Good Samaritans or Criminals?

Started by IronRanger, May 09, 2011, 04:37:26 PM

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IronRanger

At first, I thought this was an Onion story, but I checked Snopes and there's nothing related to these stories, so "In Today's WTF News..."

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/05/09/36414.htm

QuoteALBUQUERQUE (CN) - A good Samaritan claims Albuquerque police filed a bogus felony charge against him in a harebrained sting they set up by planting a backpack with beer, cigarettes and a computer outside a high school. He says he picked up the backpack so children wouldn't drink the beer or smoke the cigarettes - for which he was charged with felony larceny.


ANOTHER :

http://athanasius2k4.xanga.com/631078677/nypd-good-samaritans-do-not-apply/

QuoteThe NYPD has been conducting a "sting operation" in the subways called Operation Lucky Bag. They place items like handbags, wallets, etc. on subway platform benches and/or subway seats. They're trying to capture the "common criminal" who would snatch these items up without any intention of finding its owner. It's a type of profiling in a sense: the intention is that by removing such individuals by catching them with these operations, these criminals would not be able to commit other crimes. Those captured in past such operations were charged with misdemeanors, usually with no jail time. This time around, the NYPD have filled the bags/wallets with more than $100 in cash and active American Express cards, making the theft of these items felony crimes, carrying with it longer jail terms and fines.

But, the sting is picking up random good samaritans who pick up the wallet/bag and were going to take the things to a police station. If you so much as leave the scene of where you found the item, you'll be arrested (as many have already been) immediately. Let's say you picked up the item on the bench at your station and intended to go to the police station near your job; so you jump on the train that just arrived at your station. The moment you get on the train, you'll be arrested for not intending to return the item. The NYPD will assume that you never intended to return the item or find its owner by the fact that you've left the immediate area.

Legally speaking, not only does that not make sense when it comes to proving mens rea, a necessary element in proving a crime, but it somehow assumes some sort of telepathic ability on the part of the NYPD arresting officer.

So just a warning: if you see a wallet or bag in the subways this holiday season, you had better just let it be.

"They must find it difficult, those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as authority"- G.Massey

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." - Alan Dean Foster

peternap

He could be either. My guess is he just wanted the beer and cigarettes.
Damn shame they set up stings like that though, >:(
These here is God's finest scupturings! And there ain't no laws for the brave ones! And there ain't no asylums for the crazy ones! And there ain't no churches, except for this right here!


MountainDon

The ABQ sting was just another in a series of poorly thought out exercises. It was in response to a number of thefts in the area of the sting; good intentions. But very poorly conceiived. It made the local news for several days.

http://www.koat.com/news/24525933/detail.html

http://www.abqjournal.com/cgi-bin/print_it.pl?page=/opinion/guest_columns/091512opinion08-09-10.htm

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/group-upset-over-bait-backpacks

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1683505.shtml

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

ScottA

Since when is it illegal to pick up abandoned property off the street?

Woodsrule

I must weigh in here as a retired cop. This type of law enforcement is ridiculous, a waste of time, and most likely unconstitutional. In the state where I worked, this is not a crime. In order to charge larceny, the burden of proving the intent to permanently deprive rests squarely with the police. Simply picking up these items and carrying them away proves nothing, except the low IQ of the person responsible for cooking up this scheme. d*


IronRanger

QuoteSimply picking up these items and carrying them away proves nothing, except the low IQ of the person responsible for cooking up this scheme.

Sums it up.

QuoteSince when is it illegal to pick up abandoned property off the street?

Could be a malfunctioning terrorist bomb in dere, dontchaknow.  He could be the terrorist returning to pick up said failed bomb.   d*
"They must find it difficult, those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as authority"- G.Massey

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." - Alan Dean Foster

Native_NM

I remember reading a case a couple years back.  Police had put out unlocked bikes in a similar sting.  Guy walks along, stops at the bike, looks around, and rides off on the bike.  Police arrest him.  Case closed?  Nope.  The guy tells the police it is HIS bike that was stolen and he was taking it back.  He swears it is his, so they run the serial number.  He had reported it stolen, along with the serial number.  It was his bike after all.  His attorney then questions why the police did not contact him that they had his bike.  Turns out the police were too busy to return stolen property. (probably running useless stings).  They simply posted a list of property that was recovered on some obscure website with detailed descriptions like "bike", "drill", etc.  So the case law is interesting...can a guy be arrested in a sting for recovering his own stolen property?  Tell me what you think...
New Mexico.  Better than regular Mexico.

Woodsrule

One can never steal his own property, therefore the arrest was improper. Now, there are real questions relating to the seized property. The police found this bike at some point - was there an arrest made? If not, why did they not contact this man directly? Sounds like sloppy work to me. I am never in favor of these types of "stings" just like I'm not in favor of roadblocks designed to catch drunk drivers. I'm no lover of drunk drivers, but throwing out a dragnet and violating my 4th amendment constitutional right does not sit well with me.