. I have no problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/7 "2006-12-15T15:23:25Z")
[QUOTE=Patty O’Furniture] Petty larceny? Did he really take something that didn’t belong to him? As long as it’s still in the same house, how can you tell who has posession? Furthermore, if the kid’s name was on the tag, I think that tells us who the item legally belongs to. [/QUOTE] Well, strictly speaking, the gift had not been conveyed yet, and although the mother intended to give it to the son in the future, she had not not actually conveyed the gift to him yet. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/8 "2006-12-15T15:26:40Z")
[Link to previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398987) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/9 "2006-12-15T15:30:14Z")
[QUOTE=Azeotrope] I guess simply bringing in the package and hiding it somewhere the kid wouldn’t see it instead of announcing “THIS IS YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!! DON’T BOTHER IT EVEN THOUGH I’M GOING TO LEAVE IT OUT HERE IN PLAIN VIEW!!!” [/QUOTE] Sounds like the Garden of Eden! ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/10 "2006-12-15T15:31:18Z")
If this was a piece of jewelry brought to a pawn shop, or a car taken on a joy ride, would we be questioning whether or not it was larceny? They had not yet given him the gift, therefore he does not have the right to take it and use it without permission. This is really a lot more about a mom trying to scare a bit of discipline into her child before he winds up dead, than the police cracking down on naughty children. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/11 "2006-12-15T15:38:51Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Well, strictly speaking, the gift had not been conveyed yet, and although the mother intended to give it to the son in the future, she had not not actually conveyed the gift to him yet. [/QUOTE] Then she should have put on the tag: **Do not open until Christmas under penalty of petty larceny!!** I think I’ll be using that just to see the expressions on peoples’ faces. > [@](#): > > We already had a thread about this a few days ago. The kid had broken into his grandmother’s house (not his own) and gone searching for presents. He had also been getting in trouble previously for other petty crimes. Maybe breaking and entering would have been more appropriate. This sounds like the monther is unclear on the concept of what bad boys are supposed to get at Christmas time. Why does a kid like that have a Nintendo Game Boy waiting for him under the tree in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/12 "2006-12-15T15:40:44Z")
[QUOTE=Patty O’Furniture] This sounds like the monther is unclear on the concept of what bad boys are supposed to get at Christmas time. Why does a kid like that have a Nintendo Game Boy waiting for him under the tree in the first place? [/QUOTE] Yep. He should definitely get coal this year. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/13 "2006-12-15T15:45:21Z")
[QUOTE=Patty O’Furniture] Then she should have put on the tag: **Do not open until Christmas under penalty of petty larceny!!** I think I’ll be using that just to see the expressions on peoples’ faces. Maybe breaking and entering would have been more appropriate. This sounds like the monther is unclear on the concept of what bad boys are supposed to get at Christmas time. Why does a kid like that have a Nintendo Game Boy waiting for him under the tree in the first place? [/QUOTE] The present was from the grandmother, not from the mother. He went into his grandmother’s house without permission and stole the present after he’d already been warned not to. How is that NOT a petty larceny? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/14 "2006-12-15T15:46:33Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] We already had a thread about this a few days ago. The kid had broken into his grandmother’s house (not his own) and gone searching for presents. [/QUOTE] How do you know he broke into his Grandmother’s house? That information is not in the affidavit. And if it _is_ true, why not add the charge of burglary? ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/15 "2006-12-15T15:47:53Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] The present was from the grandmother, not from the mother. He went into his grandmother’s house without permission and stole the present after he’d already been warned not to. How is that NOT a petty larceny? [/QUOTE] It completely is. The kid obviously needs some kind of smackdown…hopefully, this will be the thing that does the trick with him. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/16 "2006-12-15T15:52:17Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] How do you know he broke into his Grandmother’s house? That information is not in the affidavit. And if it _is_ true, why not add the charge of burglary? [/QUOTE] It was from a [CNN link](http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/05/christmaspresent.arrest.ap/index.html) in the previous thread: > [@](#): > > The mother called police Sunday after learning her son had disobeyed orders and repeatedly taken a Game Boy from its hiding place **at his great-grandmother’s house next door and played it**. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/17 "2006-12-15T16:01:36Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] It was from a [CNN link](http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/05/christmaspresent.arrest.ap/index.html) in the previous thread: [/QUOTE] Read it again. It’s not there either. All we should assume from the facts given, is that the boy was lawfully at his grandmother’s house at the time he stole the gift. She was either babysitting him or he was just over there hanging out at grandma’s. Nothing was mentioned of him sneaking in or breaking in. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/18 "2006-12-15T16:11:18Z")
I see no reason to assume he was there lawfully, but regardless, the point was that he took the gift from someone else’s home, not his own. It WAS theft. He had also previously been in trouble for other things like shoplifting and assaulting a police officer. I really can’t see anything wrong with the mom asking the police to put a little scare into him and help him understand that his actions have consequences. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/19 "2006-12-15T16:34:06Z")
I agree with \*\*Dio \*\*on this one. Looks like the kid needed a lesson in tough love, so let’s hope this does the trick. From the CNN link (emphasis added): > [@](#): > > “It’s not even about the Christmas present,” she [the mother] said. “I only want positive things out of it. … There’s no need for him to act this way. **I’d rather call myself than someone else call for him doing something worse than this**.” ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291/20 "2006-12-15T16:41:34Z")
Yes, it was theft. Had he broken into the home to steel the gift, it would have been burglary as well. > [@](#): > > I see no reason to assume he was there lawfully It’s his great-grandmother and they’re neighbors. Given that fact, and the demographics, and the fact that it’s early Sunday morning… plus the fact that it doesn’t say anything about forced entry _anywhere_. Pleanty of reason to assume he’s there lawfully. Or, at least, enough reason to NOT assume he was there illegally. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-boy-arrested-for-opening-christmas-present-early/384291.md?page=2)