Vehicle theft reported in Washington
Posted by Backroadsnews on Aug 13, 2009 in Uncategorized |
Update: The stolen truck was located abandoned in a residential area of Washington at 10:46 a.m. The case is still under investigation, so if you have any more information that would assist in this investigation, please contact the sheriff’s department at 325-2293.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Department received a report that the drive-in gates at Washington Lumber had been damaged and a white 2004 Chevy pickup truck was stolen. The truck has a license plate 415 ANI and is a single cab with no markings on the side.
The department received the report at 6:51 a.m. Thursday morning.
If anyone has any information on this case or sees this vehicle please immediately contact the Washington County Sheriff’s Department at 785-325-2293.
Time to start taking the keys out of the car all the time now .
I think I heard the truck was found already. Here in town.
rumor has it another car may be missing dont know just rumor not comfirmed. Mabey ODB can check it out
Just heard from a friend whos sons bike was stollen during all this, the two 16 yr olds stole two cars last night and one is in the hospital from rolling one of them…..
really that must be y Traci car had some mud on it this morning
Probably so…..I just don’t get why kids think it’s fun to go out steal and or damage someone elses property….I hope they get taught a lesson.
My kids have told me things that they’ve heard and desperately hope that it’s not true. My heart goes out to the families involved and I hope that everything turns out ok.
Dawn
Sounds like I have some work to do on Monday!
Luckily not everything my kids told me were correct but enough is that I still feel very bad for everyone involved.
Dawn
Sigh I reallly hope these kids get taught a lesson. Who is gonna pay for the damages done to the various cars etc? This wasn’t just a random joy ride but multiple counts of theft and rumor has it breaking and entering. People can’t or won’t discipline their kids anymore and this is the result!
That’s just it, what is it going to come to before parents take the inititive and disipline their kids and stick to it?? One of these kids coudl have been killed or they coudl have killed someone else in the process of their joy ride! Parents need to stand up and pay attention to their kids just a little bit more and maybe just maybe give them a little extra love and attention.
But I contend that a parent might do all of that and still have a rebel. I don’t know the kids involved in this one so I don’t know their situation.
For my family anyway, I won’t judge until my kids are all grown, because who knows how my kids will turn out. I think we’re doing a good job, but you never can tell I guess.
I know that the child (juvenile) is responsible for the choices he or she makes but maybe it would help, in cases like this, for the court to impose a “punishment” (not sure how else to put it but it sounds wrong that way) that the parents go to parenting classes and the family have counciling as well as individual counciling for the child.
Dawn
Dawn, that sounds like a wonderful idea!
I am not perfect by all means as a parent and know my children are not perfect as well, but I would like to think that they would know right from wrong in any give situation they are put in. I teach them right from wrong and give them all the love i know how to give, but they also know that if they are to EVER get into any major kind of trouble like this or anything else, I will not bail them out of Jail and they will be punished not only by me or my husband, but hopefully by law and i will stand by any kind of Judgement any Judge would throw at them.
Yes. I hope my kids would know that sitting in jail would be a preferable option to coming home and facing my profound disappointment.
I remember when my girls were really young, I used to be able to bring them to tears with purely a disapproving look!
Rumors is part of the problem with living in a small town. people rush to judgment without knowing all of the facts. I have heard plenty of rumors about this also, and there is no way they can all be true.
Yup, I’m pretty sure that this happened because their parents don’t love them enough, or because they aren’t disciplined. Because we all know that kids who aren’t loved are the only ones who ever have a lapse in good judgment.
Rumors,
I don’t believe anyone here said that the parents didn’t love their kids or ever disciplined them. You seem to be reading things into what people are saying. I believe that most people, and I know that this is what I’m thinking, is that children who do these things need help as do their parents. Not because they are bad parents but because, to be honest, I would have no idea how to deal with something like this. What do you do, how do you make sure it doesn’t happen again, how do you make your child understand that even though you are disappointed in their choices you still love them and want to be there for them? Also, as far as what type of children do these things, I think we’re all smart enough to realize that any child/adult is free to make their own choices in life and will do so, even with the most loving, caring parents. My children have made bad choices and I’m not ashamed to admit that and I love my children very much but I don’t claim to be a perfect parent.
Dawn
Dawn, you are too good, you know how to hit the nail on the head!!! Dan, I think she needs her own column in the paper!!!
Thanks Becky, I appreciate the compliment. My own column….hmm…what in the world would I write about….LOL.
Dawn
I don’t think anyone said these kids were undisciplined or unloved. But I have to disagree with rumors assessment that was a “lapse in judgement”. A lapse in judgement wouldn’t be multiple counts of offenses. I have heard of a kid having a lapse in judgement and making taking a car on a joy ride but not multiple cars, bikes, breaking and entering. I am sorry but that involves more than a simple lapse of judgement. As for discipline each to their own. Some kids have no rules and think they can do what they want, some kids have way too many rules and rebel. You never really know. If there are multiple offenses of the same type over a period of time than you have a real problem. Everyone knows kids make stupid mistakes, that is how they learn. Sometimes it’s HOW you handle the mistakes that makes the difference. Our law enforcement program here seems to have some good programs in place that would make you not want to repeat the same mistake twice. Don’t how this will be handled but I can say I feel very sorry for the people who had businesses, properties, vehicles and bikes sustain damage. Who is going to pay for that damage? A couple of teenage kids with no money? They are probably just out their money for repairs and their vehicles and I would be very angry if I was them. If nothing else they are owed a face to face apology from both of those boys!
I guess its my turn to be the hardcase again. I have some second hand knowledge involving one of the victims in this case and I’m afraid I don’t agree with counseling in this case. At least until after punishment is handled. The word bootcamp comes to mind. How many felonies does a juvenile of this age need to commit before we consider something other than how the offender feels, was raised, etc.? The acts of the people involved in these cases endangered several lives and disrupted at least one victim’s life quite a lot. From what I have been told a personal apology was asked for and was given in a manner that was described as without remorse. What bothers me as much as anything in this matter is that I was told that law enforcement officials seem to have botched evidence gathering quite badly and seemed somewhat uninterested when the matter was brought to their attention. Makes me wonder if any real attempt to pursue the matter will be made.
Archie,
I think you are correct in that punishment needs to happen. If nothing happens then individuals will think that they can do this and nothing will happen to them. No matter what the age, people need to understand that for every action there is a reaction and the laws are in place for a reason and nobody is above the law. Unfortunately we don’t have any say in all the plea bargining that is done. I wonder, when the legal system was set in place did they think that we would be plea bargining so many important things?
Dawn
Speaking as a person who has both made bad choices when I was younger and have dealt with children who have made bad choices, I think that there are a lot of people jumping the gun here.
There are a lot of accusations being made and a lot of things being talked about with very little proof.
There have been some choices made that will affect a lot of people’s lives from this point forward.
No charges have been filed yet as I understand it.
The investigation is not complete. Secondhand knowledge is just that. If you are not directly involved, then YOU DON’T KNOW the truth.
And yet there are a couple of people on here who seem to be playing judge and executioner.
Let me ask you, do any of you actually know the truth about any of the events that have occurred over the last week? My guess would be no.
Or are you basing your OPINIONS on what you have heard? And the RUMORS that seem to be overtaking this community.
Let’s take a minute to ask ourselves, each and everyone of us who has chimed in.
Have any of our children EVER been involved in anything considered illegal activity? (And I personally know at least one of the commenter’s has, more than once.)
And just how trustworthy is secondhand knowledge?
I feel that if you are not involved directly in this case, then all of you who are casting stones and making unwarranted accusations are speaking out of turn. And in doing so, are making the lives of those involved unnecessarily harder, including not only the alleged suspects in this case, but the law enforcement officials as well.
I believe there is just more than one case going on here, with more than one or two defendants, and I think that when the evidence is revealed, it will be more than obvious.
However, how will the case turn out, after all the evidence and investigation is complete? That’s not for us to say, now is it???
How does this case (or cases, as it may well turn out to be) even perceive to be given a fair evaluation when there are so many of you who are willing to turn on the youth of our community based upon half-truths and rumors?
I hope that when the truth comes out, (and listening to rumors and what you here on the street second, third, and even fourth hand), some of you will realize that what you have decided in your heads isn’t the truth. And be adult enough to admit it.
Ah, the joys of living in a small town, eh?
I don’t think any of us are in any position to be dictating what the “punishment” for these children and their parents should be.
Do you???
Isn’t that what the legal system was created for?
Seriously,
Most people on here are not commenting on just about what they heard. Alot, myself included, are talking about a bigger picture, our society. As I said in one of my posts my children have made bad choices (I could be the poster you are talking about because I honestly don’t know every misdeed that my children have done, does anyone?). Even though the posts may say this person or this individual it you can see by reading further into the posts that it has to do with what is best for any family in an unfortunate situation and in this society it’s not easy to do what is best for the family and what the law says.
I do realize that some people (myself included in the beginning because I made the mistake of listening to rumors) are concentrating on the individual or individuals that have been rumored about, but again I think that some of these posts are more of an internal thinking process that we’ve brought public about some of our biggest fears: Did I raise my children right, Have I been a good parent, Have I been a good role model, Will my kids make the right decisions and What will I do if they don’t. If people aren’t asking themselves maybe they should be, not because they are bad parents or have bad kids but because things happen, people make bad choices.
I’ll be completely honest here and say that I was called to the police station this summer for my youngest child because he was caught standing on top of one of the building downtown. I had to go down to the station (not knowing yet what he had done) and the thoughts and feelings that I felt were aweful. All those questions about me as a parent were there. All these thoughts about how I knew that he knew better than to do something that would end him up at the station, even at the age of 12. The police told me that he wasn’t doing any vandalising or yelling at passing cars, he was just talking to other kids and that it was a safety issue and that they would not be doing anything. We decided that wasn’t enough. We spoke to him about the safety issue, about how unfair it is to trespass against another and that some things would change because he had made a bad choice. He is no longer allowed to walk around town after dark unless he is going to a specific place because there is nothing to do but possibly get into trouble (now, there is a chance that he does walk around town after dark when spending the night with other people so don’t anyone start flaming me and telling me all his dirty deeds…lol). He was grounded from the phone, his friends and the computer for a week and, what I feel was the thing that affected him most, was that he had to sit down a write a heartfelt letter of apology to the police department for having to take time from from their work to deal with him and that he understood that what he had done was wrong and explained why it was wrong and ended with him thanking them for caring about him enough to worry about his safety. Did I do the right thing….I don’t know. Will he make another bad choice in the future…if he’s human he will. My only hope is that the bad choices he makes will not be illegal and not harm others.
So, after much talking (as I’ve been accused of before), I just wanted to make sure that you saw that much of this conversation isn’t even about what is going on, it’s about parents talking to each other about kids and the struggles we all go through.
Dawn
Dawn, on Aug 18, 2009 at 10:07 am you wrote:
I know that the child (juvenile) is responsible for the choices he or she makes but maybe it would help, in cases like this, for the court to impose a “punishment” (not sure how else to put it but it sounds wrong that way) that the parents go to parenting classes and the family have counciling as well as individual counciling for the child.
At 10:23 p.m. you wrote:
I think you are correct in that punishment needs to happen. If nothing happens then individuals will think that they can do this and nothing will happen to them. No matter what the age, people need to understand that for every action there is a reaction and the laws are in place for a reason and nobody is above the law. Unfortunately we don’t have any say in all the plea bargining that is done. I wonder, when the legal system was set in place did they think that we would be plea bargining so many important things?
And on Aug 19, 2009 at 4:37 am you wrote:
So, after much talking (as I’ve been accused of before), I just wanted to make sure that you saw that much of this conversation isn’t even about what is going on, it’s about parents talking to each other about kids and the struggles we all go through.
I’m confused, are you contradicting yourself or have you changed your mind.
Also, where is everyone here getting their information? I though in cases involving juveniles information wasn’t to be publicly accessed. Are you all relying on rumor or does someone have inside access to the Sheriff’s office.
I’d love to stay on here and debate this all day but I’ve got to get to work.
Babyboomer,
I’m not exactly sure what your questions is but I’ll try to answer as what I think you are saying. Yes, I believe that there should be punishment when juveniles break the law. Yes, I believe that there should be other help in place for the juvenile and the families to deal with what has happened, why it happened and how to keep it from happening. I don’t believe that I contradicted myself in these statements. They are two different concepts that must work together.
As far as the third quote, I’m not sure what you are referring to except the possiblity that we are talking solely about what may or may not have happened in town. Yes, I admit that I was talking about what I had heard as rumors, which I said before. Later, as the conversations progressed it was more about if crimes were committed by juveniles. There may still have been some instances of wording like “this individual” or “this crime” or something along those lines, but they were for the sake of example, which I could have easily used my own son as an example and I did.
As far as where people are getting their info, I can only answer for myself. The original info that I posted about in the beginning was from my children. I can consider it a lessons learned and I have been honest about being mistaken, but to be fair to myself (which I like to be sometimes), those posts were more about caring for the people involved and not bashing them or saying they were wrong. All the other discussion I have done is not being based on “this situation” because 1. The situation is not the concern for me, only how, as a parent, I can help my children if and when they make bad choices and 2. I do not know anything about the situation because I have not spoken to anyone who knows anything and to be completely honest, I don’t care to know about it because it wouldn’t change my main concern in point #1.
I do appreciate your taking the time to point out any inconsistences you may see in my thoughts.
Dawn
We are not talking about mischief, these boys committed a crime. There was more than one vehicle involved and steeling a vehicle is a crime that is punishable with jail time as well as a monetary fine.
K.S.A. 23-3705 section B reads: Criminal deprivation of property that is a motor vehicle, as defined in K.S.A. 8-1437, is a class A nonperson Misdemeanor. Upon a first conviction of this subsection, a person shall be sentenced to not less than 30 days nor more than one year’s imprisonment and fined not less that $100.00. Upon a second or subsequent conviction of this subsection, a person shall be sentenced to not less than 60 days or more than one year’s imprisonment and fined not less than $200.
Luckily for these boys it is a misdemeanor and if they get their acts together it probably won’t haunt them for their entire lives.
To say their parents may not have loved them is horrible. I can’t tell from the post if that was sarcasm or not but I do not believe that “this happened because their parents don’t love them enough, or because they aren’t disciplined. Because we all know that kids who aren’t loved are the only ones who ever have a lapse in good judgment.”
A parent can love their child and not have strong parenting skills. A parent can love their child and yet the child can become angry and act out because of things going on in their life.
I think we all know that it will be the legal system that ultimately decides their fate but the nature of this blog is to air our opinions. Yes I agree these boys need punishment. While I would not let my son hang out with them without the strictest of supervision (don’t jump me – my son is not their age or does he know them) I do not think they should be ostracised. Once again, these boys are members of our small community.
Most of you go to church and believe in God and have been taught to forgive. Pray for not only the boys but also their parents and the people who have been trespessed against. These boys are ours and as we have heard before it takes a village to raise a child.
If a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance,
he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement,
he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
he learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval,
he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
He learns to find love in the world.
who is going to help the person whos car was wrecked her insurance wont i think part of the punishment should be reimbursment for her vehicle. and don’t kid yourself small town america doesn’t forget and forgive if your child does something wrong it is with them the rest of their life till their dying day!!!!!!
Jan,
It is unfortunate, but true, that the things our kids do will be with them for as long as they are here and will stay here waiting for them whenever they get back. This is one of the downfalls of living in a small town, people never forget and they pass that info down to others so that others won’t forget when they finally do. To be completely honest that goes the same for anyone of any age here (unless of course you are blessed to be one of the “special” people, and don’t even get me started on that because I personally know of a few that have done very, very bad things and walk around town like they’ve done nothing wrong and others act like they’ve done nothing wrong). But I digress, as usual. What you’ve said is sad but true.
Dawn
Dawn- you must have plenty of time on your hands to write such novels
Yay, the joys of working from home….if they’re too long for you to read by all means pass over them it won’t hurt my feelings none.
Dawn
First of all I gotta say Dawn, post away. I enjoy your posts. Second of all I don’t get why someone on here is saying “rumors” etc. OK some of this may be blown out of proportion BUT I think it’s pretty clear cut two of our youth (do you consider the one that doesn’t live here anymore ours) broke and entered a business and stole multiple cars. Hello? I don’t hear the parents of these disputing that so it is kind of surprising someone on here is saying Well when the facts some out etc etc. OK unless the facts can go back and change time pretty sure the facts won’t deny that these boys stole vehicles vandalized them or wrecked them. This isn’t a SMALL mistake. I am sorry but my kid would be praying to go to jail because they would NOT wanna come home!
But SERIOUSLY if it comes out these boys are totally innocent and did NOT steal or damage one car I will stand in the courthouse and issue them a public apology but I don’t think I have to worry about that AT ALL. The kids siblings are talking about to ther friends and The victims are talking about it as well!
You tell them Dawn, I am with you a hundred percent on everything you have said so far!
I just want to apoligize and clairify something. I didn’t mean that their parents DO NOT LOVE THEM, i absolutely do not mean that at all, i know both families and I would never say that about either of them. I guess I was just venting and it came out in the wrong way. You can love a child to death and back and sometimes that is still not enough to keep them from doing wrong.
I know exactly what you’re saying, Becky. Some kids are born with an ornery streak — don’t ask me how I know that! I’m bracing myself for the teenage years.