For anyone who doesn’t know, Assassins is a game that takes place in a large group of young people, usually at high schools or colleges. The basic rules where I play (it varies from places to place): Everyone who wants to play gets on a team with one other person. Each team is randomly assigned to “kill” another team, and someone is assigned to “kill” them. No one knows who anyone else has been assigned, nor even who else is playing. You kill someone by shooting them with a water gun. After you kill, you can get a new name. There are a lot more small rules, but that’s the basic idea.
So anyway, on with the story.
These two kids (well, fellow high school seniors) were waiting around outside an intended targets house. They were wearing ski masks. (Seems stupid at first, considering it was morning and light out. Their rationale was that if the attempt failed, their target still wouldn’t know who was going after them.) So a good-samaritan neighbor sees two people in ski masks holding “guns” wandering outside a house. Naturally, she calls the cops. The police come, handcuff the two kids, and bring them off to the police station. Now they’re waiting to go to court. The date of the court appearance is May 6th…craziness…
Yeah, I know somebody who was going after someone who had just been pulled over by the police for speeding. He snuck up to her car and threw a water balloon at her while the policeman was writing her up. So he gets thrown against the squad car and cuffed, but he doesn’t go to jail. Still, he got an 88 dollar fine for breach of peace or something. Even if he wins he won’t be able to pay that off.
Actually, you bring up something I forgot to mention. They DID flee the cops (yes, they’re idiots). The person who’s house they were at does not want to press any charges, but the police are anyway because they did flee. Thanks for reminding me.
Silly game, although I understand the neighbours concern. I’d rather have the cops respond, and find out it was just a game, and everything is alright, than have it be a real situation where someone might have gotten hurt. I once called the local police to tell them about a suspicious person on the ledge of highway that goes over a canal near my house (a HIGH ledge), and they told me that highways were OPP jurisdiction. So I call the provincial police. I make them understand that the person wasn’t on the road itself, but on a dangerous ledge, and they tell me that “since they aren’t on the actual road, that’s the jusidiction of the local police”. AAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHH!! Finally I convinced one of the two to go check it out, but they called back and told me it was probably just a hiker, observing the view. I told them they were on a ledge in a fenced off area, where a fall would certainly kill and they told me not to worry. I saw the person there again the next week, too. I didn’t bother calling the cops, and I heard nothing about a suicide, and the highway hasn;t been blown up yet, so I figure its all good. But still…what IF!!! I still shiver when I pass that place… Also, this was shortly after 9/11, so you’d think the cops would have been a bit more responsive when it came to someone mentionning suspcious people!
Sorry about the hijack. I think your friends were stupid for running away, and so deserve what they get (which will likely be somewhat light, given the rest of the circumstances).
The SCOUS heard a case about whether people have the right to flee from the police. I can’t remember the decision, but I want to say that flight from the police isn’t a crime unless it is to avoid arrest for another crime. Does anybody know what the actual ruling was?