How To Deal With No-Good Minors?
Discussion
After reading the "Keyed Car - Repair Options" thread its got me wondering what exactly is the best way of dealing with a minor after for example after they through a stone at your car?
What legally can you do? Can you demand their address/parents details so you can deal with it that way? What if they refuse? (Which I guess they would) Do you call the Police? But how would you make sure they remain there until they arrive? I take it you wouldn't be allowed to restrain them.
Any advice appreciated as I know i'm going to be in this situation one day due to the nature of my job.
What legally can you do? Can you demand their address/parents details so you can deal with it that way? What if they refuse? (Which I guess they would) Do you call the Police? But how would you make sure they remain there until they arrive? I take it you wouldn't be allowed to restrain them.
Any advice appreciated as I know i'm going to be in this situation one day due to the nature of my job.
Restrain the child as kindly as you can and call the police. Always involve the police. Such infractions of the law need to be recorded officially. Also make sure all the people in the vicinity are shown the child and the damage caused so they can look out for the child in future. This approach will encourage people to report any future infractions by said child. You're not there to correct the behaviour of someone's child but nor are you obliged to just turn the other cheek...
Quite a few years ago now my dad was driving along a road which had very few street lights when there suddenly appeared to be a body in the edge of the road in front of him. As I said the road wasn't particularly well lit and the body was in dark clothing so he didn't see it whilst the last minute. He stopped, as did a car coming the other way.
As my dad got to the body it jumped up laughing, and was a kid with a parka coat on pulled up around their head.
My dad was shaken by this, and grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and shook them, calling them a silly bugger, and saying they could have been run over. The kid then ran off and my dad got back in his car, but fortunately not before the driver travelling in the other direction had given him their contact details.
Some time later the police arrived at my dads house. They advised him that the child had been a girl, he had just assumed that it was a boy, and that she was being looked after by her older brother whilst her parents were away on holiday.
They had come to the police station to report the fact that a man had stopped in his car, grabbed her and tried to pull her into his car. She had remembered the registration!!.
Fortunately for my dad he was able to give the police the contact details for the other driver, who corroborated his version of events, at which time the girl admitted what had really happened. My dad was however warned about the fact that he had shaken the child and advised that if anything similar where to happen again he could be done for it.
God knows what would have happened if he hadn't got the contact details of the other driver.
As my dad got to the body it jumped up laughing, and was a kid with a parka coat on pulled up around their head.
My dad was shaken by this, and grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and shook them, calling them a silly bugger, and saying they could have been run over. The kid then ran off and my dad got back in his car, but fortunately not before the driver travelling in the other direction had given him their contact details.
Some time later the police arrived at my dads house. They advised him that the child had been a girl, he had just assumed that it was a boy, and that she was being looked after by her older brother whilst her parents were away on holiday.
They had come to the police station to report the fact that a man had stopped in his car, grabbed her and tried to pull her into his car. She had remembered the registration!!.
Fortunately for my dad he was able to give the police the contact details for the other driver, who corroborated his version of events, at which time the girl admitted what had really happened. My dad was however warned about the fact that he had shaken the child and advised that if anything similar where to happen again he could be done for it.
God knows what would have happened if he hadn't got the contact details of the other driver.
alant said:
she was being looked after by her older brother whilst her parents were away on holiday.
No she wasn't, she was lying in the road alone! 
One wonders whether the fuzz got around to lecturing the older brother about the proper meaning of 'looking after' (and, for that matter, checking that he was old enough himself to babysit...)?
jazzyjeff said:
alant said:
she was being looked after by her older brother whilst her parents were away on holiday.
No she wasn't, she was lying in the road alone! One wonders whether the fuzz got around to lecturing the older brother about the proper meaning of 'looking after' (and, for that matter, checking that he was old enough himself to babysit...)?
Locke said:
After reading the "Keyed Car - Repair Options" thread its got me wondering what exactly is the best way of dealing with a minor after for example after they through a stone at your car?
What legally can you do? Can you demand their address/parents details so you can deal with it that way? What if they refuse? (Which I guess they would) Do you call the Police? But how would you make sure they remain there until they arrive? I take it you wouldn't be allowed to restrain them.
Any advice appreciated as I know i'm going to be in this situation one day due to the nature of my job.
Legally you can't do anything in terms of demanding their name, address or utilising restraint.What legally can you do? Can you demand their address/parents details so you can deal with it that way? What if they refuse? (Which I guess they would) Do you call the Police? But how would you make sure they remain there until they arrive? I take it you wouldn't be allowed to restrain them.
Any advice appreciated as I know i'm going to be in this situation one day due to the nature of my job.
Call the police with descriptions of the blighters - approximate age, gender, height, hair colour/style, clothing, skin colour.
Do not hold on to them or restrain them as that will constitute a common assault.
You can ask for their name and address but you'll either get a mouthful or they'll run off.
I had my car damaged once by a young lad and his friend (lad who lived opposite me) told me where his friend lived. The boy's parents inspected the damage, were very apologetic and paid for and carried out the repair. I never saw the lad on my street again.
StottyZr said:
Annoyingly you're a bit powerless if you follow legal channels. Depending on my mood i'd either drive on, or park around the corner and come back and punch the kid in the face then run away... Beat them at there own game (mindless violence then run) 
HTH
Spot on or go back an throw a house brick at them HTH
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