Advice on a practical joke gone wrong

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   mikicagleposted 9 years ago

   
   What would you do in this situation? Three college age boys are walking back from a bar on a Friday night. Two of the boys know each other, the third doesn't know them that well. The two friends decide that they are going to steal a car. The other boy is adamant about the others not doing so. The two boys proceed to get into a brand new 2015 vehicle and rummage around in it looking for valuables while the third boy is adamant that they stop. The two boys continue while the third boys screams and yells for them to get out of the car. Finally the two boys in the car start the car and out of frustration the third boy yells for them to stop and kicks the car.  Turns out the car belongs to one of the boys that was pretending to steal it and the "kick" causes $1700 worth of damage. Who is responsible for the damage to the car?

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   1. 93

      lisavollrathposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The kid who kicked the car is responsible, since he did the damage. The fact that his friends were being jerks doesn't matter. He should have just walked away, rather than damaging the vehicle.

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         colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I agree!

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   2. 61

      cazzachallonerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I agree the boy who kicked the car because regardless whether they were actually stealing the car or not and were playing a practical joke you don't kick the car as what is the point in that, it wouldn't stop anything just cause damage to the car which he did.

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   3. 73

      relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That would depend on the age of the boys, the laws of the state where the incident took place, and the skill of the litigators around the concept of "intention."
      
      If you actually need legal advice, please go talk to a bar-approved lawyer in your home state who deals with cases of vandalism.  People on this site can't even to begin to comprehend the legal agreements they have to accept as users here, and that's much less complex than possible intentional deception and infliction of emotional distress leading to potential aggravated vandalism.

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      1. 92

         Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Speak for yourself.

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2. 82

   mikicagleposted 9 years ago

   So if I understand you all correctly 100% liability for the boy who kicked the car and no liability for the other boys. Does the fact that the boys who pretended to steal the car make them in any way responsible for the over-reaction of they car kicker even if the car kicker was trying to keep the boy out of trouble? Do the other boys have any culpability?  But for them pretending to steal a car would the entire situation have happened?
   
   I saw a video on facebook the other day that although funny brought this same question to my mind. Have any of you watched the video where someone dresses their dog up as a giant spider and proceeds to scare students on a college campus with him? If you haven't watched the video please do, because although it was funny one of my first thoughts was, "What would happen if someone shot the dog thinking it was a giant spider?" I live in an open carry state and know several people who carry a gun openly and concealed. In that case who's fault would it be if the dog were injured?

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3. 61

   purrworldposted 9 years ago

   Mistake lies in both parties. But as for the third guy, he sure is over reacting. Kicking and causing a $1700 worth damage!! Bet the other guys didn't see it coming.

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4. 92

   Jayne Lancerposted 9 years ago

   The boy who kicked the car is responsible for his own actions, therefore, it was his fault.
   
   On the other hand, his action was provoked by the practical joke, and the idea of playing a practical joke is to get a reaction from the person it's being played on.

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5. 79

   Sed-meposted 9 years ago

   IDk, seems to me the boys were putting more mental stress on him than he could handle. He was watching two ppl unexpectedly commit a crime, right in front of him, and they were involving him. He was going to be forced to turn his friends in (you can imagine what that would do to your school reputation) or be a party to a crime. This would not only threaten jail for his friends, but now for him too. Putting someone under that kind of mental pressure with little time to think things through might evoke all sorts of extreme behavior in an attempt to take control of a situation gone bad. What if the practical joke were that they were going to rape a girl? "Haha! Joke's on you! She's our friend!" In the mean time, he hits them over the head with a brick, or whatever he can find 'cause he can't sit idly by while they commit a crime in front of him. I say the owner of the car can pay for his own stupid dent.

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      tirelesstravelerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with you.
      Bubba Gump said,"Stupid is as stupid does".  If they are old enough to drink they are adults.

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   cazzachallonerposted 9 years ago

   I do think both parties are guilty in some way because I have had practical jokes played on me, being on the receiving end is not always pleasant and if it had been me I would have called the police or reported it to someone who may have been around and not got involved.
   
   I am not sure where this happened this event but in England specially in the cities if it had happened in the UK I would be surprised if someone actually kicked the car, we would have approached the guys themselves or not got involved, which is a sad though really if it wasn't a joke being played. As people don't tend to get involved as they get scared in case it comes back on them. 
   
   There are the people who would have been a good Samaritan but nothing would have happened to the guys who played the joke, if the police had got involved probably a charge of wasting police time and a warning, if they had been called.
   
   Apart from that because the guys playing the joke had not done anything physical to the guy who kicked the car or damaged the car themselves, would have still had to pay the cost of the damage from the person who kicked the car.

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7. 89

   Stacie Lposted 9 years ago

   Since most college age students are over 18 , the third student who hardly knew the ones pretending to steal the car, could very well have walked away. He is an adult and he is responsible for his own actions.

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   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   The person who does the damage is responsible for the damage.  Even if they did in fact steal a car and it was recovered, he would be on the hook for the cost of the repair.

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9. 82

   mikicagleposted 9 years ago

   Long story short-car kicker paid the $1700. Car owner decided the dent could be popped out instead of replacing the quarter panel so basically pocketed the money. Hopefully everyone involved learned a lesson.

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