A friend of mine got half beat to death by a kid the other day

[ThomWV]

What does this say about our world?

Sunday afternoon a friend of mine hollered at a kid on a dirt bike to slow down as he passed his house. My friend's home is the last house on a long dirt road and he gets lots sporting-types using the road like it was a race track. So the kid stops and picks up a 2x4 and beats my friend (who is 67 years old) about half to death with it. His wife comes out and sees this and she's screaming to beat hell and the boy gives her a couple of wacks with the board too. She's 62. Then the boy and his companion (on another bike), who stood by and watched the mayhem, rode off.

The boy (17 years old) has not been arrested yet. A friend of my wife has a daughter who goes to school with the boy. He is bragging about what he did. As I said, he has not been arrested ... yet.

Welcome to life in the country.

I expect to give the County Sheriff's office a call in the morning and then the County Prosecutor's office too - you can not immagine how demanding I am going to be. Hope it helps.

[villager]

1. *and* he's bragging about it? And here I thought "Clockwork Orange" was fiction.

well, keep us posted...

[paulsby]

29. teenagers frequently do. it makes them easy to catch

trust me on this. i can;t tell you how many crimes we solve with teen suspects because the idiots have to brag about their big crime.

[PA Democrat]

2. Call the local media.

Nothing like a little unflattering coverage to get elected officials to move.

[reflection]

4. Agreed. Local, national. Everyone.

Outrageous and benighted behavior.

[im1013]

3. What?!?!?!

That is just fucking insane!

Someone needs to beat that little bastard with a board
so he can see what it feels like!

:mad:

[reflection]

8. Sad thing is, someone probably did.

[KatyMan]

36. But that's no excuse

Kid is old enough to know right from wrong.

[reflection]

39. Of course not.

It's not an excuse, but kids who are beaten tend to beat others when they are older. This is common knowledge. The kid has to break the cycle of abuse him/herself.

[tularetom]

5. You have a more despicable type of dirtbag than we have around here

Every summer I have to chase a bunch of brain dead morans on ATV's out of our creek bed. They get into the creek from the county road about a mile downstream and roar up and down the dry creek bed, destroying the banks. Then the next winter when it rains, the banks fail and flood our pasture. I've never had anymore of a reaction than the assholes flipping me off. Of course I always carry a shotgun with me when I go down there.

Hope your friend is recovering OK. I'm also 67 years old (68 next Fri) and it's bad enough to be that age without some asswipe waling on you with a 2x4.

[winyanstaz]

6. too bad grandma didnt have a shotgun full of rock salt.

The elderly gentleman could die from a beating like that and old bodies cannot mend very well.
I wish them both a speedy recovery and that that little barbarian goes to jail for a long long time.
Do you have a link to a number that people can call to protest this outrage?

[ThomWV]

7. To be honest I'm much surprised the kid didn't get shot.

I know that there's one of those old 30/30 Marlin's in my Friend's kitchen (its been leaning in the same corner for 30 years that I know of) that he keeps handy for the deer that plague his garden. So I was much surprised his wife didn't grab it and shoot the kid.

[Vincardog]

44. Try Cloths lining the brain dead morans or leave a few spike strips lying in the creek bed.

[badgerpup]

45. Would caltrops be a deterrent?

http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/caltrops.htm

Think about the third time they had to replace those tires they might get the message...:evilgrin:

[tularetom]

46. Ya know I thought about burying something pointy in the sand

Maybe I will. These are destructive little fuckers. There was a fence spanning the creek just upstream from their access point. It was at the perfect height to decapitate one of them so they went in there with wire cutters and a chain saw and demolished it. The county has built barriers where the creek runs through a culvert under the county road but they've torn them all down. My neighbor and I talked about damming the creek at the low end of our property but you would not believe the red tape that's involved in something like that.

A couple of years ago one of the twerps fell off his machine and it rolled over on him breaking both his legs. There was a big outcry among the people that live around here, but this is a very sparsely populated area. Only 8 or 9 houses along a 20 mile stretch of road. We can bitch a lot but we don't have enough votes to make people listen.

Some day there's going to be a nasty confrontation. Most likely between the punks and one of the ranchers downstream from me.

BTW, dove season opened Tuesday. So far I've had to chase away 3 or 4 people who can't read "No Trespassing" signs. Even though they're armed, they are a little more civil than the ATM jerks.

[flvegan]

9. Know who he is? Know where he lives.

My mom is a little older than your friend, and if some waste of air like that ever even THOUGHT about it...

Douchebag.

I hope your friend and his wife recover completely.

[ThomWV]

12. This kid's future is assured

My friend is old but he is also somewhat of a local legend. He is an artist and has long done all of the artwork for - ready for this - the local newspaper and both major radio stations, the owner's are long-time personel friends of his. The Prosecuting Attorney is a decade's long friend as well. I am certain that the kid's arrest is imminent and although he's only 17 I'm sure he'll be charged as an adult. There are two witnesses, the wife and the other kid on the other bike (who you can be certain will be a willing witness when the time comes), so you know how this is going to work out. Today we can call this kid a punk. Very soon that word is going to take on a whole new meaning for him.

[Vidar]

10. Best wishes to you & your friends. I'm glad you're fighting back.

[Bluzmann57]

11. See, this is why a lot of people carry guns

In order to defend themselves from morons like that kid. Just the sight of a gun likely would have made the kid crap his pants.

[Sal Minella]

13. Or grab the gun and shoot both the old man and his wife.

About a toss-up, would be my guess.

We're not dealing with a rational kid, here.

[Pavulon]

17. That happens when you are not firing it into a person

people tend to leave, hide, or die when being shot at. Pointing a gun takes place in the quarter second before you fire it. Displaying a gun as a deterrent is a bad idea for the reason you listed.

Still what kind of scum does that to a person?

[Warren Stupidity]

33. Yes of course, as 'an armed society is a polite society'.

Isn't that the rightwing gun screed? For example, Mogadishu. Or Baghdad. Or Sarajevo in its wild west days of just a decade or so ago.

Suppose the kids were armed too. Oh wait...

[lumberjack_jeff]

14. Good for you.

The kid is lucky that your friend's wife was not armed. Jail is the best outcome for his kind of stupid.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. OMG! That's just terrifying. And I can't believe they haven't arrested him yet.

[Gregorian]

16. Disgusting.

I quickly discovered what country living was about for some people. It's directly in line with republican values. They confuse freedom with a "free for all". I've had numerous confrontations with country people, and they've almost all been ugly. I'm thinking of the drive-in movie scene in the Graduate. You ask for a little understanding, and you get resistance.

I left a beautiful property over this. Assholes.

I'm sorry to hear about your friends. It's painful mentally as well as the rest. Now they probably live in fear. Damn. I was so pissed off about dirtbikes that I thought about what some have done. But that only gets one into big trouble. But I sold all of my dirtbikes after my last country property. And that's saying a lot. I really enjoyed them. Now I don't make a sound. And I expect others to respect as well. But no way. Many country people are assholes. I hate to categorize. But it's my experience.

[vadawg]

24. funnily ive had the worst experience with city folk that you had with country

i guess its all down to our own perspective...

[eShirl]

28. There are assholes everywhere, ruining it for the normal people everywhere. n/t

[Rebubula]

38. You been in the wrong 'country'

I have lived most of my adult life in a country setting and most all folks are very kind and polite. You just cannot deal with them in the same manner you would a city person. It is a whole different culture.

In the OP's situation, it sounds like more a situation of an ignorant, ill tempered kid that anything to do with country living.

Anyway...I find that many city folk are assholes.

[dana_b]

18. damn!

Please keep us updated and I hope your friends will be alright.

[northernlights]

19. I hope your friend recoers quickly

Rural living would be great except for the asshats that ruin it. A couple years ago a local gang beat a man to death. He didn't die right away. He died later in the hospital. He was harmless, I think alcholic. Used to drive around on his bike all day, every day in all weather including 15 below, picking up cans and bottles for extra money. He used to stop at my place and pick raspberries on his route. He didn't have connections, though, so I don't think anything was done to those murderers. :(

[kevinbgoode]

20. Besides prosecuting this little hooligan

someone needs to look into who owns that dirt road and whatever property which is being used by dirt bikers. If it belongs to the County, then its time to petition the County to declare that road off-limits to sporting vehicles - and place the blame squarely on the behavior of this hooligan.

That 17-year-old doesn't pay any taxes to maintain the road, and while it might piss some people off to have the road permanently restricted to dirt biking use, they can go knock on the door of this kid's parents home and point their fingers at THEM for causing the problem.

You also indicated that your friend was yelling at those kids to "slow down"...indicating that he might have been in fear of their safety. If there is indeed an unsafe speed and/or obstacle situation on that road, there is another reason to demand it be shut down to such traffic.

Now I don't know what licensing is involved in dirt biking, but this rat's behavior would piss me off enough to start calling state officials and demanding the minimum age be raised to 18. . .or only 16 on officially designated and maintained bike trails designed for their use. I would also ask about any little violation that rodent might have perpetrated while riding (did he have an approved helmet?).

Next, as soon as the little hooligan is picked up and his parents start their tantrum, I'd sure be tempted to slap a civil suit on them on as many exotic charges I could come up with, including encouraging a minor to break the law; providing a household which supported physical assaults on others; and costing the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in future housing and care expenses to deal with their failure to raise a law-abiding citizen. In the meantime, surely there is another creative way to slap that loud-mouthed hooligan with enough legal woes that your friends can demand emotional damages and insist that these damages must be paid by the kid, even if it takes another 20 years.

Of course, there is always the possibility that this little shit has a history of terrorizing his own family - and if that's the case, a responsible outside citizen needs to step in and permanently rescue the parents from the creep.

I hope you report this and have this hooligan arrested...and they impound his little dirt bike. Hell, I'd be so pissed that i'd wait for the thing to be sold at auction and buy the sucker right out from under him, and then tool down past HIS house. . .

haha..okay, okay...I'm gettin' carried away here. But there is one lesson I've learned when dealing with people like this - you go for his freedom, his potential future earning power, his privileges, and it's amazing how they suddenly discover a newfound respect for your rights.

[vadawg]

21. reason number 1000 why my wife carries concealed in our rural property

your friend should be getting his ass down to the courthouse as soon as he can and swear a warrant himself if the popo wont do it... i hope he recovers...

[CrownPrinceBandar]

22. Hope your friend will be alright......

Keep us updated.

[MichaelHarris]

23. I don't doubt the story

but something does smell. There is no way the kid hasn't been arrested yet if the couple can identify the kid. If they can point him out he would have been arrested on the spot. I think you left out a little of the story.

[ThomWV]

37. I don't disagree with you - it surprised me a good bit as well

I don't disagree that there are holes in the story - I'm only relating what has been reported to me. Neither Butch or Helen are out of the hospital yet as far as I know so I don't have it first hand and the report that the boy is still walking free comes from the mother of a school child - second hand from a poor source, so its not on the firmest ground either. So I agree with you.

However after I had these misgivings it also occurred to me that when my friend and his wife were taken to the hospital they didn't know the boy's name and in fact as far as I know they may not know it yet. Other than that this kid is a clear and demonstrated danger to the community who I would expect to be taken off the streets immediately I can understand the authorities requiring time to do their job. As I mentioned in another response, this really isn't going to go well for the boy. Everything is stacked against him and in this state I really don't see how he's going to be able to avoid jail time on this one - tried as an adult for a couple of felonies and no matter how bad he thinks he is the boys on the Felony side of the Regional Jail are going to make sport with his 17-year-old-ass, and I mean that in a literal sense.

[TrogL]

50. You obviously haven't spent any time around small town police

The kid is likely one of the local small-town bullies and the darling of the local police (who he may very well be related to) and school officials because he socializes well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Hope that kids goes up to the pokie for a lesson

on why you don't do that.

Damn it Kids at times really don't respect anybody or anything.

And he is bragging, not shocked or surprised actually.

[WeDidIt]

26. Charge that prick as an adult

and send him up to the state pen for 10-20.

17 is not a child any longer, especially when the prick beats up a 67 year old man and a 62 year old woman.

[Retired AF Dem]

27. I'm to old to fight some teenager

if some asshole raised a board to beat me I would place a .45 between their eyes. I dont give a crap if they were trying to turn their lives around at that moment.

[Corgigal]

30. Isn't this felony assault ?

Since the victim is a senior and the 17 year old can be classified as an adult. Might want to look into that because they can stay locked up longer. Not to mention senior abuse, like disabled abuse isn't something judges take kindly to.

[mzmolly]

31. Horrid!

I'm so sorry Thom. I hope justice is served, and your friends will recover both mentally and physically from their trauma.

[WVRICK13]

32. Life in The US

Some would say this punk was violent because he was abused. I don't buy that argument in many cases. I think the kid is violent because he is spoiled. I have way too many friends who overindulge their children and when they become teens the kids threaten and physically abuse them. The parents wonder what went wrong and they are terrified of their own children. I told one friend to have the kid declared a danger and get him out of the house before he was killed. The parent abuse is continuing and appears to be escalating. Why should we expect the kid to treat strangers differently than their own parents.

[seabeyond]

34. i dont know if it is so much spoiled as an unbalanced, messed up society we are raising them in

or allowing the net, tv and peers to raise them in.

my son told me a couple years ago (and he is 14 now) how there were kids in class that would yell at parents and have control of them instead of vice versa. we often talk about how society today is allowing a behavior from our kids that are healthy for none. though kids have the freedom today and think it is cool and what they want, ultimately it doesn't behoove them or any one else

i have parents tell me, .... peer pressure, all kids do it ect... that isn't true either. only if you abrogate your position as parent.

[KharmaTrain]

35. Contact Local Radio, TV and Newspapers

It's understandable to be upset and I would feel the same had this happened to people I know, but instead of going to the "authorities", sounds like they need a little push. If they haven't arrested these kids based on what you're saying then there's either a stonewall going on or more to the story. Either way, I'd call it to the attention of a local newstype...get some light shed on not just this incident but the problems of kids riding on that road. The "media" is paid to find these kind of stories...give 'em the bone and see if they run with it.

[AieinAristuein]

40. Any arrests yet?

I hope your friends are feeling better

[Jennicut]

41. A bunch of teenagers once rode all over the lawn in front of the church my husband works at

They had mopeds and dirt bikes.
My hubby was pissed! He is a church organist/choir director there. He was so angry he ran after these kids and they pleaded for him not to hurt them. It kind of helped that he is over 6 feet and was only 29. I think it gave them a good scare.

[Tim01]

42. The POS needs to be shot. He is only going to get worse. They should get a gun ASAP.

I hope he isn't the kid of somebody important. Kids with powerful parents never get in trouble for anything they do. And little sociopaths like this one very frequently escalate the violence once their attention is focused on somebody.

[leftynyc]

43. Call the police

and inform them if the cretin is not arrested, your next call will be to the media. Time to make the little shit, his parents and the cops famous.

[mullard12ax7]

47. About once a year, a kid on an ATV gets killed around here

I chose to laugh at them, I think this article makes it clear why.

[quiet.american]

48. Just horrible. What is taking so long for this boy to be arrested? nt

[dave123williams]

49. Don't call the Sheriff's office. Call your local District Attorney's office and swear out a warrant

That is, if you want results in this matter.

[onethatcares]

51. three 22 cal bullets in the knees would stop that kid

he apparently has no respect for any thing, show he should be shown none.

Yes, I am advocating violence. If it was me and that was my dad and mom it happened to, the party would already be over, he wouldn't have anything to brag about in school.

[mdmc]

52. update