You own a business, what would you do?

You own a business, what would you do?


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Jay

the fool on the hill
Joined
Dec 11, 2005
Messages
11,278
Location
Aurora, IL
A tale of justice and forgiveness, I suppose.

There is a young man who owns a 350Z, a good kid, one who is harmless and has dreams of a flashy fast car. I think he is around eighteen years old. He frequently comes to the parts counter to price out Nismo rims, or rims that are standard on 2007-2008 350Z's.
Sunday morning, this young man was caught on surveillance video circling the lot, then he and a friend hopped out and stole four rims of a 2008 350Z convertible, leaving the vehicle on cinderblocks. His mother contacted us, wondering why four new rims with tires suddenly materialized in her garage. He and the stolen parts were brought back to the dealer, and he confessed to his crimes. The parts he stole were around $4500, thus qualifying as a felony.
The owner, instead of having him arrested, is having him work off his crime for the next few weeks, doing cleaning jobs around the dealership. As I mentioned he is good young man, but made a very stupid mistake, and you can imagine just how embarrassing it would be to pick up cigarette butts and sweep the lot at the place where you committed your crime.

So, pretend that YOU are the owner of this car dealer; would you do the same, or would you prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law?
 
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I guess that depends if you beleive in rehabilition or punishment
 
Not sure. This one time an employee of mine told me that she suspected someone took something off our counter, I checked the cameras and saw him swipe the item. I identified that he worked in the mall my store was situated, and called the store manager informing them of what happened and that the next day I would call the police (I didn't call at that time because it was late and we were closing up). The next morning he came back to the store and returned the item. I just followed up with him later and said that if he comes into our store again he will be arrested.

The item was worth only a couple of dollars, but considering the value of the items in the scenario you posted....I'm leaning towards still calling the police.
 
First I would report it, no matter what.

If I get the parts back in decent condition, may as well get some work out of the kid. It'll help him more than the justice system. Depends on the kid though.
 
Cleaning up around a car dealership, which happens to contain cars he may like, is hardly punishment for stealing $4500 worth of stuff. I would think that stealing something 1/45th of that price would result in calling the cops.
 
Tough, honestly I would have probably called the cops as soon as I saw the rims stolen, but I could see myself allowing the kid to work off the value of the rims if I believed him to be a good kid who made a dumb choice.
 
Given that this situation developed as described, and no damage was done to the parts, I think that a bit of manual labor is best for both parties. In this case, there is no damage for me as owner, and the boy gets to think about his mistake whilst being useful and not getting a possibly future-ruining remark in his acts.
 
I agree with the owner of the dealership.

In my opinion, the police are only necessary when normal social operation breaks down and you need an external force. The guy already confessed and returned the stolen goods, and the owner even has a punishment organized. Plus, the owner makes out better this way than if the kid spent some time in jail, and I think someone who confesses and returns stolen items without being forced to by the cops is a bit better, morally, than someone you have to hunt down and use force to get your stuff back.
 
I'd prefer to have the bastard behind bars than have him snooping around my shop all the time. If he's stolen once he's likely to do it again.
 
I'd probably look at the kid himself... sometimes looks are decieving, but you can often get some idea of what that person might think/act like just by talking with them for a few minutes.

But seeing as how he's an 18 year old with a 350Z and no sense of ethics, he's likely not going to learn his lesson working at the dealership for a few weeks.

So yeah, I'd have to make a decision based on the person. I'd likely call the cops on him, though... first of all, this kid should be satisfied with any 350Z at 18, regardless of what rims it has on. Second, he seemingly knew full well the value of what he was stealing... $4,500 would require quite a bit of pre-meditation I'd guess.
 
That would probably end up with him in jail, which does no real good to anyone. Menial labor means the guy gets helped out around the shop and they can make the kid clean the bathroom with a toothbrush or something so he is miserable enough to learn a lesson.
 
Will a teenager with no previous records really get any significant jail time that they'll actually end up serving for this crime?

Thing is, this is no petty crime. It's $4,500s worth and Jay even said the kid had repeatedly inquired about how much the nice wheels and rims cost. Plus, it's not like he saw four tires to the side and grabbed them in a spur of the moment thing... he brought tools and a friend along and took tires off a car and left it on cinder blocks.

This is some pretty serious shit if you ask me. Hmm, so maybe he would end up in jail. But I still don't think he'd actually spend any time in jail, just get scared real good going to court and whatnot.
 
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I would probably make him pay by working to me BUT keep a very watchful eye on him around the store. Another stunt like that and he's in jail. I would also probably talk to him about why he did it and maybe offer a job, so he can buy the rims himself and learn to appreciate things he bought with his own sweat.

And you Jay, what would you do?


EDIT: I can't make up my mind. Very though question!
 
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And you Jay, what would you do?

Make him work off his crime. I can say that since I, unlike the others here, have interacted with him. Not being condescending, just stating my experience. If he spent one night in jail he would be crying for his mother. Some people, and all of us know this, are born criminals. He just isn't.

By the way, once he has served his time, he is banned from our property.

I would call the police first. Instead of having him arrested, explain to them that he will work off the debt for a few weeks. He's probably a good kid who landed in the wrong situation.

Pardon me for not including this in the original post, but that is what happened. Since the dealership is in a small town, we had three officers in there with the owner to scare him silly.
 
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Right - tell him he is not cut out for crime, he made a very stupid and obvious mistake and he is now known for that criminal activity around his community - I think most people will have found out that matter to him by now.

Tell him that morals aside - he should not steal anyhoo - the criminals 'tax man' is gaol and that in gaol he will find 'real' hard criminals who are far more scary than any Police Officer or warder.

This is not a career option for him as he is not sneaky enough nor hard enough and you boss should tell him in no uncertain terms that if he steals anything again from him he will press charges.

Finally getting a job following gaol is damn difficult as no one will trust him - if that does not do it then he is totally stupid and deserves the full force of the law. You may mention he is extremely lucky to be dealing with a reasonable man in your boss.

If I were his parent I take the car off him, and ask him where I went wrong as a parent?
 
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My opinion is moot because I could never be the boss of a business, I'm too nice :lol:

But, since everything was returned immediately and no damage was done in the end I wouldn't report him. I assume he has a clean record, and if he isn't a total dumbass then I don't think that should change. Instead he'd be mine for the next couple months working off his debt to me, pushing him in the right direction, possibly giving him a career to go into - which is better than sending him through the legal system and hoping something sticks, kids who steal cars don't stop just because they get locked up for a couple months with other kids who steal cars.
 
The cops would be notified and he would be talking to a judge no questions asked. I don't want some thief anywhere near my shop, so not only would he not be allowed to "work off" his debt but he wouldn't be allowed to ever come back. I have had many things stolen from my car, stereos, my mass air flow sensor, even had somebody try to steal the wheels (good thing i had wheel locks) and i have 0 room for people like that, I don't care how "nice" they seem. Stealing $4.5k rims isn't the "mistake" area, and chances are this won't be the last time he steals from somebody.


But since he got away with this one his name won't be in the system, and next time he gets caught he won't have any priors. I would bet money he is involved with a theft within the next 4 years too.
 
I also reject the notion of it being a "stupid mistake"... You don't just wake up one day and become a thief, and then wake up the next day suddenly honest again.

He needs a good ass kicking from the Yakuza.
 
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I also reject the notion of it being a "stupid mistake"... You don't just wake up one day and become a thief, and then wake up the next day suddenly honest again.

He needs a good ass kicking from the Yakuza.

Plus he stole some pretty expensive stuff. It's one thing to shoplift from a convenience store and something else to steal $4500 wheels.
 
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