Have To Vent...Disrespectful Kids Today..Throwing Rocks At Cars! My CAR!! :(

[slow&rusty]

Man...am I hot...driving home after a solid 12hour work day, a couple of minutes from home. I see two kids hiding behind a wall that is parallel to the street, as I drive by, I hear what sounded like a gunshot, freaked me out. I drive down the road and pull over and jump out, sure enough, they threw a sizeable rock at my car and dented the front fender pretty good.

My blood pressure and body temp peg the gauge and I pull a U-turn and the kids see me.

I left my car in the middle of the street with the hazards on, they start running, I jump the wall (an easy 5foot wall) and start chasing them up the street and shouting after them. One kid runs into a cul-de-sac and had no where to go..backed himself into a corner and I catch him (thankfully I have long legs and can still run!) and the neighbor's call the cops right away. The kid is 14 years old and he immediately starts crying and pleading with me and that if his dad finds out he will "kill him".

Two cruisers show up within 10minutes and charge the kid I caught with destruction of property. I was impressed with how the cops handled things, they came down on him and took him back to the Shop.

Apparently, the police have been receiving lots of complaints from motorists from rocks being thrown at their cars at that same location.

If the damage is estimated at over $1000 its considered a more serious felony, according to the cops.

Just my luck as...as I recently had my car completed stripped and painted

When I was a kid we did dumb things, but "NEVER" damaged other people's property and never got into this kind of crap. What is going on in Society and kids today!! Riddle me that?

I am pi$$ed! (and still hot).
Yasin

[Palum6o]

Well, you certainly scared the poop out of the little bastard! The problem with these kids is that they don't have anything better to do.

[cstreit]

Bet he won't do it again...

[911boost]

Ouch, that sucks!

What car where you in when this happened?

Bill

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by cstreit

Bet he won't do it again...

bet he will. If he doesn't have a sense of respect for others by 14, I'd say 50/50 odds he never will. Until he ends up in jail or get his arse seriously kicked multiple times, then becomes a drug addict, and ends up on the street.

Not that I'm in a negative mood or anything

[legion]

Originally Posted by nostatic

bet he will. If he doesn't have a sense of respect for others by 14, I'd say 50/50 odds he never will. Until he ends up in jail or get his arse seriously kicked multiple times, then becomes a drug addict, and ends up on the street.

Not that I'm in a negative mood or anything

And his bad choices now will make him entitled to my tax dollars for the rest of his life.

[david914]

Same thing happened to me back in '93. Car was less that a year old and got pummeled by four kids (two 13 and two 14 year olds) throwing baseball-sized railroad bed gravel at passing cars. Pulled off onto the side of the road and called the police. They'd been getting complaints and had been trying to catch the punks in the act all day long. They finally were able to catch them after our phone call and were charged with a felony. We ended up agreeing to not press the felony charge in exchange for letters of apology and some serious community service. I'm not sure I did the right thing letting them off the hook like that, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I don't know that I would necessarily push the felony charges still, but I think I'd insist on VERY severe punishment in any case.

The car had several fist-sized dents all along the passenger side, a busted windshield and rear side glass. It was never the same after that. I understand your pain.

[Christien]

Erm, it's not just kids today. I did this when I was a kid. I distinctly remember making "mudballs" with rocks in the middle and lobbing them at cars. Of course, I wasn't 14, I was more like 6. I got yelled at by someone I threw the mud/rock at (rightfully so) and never did it again.

[cl8ton]

That sucks Yasin, hope it wasn't your 930.
That little $hit should walk with a limp the rest of his life!

[slow&rusty]

Guys thanks for the comments and chiming in. I appreciate your compassion.

I will be going after the parents for the damage which I estimate at $400. I have to probably attend a few court hearings before it can be resolved.

My best - Yasin

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Way to go!

Seriously, it's pretty obvious these kids' parents don't give a damn about instilling any values in them so I'm glad someone like you has the gonads to try and do it for them. Stick it to 'em! I would have done the same thing.

Worst we ever did as kids was throw snowballs at cars. Those don't break stuff. And it got old after we turned about 10 or 11 or so. . .

Little schits. Bet their parents think they're wonderful children too. Does CO have one of those laws whereby you can go after the parents civilly for the damages? I sure hope so. I'd take the car to the most expensive and prestigious body shop I could find and make sure they run the estimate up for EVERY scratch, nick, ding, dead bug and piece of dust on it. Then stick the dumbass parents with the bill. I'd have no compunction whatsoever about doing that.

[rouxroux]

I had that happen in the 80's to one of my cars. Yes, had to pressure the parents, but they paid for an ENTIRE respray. They did not want me to have to take them to court. "Little Johnny" left for military boarding school later that year.

[LeeH]

I applaud your restraint. If they're able to tie these kids to other incidents they could face some serious charges.

I had a car shot by a BB gun once. It left a serious dent. Cops came out and went door to door where it happened unitil they found a likely suspect. The mom admitted the kid was shooting his gun at the time of the incident, but said she had to believe him when he said he didn't do it. Cops said there was no proof and left. After the cops were gone the kid said, "I didn't see your truck coming." Mom told him to shut up.

That kid is probably 18 today. Wonder what he turned in to with a mom like that.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by slow&rusty

I will be going after the parents for the damage which I estimate at $1400.

Fixed it for you...

Congrats on your restraint. Assuming there were no witnesses at the moment I caught up to the little dirt-bag, the cops would not have been called. I would have dragged the kid to his home for instant reimbursement (after dropping him face first a few times).

[WolfeMacleod]

Chased a kid down after throwing a snowball at my 924S last winte. Hard packed iceball, really., could have broke the hatch real easily...would have resulted in a totaled car per ins. co.


Scared the piss out of the kid. I don't think he'll ever throw anything at a car again.

[Evans, Marv]

I can't understand anyone NOT going after the parents for damages in a situation like this - in addition to pressing charges against the kid(s). I think making an impression on both the kid(s) and parents is the appropriate thing to do. Plus I agree with POP about where I'd take it to get fixed. Making a kid do "communty service" after something like that is a slap on the hand, that only teaches you only get a slap on the hand after doing serious damage to some's property.

[Steve_in_SB]

At least you found out who did it. What really ticks you off is miscreants who purposely "key" your car. This is what some did to my 99% perfect paint. Scratched down to the primer. I mean they wanted to screw up the paint.

[911Rob]

Sorry to hear this!
I think you did the right thing; the best anyone could've done.

When I was a kid; well..... it was all my cousins fault

[frogger]

Originally Posted by legion

And his bad choices now will make him entitled to my tax dollars for the rest of his life.

I'm glad you stepped up to the plate, Chris. I'm sure we all appreciate your funding that little ba$tard's future so we don't have to.

[VINMAN]

Kids today have a total lack of respect for anything, whether its other people, their property or even themselves. If I ever did something like that when I was young, my father would have beat the $hit out of me up and down the block